That team along with the 22-win team and the 05 playoff squad were my favorites since the Hakeem era. Memories
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dR_RI9cB4Mc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> He was the best center since Hakeem - Howard is not even close. DD
That was the thing about Yao. Sure, he was huge. But he was so much more than that. There have been other huge players in the NBA before- Shawn Bradley, Gheorge Muresan, Manute Bol, Rik Smits- but almost all of the freakishly tall players were just tall, freakishly tall and not much else. Yao was, by far, the most skilled freakishly huge player in the NBA. He had a devastating turn around jumper and baby hook shot. He had good range on his jump shot. With his size, he would be able to shoot over the top of almost anyone. His defense, while not the best, was pretty good just due to his sheer size. Sure, he had his weaknesses. He had slow foot speed, so if the guy that he was defending could spread the floor (I hated Mehmet Okur so bad) and get him out of the paint, he would really be out of position. Also due to his lack of athleticism, opposing defenses could front him and make it hard for him to get the ball. Or send a double team to him without him being quick enough to get around it. But still, when I think of Yao, I always think of what could have been if only he hadn't dealt with so many injuries.
Also, any time we talk about Yao Ming, I feel like we have to look at some of his photos. They are always funny! Spoiler JJ Watt looks like a high schooler!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ki8x0zOTGDY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Sure miss the big fella. DD
Lot of Howard vs. Yao debates back then when Dwight was healthy and better. Overwhelmingly in favor of Howard, you can't say that anymore, Dwight hasn't improved still relying on that declining athleticism. Dwight brings a ring to Houston and he still has a chance to cement his legacy in Houston but right now Yao will go down as the better center.
Both Yao & Dwight are handcuffed by Refs anyway. The only difference is Yao can actually make his FTs.
good point. i have a curious question about this. yao i believe his shooting % is above 50% and his ft% is not at 90%. so why didnt teams hack-a-yao? they'd still be better off, esp. if yao's hot in a game.
I'd figure that a strategy like that had more to do with Yao's teammates than Yao himself, ibm. First, in practical terms, you don't resort to a "Hack-A-Yao" strategy because you're not having the impact on the game that you might notice Even if, somehow, a coach can convince himself that the tradeoff for fouling Yao Ming was worth it (and it wasn't, for the record...although it would probably be close to death by Chinese water torture...and maybe Yao would be okay with that...!)... ...you prematurely put the rest of the Rockets in the free-throw penalty for the rest of the period/game, and make it that much harder to defend the Rockets, for one thing... ...and that right there might be why you consider resorting to something like that. Most of us saw how people were generally committed to defending Yao, if they had their druthers. You front and three-quarter Yao, and make his teammates have a difficult time getting him the basketball when he posts up. A good passing team (or, a team accustomed to playing with a good/great big man), learns early on how to get the ball to him, no matter what defense is set up against him. Post entry passes are something of a lost art in and of themselves...especially in today's game... ..or, if you had the personnel and you had a team routinely cheating off the perimeter guys to sit in Yao's lap in those junk zone defenses, you send your wings into the paint with cutters...swing your guards around the top of the key/free-throw line extended to create passing lanes into Yao or finish drives to the basket or get some weak-side open jumper shots against that collapsing defense.... ...basically, you don't stand around and let anybody take Yao out of the game like that.
Yao had good mid range and creative post game in his rookie season. Imagine Rudy T coaching Yao all his career...
better person and player. Also he was unstoppable if you could actually get him the ball unlike a certain someone.
