That's interesting because a big factor we have to consider also is the rule changes. In the era of MANDATORY man to man defense it was a lot easier to pinpoint the open man and for the big man to dominate against single coverage. It was a lot more difficult to send the double team as teams would spread out their offensive formation to spread out the defense. While now in the era of Zone defenses ( albeit outside the 3 second area) there are a lot more players who are lurking around the post area waiting to steal the dribble or double team.
how can you have a list of all time great NBA centers without Artis Gilmore, Nate Thurmond or George Mikan? all were awesome and arguably better than Yao, at least Gilmore and Thurmond. it's still hard to argue against Mikan's 5 titles and 3 straight as the best player on his team. someone else mentioned Sabonis. sure, he entered the NBA way too late, an even then he was pretty darn good, but in his prime, he could crack the top 5. he absolutely abused DRob in the '88 olympics, and was one of the reasons they started using pros in '92. of course it's all theoretical of how well he would have done, but it's all theoretical to compare Yao or any other center against a different generation of NBA players. Bob McAdoo, Bob Lanier, Bill Laimbeer, Jack Sikma and Mark Eaton all deserve mention on that list as well, as they are all considerably better than Smits or Duckworth. heck Duckworth's probably worse than Bill Cartwright. simply playing on a finals team doesn't make them all-world centers. if you're going to list PFs like McHale, Stoudamire and Jermaine O'neal (or even Duncan) as centers, then you might as well throw in Al Jefferson or KG. they could the center position better than those 3 guys. as for Yao, i would put him right under Ewing. give him 20 shots a game and fair superstar (oxymoron but still) treatment for his career, get rid of the zone as well, and he's a 30 point player easily and a first ballot HOFer. how many other centers can say that?
Like I said in the outset, the purpose was to see where Yao falls compared to other centers who were star pieces of great teams. I knew I probably missed a few, and you mentioned a number of good names. Al Jefferson wouldn't qualify, and Bob Lanier missed the cut (he never starred on a great team). Nate Thurmond was a great player, but his teams didn't meet the criteria I set (win about 70% of the regular season games, or win a championship). McAdoo was another great player, an MVP, but his teams weren't championship caliber until he became a role player on the Lakers. Artis Gilmore was also another great player, but his played for mediocre Bulls and Spurs teams during his NBA career (I didn't consider ABA). Mikan didn't qualify because I only considered players from the last 50 years. Laimbeer wasn't an all-star when the Pistons became a great team in the late 80s. But Jack Sikma qualifies, as he made his first all-star team the year Seattle won a championship. I missed that one.
Anyone who ranks Yao higher than Ewing is: 1) Under 25 years old. 2) Such a homer that they should invent a new word for that person. Did you see Ewing and Olajuwon AT ALL when they played against each other? Dream won alot of matchups BUT Ewing held up well when it came to defense and rebounding. Yao is a newer, better version of Brad Daugherty. I would take Alonzo over him. Alonzo can score just as much and was Defensive Player of the Year! I would take Elvin Hayes over him. I would take Bill Walton over him when healthy. Tim Duncan is NOT a center people! You ever hear any analyst say that he is ONE OF THE GREATEST CENTERS OF ALL TIME? No. He is a PF. Thats why the argument of Duncan vs Malone is going to come up in a couple of years not Duncan vs Olajuwon! Yao has taken about 4-5 steps back in about two years. Lets be real here. He has yet to dominate ANY of the top 3 centers in any big game. He has yet to dominate in a big game. He has yet to dominate when it matters most. How the hell are you going to rank him even in the top 20? Over Amare? Yes. Over Smits? Yes. Over Wes Unseld? I mean, people. By a freakin clue already and go back and take a look at Unselds play! Again, Yao's biggest advantage is the height and the skills that have never been seen in a guy that big. But he lacks ALL the other INTANGIBLES that make a Hall of Fame Player or even a great player. Yao doesn't play against anyone NEAR the caliber of player that any of the top 20 centers played against. That right there kills it for him. He would get destroyed by most of them and be out of breath by the 4th quarter. Imagine him trying to keep up with Alonzo Mourning when Boozer abuses Yao on a regular basis with his mobility?!
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you are not only thinking yao is a better than ewing. by the same logic, you're basically saying centers in this era are better than centers in ewing's era...because...the new rules don't just apply to yao. pau gasol is better than ewing too. marc gasol is better than smits...and so on...you don't agree? sorry the rules are different you can't prove me wrong.
Yao's biggest issue is his durability. There have been a couple seasons where he looked to be heading towards MVP class numbers only to have a series of injuries knock him out of it. And in terms of ranking players now or all time, has anyone taken a serious look at the win shares system on http://basketball-reference.com?
This is true DOMINATION..... Willis Reed was injured doing the series and came out of the locker room after halftime, still injured and dragging his leg. With just his mere presence he was able to motivate the Knicks..... Now here's the catcher on all this, they were playing against the Lakers and Wilt Chamberline.... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B9Qy0AXa7N4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B9Qy0AXa7N4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Right now, just before Zo. If he can get some playoff success under his belt, I'd move him ahead of Ewing who I always thought was very overrated.
maybe a win in postseason still won't be able to let you move him upwards over Ewing, he needs a ring to beat Ewing who has no ring around his fingers.
Ewing did appear in a finals (against the rox) and made it deep into the Eastern Conf playoffs. I think is a much better player on offense than Ewing was and only slightly less on defense (Ewing was a better individual defender but Yao does a better job protecting the rim). Overall, Yao is a better player, but he will have to make the case on the big stage.
Given the watered down state of the current NBA (in terms of big men), I'm sure that a prime Ewing would be much more effective than Yao has been (in any of his years). Be honest....did you even watch Ewing in his prime?
I can agree with 20-10 like now, but 25-11 is a whole different story. Ewing had a stretch for about 5 or 6 years were he was 24-11. In the pitino system he put up 28 for a season. Compare Ewing 7 yrs with yao and its a no contest.
Now that i had a chance to do something i really dont like to do, look up stats, i think yao is more in line with brad daughtery. He could touch ewing , and zo was better also. His sheer number fall in line with brad.
Yao is still in his prime but is already in the last a couple years of his prime, maybe he will still drop 20+10 on average per game.
but it will be a big Maybe. I mean if yao fails again to make the second round this season, then I think Daryl should start to think about reconstruction.
