Yao and Camby squared off three times this year. Yao averaged 21.3 points with a .612 FG%, while Camby scored 12.3 with a .430 FG%. Yao clearly dominated. While Camby may slam with authority, he sure misses a lot.
Soft players will kill tough players if they are more skilled I.E Dirk. Now if a skill player who is soft becomes tough, he will take his game to the next level.
i dunno why, but every time I see "NY Daily News" i think of the pacante commercials. " New York Cityyyy"? seriously, who honestly believes this crap days after we beat the Knicks? you people are so gullible
If this news is not made up by the infamous NY media...here is my comment: POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK...
Yes Bol was soft... I hate to say this but Manute Bol was a Joke, a Gimmick, a David Stern Side show along with Mugsy Bogus... They were brought in from the transistion years with Dr. J about to retire... Manute Bol The guy was a shot block specialist, and nothing else. He was so weak to guard strong player who has a post game. And he ususally shot 3s with his 7'7 frame, never played in post on offense. Mark Eaton is a just block specialist as well. He is slower than Yao with longer arms, but the rule at aht time allowed him to stay under the basket all day long. If he plays right now, he'd be fouled out in 5 minutes defending that way. These are your words and not mine - So if Yao has more talent, faster and TALLER... Why can't he blocked shots... That's my point... You even stated that Bol was so weak to guard a strong player who had a post game... BUT Bol could still block shots. So I know if Bol and Eaton could be block specialist, then there's no doubt in my mind that Yao with better talent could do this also. Camby is the third or option for them and with AI (when they had him) and Carmelo, i'm surprised they even had another option. As for the STATS thing.. I don't put a lot of faith in them... I remember a guy by the name of Michael Young who played for the Houston Cougars, in his senior year he average around 30 points a game (something like that).. But the fact is he would take about 50 plus shots to get that average. There's STATS for you, but I do believe he was the Defensive Player of the Year in the 2006-2007 season. Now, I know that Yao is your hero.. COOL, I'm good with that but the plan fact is Yao is what he is and he's SOFT..... I don't make my comparison just against Bol and Eaton, Yao is 7 ft 6... He should be dominating people under the boards, he should be breaking people arms when they try to stop him down low and players should fear him. He should not be doing soft layups and letting guys push him around under the boards. You have ex-nba commentators saying that Shaq or Howard would have hurt someone if they tried to stop them down low or no way Shaq or Howard would lay that ball up. I like Yao he's a good player, but at the same time I wish that he was more dominant... But the fact is he's not.. So I accept him for what he is a Good Center and I don't pretend to think he's more than that.
These "soft" or "hard" arguments are pointless, especially when neither side can decide on the exact criteria for being "soft." Some define it solely by athleticism. Others simply have a vague idea in their mind that is supported by nothing more than perception and anecdotal evidence. Yao is a "good" center. No one will dispute that. But, who are you comparing him to exactly? The all-time greats? The truth of the matter is that Yao, in today's league, is a top tier big man who can be unstoppable if utilized correctly. But he comes with very apparent flaws that is often used against him. Due to these shortcomings, a team can't build solely around him like they are able to do with Hakeem, Shaq, or even Ewing. With these aforementioned centers, you have much more leeway in your team, because they're so well rounded and dominant. And no one is arguing that Yao can hold a candle to these guys. I'm certainly not. But, at this point in time, I would not trade Yao for any other big man who isn't named Tim Duncan. (It's a toss-up with Dwight)
Good point. Frankly speaking, if Yao were not there, Rockets would be an average team or below . Yao is totally underevaluated by some fans here. And some of them are totally ridiculous.
Non sense, we are objective. We don't overate our players unless his name starts with a T and ends with a c.
Yao is soft, but doesn't mean he's not a good player. Dave will be a hof, but he was soft. Daufgtery was good, but was soft too. Yao is not undervalued, he is what he is. The thing that will always dog yao is how come your team has played better without you?
MD- If you're a franchise player in basketball and the best center in basketball and u get hurt for 70 games and the team replaces u with a 42 yr old and the team wins 67% of their games, then there will be questions of ur value. If u don't believe me, go check la's record during their run with and without shaq. They traded shaq for 3 guys off a playoff team and went to lotto land.
Yes, and? Obviously, prime Shaq was a much better player than Yao and has a much bigger impact on his team. I was responding specifically to your claim that the team is BETTER without Yao. Do you honestly believe that Yao wouldn't have made a difference last year against Utah? Even a Jordan-less Bulls went 55-27 (a two-game swing from the previous year with Jordan).
if yao was allowed to do the kind of things prime shaq was allowed (elbowing ppl in the face multiple times)...he'd average 30 too.
I am not saying Yao is as good as the young Shaq, but let's get the fact straight: that LA team also lost an all-star PF and an all-star PG from the previous year ( I am not sure they played a single game, even they did, their hearts were not there ...)
"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas" BTW... For all of you that think that I am big T-Mac fan... I'm right with DD on this... IF he would have REHAB correctly in the off season then he would not be going thru what he's going thru right now.
