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The careers of Duncan and Yao

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by MambaJoe, Apr 28, 2011.

  1. MambaJoe

    MambaJoe Member

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    After this season it looks like Duncan's career might be wrapping up as well as Yao Ming. Both players are indeed great players. They both are the few dominant big men this decade. Both players are special in their own ways. Both guys are very competitive but yet humble. They are similar in which they don't talk much, they let their game do the talking.

    When Duncan and Yao were drafted 1st overall, big expectations was on them. Duncan was to replace David Robinson and take over the franchise and Yao was to be the new franchise player and hopefully achieve what Hakeem did in Houston.

    No doubt Duncan was anything short of what was expected from him. Right off the bat, Duncan was consistent and dominant. HE easily made you forget David Robinson was there. After Robinson retired, Duncan took the wheels and continue on the success. The Spurs became a dynasty under Duncan. Year in and year out, the Spurs were constant contenders every year. They were indeed a boring team to watch but they got the job done. Mr Fundamentals was competitive, hard working, humble, talented and managed to stay away from major injuries. Even though the Spurs had a great front office, great coaching, great star players like Manu and Parker along with a solid cast of players, they still wouldn't be successful without their anchor Tim Duncan. Even this year when everyone counted them out, they still manage to win over 60 games this year and locked onto the #1 seed. Right now their 5th championship looks dim but that does not take away the success Tim Duncan had with the Spurs and the 4 championship. After all of this is over, Tim Duncan will go down as one of the all time greats, a winner, and HOF. What a career Tim Duncan had.


    Yao Ming was drafted 1st overall in 02 and everyone expected Yao to duplicate what Hakeem did and OH man those are some major big shoes to fill. Yao came into the league with already criticism thrown all over him. Many think he won't last 2 years in the league. Many said he was too soft, too weak, can't handle the fast NBA pace and simply not good enough. His first year was a bit shaky but he survived. But as time goes on, the more comfortable he got, the more everyone knew why he is the 1st round pick. There isn't a 7'5 player in the world that has the soft shooting touch like Yao Ming. When he first came in, opponents often overpower him easily. But as years goes by, he gotten stronger but still have his shooting touch, which makes him almost unstoppable on offense. Once he got into position, its an automatic bucket. He protected the rim well but at times the refs calls were against him. With the addition of Tracy McGrady, Yao's career looked bright. He is starting to play at an high all star level and to pair him up with an elite superstar, the Rockets had a bright promising future. The first year those two were together, it was exciting. Even though the Rockets lost a heart-breaker in 7 games to the Mavs in the first round, everything looked ever so bright. They went out to get an athletic PF in Swift, a pass first PG in Alston and kept some of the sharp shooting vets.

    The future of the Houston Rockets were bright as ever as everyone finally get to watch two great star players played their 1st season together. But that bright future never came. Injuries strike and it struck hard. Yao Ming went down with a major injury and the 06 season was over. Never even made it to the playoffs. From that point on, Yao Ming was never able to recover. Year after year he went down again and again with a major injury. Houston's fans were optimistic and continued to keep their head up waiting for the year Yao can finally stay healthy over the course of the season and succeed in the playoffs. That never came. The closest was back in 09 when the Rockets starting to look promising again when they got out of the 1st round against Portland and dominating the Lakers in the first game of the 2nd round. Everything looked so bright. The Rockets beat the Lakers in LA in the first game of the 2nd round, Yao is healthy and everyone is playing well. But then again, injury struck at the worst time possible. From that point on, Yao only played 5 games in two seasons and is sitting on a thin line to see whether he will be able to play again.


    Tim Duncan and Yao Ming both had lots of expectation when they came into the league. Both players had successes but because of injuries, one of them never really met his full potential. One player got 4 rings and is fighting hard for the 5th while the other one only gotten to the 2nd round of the playoffs once. It is sad but one of them will be one of the all time great with many rings, great achievements of his careers and future Hall of fame while the other will go down as one of the biggest what ifs in History.
     
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  2. Liberon

    Liberon Rookie

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    I don't think you can compare the 2. Spurs fan are going to destroy this thread and rightfully so. Yao cannot compare to Duncan in no shape or form. I'm not saying Yao was never an obstacle for Duncan to guard or play against but their accomplishments are so vastly wide appart. Please either lock this thread or remove it.
     
  3. kingjosh

    kingjosh Member

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    Im not sure the the point is to compare the two players directly in terms of points/rebounds/Rings/allstar games/mvp's etc, but rather as one that has maxed out his potential and another player that was Robbed of his. A 'what if yao stayed healthy' if you will.
     
  4. roslolian

    roslolian Member

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    I guess the OP has a point, however there are easily a dozen other what-ifs in the NBA. In fact, in that same draft Jason Williams was a player who was arguably even more shafted by fate-unlike Yao he never even got to show his stuff because he slammed his bike into a post. I think calling Yao the biggest "what-if" is a bit of a stretch, as guys like Sabonis or Ralph Sampson have their own what ifs too.
     
  5. TEXNIFICENT

    TEXNIFICENT Member

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    This..........
     
  6. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    Yao Ming and Tim Duncan have about as much in common as Stephen Spieldberg and M. Night Shyamalan
     
  7. gah

    gah Member

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    Tim Duncan is not a deity, you can compare his career to Dan Langhi's if you want to. The OP took his time (it had to take him 1000x more than the second you took to think and create your Monty Williams thread) and made a pretty fair trajectory comparison, I only read 85% of it ;), but it seems you only read the thread title, asking to lock it is disrespectful.
     
  8. redao

    redao Member

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    Yao is pretty much a failure.

    He has nothing to compare with Duncan.
     
  9. MorningZippo

    MorningZippo Member

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    It's hard to believe anyone that has commented so far has read the OP(Gah excluded). Solid Post.
     
  10. apollo33

    apollo33 Member

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    LOL exactly, this thread is a test to see who only reads the title when responding.
     
  11. aggie87

    aggie87 Member

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    as a Rockets fan, I find this offensive to a HOF like Duncan....

    what if Portland fans make a comparison of Greg Oden and Hakeem
     
  12. Yonizzel

    Yonizzel Rookie

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    cool story, bro.

    In other news, you can now see who is viewing your profile on facebook.
     
  13. Fefo

    Fefo Member

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    really, yao and duncan? they dont belong together... maybe shaq and duncan, but not yao.
     
  14. cuddie

    cuddie Member

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    It looks like over half the people responding aren't fans of reading...which is an unfortunate, however true, representation of the majority of Clutchfans posters.
     
  15. MambaJoe

    MambaJoe Member

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    Im not saying Yao is on the same breath as Duncan. They both came into the league with just about the same expectations. My point is how they both came into the league with pretty much the same expectations but their career path took off in a different direction. Like I said in the post, Duncan's career was anything but extraordinary and the success he built upon the Spurs franchise and made them a dynasty while Yao's career path took a turn downwards as things was starting to look bright. He fell short of success and never met his full potential and will go down as a big what if.
     
  16. DonkeyMagic

    DonkeyMagic Contributing Member
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    [​IMG]
     
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  17. VBG

    VBG Member

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    Yao is to Duncan

    as

    Greg Oden is to Hakeem
     
  18. rockets934life

    rockets934life Contributing Member

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    I understand what the OP is saying but putting Yao and Duncan in the same sentence is asking for trouble.

    Hate to be so cold about it but Yao is history, for now, time to move on. We've all had two years to digest and a lot of us have reached closure.
     
  19. Don FakeFan

    Don FakeFan Member

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    They didnt have the same expectations for most NBA fans.

    Nobody, except a few percent of YOFs, had ever expected Yao to be anything close to Duncan.

    No, it was not because of Yao's health.
    Yao simplly does not possess the skills that Duncan has.
     
  20. blink

    blink Contributing Member

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    hahahahah rockets homers.... smh
     

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