love yao but he was a crap defender. his offense was great but he should have gotten lessons from dream on how to be a better defender. he used his body to defend instead of his arms and going for the block. that always drove me crazy about yao. go for the block. screw that cheap ass shane battier style defense.
I wouldn't call Yao a "crap defender". His lateral reactive moves was not good, or clumsy, but his height alone made him a formidable interior defender that deter a lot of shots.
Notice no fronting of Yao in this video. You could take Yao out of the game if you were willing to put in the effort to front him.
Hes 7ft6. He doesn't have the athleticism of a much smaller center to jump out and hedge and all that. What made him good defensively was that he was massive and could lock down the paint. Issues arose though when you had players who could pull him out of the paint.
God DAMN I miss Yao. The guy was a total package. A man that big who was that skilled will, mark my words, NEVER happen again. He was a literal freak of nature that put his ass in the gym to become GREAT. Watching him was an absolute pleasure and we all should count ourselves lucky to have witness what could have been a top 5 center of all time. He would still be dominating today had China not run him into the ground when he was younger, and if his feet werent so brittle. I always felt like he would have a shortened career, men that large arent meant to run 3 miles almost non stop for 82 games + playoffs. Its why I treasured every second of him. He will always be my favorite center, no offense to Hakeem. I like him more just because people dont realize how much harder it is to be as great as he was in every facet (Shooting, Passing, Defense) at that size. Sorry for the rant but watching that video of him v Howard made me really nostalgic.
That's one of the biggest reasons they couldn't get past the Jazz. Okur always dragged him out of the paint, so in response the Rockets would put Yao on Boozer but Boozer was quick and strong enough to get past Yao in the paint. That team was ideal for defeating Yao... ugh I hate the Jazz.
Fronting only, could not take Yao out of the game, you need a secondary player to roam behind Yao to protect the lob pass. Yao wasn't fast enough to get away out of this defense, that's why Houston always miss a good reliable 3 point shooters to punish teams from double teaming Yao without the ball. Portland in the playoff adopted that defensive strategy and Houston made them pay for it. Single cover vs Yao especially with a typical old school big man never worked.
Yes I remember watching those Orlando-Houston game where yes Yao dominated Dwight but let's not forget some few points there. Dwight's game is mainly based on his strength and athletisism by out powering other big men with his strengh. Yao is 7'6'' 310 lbs and Dwight 6'11'' (at best) 280 lbs. It means, it's like me (5'11'') 180 lbs playing inside against someone 6'6'' and 210 lbs. Of course, Dwight couldn't get past Yao because Yao had more strength and size thus making it very difficult for Dwight to gain position down low and score any point and defending Yao was difficult as well for him.
the closest thing to a center that big and skilled as Yao was probably Arvydas Sabonis who still had about 3 inches less, but about the same weight. he was another center who would have been a top 5 all time if the USSR only had released him ten years before he eventually played in the NBA. by then, he was already in his 30s and his knee injuries took away all his athleticism. the guy was actually very athletic (had good hops and ran the floor well) and an excellent passer, shooter and shot blocker as well. he just dominated Robinson maybe even worse than Hakeem did.
Dwight was a green pea back when Yao owned him. The difference in age and experience loomed large in that matchup. Plus, you also must consider the fact that Yao had more help back then. Howard was lead dog of Orlando from day one, never had a counterpart like Tmac. Indeed, a large task for the young big man to overcome.
