I think we can honestly start asking that question. He leads all centers in scoring, unless you count the converted PFs like Chris Bosh. Shaq seems to be quickly approaching the end of the line. 20 and 9 this year (30 mpg) versus Yao's 22 and 10 (34 mpg). The valid otherside of the argument is it's still tough to say that Yao dominates the rest of the league's bigs. Thoughts? Evan
Yes. And a solid argument can be made that Yao has played like the best big man in the league since the all star break. Check out his recent stats and it's better than the best that Dream has ever averaged (for a season): http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=110272
Yao has been the best Center in the NBA all season. His recent play only further villifies and cements that status. There's nobody that can argue against it.
To play devil's advocate, if you were fielding a 5 man roster for one game with everything on the line, who would you take as your center? Would it still be Yao? Shaq? Duncan? Boris Diaw? Evan
i don't think there is any doubt. i was watching the game on YES network last night with marv albert and mark jackson calling the game. MJ was talking about how much better he has gotten, that he was a superstar and the best center in the league.
I would take this Yao over current Shaq and Duncan in a heartbeat. Not sure of Kwame Brown who dear uncle Charlie just wrote a long analysis giving him mad props on his unlimited potential.
I will choose Duncan at this point. See Sunday's game against Spurs. In the last couple minutes when game was on the line, no matter who was guarding him, Yao or Juwon, he still scored. Duncan can play back to the basket in the post and he play face up and dribble the ball also. He scored on Yao several time by doing that. Yao seems missing a lot of shots in the fourth quarter this season. That's probably the only place I can nitpick.
That's my only issue with him. His 15 point output in the 4th quarter last night might be a nice beginning for me to shut up.
Seriously, when you have Stephen a. Smith of all people giving props to Yao and had admitted that he was dominate, its no doubt that Yao is the best center. Thats a very high standard to come by...
Statistically, Yao is the best center in the game right now. But box score stats don't tell the whole story. Sorry, I still think Shaq is number one, but Yao is a close second.
The difference between center and PF can be so arbitrary. Why are all players that would have been centers in the past (Duncan, KG, Amare), now all playing the PF position. Why do we continue to stick any ole 7 ft slug at the center postion. To match up with all of the other 7 ft slugs? I'd much rather compare Yao with all the big men in the league, PF or center. In that case, how many big men are flat out better than Yao. There's Duncan, but after that I'm coming up empty. KG would have been a lock in years past, but their most recent matchup has me completely changing my tune. Yao could not get stopped by anybody, whereas KG was just "meh" on offense. KG got a ton of rebounds, but that didn't win them the game. Who else? Brand? I don't think so. He's having a terrific year, but Yao's performance lately has been better, and his ceiling is way higher. Amare? He needs to get back on the court before getting in on this discussion. Dwight Howard? Let me know when he develops an offensive game. Shaq? Pretty much everybody is in agreement that Yao has passed him by. Jermaine O'neal? He puts up nice numbers, but I've never been scared of him dominating a game. Dirk? I guess he's technically a Big Man. He played like crap last year in the postseason, but he's been a good producer for years, so I supposed you have to give him credit for that. And he's the best player on one of the top teams in the league right now. I guess I'll give him an edge over Yao, for now. Bosh? Gasol? I don't need to go into a whole lot of discussion over these guys. I don't think either of them is better than Yao and I'm sure I won't get a whole lot of debate around here. So there. The list of Big Men better than Yao stands at Duncan, and maybe Dirk. At least that's what I think. Feel free to debate that point if you want.
