From my YouTube subscriptions, this is a non-Rockets fan take. Like many, Yao was my favorite player at one point.
Really really hate all the casuals that say he was only good because of his size. Yao would've been BETTER had he been smaller. His size was his only flaw. Dude could do everything a big man needed to do and more.
Best shooting touch I've ever seen on someone over 7 feet*. And one of the hardest working Rockets ever when it came to hours on the practice court. * Yeah, Kareem had the best-shot-ever sky hook, but he wasn't that amazing from 12+ feet. Then again, he didn't have to be.
Yao would've been top 5 greatest centers of all time if healthy. He could literally get his shot on anybody. I don't think JVG was the right coach for Yao. Had Adelman coached him from the beginning he'd been even better
If he were about 7'1 or 7'2 he may have avoided those foot issues but hey it is what it is. Excellent player with a hell of a lot of heart.
I think he's a EVEN better than Shaq. He dwarfed over Shaq and make him look small. Shaq can't shoot over him but Yao can and that's the difference. Yao changed the interior game because nobody can do anything inside when he's there. Most teams....fear to attack inside because of his presence. So most of the time when they play the Rockets, they're forced to make jump shots.
Yao's mom has an account on CF! Seriously, saying Shaq was better doesn't mean Yao wasn't great. You may be the only person on the planet not living in China who thinks Yao was better than Shaq. And Yao is one of my favorite players ever.
Yao Ming if healthy could have been as dominant as Shaq was, except he did it through skill whereas Shaq was just a beast. I feel like Yao was born too early, he should have been born in today's NBA where he will easily be a top 3 player. Today's NBA would have maximized his shooting touch, he would be Porzingis 2.0 except better since he will also have post moves and shooting touch across the entire floor. He got his injuries from always absorbing contact in the paint and getting ganged up by goons, in today's NBA that would be minimized a lot.
LOL c'mon bro. Shaq in his prime changed the entire NBA, they developed the 3 sec rule just specifically to stop Shaq. Shaq is one of the best centers in history, Yao Ming is not better since he got injured and we never know what he can truly be capable of.
his only flaw is that he was too daam big! as a normal 7 footer he'd either still be in the league or reitred not long ago.
Good skills... nice shooting touch... Idk if I could say his skill set and abilities were 'great'... but, the best attitude you could hope for in a player for your team! A hard working, unselfish perennial team player... thats what made him great.
I love JVG but Yao could’ve been much more if JVG had used him more like a modern big. The Rockets offense suffered with Yao because post offense sucked ass and made the offense slow and turnover prone. Once Yao got in position and had the ball he could score efficiently but any Rockets fan who watched that team in the mid-2000s were pulling out their hairs out watching teams front Yao and us failing to get the ball inside. Yao was great and his defense was massively underrated by all the “he should average 15rpg cause he’s tall” people. But there were a lot of flaws which I think in large part had to do with how he was used. His shot was amazing and should’ve done a lot more pnr pnp actions to help him conserve energy and kept himself slimmer and less injury prone over the course of his career
Shaq’s skill level is ridiculously underrated. He wasn’t just a bull. Love Yao as much as any player not named Hakeem but even if we presume health it’s a real stretch to say he would have even approached Shaq level.
