Try watching an Orlando game sometime, Dwight is routinely doubled and tripled, its why hes avg so many turnovers. Hes relatively inexperienced when it comes to seeing this type of defense but hes way ahead of the curb considering his age. Hes more hyped than Yao because he has that Shaq potential and since hes young they have more patience for him, Yao is underrated because they expect alot more from him and he has yet to prove it in the playoffs. After this year I gaurantee Yao will be without question the best bigman in the league or atleast Center, Unless either TD or Shaq win another chip. But he will be a 1st teamer this year.
I'm gonna bring up some stats posted in another forum: Who is the best post defender in the NBA? (as asked in the other forum) My reply: Yao-led Rockets Interior D: Opponents take 29%of their shots in the paint, and score 23.1ppg on 46.7% shooting in the paint Howard-led Magic Interior D: Opponents take 35% of their shots in the paint,and score 29.8ppg on 52.1% shooting in the paint Duncan-led Spurs interior D: Opponents take 33% of their shots in the paint, and score 32.8ppg on 57.8% shooting in the paint Kwame/Bynum-led Lakers interior D: Opponents take 37% of their shots in the paint, and score 34.6ppg on 53.9% shooting in the paint Okafor-led Bobcats interior D: Opponents take 40% of their shots in the paint, and score 37ppg on 55.5% shooting in the paint Sheed-led Detroit interior D: Opponents take 42% of their shots in the paint, and score 35.7ppg on 50.6%shooting Which team do you think has the best post defender in the NBA? Just shows how underrated Yao is. It's funny because The Rockets interior D has been tops in the League since Yao came in. Before Yao came in, the Rockets had the WORST interior D in the League. Most of the judgements made by fans have been skewed because of the perception that Yao is "slow, unathletic, soft, and mentally weak". When the fact is, opponents are SCARED to take shots inside against Yao, which leads to less shots in the paint, and less block opportunities for Yao. As an example, last season, plenty of fans thought of Dwight Howard as a monster shotblocker, and Yao as a below average shotblocker at best. Well guess what, Yao had 1.8bpg compared to Dwight's 1.4bpg last season. It's all about perception, boys. What do you think is better: 1. Opponents take high percentage inside shots that MIGHT get blocked by your post defender OR 2. Opponents don't even bother to take it inside and settle for the low percentage jumper instead? Even this year, people are amazed at and quickly point to Howard as the "Next Dominant Big Man". Why? Because he averages 17/13/2? How is 17/13/2 more dominant than 26/10/2??? Last I heard, the team with the most points win, not the one with the most rebounds. Fan perceptions lie. These stats don't.
So why do you think Yao takes 7 more shots? Don't you think that if Dwight has the offensive skills that Yao has, the Magic would run their entire offense through him? You also leave out one important stat. Turnovers. Dwight takes 7 less shots, touches the ball less, but turns over the ball only a little less than Yao! Can Dwight carry the team? I doubt it. He doesn't have the offensive skillset to do it.
Agreed. Only wanted to point out that 48 minute stats and pace don't tell the whole story either, because there are reasons some players play more than others and reasons some teams have different pace than others. This is especially true for any comparison involving Yao, because his lower mpg was directly due to either getting in foul trouble, or lack of stamina, and the Rockets slower pace is directly due to having Yao - in other words, the fact that Yao did more in less minutes and at a slower pace is offset by the fact that Yao simply couldn't play more minutes, or be as effective at a faster pace.
these stats have nothing to do with Yao and have everything to do with Jeff Van Gundy. Yao's an average defender at best. There's a reason he's never been selected in all NBA defensive teams.
Bullcrap. If your assertion stands, you might as well replace Yao with an "average defender" that starts and plays the same minutes and see how Rockets fare in defense, especially in low post defense.
i'd go with Yao. Yao is so dominant offensively that the only player who can lock him down is himself(mentally speaking). dwight can be defended 1 on 1, yao cannot. that alone makes his teammates better.
