Does Yao have the best baseline spin drive in the league?

I think some of the analysis in this thread is very artificial.

There are actually three separate questions here:

(1) In pure theoretical terms, does Yao have the best technical spin move in the NBA?

The answer to this question is a clear no. He's slow, and many other players (particularly the god-like 2 guards) have better technical ability

(2) Does Yao have the most effective spin move in the NBA?

Now he's in the hunt. Few little guys post up well. They don't have the know-how or size to avoid getting manhandled. Yao can post. And he's one of the best at it. Which lets him use his spin move effectively.

But at the same time, there are other players with better spin moves. Shaq is more explosive. Tim Duncan probably is faster and has slightly better technique. Probably others as well.

(3) Does he use his spin move most effectively?

This is the area where Yao may well be #1. Defenders absolutely have to stick tight to Yao if they don't want him to shoot a completely uncontested fade away as a result of his heighth. This means that having a good spin move allows him to really punish the defender for their overadjustment.

Regarding this, he may be #1.

it's all in how you approach the question.

 

yao has the most effective spin move;
wade's is the most beautiful one.

 

I think you guys are confusing yao playing perimeter defense with his spin move. His spin move is actually pretty quick and it's effective even on players that are much quicker than him. A big reason why it's so effective is that defenders don't expect him to be able to make such a quick move. Is it the best? Probably not, but it is very good especially against opposing centers.

 

Although we complain alot about the refs treatment of Yao, one thing they give him the benefit on is that spin move (usually).

Yao blatantly uses his off arm to wipe out his defender when making the move.

Hakeem was clever, in that he would hook the defender with his elbow instead of his hand like Yao does.

 

yao's baseline drive is a very effective move for a guy his size, but one of our ex-rockets, kenny thomas, has one of the quickest and sickest spin moves i've seen in recent years. i know we can't compare 6ft7 to 7ft6, but i remember watched him make defenders looked like fools...

 

Yao's move is slow but he is so daam big that his body covers the ball effectively. Centers like Dream and Yao use their weight for momentum when they make that spin. It's almost like he is rolling of the defender more than a spinining off of him. At 300+ pounds and the frame of Yao makes it very difficult to stop even if the move is slow.

 

Please, 100 NBA players have better spin moves? Spin move contest? What the hell is all this about?

I've actually had this type of argument with a friend before who believed he was a better three-point shooter than another friend, but he never attempted one. Well then, who cares? I like to actually see spin moves made by other players than to discredit Yao's simply because it's slow.

Yao uses this move often, mostly when a shorter stronger player is leaning on him. I think its a great spin move, but if you say 100 players have better spin moves, i'd love for you to name them.

Stuart

 

lmao @ the spin move contests ahha. yeah choujie, wtf a spin contest. AHahah you made my day dude.