Same old tired debate. If we're going on skill alone, it's Yao in a landslide. If we're going on overall effectiveness, it's Dwight. It's still stupid to try and compare the two though. Yao's a center; Dwight's a glorified power forward.
Yao is effective against stronger centers where he takes them out of position with his high post and low post game (classic centers). Yao is ineffective against fast and ugly centers like Okur where no matter how many times Yao smashes his face he still keeps coming because his face can't get smashed any uglier.
Yes head to head Yao is much better than him and it's not just the stats the reality of the game is Yao makes Howard look like the boy that he is. So yes you are either a hater or an idiot not to see that.
The writer either is Chinese or just married a Chinese. Those are not the typical lines coming out of mainstream sports writers.
Rockets might have done hell of a lot better if they had 23 million bucks playing like 23 million bucks. Or if they actually had their 6th man for the last game.
You really like our chances against the Lakers more than the Magic's chances against the Cavs? I don't know. We seemed outmatched everytime we played them. Kobe got whatever he wanted.
Kurt Kelin has been saying a lot of nice words of the Rockets for a while. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/sports/basketball/Rockets-Are-Second-Best-In-West-Seriously.html Rockets Are Second Best In West ... Seriously The conventional wisdom has been that the San Antonio Spurs are the only team that has a shot of knocking off the Lakers in the Western Conference playoffs. The 2009 NBA All Stars represented a mix of wily vets and the leagues rising stars. But now the Spurs are not leading the Southwest Division, and they are not second in the Western Conference. The Houston Rockets are. Thanks to a Luis Scola layup with 11.9 seconds left, the Rockets beat the Spurs 87-85 on the Spurs home court, and that vaulted the Rockets up in the standings. Since Tracy McGrady’s left knee went under the knife, the Rockets are 15-4. Yao Ming continues to be one of the two best centers walking the face of the earth. Ron Artest fits in brilliantly when he decides to fit in and not take over the offense. Shane Battier continues to be the smart defender and glue guy for the Rockets. But it is also the little things that make these Rockets different than their predecessors. The trade of Rafer Alston to Orlando was one of those moves that make the Rockets front office look smart, because they got the best player in the deal back. Alston is the big name and a quality veteran that has provided a nice stability for Orlando, but Kyle Lowry is the better player, more efficient and younger. In the last 10 games he is averaging 8 points and 4 assists off the bench — numbers that don’t begin to highlight how he has improved the second unit with his aggressive play going to the rim. Other guys like Von Wafer are even fitting together in ways other teams never saw when they cast these guys aside. Wafer could fill it up from the day he was drafted by the Lakers, but he was a square peg in the confines of the triangle offense. Now he is getting about 10 points a game in the last 10, just playing 18 minutes a night. Still, it seems nobody really believes in the Rockets. They won 22 in a row just about this point last year, then they got bounced by the Jazz in six games in the first round of the playoffs. Why should this year be any different? Especially since if the playoffs started today, they would get an improving Utah again. But this is different because this is a more mature Rockets team. First, they are playing better defense, as evidenced by holding the Spurs to just 41.5% shooting for the game Sunday. You can afford to have Battier and Artest be aggressive out on the wings when you have a 7-6 wall in the paint as backup. More importantly, this team is starting to make smart plays when it maters. Today, with the game on the line, they got the ball to Yao in the final two possessions, and he then shocked the world with two pretty passes. When Artest keeps his ego in check and doesn’t demand the ball every time down (or start barking at Kobe) the Rockets are a very good team. Rockets or Spurs? It may be moot, a couple weeks ago the Lakers beat them both on back-to-back nights on the road. But the conventional wisdom that the Spurs are the second best team in the West may well be as good as that wisdom six months ago that Bear Stearns failing was the bottom of what was going to happen to the economy. Kurt Helin's favorite city in Texas remains Austin, but it doesn't have an NBA Team. He also writes Forum Blue & Gold.
time and time again, people are wondering the same question: why the hell can't Yao be the leader of the team? now i littlely understand people are just not in Yao's shoes, of course neither do i Just think about how refs treat him, they would never give Yao a call unless he is falling onto ground. You can remember clearly how DH reacted when he pushed Yao down. He even got a T for the complain. Maybe in most players' eyes, it's fair to treat Yao like this, or how shameless he is to complain on it. Then think about how funs look at them. They even prefer DH to Yao after such a game during which Yao eat DH alive. I say how smart those funs are, because they deeply understand Yao could never win them any title as long as Yao is the No.1 player in team. To be honest, if the ref ever treat Yao fairly, i'm not asking as half good as they do to Howard, Yao can dominate everybody, no matter fronting, double, tripple or whatever. Now you may see why Yao behave differently from the time when he is the National team. According to his own words, it's because of the ability gap between him and his teammates. IMO, there is reasons other than this. I accept the fact Yao can't be a hero in NBA, can't be a superstar no matter because of what. Only hope he can work for a superstar, and together with him, win a title.
if yao played like he does v. dwight every game, it's not even a question. the thing is, he doesn't. our dream is we face the magic in the finals
Yao is the best center hands down. I mean there are center with more quickness but when it comes down to the line, who do you go to on the rockets? It's sure as hell ain't Ron with his incapacity to dribble or shoot and miss everything.
Yes, if Yao plays the same way like Howard, he will not get enough FTs, but be fouled out in most games
the best center on the planet is yao of current time, but this title is gonna be taken by Dwright in the near future. It's meaningless to compare yao with shaq, or Dwright to yao because the two couples of candidates being copared actually belong to different contemporaries. eg. it's also meaning less to make a comparision between today's us and ancient china.
Its not really Yao that matches up well with D.Howard, its the fact that Orlando is one of very few teams that actually don't double Yao. Ask Okur to play Yao without any help, he will get ripped harder than Dwight does.
