if I may inject... I have followed both this year (roto geek that I am) Z is not the focus of the offense - he gets some of his points off hook shots (over the 6'7" Centers in the East) and a LOT off tip ins from LJ misses (again... over the 6'7" Centers) also, Yao has more versitility and demands the double team and still gets his, Z is slower and usually scores off one on ones bottom line - Yao plays like a more skilled/refined Center (I think he would be good at 6'10" - as long as he was a bit faster) Z is a more of a TALL player with a few skills - drop him down to Boozer's height, and he is back in Europe
z is constantly benched for his lack of defense. theres no secret why the rockets are so great defensively. for example, the previous 3 years before yao arrived, our defense allowed 449, 456, and 464 from the field. yaos first year, we allow 433 (which was 7th best) and this year a league high 404. and thats just yaos effect on team defense, yao is an excellent man on man defender for his size. scoring wise, big z has range. but he does not have as great footwork (the closest comparison of footwork to dream before yao was KG, after the pacers game last year ----the move under the basket thats all i have to say) or the repetoire of postmoves that yao posesses. as for his passing ability, someone mentioned the fact that their assist numbers are similar. this doesnt tell the whole story though. z does not have yaos passing ability, nor vision. yao sees plays before they happen, can deliver simple effective passes, or the spectacular highlight reel pass. this is all without regard to yaos youth which entitles him to more physical development, growth in maturity on the court, acclimation to the nba, not getting veteran treatment by the refs let alone the superstar treatment he will get.
You can argue that Big Z right now is only a shell of what he used to be in his rookie year. He maybe more experienced, but he lost a lot of the quickness and athleticism that he used to have due to the series of foot injuries that he suffered. Yao's edge over big Z now is his health. He has managed to stay healthy despite of playing non-stop for a LONG time. His solid base gives me hope that he will be an exeption to the so-called big man injuries (lower-body injuries).
Look at AS's numbers, he is better than Yao. Look at EB's numbers, Yao is nothing. But I don't think so.
You would be right, except for the facts. Let's compare Yao's stats this year against the best that Z has ever accomplished: - Shooting percentage: Yao .539 this year; Z's best was .518 in '97-98. - Points per game: Yao 17.6 this year; Z's best was 17.2 in '02-03. - Rebounds per game: Yao 8.90 this year; Z's best was 8.80 in '98-99. In other words, we cherry pick the best statistic Z has ever put up, independently for each category. (That's why each of Z's numbers comes from a different year.) The comparison is very unfair, of course, since the cherry picking in Z's case hugely biases the numbers in his favor -- but even so, Yao is better across the board in the most important categories for centers. Furthermore, Yao's numbers are his season's averages. If we're allowed to focus only on the last 2 months, Yao looks ridiculously better than Z (except for rebounding): - Shooting percentage: .552 - Points per game: 21.05 - Rebounds per game: 8.35 And as others have pointed out, Z plays in the easier Eastern conference, and has to fight many fewer double teams. And we haven't even begun to talk about Yao's defence. I don't think there's any doubt: Yao in his sophomore year is much better than Z has ever been.
I'm not sure you understand what goes into determining the efficiency. Everything stat related goes into the efficiency score. Points, rebounds, steals, blocks, etc. That's why KG is #1.
Zydrunas in his younger years was a monster. I remember seeing him put up big numbers every night. He's not like Ostertag. He's got skills. That's a reason why he got the max contract he did before the foot injury messed him up. Noone gets a max contract just on pure luck. Even Steve Francis showed skills before he got his max contract.
Yao's not even shooting jumpers like Z does. What post move does Z have? Why does he shoot so many jumpers? Cav is cav for a reason.
Here's a website that uses statistic analysis to rate players. It also describes the rating system and compares it to other systems. http://www.magicmetric.com/
Yao's a much better defender. Our team doesn't allow as many people to get to the rim for Yao to block 2.4 a game, while Cleveland depends on Illgauskas to clean everything up. Yao's also much better in the post, much stronger too. He's taller. He's got more range. He still has more time to develop. Oh, and most importantly, Yao is the man on his team going to the playoffs. Illgauskas is second to Bron and possibly Booz on his team. Let's not forget how many percent of the TEAM's total points each player scores.
well for people who roll eyes, we got yao because we had everyone hurt not because the roster had a lack of talent. thats something i don't like....its the same sort of thinking that goes into the lebron v. carmelo argument. people seem to forget that denver added a lot of talent in the offseason and not just carmelo.
I think he was refering to our team record compared to the Cavs who plays in the East. Just imagine, Yao, Lebron and Boozer (wow)... I can almost garauntee you that their record would be much better, especially with Yao playing twice as many games against the East big men (or lack of it). Atlanta... Orlando... Yao in the last 2 month has really caught everyone's attention, so please do not just compare stats over the entire season. If you only want to compare stats... Abdur-Rahim, Shareef's stats of 20pts, 9rbn before he was traded to Portland is comparable to O'Neal, Jermaine's 20pts 10rbn... but we all know who is by far the better player. -G'day-
Cleveland has players whose talent are just as good as Houston. Phoenix also has talent similar to Houston.
Think of it like looking at a painting of mona lisa and photograph of her. Everyone knows that eventually the painting is going to be worth more money. They look the same, but common sense tells you which has more long term value.
Pretend your a GM for a minute. What would be a fair trade for Yao vs Z? Would you trade Yao away for Z? Heck no! Shaq? probably not - too old Is there anybody in this league you would trade Yao for? The list comes down to maybe Duncan & KG. Did I miss anybody? Now let's switch it Would you trade Z away for Yao? Absolutely. Shaq? Of course. The list of players I would trade Z for is too long to list.
