To all the people of the world that say, "Well Yao is no Shaq" or "He won't be able to stop Shaq" DUH! Tell me one guy in the last 5 years that has shown that he can handle Shaq ine on one. Mutumbo, probably one of the best defensive centers currently playing, was man-handle by Shaqzilla in the finals 2 years ago. News flash - HE CAN'T BE STOPPED BY ANYONE CURRENTLY PLAYING!
Sorry, I screwed up my last post. What I was going to continue to say before I hit the wrong button was that the best you can do against Shaq is try to score with him, and in a few years, if Shaq is still playing, Yao will probably be able to do that. This is assuming he develops into the palyer lots of people think he can be. If you can somewhat go point for point against him you can sort of neutralize him. Stopping a 7'2" 350 ish pound monster ain't going to happen. He is too freakin strong, and as long as the refs let him push his way under the basket he will remain unstoppable. By the way, does anyone else think that it is absurd that he will compalin about the hack-a-shaq defense when he is by far the most physical player in the game. You can't have it both ways big fella. If you want to throw your giganitc shoudler into people's chest to gain position in the low post, you can't complain when they hit you back.
Stevel:- I agree with you that Shaq is Shaq and Yao Ming is Yao Ming. Shaq is of the Old School a Traditional Center with great power and a force arround the basket(a banger). Yao Ming is of the New Era and of the New Game. He is the multi purpose Center, he can shoot and score from all over the Court, he plays with finese and grace. They can't be compared they are so far apart in person, in culture and in style of play.
I agree, but that means people should stop comparing Jason Kidd and Steve Francis. They are different players in the same way Yao and Shaq are.
Sabonis. He's been the only guy I've seen that was able to stand toe to toe with Shaq, and not get murdered.
Actually if I remember correctly Shaq averages almose 40 points against him in the playoffs, not to mention over 10 boards.
The only way to stop Shaq is to keep the ball out of his hands. If Rudy will use Yao Ming to front Shaq and Eddie on the weak side, I believe this would be the most effective way to limit Shaq's touches. I remember in the late 80's, early 90's, Seattle used to do this to Hakeem and it was the reason we could never get past Seattle in the playoffs.
Yao will cause Shaq to play at both ends of the court. No one has done that since Hakeem. End of game stats for Shaq: 38 Points, 12 Rebounds, 3 Blocks (Ok, we didn't stop him) End of game stats for Hakeem: 42 Points, 10 Rebounds, 2 Blocks (Ok, they didn't stop him either)
