Centers just aren't closers in today's NBA - too much is expected of Yao

I agree. I think its easier to build a team with howard than yao. When u have yao, u basically play 1 way and that's half court. Howard allows u to play half court,transition, trap,or whatever.Not to mention that howards energy level is the same regardless if its the 1st or the 4th qt.

 

You're totally misapplying the impact of offensive skills. A player like Vlade Divac had a far higher offensive skill level than Shaq however Shaq was the fare more effective offensive player because of his physicality. Yao's offensive skill level is offset by his physical limitations as Howard's offensive skill level is offset by his physical ability. Basketball is not simply skill, it's the combination of physicality with skill, intelligence, and experience. You can be the most skilled man alive but if you can't create separation on your jump shot or create your own shot based off your quickness or strength, you're not going to score. Yao similarly, if he can't get open, his skills don't mean a thing.

 

Yao did complain that they were not running all of the plays after a few losses this year.

 

i didnt' expand much in that post, but i did post right before that Yao could be a closer with his skills, but for other reasons, like the one you mentioned, he isn't and may never be.....

Later i also posted that i really meant limited offesnively when it comes to being a closer, to be a good closer you have to have a wide variety of moves, go toward the rim or away, layups or shots, etc.....which Yao had and Dwight doesn't, so in a perfect situation Yao would have more succes as a closer against a wide variety of competition, while Howard would still be able to close out some game against certain teams/mismatches, his limited arsenal would be exposed against others.

Also keep in mind i was also answering the other poster's comment, where he implied Orlando was in the conf finals and not houston because we tried to make Yao our closer and Orlando doesn't rely on howard for that. So i was pointing out why Orlando doesn't do that.

 

Edit: Wrong thread.

 

OK. So Yao > Dwight. But Orlando > Houston. The fact that Houston has not much success in the past years means that things aren't working. I acknowledge that Yao has more offensive skills than Dwight, but at the end of the day, Orlando is in the conference finals and we are not. I am not blaming Yao, I am just saying that Yao as our #1 option is not going to work. You could argue that Orlando has the better 'team' or we faced the best in the west in the 2nd round, but all I am saying is that I agree with the OP saying that centres are not the ideal option to close the game, and unfortunately Yao is our #1 option.

 

Yao being the #1 option is not the problem, having no #2 option is the problem which is suppose to be Tracy Mcgrady's role. All said and done a #2 option can close out the game from Vernon Maxwell to Clyde Drexler and hopefully now Tracy McGrady. The offense will run through Yao, but we will need another offense to go to in the 4th.

 

Which illustrates the title of this thread: Centers just aren't closers in today's NBA.

 

or maybe injuries happened...

 

I agree, centers aren't point guards or forwards
we can't expect from them to close a game

 

It has everything to do with the crappy rules change which allows double teams without the ball.

It should be banned....IMO....no double team UNTIL the player has the ball.

DD

 

Agree. The impact of the Center position has changed with the rules change. I think that was the original point of the op -- not if Howard or Yao is better. He was using Howard's play to illustrate the point. In today's game, I think an athletic wing (Labron, Koby, TMac in his prime) has more of the ability to take over a game (or "impose his will" - where have I heard that before?), and therefore win a close game in the fourth quarter.

 

I agree completely. As much as the illegal defense rule was an arbitrary and poorly enforced rule, it is significantly better than what we have today. Defensive 3 seconds and the ability to double team a player without the ball have really diminshed my favorite aspect of basketball, the dominant low post threat.

 

Myself and others have been saying it all season. Bring Yao out to the elbow more often and let him either shoot it or hit someone else in the paint...ala Sabonis. Should be less wear and tear on Yao, open up the lane, and give him some open shots. Yao is an incredible shooter for a big man. USE IT!!! Once they come out on him, hit Scola, or Landry cutting.

 

I think the rules changes have had the biggest effect. In the Hakeem days there was illegal defense where you couldn't double until the man had the ball, i.e. no zone.

The NBA killed the dominant big man when they changed this rule. They also made the Steve Nashes of the world into MVPs when they changed the hand checking rule.

Unfortunately, it's a little man's game these days....