Out of curiosity: Yao or Howard, now that we have Howard

Yao was never healthy and not dependable so this is a pointless debate. You could never count on him. I remember those days, each game you'd be worried that one of our stars would get injured.

 

If Asik could play with this team, Yao could. You don't need all 5 guys to run at all time. The center's role on a running team is to secure the rebound and make a quick outlet pass. Yao would have no problem filling that role.

In the half court game, Yao would be more lethal than Dwight. As someone pointed out, Harden and Yao together would make tons of free throws.

 

Yao started his career in Houston and retired a Rocket. He will be remembered as a Rockets legend. Choosing him over Howard isn't any less homerific (Is that even a word? Maybe homeristic?).

 

Better question: Who would you rather have, a healthy Yao or a motivated TMac?

 

a healthy yao gives you everything howard have (ok, maybe a bit less D), + a midrange game ... and no hack a yao ! but i guess he would be less active on instagram and twitter though ...

 

Well, you missed a "healthy" for T-Mac...

 

Yao's main strength was his incredible 1v1 abilities, in addition to high bbIQ, FTs, and above average defense. However, it's really difficult to ignore his very clear weakness, namely mobility. This affected his abilities to contribute on the fast break, to switch to the smaller man or show hard when guarding the PnR, to guard players with a good face up game (e.g. Boozer), or to contribute to the defense at all when drawn out by a 3pt-shooting center (e.g. Okur).

Yao destroyed traditional centers. But in today's increasingly run-and-gun NBA with more and more 3pt shooting big men, he would have a tough time. Dwight's high mobility allows him to guard every type of player and make athletic blocks from out of position, as well as occasionally get out on the break.

This debate is pretty similar to the argument of whether the Rockets will be able to run and take quick good shots in the playoffs. If they can, then a Howard/Harden team is clearly better. If they can't and are forced to play slow in the half court, then Yao might be better. But that's not a sure thing, since other teams would still be able to take advantage of Yao by matching him vs. a Nowitzki/Bosh/Ibaka type.

 

Yao wasn't very good at the pick and roll. Okur and Boozer abused him. He also wasn't a good rebounder for his size. If you ran the offense through him you had to spend so much time getting him the ball.

I think he did so well against Howard because Howard tried to play behind him and let him catch the ball. Once Yao got the ball it was kind of hard to stop him. A 7-6 guy who could shoot and had some skills is pretty much impossible to stop. If Howard decided to front him he would have been much more successful against Yao.

I just don't think yao would really fit in with this team. In the Yao era we played pretty slow. In the post yao era we play super fast. If Yao got hurt playing slow I couldn't imagine him staying healthy in a high pace offense.

 

One thing on Yao was that he could be stopped if you had a player fast and strong enough to front him. It wasn't until his last season, we finally figured out how to get him the ball when he was fronted. That being said, Yao was a freak of an athlete. 7'6, 300 pounds that had the softest hands never come around. If the NBA called the game fair on him, he would of averaged over 30 points in his career no doubt. He wasn't a great rebounder though.

I have to go Yao. He outplayed Howard in their primes.

 

yes you're right with this team howard fits better

 

Dwight during regular season

Yao during playoffs

 

Not really. Yao is a giant plodder every second he was on the court. You can't play an uptempo offense with him in the game, and he's never going to be as effective moving without the ball in space as Dwight is/was, and he always is going to have trouble with smaller, quicker defenders.

These types of things are always present.

The Hack-a-Howard is an occasional strategy that desperate teams use, and it hasn't even worked that well this year.

Not true at all. Remember when Van Gundy left and Adelman came in, the predictions of an "up tempo" motion Adelman offense resulted in - the Rockets playing at the exact same pace as under Van Gundy, due to Yao's plodding nature. The only marked increases in pace occurred during his frequent absences.

 

Offensively: Yao
Defensively: Howard

 

Yao was never healthy. Thats the problem.

 

Huh....?

Dwight took The Magic to the Finals with a bunch of role players

 

Really depends on how far the Harden/Howard team can go.

A fairly broken down version of Yao willed us to important wins in the Blazers/Laker series ... then he broke down for good.

 

YOU CAN'T BEAT HEALTH!!!

 

I want Yao, but with Dream's agility and killer instinct.

And definitely Yao's free throw touch. :grin:

 

Dwight since there is no such thing as a healthy Yao at least past his first two seasons but if there was yea it would be Yao....