When you talk about guys who have problems running the offense you're really only talking about two people. T-Mac and Artest either need to get on the bus or be thrown off it.
Come on guys... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oNbj48Wv224&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oNbj48Wv224&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> vs <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/svsHlH-IvbY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/svsHlH-IvbY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> I love Yao but the homerism here is too great.
What exactly are you objecting to? I don't think anyone in this thread has actually said that Yao's better than Shaq. Or are you just debating imaginary straw men?
Yao can't get 20 shots a night. He doesn't have the stamina or strength to battle for good post position and hold his man off throughout the course of a game on a nightly basis. We could try to force feed him the ball regardless of how good his position is. And our team turnovers would go up, his turnovers would climb over 4 a game, and the offense as a whole would be worse off. Shaq could truly dominate, and make his team championship-caliber because of it. Yao is not in that class, never has been, and he never will be. And for the record, Shaq averaged 21 and 12 against Mutombo over his career, and 30/12 against Zo over his career. Shaq averaged 33 ppg and 16 rpg in the Finals against Deke's 76er team.
If the other team didn't try the hack-a-Shaq defense then that game really doesn't say anything about the hack-a-Shaq defense. Put another way if he'd converted at his average of 50% he'd have had to go to the line 61 times. That at least sounds like a formula for absolute boredom.
I can't believe this is even a debate. Other than blind Yao fans, NO ONE WOULD EVEN THINK ABOUT choosing Yao in his prime over Shaq in his prime. It is not even close. They shouldn't even be mentioned in the same book let alone same sentence.
I'm objecting to people that think that Yao just because he can hit some free throws is anywhere as good and dominant as Shaq.
Not really, but I think it's a valid point when people say Shaq is better than Hakeem. Hakeem played against a few potential HOF centers while Shaq and Yao really didn't.
A rejuvenated 37 year old Shaq is doing better than Yao right now. I'm not a Yao hater,what he needs is 4/5 who can rebound,block, defend and isn't an offensive liability.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200003060LAC.html He was 24/35 from the field, and 13/22 from the line for his 61 points. That amounts to approximately 1.36 points/shot, or a .68 TS%. Very efficient, very dominant. For the game, the Lakers scored at a .634 TS% efficiency. League average for TS% is usually around .53 TS%.
Yao's had any number of games this season where he's gotten around 20 shots a game and still finished strong, so I don't buy the strength and stamina argument. If he's passing out and re-posting, or getting the ball after he's slipped his defender, then wrestling becomes even less of a factor. As for Shaq single handedly elevating a team to championship quality I would say that's absolutely incorrect. He's never won without Kobe or Wade. In fact the only guy in recent history who's credited with single handedly elevating his team to the Finals is Hakeem. He didn't have another superstar on his team for the first championship--and that's also why a lot of writers think that his first championship team is one of the weakest title winners ever. Finally, Deke was brought into that Philly team precisely because he was effective at containing Shaq. Go back and look at some of the old Denver/Orlando games to really see how Deke got that reputation.
So he shot around .68 from the free throw line, meaning he beat his career average by a sizable amount. Guess he had the hot hand that night.
I never understood this argument. You mentioned that Shaq played against the likes of Antonio Davis and Dale Davis. Those guys were very good defenders. You don't have to be a great offensive player, or a "HOF"er, to be a strong post defender.
