I used to remember watching Ralph play as a young man. Getting hyped up everytime Ralph thought he was a point guard dribbling through the lane for a in close scoop shot or dunk. My question is this. Take away Ralphs bad knee's, and the fact that he had to give up his game for the other Center on the team Akeem. Was Ralph a better player then Yao is? I know we have a very small sample with which to work from of maybe 2 years from Ralph. But who was better? Ralph definately had the handles on Yao, better post up game, a better rebounder, and defender. As to Yao is a better passer, has a softer touch, is a better shooter, and as of last year, a better scorer.
Ralph was amazing, he is like a taller version of garnett I am the biggest Yao fan, but Yao can never move and run like Ralph I would choose Yao for the current rockets team based on a half court set but Ralph would be great on a running team
Ralph started out being better sooner. Ralph came in and didn't have the same adjustment period that Yao did. So at this point in both of their careers Ralph had the advantage. While Yao's ascension might be slower I think he won't have too much trouble having a longer period of excllence, and therefore should surpass Sampson.
I hated when I heard Robinson and Duncan callled the twin towers. They were nothing compared to what Ralph and Akeem were/should have been.
Using your criteria, I would have to say Ralph. In my opinion, he was certain to be a Hall of Famer, had he stayed healthy. Yao certainly may end up there as well. He's developing the skills and dominating play that would put him there, should he remain healthy, but based on play up until now, and comparing what I saw of Sampson prior to his fall in Boston, during the Finals in '86, I have to go with Ralph.
Polls including Yao are useless, He wins them everytime. I bet he would edge out the Dream if you made a poll. Yao is very good but Ralph was Abdul Jabbar with athleticism. Ralph Sampson was like Dwight Howard in terms of athleticism and was like Yao in terms of moves and fundamentals. Yao lacks athleticism to be compared to Ralph.
Ralph had the skills. If he wouldnt have blown his knees out we would now be comparing him with the greatest centers ever and he would be able to pay support for those kids.
Ralph Sampson never fulfilled his potential, he was to be a great one!! Hakeem fulfilled his potential and is a great. Yao Ming is fulfilling his potential and will become a great one! He has a few more seasons to go to reach his peak.
Correct. The flaw with the poll is that the overwhelming majority here never saw Sampson play. And no, sporadic Rockets' playoffs on the NBATV channel don't count. LATE THOUGHT...Ralph moved out of the low post to make room for Dream. Really can't imagine Yao as a PF.
Ralph was FAR better than Yao....FAR better.....and for longer periods of time. He came into the league averaging 20+ppg and 10 rpg. People forget how good Ralph was....he was every bit as good as Hakeem.....his knees just let him down. Yao needs to play 2 or more years at 20+ and 10+ and then he will be in Ralph's league. Polls like this are worthless, because so few people around here got to see Ralph in his prime. DD
I disagree. Ralph was good but was never dominant at the pro level. He didn't command the attention Dream and Yao command. He was more like garnett, put up amazing numbers and could do more things than anyone else but never had and unstoppable move that made the defense adjust.
Ralph. Hands down. Compare their first 3 years when both were healthy: Ralph's efficiency ratings 24.01, 23.39, 22.85 Yao's efficiency ratings 17.65, 20.57, 20.60 Ralph's appoximate value 14.0, 13.8, 13.1 Yao's appoximate value 11.2, 12.5, 12.3 Ralph's versatility index 7.8, 8.5, 9.1 Yao's versatility index 5.7, 6.2, 4.9 Those are pretty stark contrasts. Ralph also made 3 3-pters compared to only 1 for Yao, so that pretty much cinches it.
Per-minute, per-possession and other stats say that Sampson was highly overrated. Going by PER (counting just his first 3, healthy seasons), Sampson was an above-average player, but no superstar. His best season was his rookie year, where he had a PER of 20.1. Sampson's scoring wasn't that efficient. He was efficient in his rookie season (0.551 TS%), but was just about average in 1985 (0.533) and was actually below average in 1986 (0.516). Sampson was also very turnover prone, with well over 14% of the possessions he personally used up being TOs. Sampson's per-game stats were very inflated by his team's pace. The 80s were a fast-paced era, and the Rockets were one of the fastest-paced teams in those days. In his rookie year, each team in a Rockets game had about 104.7 possessions during the course of the game. For comparison, the 2006 Phoenix Suns had a pace of 95.8 possessions per game, and Yao's 2006 Rockets had a pace of 88.0. When you consider efficiency and adjust for team pace, Yao is the much better player.
<---- too young to know what ralph played like. all i got are highlites and even Ha looks good on highlites.
But at the same time, turnovers and inefficieny rises when you run a faster team. Also, Sampson didn't get to play on the post very much, as Olajuwon was holding that spot, which meant he was out taking more jumpshots and roaming around more. The post is the most efficient place to shoot and make shots which explains why dominant centers generally get the best field goal percentages.
