I hate to say it, but I'd pick Dirk. He has already won MVP. He has already gone to the finals. He has had better stats.
Dirk will probably be seen as better player for more playoff success (better team, though, put Yao in the same situation, he would've been out of the 1st round already) and higher scoring average. But, in terms of basketball team, I would say Yao Ming, his better low-post player, rebounder, defender (even at his worst/near injury, he is still light years better than Nowitzki), and better effort. I know some people are going to struggle with this one or laugh at, but I am serious when I say this. If the Mavs had a player, like Yao in the middle, no way they lose to the Mavs, Warriors, or Hornets in the playoffs. Could you imagine the kind of shots, players, like Harris, Terry, Stackhouse, Jones, Van Excel, and Nash would've gotten, if Yao was in the middle. For Houston, I believe that would be slightly better offensively, but take tremendous drop defensively. Nowitzki could single-handily take the Rockets into the next round against certain teams, but he would be neutralized in later rounds against tougher defenses. Although, Yao is neutralized on offense (because of fronting), more times than not, Yao can still hit the glass, draw contact, and still put in pretty good defense. Nowitzki is more and ... even more jump shooter.
Dirk has had a lot more talent surrounding him. His impact would have been negligible, if it weren't for the victory over the Spurs. Yao is slower than him and has had fitness problems along with his adjustment issues,however one should not forget Dirk disappears in the big moments quite easily most of the time. He was completely wiped out in the GSW series,ending up with 19.7 points and with virtually no defense to speak of which made a mockery out of the MVP award that he got. He was also unable to step up against the Heat when it really mattered. Guys like Haslem were able to out rebound him despite the huge difference in talent level. This year he has had personal problems and had a great game in Game 4, but couldn't do much apart from scoring and rebounding. He is not a true leader because of his inability to inspire his team. The other guys on his team have to take their share of the blame but once you take Dirk out of his comfort zone,it's over. In that way,he is similar to Yao. The Yao of this year has done as well as Dirk despite the difference in their stats because of Yao's great improvement on the defensive end. Dallas still is a difficult matchup for us though because of their greater overall talent level. If Yao were healthy and on a team with greater talent,I would expect him to have a slightly bigger impact than Dirk at the present time.
Dirk has made the all nba team 9 year including 4 first teams. He has a mvp and been to the finals. You could make an argument for either player, but it would not be a easy one.
Golden State, 2006-07 and Houston, 2004-05 - Offensively Defensively, he hasn't shut anybody down in the playoffs or played particular outstanding.
I guess you didn´t see the Mavs-Spurs series of 2006, he was great on both ends. I take dirk, he is much more durable and very difficult to remove from the game. Plus, he was always a first option for like 7 years and did it very well.
I am huge Yao supporter and a fan but right now I would have to pick Dirk. I don't like some part of his game, especially the constant flopping and whining act that he does to get calls. Yao cannot be rather easily taken out of the game by fronting defense and Dirk cannot be as easily be taken out of the game.
Each to his own,but that was the only series that he played great in. Apart from that,all he has done is score for the most part. Put him on a weaker squad and he won't look all that good. I do agree that he is physically durable.
Against Houston, he averaged almost 22 ppg. He may have averaged 35% from the floor against us, but did go to the line over 9 times a game. And he did average almost 2 blocks and 9 rebounds a game against us, so he's not defensively r****ded as he's portrayed. Golden State was constructed to exploit Dallas's weaknesses. There were essentially sacrificing the rest of their playoffs just so they could beat Dallas. If I had Dirk on my team, I wouldn't be too worried about other teams following GSW's model.
You may say Yao is a more dominant and actually play defense but anytime you compare 2 players, first 2 things to look at forever will be stats and career achievement. Dirk has better stats, both season and career palyoffs and has been a MVP, numerous all-nba and a trip to the finals. What more to say, everytime seem like Dirk went down with serious injury he would miracle healed whereas everytime Yao seem to be finally healthy he will go down with fracture! Dirk will probably go down the league history as the best import ever to play in NBA(sorry Duncan is not considered as foreign player)
I'm as big of a Rockets fan there is and I hate the Mavs just as much as any of you do. however, the facts are facts, and Dirk has accomplished more in his career than Yao has at this point. If Yao can stay healthy and Houston continues to have good players around Yao, then it'll be a different story.
Both are soft both don't play defense. Dirk rebounds better but Yao blocks more shots. Dirk has won an MVP and has been to the finals. So Dirk in a second
