I voted for a current coach because I don't think having a former superstar center means they'd be a good mentor. It's like having a genius as your math tutor. They may assume you get it because it "naturally" comes easily to them. May lead to more frustration than progress.
Gots to be Moses. Yao doesn't need to learn offense as much as defensive intensity. I think Yao will easily be able to learn offensive strategies with coaches and patience. Moses would bring a whole new side
you can't teach defensive intensity. i chose kareem b/c he is much more cerebral than hakeem and moses. the game came naturally to hakeem, but when he got hurt, he lost it...which proves that basketball was all instinctual for hakeem....something you can't teach. kareem, on the other hand, prolonged his career into his early 40s, proving that he knew how to play the game and how to be effective. also, can you imagine the conversation hakeem would have with yao?...is basketball their common language b/c we know english isn't!
If you want Yao to learn defense then I would certainly pick Hakeem over Moses. Maybe if you want to teach Yao about rebounding you'd pick Moses. But I agree with persiandog, I don't think you can really teach those things. It's all physical ability and will power.
Yao is fresh and unique, let him develop on his own. Dont you think Yao seems intelligent enough to figure it all out on his own. How can Yao revolutionize the game if we have Hakeem and Malone conditioning his mind and brainwashing him to be like them. yeah thats not a bad thing, but Yao is Yao, let him be. man keep them hall of fame has-beens away from Yao. Walton, Moses, and Hakeem need to stay away from Yao and go play in some senior citizen pickup games down at the Fond. Rec center or something. ; )
You should change the poll from Kareem to Ralph Sampson because Kareen never said he would mentor Yao.
the best mentor for yao is kareem because they are similar. both play a finesse game. also, kareem can really teach yao his unstoppable sky hook, which he used to shoot outside of the the paint.
Kareem took a low paying job as a Clippers assistant to teach Kandi-man. Surely the prospect of teaching Yao would intrigue him. IMO, Kareem's overall game has more semblance to Yao's game than Moses, Dream or Ralph. Plus as someone else mentioned, he's probably the most cerebral of the group.
