i still believe that we'd had won a ring or two if both T-mac and Yao were 100% healthy during that 22 winning streak season and the season with Ron Artest. so yeah, Yao is my pick.
Not If you follow defensive ability, in which Yao was significantly more valuable than Ralph. Smarter rotations = Quicker rotations... When healthy, truly one of the best defensive anchors in NBA history. But turned the ball over on the perimeter like he was 7-4...
Ralph Sampson PER for the Rockets: 17.1 Yao Ming PER for his entire career: 23.0 ALL the stats match the eye test. Real Rocket fans know about Ralph's limits. He wasn't Hakeem, he wasn't Moses, he wasn't Yao...
And if David Stern didn't have that alleged sting operation on the Rockets in the 86-87 season for beating his beloved Lakers...?
that's too many 'Ifs' Ralph took us to the finals and when Dream was kicked out of the game vs the Lakers, Ralph stepped up and took us to the Finals. I factor in that he did that against Kareem and Magic and defending champions.
Only Yao Ming didn't make the NBA Finals out of the names you mentioned And when Dream was out of the game vs the Lakers, one player took over and took us to the Finals. It was Ralph Sampson. also the buzzer sounded like the buzzer back in the day
I dont know man. I wasnt old enough to watch Ralph play or i wasnt into rockets then. Im only 37. You must be in your 40's .
I think Yao would be a better 3pt shooter than Ralph. It'd be hard to predict what he could do if he wasn't exclusively positioned in the low post.
Yo Josh Smith is dope too, until he got waxed by GSW. Doesn't mean he is better than Yao Ming, who jogged back on the floor completely broken against the soon to be champion LAL, repping the H. Are we counting "making the finals" as a real accomplishment now? Come on son. Especially after our showing against Boston... (Ralph throwing up bricks and playing shoddy defense: .487 TS% ) Rodney was the 2nd best Houston Rocket in the FINALS... Not sure where Ralph disappeared to, but let's not re-write history and act like he showed up.
You mean when Ralph Sampson got ejected for fighting? you sure your remember? or did you not watch the entire game on youtube
Yao had issues getting rebounds vs that bad Utah Jazz team can't say he can hold his own against McHale, Bird, and Parrish , the NBA champions Let's not forgot Kareem Abdul Jabbar Ralph had to face tougher competition in the playoffs then Memeh Okur @TheRealist137
But you saw how they stopped Yao ? They simply fronted him and nobody on our team could pass it to him Ralph can ball handle like a point forward so he can create for himself
it's pretty tough to be objective about yao's true value given just how often he was injured. Even the one year during his era that we were favored to win the playoff series against the jazz, he seemed a level worse than the previous year. Watching that jazz series, he definitely did not dominate okur the way we needed him to, and boozer gave him all kinds of fits on the other end (bad matchup). As mentioned, for being 7'6, yao's rebounding also was a little shoddy as his lack of athleticism really hurt him at times. That jazz series was a little crazy though because of him having to chase boozer and one of the first floor spacing 5s in okur. Even if the jazz did miss their 3's, rebounding long misses was naturally harder for a guy like yao who didn't have the agility or vertical to secure them. And on offense, as much as we love the chuck wagon, having him as our starting 4 severely limited yao's (and the team's) overall spacing. I wonder how much of all this was due to the lack of personnel we had or JVG's coaching decisions ... All to say ... I think we really only saw yao's prime in that 2006 season before the 22 game winning streak, when he was averaging 25 &10 on a consistently dominant basis. Ever since then and post-injury, leading up to the Jazz series, he seemed like he was already exiting his prime and struggled with guys like okur. I can only guess from the highlights I've seen of Ralph that he was a lot more nimble and laterally quick than yao. But I don't doubt his overall talent that he displayed against superior bigs in that day. Seemed like he ran the floor well and had the big man moves for a guy that was 7'3. I wish I got to see more of him and a young dream but ya. Who knows though ...
it's impossible to recreate that 80s era now because the game is so different. but as far as a modern center, he completely fits the bill now. and a Rocket fan knows that beating the defending champ Lakers in 86 sent shockwaves through the league. no rocket team has taken down a team that good in the playoffs . Prime showtime Lakers > Utah Jazz with Boozer or Portland or Mavs of the yao era
