Way to be party pooper, stats guy. PER is not the only way to evaluate a player. If Dirk is down, with their depth, the Mavs may still be able to make the playoffs. If you take Yao out, the Rockets are lottery-bound. Prior to the Suns game, Yao was the only NBA player whose points and rebounds were both in the top 10. That is pretty darn significant in the eyes of many NBA analysts. Even the Suns announcers took the notice.
Probably true, but Dirk was still the better player in November. You could make a case for Boozer or Duncan ahead of Yao as well. And it's not just the PER. The Mavs are over 18 points better per 100poss, relative the opponent, when Dirk is on the court (-9.2 with him off, +9.4 with him on). The Rockets, interestingly enough, have only been +3.4 with Yao on versus off. Actually, point differential is close to 0 for the Rockets with Yao off the court. Yao is the best center in the game, but he needs to learn how to handle double teams better. A player of his caliber who gets so many touches and draws so much attention has to average more than 2 assists a game. Yao's turnovers are also unacceptably high. And that's not nitpicking either ... we're the 27th worst team in turnovers, and I'm convinced trying to run the offense through Yao is a big contributor to that.
Everybody has weaknesses. Dirk, for example, has improved his D, but he still sucks there (despite your on/off numbers below). Dirk's huge on/off difference simply proves how much his backup sucks. In fact, I'm having a hard time recalling who the guy is. Croshere? What a joke. Yao has Deke, who is still formidable.
Well, Dirk is ahead of Yao in PER, but not by much. Yao on the other hand leads both Duncan and Boozer by quite comfortable margins in PPG. So I am not sure what you are trying to make here in the Yao's 1st POM thread. Indeed Yao's turnovers are high, so are Duncan's. If you take into consideration the missed FTs, Duncan's value drops further down in the tube. Good to see you point out Houston is among the worst in turnovers, in which Yao contributes his share mightily. But you conveniently ignore perhaps a more important team stats -- FG%, which is 24th in the league. Many of the passes from Yao to his wide open teammate didn't result in FGs. If those Rockets not named Yao know how to hit their shots, Yao's assist number naturally goes up. Thanks for playing.
Dirk's D (which isn't that bad, despite the reputation) doesn't hurt the Mavs as much as Yao's turnovers hurt the Rockets. You telling me that Dirk's backup is so terrible that he's single handedly bringing down the rest of the team? Please.
Dirk was still the better player in November? This is an opinion, not a fact as you state. All four of these guys have a valid argument. Naming Yao POM is not a stretch. Are you using this stat as a point to strengthen your argument? You must then stand by the belief that Yao has little effect on the court, correct?
Something every Rockets fan should be proud of. And I can't believe that there is a Rockets fan here who is trying to argue with a passion that he doesn't deserves it on a Rockets fans board here. Just incredible.
Congratulations Yao! Way to go, and hope there are many more POM to come. Go get the MVP at the end of the season too if you really want; but I'm most looking forward to the Championship that you, TMac, and the Rockets will bring back at the end of the season! Go Yao and Go Rockets btw, in response to the anti-Kerr sentiments on this board, I must rejoinder that Mr. Kerr is a wonderful human being and, in general, an all-around nice guy (except for the time i had to punch him in the face...he was bein a lil prick that day)
True that this is a thread about Yao's positives god who deserves it according to a "fan" should not even be talked about at the end of the day Yao got POM and CONGRATS BIG DUDE
Well...he knew it, and he said he will work 200% for it. And the thing I so adore this guy is he is ever so humble, thanking his coach and team mates and everybody for the award.............. Well Done !!! Big Yao !!!
Yao has played well, I just don't think he deserved this award the most. I'd rather he get it in a month when he really plays like the best player in the conference. Duncan is also handling the ball much more (percentage of field goals assisted much less and assists are far higher). And Spurs as a team are 6th best in limiting their turnovers. Yep, Duncan's free throws are much worse. But he's also a better defender and rebounder. It would help some, sure, but probably not a lot. In the 7 games in which Yao's teammates shot better than 40% from the field, he averaged 2.1 assists per 35 minutes. In the 8 games in which they shot less than 40% from the field, he averaged 1.3 assists per 35 minutes. If the team was in the top 10 in FG%, maybe Yao would average 2 assists a game. That's still scandalously low for a player who was drawing comparisons to Bill Walton and Sabonis early in his career. Yao has a problem recognizing when the double teams are coming and reacting quickly to them. If Yao was a better passer (the one part of his game I think is most overrated) maybe his teammates would shoot better. Anyways, it's not my intention to rip apart Yao's game. He's a very good player, best at his position. Best low post scorer in the game. Solid interior defender, great teammate, good rebounder, all that stuff. He just wasn't the West's best in the month of November.
Sure. It's an opinion. I thought that goes without saying. Nope -- that doesn't follow. But I do think it suggests that Dirk provides more value (i.e. net impact) for his team than Yao does for the Rockets. That's not exactly a big knock on Yao; Nowitzki has been a legitimate MVP candidate the last 2 seasons, and will be again this year.
