Something I just realized... Yao Year 1 13.5 PPG/8.2 RPG/1.8 BPG Lopez Year 1 13.0 PPG/8.1 RPG/1.8 BPG Yao Year 2 17.5 PPG/9.0 RPG/1.9 BPG Lopez Year 2 19.0 PPG/9.0 RPG/2.0 BPG Yao's FT% first two years 80.9% Lopez's FT% first two years 80.9% Very eerie similarity in their stats. Their games are very similar as well...looks like we have a slightly shorter Yao clone down in NJ. Also, just wondering, how come there's not more hype on this kid? Yeah, NJ is terrible, but the guy is a couple of good games away from being a legit 20/10 superstar...in his second year. Only Dwight and Yao in the last ten years have been treading similar waters...and at this point I think Lopez projects as better then both. Of course, injuries happen and he could get offset from the pace he's setting when the league figures him out but honestly, the guy is already one of the best centers in the NBA.
Because he plays for the Nets who are 4-46. If you cannot win any game it doesn't matter that you score a lot. Anybody can score on a team that doesn't want to win. Big stats on bad teams do not matter that much. Big stats on terrible teams do not matter at all. Lopez is not even close to being as good as Howard and Yao were at the same time in their career. Both had a better FG% in their second year. Furthermore Yao made it into the play-offs and Howard was atleast close. I think Lopez is a nice center, but I do not think he is on the same level as Yao and Howard.
If the Nets start winning, after signing their 2 max contract free agents, then we can talk. If they are still losing, his stats mean nothing.
What? Yao is the BEST center in the league, a superstar, a go to guy that we can go to in clutch time. He is in the same category as LeBron, Kobe and Wade. j/k I would do it in a hearbeat.
I've been saying they have similar games since day 1. right now I'd trade Yao for Brooke in a heartbeat.
I'm fairly confident that those of you that are in love with him have never seen him play. He's absolute garbage in the paint because has NO low post moves. He gets his points on a team that plays Kris Humphries primetime minutes and this guy was basically the Brian Cook on the Mavericks.
Yao Ming in his worst season (team record wise) was 27-30 (05-06) team, and also remember T-Mac played 10 less games than that. Even subtracting the games that Yao and T-Mac played together, Yao still would have had more wins in that season in about 30 something odd games than Lopez would have a 70 to 82 games season. Also, let's look at how Houston's team defense ranked in his first, second, and fourth season vs. the Nets with Lopez. Furthermore, just look at difference in Houston's team defense vs. last year. To top things, off I would like to see how Brooks Lopez (currently or as rookie) would fare against I don't know ... the Lakers version of Shaquille O'Neal (circa 02-04). Would he even last two minutes against Shaq?
I've watched him play plenty of times. He doesn't lack low post skills, he's a bit robotic in his moves, but he has solid fundamentals down low. The only area he is weak in his is post defense. I'll agree that his numbers are skewed due to the fact he plays for the Nets, but he's what, 21? He's going to be damn good.
I bet the Nets would make the playoffs, right now, if they had Yao in any season that he has played in, especially East, where a team get by sometimes with 36 - 40 wins. What makes me think that...well I don't know given the competition. Any version of Ming would have a field day with EC teams (currently). The lower tier teams, like the Knicks, Wizards, Pacers, and etc would be boost his stats, alone. He'd probably dominant the Hawks, Cavs, or Heat as usual. I wonder how a younger, more athletic, lesser injury riddled Yao Ming would do against Dwight Howard? The only team that he would often struggle against is the Celtics and Bobcats (with Larry Brown). I think Yao would be able to manage more than 4 wins, even being injured.
Brook Lopez has talent, but every game he plays this season is meaningless garbage. The times I've seen him play he hasn't looked very good. It's hard to harshly judge him or give him much credit because of the dysfunctional situation he's in.
Right, because you don't understand business. You see those chinese ads in the toyota center? You know why they can afford to buy the best ads? Because they are advertising to 1.3 Billion people, while all the other companies are advertising to 4 million. Yao = Money To Les this is a business. His main objective is to make money. Yao is therefore untradeable.
I haven't seen much of the nets but do they run their offense through Lopez? When Yao is on the court, more in the JVG days, they ran the offense through Yao. That puts alot of pressure on a player and brings on more predictable double teams. How has Lopez learned to deal with the double team?
Don't worry, I sure know about business man and I know that Yao brings money to the organisation but people tend to think that he brings THAT MUCH. People forget that the profit by teams are splitted and separeted. And also, as a fan, I don't really care about the owner getting money, I care about seeing a good team with good players who are healty which isn't the case with our Rockets and Yao.
As a rookie, this player put up 17.0ppg/8.4rpg/2.5apg. His team went 21-61. The next year, he put up 22.1ppg/8.2rpg/4.4apg. His team went 39-43. He's on a sure path to superstardom! Let's give him a gigantic contract! Name that player!!! Spoiler Big numbers on a crappy team do not a superstar make.
There was hype for him. A couple of months before his draft, he was projected in the # 3 slot, but in the combine, his stock dropped for some reason.
i dont think he gets his numbers because he's on a bad team, but that's how it seems, which is probably why there's no hype.
