Let's not forget that Yao was just about the worst pick and roll defender ever. I say that, and I like Yao, but he seemed to be a liability on defense to me. As far as offense goes, one word - fronting. You can say everything you want about how fronting could be neutralized, I didn't see the Rockets ever prove it to be a flawed strategy. Yao might feast on teams during the regular season when a team barely had any time to prepare, but in a 7 game series, teams usually would figure out how to exploit Yao. I don't think Yao is even close to a Top 5 center. And heck yes, I would take a Mourning in his prime over Yao. But that's my opinion.
Offensively Yao was the top 5 players. He may not have the go to moves like Hakeem or Kareem but once Yao posted up, he was simply too big and tall to stop with the old rules. Defensively Yao was bottom 5 players. He was simply too slow. One more thing, you didn't need rule change to stop Yao. All you need was to front him. That being said, in his prime year, i.e 22/10/2, at most you can put him in the top12 all time center list.
Tinman I want to ask u a question as I didn't watch basketball religiously till 1994. Do u think Yao would have been a dominant center against the ewings, mornings ext in that era keep in mind the rules and his offensive game ?
Keep in mind Dwight and Bynum were both young when they played Yao. We never saw them in their prime play against Yao. Instead, we saw a prime Yao play against the young centers.
top 10. easy. but not top 5... unless we take out wilt and russell due to era... maybe then he would be top 5.
Unless he inexplicably tried to dribble (which he often did) and a guard stole the ball away from him. Why a 7'6 guy posting it up in the paint needs to dribble, I have no idea.
The Houston team of T Mac and Yao was one heck of a team. They lost unfairly to a low blow lakers team who went on to win the championship.
Mutumbo should not be here on this list. He came to the Rockets when he was way past his prime. Yes he gave us more than we expected when Yao went down, But seriously we all thought he was going to break whenever he ran up and down the court.
Word. I will say though, that despite his weakness defending PnR, his presence alone defines what an "anchor on defense" is in modern NBA, and he was much more of a plus on D than liability. Big part of why Rockets were top 5-10 defense for that stretch of several years. I feel like things were finally starting to click in 08-09 (seven years into the league) under Rick's offense as far as beating the front (lots of side to side passing, catching defenses off guard). But by then... well, you know.
Yeah man, I wouldn't say Mourning was no where near Yao. They both produced and put points on the board. I could argue for Yao being a better offensive player in the sense that he was a really good passer, from the high post and low post. Part of the reason I would say that you could run an offense "through" Yao moreso than Zo. I think the two were close enough overall that you'd have to look at which system you'd be plugging them into to decide who is "better", but I would say Zo had a better career overall. Peak to peak, I'd give a slight edge to Yao, notwithstanding injuries (which is kind of unreasonable, and a measure of individual greatness that doesn't really hold as much value to me).
Mourning was a beast, was all over the court, disruptive, set the tone for his teams on D, and did a lot of stuff that doesn't show up in box scores.
Yao did a lot of stuff on defense that didn't get show up either for 4 or 5 yrs us and the spurs were the two best defensive teams in the league and I know you guys are rockets fans so u must know that the first year Yao went down we went to being one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Yao was a beast and a very special player on offense. Go back and read coaches quotes and players quotes about Yao during the 06-09. They all say the same thing. That he is the best and most unstoppable big man in the game that's from His peers and coaches I think they know more then us.
says, "YaoMing#1" I really liked Yao as a person...but you're not going to find an analyst anywhere other than Clutchfans or the People's Republic of China that puts him in the discussion for top 5 centers in NBA history.
The OP should have said top 10 instead of top 5. Its still a stretch, but it would have made for a better discussion.
I think Yao would be fine offensively. The problem he has is the same problem now. He'll get into foul trouble against the quicker centers plus his dexterity. in 93-94 Olajuwon averaged 41 minutes a game. Yao's highest average was 37. For being in the top 5, you have to have mvps, championships, finals mvps, dpoy, etc.
