You mean the old highlight vids where most of his points come from within 6 feet or closer to the basket?
I think Yao woud have benefited more had he played in the 90's when they had true center's. Oppose to the 00's when they started to transition to the PF/C center hybrid to move to a more uptempo game. Although, I think now we may start seeing a switching of the guard at the center spot. With more traditional center's slowly coming back in to play... Demarcus Cousins, Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, Andrew Bogut, Andrew Bynum, Javele McGee, DeAndre Jordan, Greg Monroe, Kendrick Perkins, Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez, Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas.... There's also a influx of incoming talent at the position just over the horizon with the 2013 NBA Draft: Andre Drummond, Isiah Austin, Dajuan Coleman, Cameron Ridley, Kaleb Tarczewski -- all top ten recruits in the class of 2012.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=mingya01&p2=howardw01 I think article is good showing that Yao was better than Howard, but has Howard has gotten somewhat better offensively since then, so I don't know if healthy can is better than him now.
Videos like this actually make me sad. It just brings up all the 'what if' questions again. No one questions his ability when he was healthy. But we are not going to get the healthy version Yao Ming back. Let it go Rockets fans.
"Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks at age 17, and averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. However, his next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches" from wikipedia
The old highlight vids where he was more of a passer and distributor and was agile enough to get out on the fast break.
That Yao, Francis, Mobley combo could have been deadly if given an opportunity to grow with each other. They all played with so much heart and desire to win. I wish CD and the Rockets would have given these 3 another yr or so to grow with each other.
yea, that 04 rockets team had just given that lakers team with shaq/kobe/payton/malone all they could handle then they broke the team up if not mistaken.. Steve Francis will forever be my 2nd favorite Rocket player of all time.. we all know who my #1 is
I'd like to go out on a limb (and I know many will not agree to this because it is SO debatable) and say injuries killed the era.
he's got skill, heart, and lots of broken bones... if there's lockout, then it's time to say bye to Yao as a player..
That Yao + TMac pick and roll was deadly.... Howard, Head, Rafer, Wesley, Bowen, Hayes....not so much
