Yao Ming: Carroll Dawson Knows Me Better As A Coach

also, he was part of the knicks team that actually challenged the bulls during their heyday, taking them to 7 games multiple times. bulls actually consider the knicks their biggest rival for a few yrs.

 

John Starks is the one who guarded Jordan, not Ewing.

And when Ewing had injured his wrist, he was already near the end of his career. What about the years before the injury? His playoff scoring is not great. Yao's is higher.

Ewing was a warrior, but he cracked under pressure, When it counted, he couldn't make the shot. I remember. I was just a kid, but I remember how he totally sucked in the playoffs. That's why the man never won a championship. He never won at George Town either.

 

He got the offensive rebound and basket that took the Knicks to the Finals in '94. He was only 33 when he got the wrist injury in 98, and as always averaging 20+ and 10+ boards.

His playoff scoring was way higher in his years before that anyway, I'm not sure what you're talking about. And more importantly, they were for MORE games.

And how about we also look at other stats like rebounds, blocked, shots, assists, ALL of which he eclipses Yao's best production nearly every year.

Oh, one last thing; he did win at Georgetown. Look it up.

 

i think he also forgot the few games he played w/ tmac in the playoffs in orlando where he was basically useless and thus hurt his stats more.

but we're not talking about that.

yao AT THIS STAGE, is NOWHERE near the 5th yr ewing or prime ewing. it's not even close really.

ewing brought the main thing that sets them apart - INTIMIDATION. ewing was FEARED in the paint by many.

yao, well, let's just say even nate robinson would love to have an opportunity to put a facial on yao.

 

Dude, we just watched a series where Yao was taken out of his game by Mehmet Okur. OKUR!!!! At this stage of his career he is not better than Ewing at any facet of the game, except for FT shooting. Stop looking at the stats and go watch some game tapes. Ewing was a nut-up in crucial moments but he was still a great center, and he was playing at a higher level against better competition.

And before knocking Ewing for choking under pressure in the Conference Finals or the Finals, how about we see Yao step up in the first round first....

 

Pay more attention to how Okur handled Duncan. He's a very underrated defender. He's actually a damn good post defender. Also pay more attention to what happened to Duncan when weak side and off the ball help came from the Jazz when he turned away from the defense while being guarded by Okur.

He was often stripped and turned it over again and again. Yao was every bit as good, if not better than Duncan was against the exact same defense. I keep hearing how Yao played so horribly (and this is at less than full health), and how Duncan was so dominant and is so incredibly great, yet actually Yao handled that same D better.

The major difference was that Duncan didn't have to face that D nearly as much as Yao did because his teammates were so much better. In fact he didn't see nearly as much collapsing D as Yao did, because Parker, Ginobilli and the 3 shooters delivered. But when he did, he struggled even worse than Yao, and Duncan was healthy and people are calling him the best PF ever and debating whether he is a top 5 big man all time and if he's better than Shaq was and the best player post-Jordan.

Many times when Duncan tried to score one on one with his back to the basket against Okur, he was stopped and stopped rather easily by Okur, whom again is actually a damn good post defender. Apparently because he's a Euro player and white he must stink on D, because so many people seem to think he's no good on D. Strange, I seem to remember Larry Brown even saying how good he was at defending the post.

But then Duncan was allowed to face up and score, but in Van Gundy's offense no facing up seemed to ever be called for Yao and it seemed he was always instructed to post, then shoot a turn around jumper. Well Duncan wasn't hitting those against Okur either.

I also noticed that Boozer did even better against Duncan/Oberto/Horry etc on offense than he did against Yao. Yet everyone was bashing Yao for being a horrible defender, and Duncan and Horry for being such great defenders. Never mind that Yao was playing out of position on D in trying to guard him, while Duncan and Horry were not.

At one point Jeff Van Gundy even made the comment, "see Yao Ming, don't feel bad, it really isn't just you, Duncan can't handle Boozer either."

Where are all the posts lambasting Duncan for this?

Just wait till you see a healthy Yao and with a great offensive coach in Adelman. And yeah Ewing wasn't as good as Yao can be. I mean come on Ewing was so owned by Hakeem in the finals it was downright embarrassing.

 

Yao's also the one who couldn't even get the ball against 6'7 Najera fronting him. until now he still can't beat NBA fronting consistently without teammates' help. what would common sense tell you if Ewing were to front him? seriously dude, stop. let's wait until Yao puts together a few full seasons of 25/10, not this half a season crap, and gets out of the first round, then you can bring up this Yao vs. Ewing argument.

 

First of all, I agree that yao_fan_2007 is an idiot. Now back to your post...when did Nate Robinson put a facial on Yao? Or you mean that block last season? Make up your mind. Big men under the basket play the last line of defense and are basically the target of everyone in the game to embarrass. I have no idea why 'Rockets fans' like you would keep bringing up these embarrassing moments to diss our own players. I'd think you are still able to make your point without bringing yourself so low to do that, right?

 

I remember Yao Ming saying something about his sessions with Ewing, and Ewing in return. Ewing basically said, if he faced Yao, he would use his speed and agility. Yao Ming said something like, in a joking way, how he beat Ewing in these private sessions.

Look, I understand that you guys really think Ewing was a great center, and surely he was. He was way better than Yao at rebounds, and he was a defensive force. But offensively, how do the two compare?

In my opinion, Yao literally and figuratively is larger force offensively than Ewing could ever be and was. Yao has too many ways to defeat you. He just is too skilled, too strong, too dominant. I don't see Ewing being that same offensive force that Yao can be. Yao is unstoppable. Ewing isn't. End of story.

 

Here is what Ewing said:

Aside from his tremendous willingness to learn, God has blessed him with great size and ability for a guy who is 7-6. He’s agile, has great touch and has pretty good footwork. I always told him, though, that if I had played against him I would have gotten 50 on him. How would I attack him? I would use my quickness. At 7-6, it would be hard to jump and shoot over him, so I would mix it up, sometimes facing up and other times using my jump shot. You definitely have to make him move his feet.

But seeing as I left the game the year before he came in, I guess we’ll never know what would really happen. Still, one thing I do know is that if he continues to work as hard as he has, the sky is the limit for him.


For a supposed superior player, Ewing doesn't sound too sure, does he?

The 50 point thing sounds like bravado to me. Who the hell scored 50 points on Yao? huh? Did Shaq? Give me a break.

Bottom line: Ewing doesn't sound too sure how he'd fare against Yao. In my gut though, I think that Yao could handle Ewing. That's my instinct.

Now against Olajuwon, it's another story..forget it.

 

I wonder if CD can coach Yao how to hold on to the freaking ball. Hmm?
All kidding aside, if Yao thinks CD is helping him get better then I'm all for every minute of it. I don't think there's anything in basketball that he hasn't done for the Rockets now.

 

Go ahead . .Go Head get Down

Let them know just a lil bit of Truth

Rocket River

 

you are right...he has done alot for the rockets...mostly bad...if he continues to work with yao, yao will regress.

 

wow some of the yao defenders are taking it too far. yao has one 25/10 season and he's suddenly better than ewing?

cmon, yao did not face much collapsing D or double teams after game 1. sloan knew that he had to stop tmac more b/c tmac was the catalyst of our offense basically. if yao wanted to score 50, he could have.

okur - 1-on-1. 6'8 milsap, 1-on-1.

tmac on the perimeter faced single coverage too.

sloan is a guy that RARELY doubles. he began to double tmac more and more and that's why u saw tmac avg more and more assists later in the series.

again, duncan can face up b/c he can shoot that mid-range J or he can drive by his guy from 15-20ft out. yao cannot drive by a standing walla from 15-20ft out of he had too. he can drive if he only takes 1 dribble and finish (ala his spin move or pump fake 7-8 ft from the basket).

if u go by stats, can i say dirk > larry bird?

 

"As to Hakeem the Dream Olajuwon, I am not worthy even to tie his shoe laces for him; he is over 40 some years old now; but he is still so quick. That kind of speed, that kind of rhythm, that kind of directional change....to tell you the truth, I don't think I can learn much from him, as I just do not have that kind of speed as the foundation. He has taught me alot of moves, but to me, they seemed just like eye-openers that broaden my horizon."

Just because it's hard doesn't mean it can't be done. This sounds like a beginner learning from the master in martial arts. With practice, you can be learn and eventually be great but at the beginning, you think you'll never master these techniques. Yao needs to get himself back in the gym as much as he can with Hakeem. And..he needs to stop doubting himself.

 

yao is just being politically correct...he told people in the front office that he actually learned nothing from hakeem and he was upset the rockets turned it into a publicity stunt instead of a teaching session

 

It's really hard to compare Yao with previous great men like Ewing because they never had to face the new NBA rules and zone defense. Back then the Big Men had it easy, since hand checking by perimeter defenders protected them from foul trouble and made it a lot easier to defend against penetration. All the guards had to earn their respect from the refs too.

Ewing was good but he never won a NBA championship, so everything's moot until Yao retires. What is a fact is that when the new rules were introduced, Ewing turned into crap. I don't know how this debate got in here in the first place. But since I'm a Rockets fan and Yao is on the Rockets, I say Yao > Ewing. If they play 1v1, Yao would win because he's 8" taller.

 

I also don't get the double standard put on Duncan and Yao. Yao is every bit as good as Duncan. Duncan just looks better because he has better teamates around him who could hit open shots and finish strong at the basket.

During the playoffs, both guys struggled against Okur. Duncan had it easier since his teamates gave Okur foul trouble, while Yao had to work for most of Okur's fouls. Both guys also struggled against Boozer defensively, but what do you expect? Boozer averaged 20/12 for the season and was a MVP candidate early on.

Also it's not Yao's fault that his team didn't have a true power forward AND needed Yao's presence in the paint. Yao could have guarded Okur instead and had it easy. Okur is intimidated by his length and is already exahusted from the other end. Instead, Yao's forced to guard Boozer or else his teamates would get torched from the perimeter.

The common misconception is that Okur alone or Boozer alone owned Yao. The truth is Okur AND Boozer > Yao, since whoever guarded Okur had it easy on D and did next to jack squat on O. Yao had to carry the weight of two of the best big men in the league, and probably would have succeeded if it hadn't been the leg injury.

 

again, why do u guys just bring up offense? i think most on here agree they're very close to each other on offense.

the reason duncan is by far better than yao is b/c on defense. duncan would have gotten one of those 3 rebounds. duncan would have contained boozer if he had to.

it's not the offense people. its the defense.

 

Yao also wasn't 100% healthy, so its hard to make real comparison. I think the pre-injury Yao would of wrecked havoc. But that is all hypothetical.