[ESPN Daily Dime Poll] Best center - Yao or Dwight?

There's your answer.

 

right now by all the criteria i think you have to give it to Howard.

Howard is beating Yao statistically in every category except FT %. And Yao has at times not been dominant particularly with rebounding.

Yao is more versitle, I do agree. But what is best? I think by most definitions, it's howard - whose team is playing better than ours as well.

 

Why do we care so much about what rank Yao is?

I dont care if we have the "top center" or "2nd best center" in the league or the "worst ranked center"...

 

Let them keep playing favorites (especially ESPN), I would love to see them disappointed yet again.

 

Kendrick Perkins is the only one that outplayed Yao this season.

 

I think you're right. Who really cares where they're ranked. I just find it annoying that the poll is so overwhelmingly for Howard when there are so many good arguments for Yao including head to head battles. He has consistantly owned Howard in head to head games.

As a Rocket's fan, I find it really annoying that anytime Yao is talked about out in the open of the media, it's usually negative. It just creates this idea amongst fans that Yao is overrated and not very good. Until you watch the guy every day, its hard to really understand how good he really is. He does things that no one else in the league does. He is truly a unique talent that contributes greatly to winning.

He has struggled when asked to carry a team, but there aren't many teams that achieve success with just one guy carrying the load. Howard can carry a huge load as far as defense and rebounding goes. A much bigger load than Yao can carry, but offensively, Yao is a guy you can just dump it to and expect results. Both guys are great in their own way, but I'll take Yao because there is no one in the entire league that can shut him down. It takes a team effort, and that opens up so many opportunities for our other guys. Scolandry especially.

 

I think you also have to conscider FT shooting because both players get to the line at an alarming rate. 85 percent versus 60 percent is extremely important.

When it comes down to it, the things that Yao excels at are in a sense boring(getting to the line, FT shooting, post moves, being a defensive prescense, passing out of double teams), but they are extremely important to winning.

The things that Howard excels at are exciting(athleticism, blocking shots), but maybe not as important to winning.

 

I agree, but I think there's more to it.

Honestly (and this might sound a bit atavistic but this country is full of latent racism) a lot of the favoritism paid to Dwight is the cognitive dissonance that's caused by admitting a giant Chinese dude is the best at anything in the NBA, let alone the best at his position.

Growing up as a Rockets fan in rural Indiana, I've experienced firsthand the sort of jeering that gets thrown Yao's way, the type of knee-jerk dismissal he receives from casual fans simply because he is not only foreign-born but a stark departure from most people's mental image of an NBA superstar. Sure, he's ubiquitous in the national consciousness, but moreso as a novelty than as a legitimate force in the sport. Even discerning sports fans tend to chalk up his All-Star appearances to China's massive population (deservedly so earlier in his career but not now).

What's more, he plays alongside T-Mac, whose style of play lends itself better to the "superstar" title, and thus Yao isn't unanimously viewed as the "heart" of the team like Duncan and Howard are. Of course, you can chalk a lot of it up to Yao's style of play, but it wasn't too long ago that Duncan was considered the best center in the league. Timmy's not too much more athletic than Yao, and oftentimes his style of play can be equally as plodding and unexciting as Yao's.

That's my take on it... but I could just be full of crap.

 

Awesome post.... spot on.

 

I think that has alot to do with it, but I'd say its mainly style of play.

I think Duncan's championships make it impossible to ignore how good he is. The fact that people still ignore it speaks alot to how much his "boring" style of play has to do with where fans rank players. Yao's injuries and lack of playoff success are things that make him even more "under-the radar" than a comparable player like Duncan.

 

Personally, I don't think most on this board have watched howard more than when they play the rox. To say he has no post moves or only get put backs or run the floor is wrong. He has a post game, its limited to a shoulder in and elevate or bump, pivot and a baby hook or just straight power up. U don't get to the line 10 times a game without nothing, and yes they do double team howard on the blks. He's unfrontable because they can lob the ball over the top and he's strong. That's not a knock on yao and his ability, but we all know over the yrs that yao only plays as well as he plays on offense. If he scoring and hitting shots, he defends,rebounds, and blk shots, when he doesn't score as much he hangs his head, doesn't defend or rebound. I think the old school purist will tell you a center should always rebound and defend no matter what. That's why the gms and the people on tv says howard is the best. Because no matter what's going on, he will defend and rebound no matter how many points he scores. I'm cool with having yao and this team can win with yao, its just u need more help around yao than howard.

 

on FT shooting, DH gets to the line 12 times a game. Yao is 6.7. that's a HUGE difference. I would take 12 FTA a game at 60% over 7 FTA a game at 100%.

As bad as an offensive player DH is, he is averaging 21.1 points a game at 57% shooting along with 14.1 rebounds and 3.9 blocks. Plus he dunked the most in the league....

it looks like Howard excels everywhere.

 

Howard is hurt right now.......... God would if he lost his athleticism, could he be as effective as Yao who can shoot and make plays (passes, blocks, FREETHROWS, etc.)

Yao is not Dwight Howard.
Yao is not dream and so and so on and who cares, WIN!

 

Do you remember that Blazers game earlier this season? When Yao hit what should've been the game winner, with the And 1? Would you EVER trust Dwight Howard to take a shot like that?

Yao is better than Howard when they play each other. That Longhorn/Sooner comparison was spot on. Howard is better against the guys that front Yao, Yao is better against guys that can play Howard straight up. For the Rockets, Yao is a much better fit. For any team that plays faster than we do, Howard works better.

 

since Yao is a foreigner...u can't do anything about it.

 

I would never trust Yao's jumper either because Yao's jump shooting is well below average.

Yao is better than Howard when they met that's because Yao just played seriously against him and some good centers. Like I said, if Yao plays seriously, he is the best center, no comparison. this thread should have been closed at the first page.

but, the real Yao does not like to perform to be the best center.

 

The problem with Yao being termed the best center is as good as he is he always gets punked by lesser players (Al Harrington, Perkins, Okur), and his miscues are always, always spectacularly "Fail" pic worthy (getting blocked by the rim, getting blocked by nate robinson etc). The average fan would feel uncomfortable calling someone the Best Center in the Nba, then you see a highlight of Yao Ming messing up a wide-open dunk. Compare that with Dwight, who gets destroyed by Yao Ming but dominates everyone else. If they were both stocks, Dwight Howard would be the blue chip stock (steady returns, not much volatility) and Yao Ming would be the small company stock (high risk high reward, extreme volatility). You go blue-chip every time.

I think when healthy Yao is undisputedly the best center in the league, but right now he's still recovering from his injury. I'd say Dwight Howard is the best, but apparently he's injured right now as well. So by default the best center in the league right now is Gortat

P.S. Isn't it a shame Yao Ming has such short arms? If only his armlength was longer he wouldn't need athleticism at all. He could dunk without jumping, and catch lob passes by just lifting his arms. Thank god he has big hands. If his hands were as small as Kwame Brown's he'd be useless on the floor lol

 

That is imo the main issue with the comparison.

At their best, Yao affects the game in many more ways than Howard. Yao is a dominant scorer and changes opponent's offense with his presence. Problem is Yao reserves energy and is conservative throughout the season due to stamina and injury concerns, hence he only try to let it out at certain times.
Howard has the benefit of young unlimited athleticism and stamina, so he can assert to perform at the peak consistently without reservation like Yao. Hence he can have big nights potentially every game. However, his shotblocking is more about taking chances on help defense in the result of the play that actually doesn't change the offense as much as Yao does as he seem to push shots to the perimeter more.

Yup, Yao won't have the legs to perform at his peak in 82 games whereas Howard can. However, At peak performance, Yao should affect the game really much more than Howard does. That's all.

Best center at peak performance? Yao hands down, i think all the TV analysts who are past players seem to agree since they consider gameplay.

Best center in the league to rely on day in n day out? HOWARD! He's a badass.. but, he cannot dominate the game offensively or force double/tripple teams, he can score in stretches as a 2nd option when Turk or Lewis had knocked down a few 3s.

 

Like everyone says, Howard is the most athletic big man in the league. However, he does not affect a game nearly as much as Yao does. Yao changes the way teams defend. He draws a double team almost every possession against almost every team in the league.

Howard does not do that. Not saying he isnt dominant, but I dont think he makes the game easier for his teammates. I dont think Lewis, Nelson or Turkoglu get better shots cuz he is on the floor. He just cleans up their misses with great rebounding and put backs.

Also agreed with how the media portrays Yao Ming leading to national perception. Last night was a perfect example. He goes for 32 and 7, and Nene goes for 10 and 7. Yet a huge deal is made over Nene's dunk and the one highlight of Yao is where he bumps into Chris Anderson and makes a two foot shot. Even when Yao slammed over Mcghee in Washington, ESPN and NBA TV left that highlight out.