sicne 05-06 season, when healthy, yao was the best center, and light years ahead as the best offensive center.
What do you guys think if Yao was on this team instead of Dwight would the Rockets be better or worse? The Rockets would have to adjust to more half court sets and we would slow the pace some but Yao would give you more offense than Dwight.
Yao with Harden would be even more deadly but as many have pointed out: Yao was the best center in the NBA and nobody was even close (between 2004-2009).
I have been very critical of Yao since his retirement. I have said times before that my lasting memory of this dude is him sitting on the bench in his Armani suit when we needed him the most in the 2011 playoffs. We could have gone all the way in that year if only this dude could stay healthy for just another month. That said, I have to say whoever said the effectiveness of Yao could easily be neutralized by fronting might not have touched a basketball in his life before. Right...it was so easy that Yao averaged 20 pts in his career. Does that mean he could have averaged 35 pts without being fronted? The truth is that fronting could only be effective for a short duration of time in each game. Just try to front someone who is half a foot and 50 lbs heavier than you for only 5 minutes and see how you feel. You would be so exhausted to even walk around. Stop sitting in front of your computer to make dumb posts. Get outside and pick up a basketball to really experience the game.
Damned it, it was so closed. We took fakers to game 7. With Yao, we should have won it all that year.
What? You don't agree we could have gone all the way if Yao managed to stay healthy in that year? Face it, we lost the chance to win it all because of his stupid injury.
He stood out cos he was a tall asian in a league with no other Asians. Apart from that, he had some solid post moves but could never rebound according to what his height advantage gave him. He was a pioneer and a nostalgic reminder of back to the basket post play done well.
He was a top 10 player from 2005-2009. Injuries derailed a lot of his career, but you cannot question his talent, his magnificent post-game, and his heart and dedication to this team and this city.
I never understand this kind of logic. The so-called "pound for pound" or "inch for inch" thing. Well if a 7'6 300 lbs dude could move like a 6'0 150 lbs guy, he'd be the greatest basketball player ever. Everything equal, would you prefer a 6'9 center who could get 8 rpg or a 7'6 center with 9rpg? Sure the advantage was not proportional to the size advantage, but why would that matter? All you should care is the actual outcome.
When Yao came back from that first injury (I believe), around the second half of the season, man...guys were bouncing off of him, he was moving fluidly/strong.. truly dominating and showing what he was going to become. He'd gotten time off from that insane schedule w/Chinese commitments and NBA hoops that ultimately IMO caused his injuries and cost him his career . He was rested, bulked up, and had grown into his body. And that was that.....Never the same again.
Yao averaged 20 points a game because teams didn't front all the time, they only fronted when they needed to. Duh.
