Ralph Sampson v. Yao Ming

I think we have to wait for Yao to develop a lil more and get a few years under his belt before we make a fair comparison.

At this time, Yao is much more efficient around the basket than Sampson was, and that is reflected in his shooting %. However, Sampson was much more diverse with his offensive game. Sampson could do the same things Yao does but also could take his game out on the perimeter.

Sampson could also put the ball on the floor a lil much than Yao can.

I think for their size, Sampson was much more athletic than Yao is. Sampson really was a freak of nature.

Lets not forget, Sampson averaged 21 pts and 11 boards his rookie year. Yao has a ways to go to approach those numbers.

Also, Sampson was headed for a hall of fame career before injuries derailed him.

 

Yao's getting closer to those numbers Codell. Ralph started right away because those Rocket teams were downright horrible and even when he was on it, they were horrible. He was the primary offensive weapon on those teams and averged close to 17 shots a game.

Of course, we all know about Yao and his slow start. So, let's look at his stats since the SA game (I used that as a benchmark because that is when he seemed to get consistent):

18.5pts and 12.4boards

While averaging less than 13 shots in that span. Just looking at their rookie seasons, I think Yao will come away with similar statistics while have more of an impact (Ralph's team finished 29-53).

 

The sad thing is Ralph doubled the win count from the previous season... that's how sorry the previous-season Rockets were. Now if Yao could help us double our previous season record... woo hoo.

 

Both players have or had a very good variety of offensive moves. Sampson was actually more aggressive on his good days and could really dominate a game scoring.

Both players were exceptional passers. Yao Ming might have a slight edge here though because his passes are so controlled and usually very accurate. Sampson had the best outlet pass in the game when he played. A good out let pass is a fast breaks best friend. That sounded kind of corny.

Both players are exceptional rebounders although I think this is one area that Ralph Sampson would have a slight edge. Ralph was only an inch shorter than Yao Ming but he had major hops.

It is hard to say who is the better defender. Ralph Sampson was a very good shot blocker but like Yao Ming he blocked most of his shots due to his size rather than great timing like Dream or Eddie Griffin. The bigger more physical players like Karl Malone pushed around Sampson. Yao Ming has a much bigger base than Ralph had and as he continues his career he should be a better defender in the paint than Sampson was.

Both players come with intangibles. Ralph was much more athletic in terms of quickness and leaping ability than Yao Ming is. Yao Ming is much more a physical freak than Ralph Sampson was though because he has such a strong well porportioned base for such a tall man. I believe in terms of strength Yao Ming is the superior athlete. Both men were / are unusually coordinated for a man of their height.

The real advantage with intangibles has to go to Yao Ming though. He never seems to loose control and he has such good composer in almost every single situation. Other players could really get into Ralph Sampsons head and cause him to loose control at times. Ralph Sampson like Hakeem Olojuwan was a real hot head at times.

It’s hard to say who would have been better but I believe that ultimately Yao Ming would have been better based and the intangibles.

 

Ralph is more athletic than Yao and can dribble better. I remember that Ralph can dribble up the court like a guard and can be creative at time also. Scouts even said Ralph had the skill of a guard in a 7'4" body. With that being said, I think Yao can be better than Ralph when all said and done. Yao had more court awareness and a better shooter than Ralph. Also Yao being at 7'5" and 296 is also much bigger than Ralph at 7'4" and 235. Their game is somewhat similiar in some way because they are tall but not a stiff. Both can shoot from the outside and block shot. They can put the ball on the floor and drive and they are both athletic for their size. They both play a finesse game and relatively quick for their size. But as far as a team player, I think Yao make the players around him better compafre to Ralph. If I have to pick between the two, I would pick Yao because he had the chance to dominate and he can help the team win in so many ways. I think Yao can bring more championships to the team Ralph. But I agreed that Ralph will get into Hall of Fame if not for his injuries.

 

Again, at this stage of their given careers, Id pick Sampson. He was a better player at this point in his rookie year, then Yao is in his. There is no question in my mind.

Lets not forget that Sampson put up 21 pts, 11 rebs, 3-4 assists and 2-3 blocks and shot above 50% from day one and kept up this pace until his injuries started to hit. I think we need to see Yao play over the course of 2 or 3 seasons before we proclaim he is better than Sampson.

If you are talking potential only, then Yao might compare more favorably with Sampson. But based on what they have accomplished so far, Id give the edge to Sampson. Like DrofDunk said, he was the main reason why our win total doubled that year.

Crash,

I think your assesments are pretty accurate. Id have to give Ralph the defense and rebounding edge just based on his leaping and athletic ability. Check out these pictures:



Sampson had an amazing vertical for his size. Keep in mind that Sampson also guard PFs and not Cs. I think that right there shows you his defensive skills. No why Yao can guard 4s out on the floor.

I think Sampson's skill levels compare alot to Kevin Garnett.

 

I think Garnett is the perfect comparison to Ralph Sampson in terms of skill level and ability. Give KG an extra 4 inches and you now have Ralph Sampson.

Ralph Sampsons big draw back in my opinion was what was in his head. He had a very fragile psyche.

 

I remember Sampson folded like a cheap tent in game 6 of the NBA finals after the Jerry Sichting fight. Boston booed him relentlessly and he threw up some big time bricks.

Sampson was always a moody, defensive guy, trying to live up to the expectations of a 7'4" cant miss.

Yao is much more used to the big time pressure. Considering how he's handled yet, Yao should be come the better player. Yao's temperment is much more relaxed and suited for this type of scrutiny.

The difference between superstar and potentially great is oftentimes the mental aspect. Look at Vince Carter. Once compared to Michael Jordan, he'll soon become the next Dominique Wilkins.

 

Crash,

I think this could turn into a very interesting discussion.

Ive always been on the fence as to whether or not Sampson was a headcase/whiner/punk. His public spats with Fitch didnt help his cause and also, his biggest gaffe was picking a fight with a 6'0'' backup guard for the Boston Celtics (Schisting).

Also, although nothing was ever really said about it, I think Sampson's feelings were hurt when it became apparent that once Hakeem's rookie year was over, it was Hakeem's team and not Ralph's. I dont think Ralph took that too well.

All of these incidents not withstanding, i dont think Ralph deserved the reputation he got with regards to being a headcase.

I know alot of people felt he dogged it from time to time. Back in the day, Ralph was my favorite player up until the day he was traded and I closely followed all of his games. I really didnt notice him "dogging" it until his injuries started to hit him (after the fall in the Boston Garden).

That fall in the Garden is what started the downword spiral of his career. To Sampson's credit, he could have retired a millionaire and just given up. I remember he just kept fighting through the knee surgeries and bounced around the league trying to resurect his caree when he went GS, then Sacramento and finally with Washington.

Back to the original point of this thread, I think overall, Sampson was a more well-rounded basketball player than Yao is right now. And thats no insult to Yao, but rather a compliment to the freak of nature that Sampson was. If Yao can stay healthy, I would agree that once his career is over, hell probably be seen as a much better player than Sampson was by a long shot.

 

I still think that if Yao continues his current pace, Yao is arguably as good as Sampson, if not better.

Sampson came to the Rockets as possibly the best NCAA player of the decade (3 time Naismith) and he knew the American game right away. I do give him props: there was pressure on him from day 1 and he delivered. Yao missed 90% of training camp and had to get acquainted with NBA-style bball. Of course, that's why its taken him awhile to finally get consistent.

I just don't see how he's a better rebounder just cause he's more athletic. Rebounding is more about fundamentals, anticipation, and effort. And Yao's been showing all three in the past couple of weeks. It's been a long time since Ralph played but I can't straight up say that Ralph has an edge over Yao. The numbers I gave earlier would say that Yao is better.

In terms of defense, the Rockets have become one of the better defensive teams because of Yao. Plus, his passing has just made us go Wow!! Again, too long since Ralph played but I think its difficult to imagine Ralph being that much better in either of the two areas.

And Yao still has a chance to double our wins!! Of course, we'd have to go 41-15 the rest of the way. The doubling thing is a difficult issue to argue so let's just go by win differential. Ralph's team won 15 more games than the year before. Right now, Yao's team is on pace to win at least that many more.

I'd like to call it a wash...it's difficult to compare two players from different ERAs. Personally, I just want Yao to match Ralph in one category by the end of the year: ROY.

 

I always thought that Sampson had a hard time dealing with all of the Ralph has no heart talk that went on during his career in Houston. Everyone wanted Ralph to dominate every single night and he just couldn't.

I remember Karl Malone claiming that he would dominate Ralph Sampson during a game and then went out and did it. Ralph Sampson really took a lot of grief over that one.

When Sampson made that the shot in the LAL WCF series everything seemed right in Ralph Sampson's world and for just a brief moment he lived up to all of the expectations that he had previously failed to meat including failed expectations at Virginia where he failed to win a national title.

Unfortunately, I thought Ralph Sampson took loosing the NBA championship just as hard as the fans in Houston. I also think he was just as hard on himself for his performance as most fans were.

I agree that Ralphs play seemed to start heading south after he was carried of on a stretcher in the Boston game. That is still one of the scariest sights I have ever seen. I always wondered though if his knees gave out because of the tremendous pressure he was on to live up to the hype that he was the next Wilt Chamberlain.

Ralph Sampson was one of my favorite Rockets and it was a very sad day for me when he was finally traded.

 

Derrock,

Just a couple of things to add. One think we have to keep in mind is, Sampson, with the exception of his rookie year, played PF and Yao plays center. Sampson played alot farther out on the floor than Yao does, so when looking at their rebounding numbers, I think you have to keep that in mind.

Also, fundamentally speaking, I think Yao comes up short here when comparing him to Sampson. Yao has been averaging 12-13 boards a game for the last 10 games or so, but Yao gets pushed out of position and also misses alot of rebounds he should get a lot. Yao also gets alot of his boards over the back of his man. Sampson was very good at boxing out and holding his position. Sampson probably didnt have near the rebounding opportunities that Yao has due to the position he played on the court.

Last, the Rockets are a better defensive team this year because of the matchup zone that they have played. Id attribute our defensive success to that, more than I would to having Yao in the middle. The easiest way to prove this is to look at our team defensive statistics over the course of this season. Before the Laker game, we were giving up about 89 pts a game. Since the Yao's breakout game against LA, which saw an increase in his minutes, we are giving up about 88.

Yao actually steal needs to work a little on his man defense, especially his zone assignments. He still gets caught out of position way too often and doesnt block alot of the shots he should.

 

Crash,

Excellent post. Im glad to see that Ralph still has some fans left.

I vividly remember that fall. NASTY!! Alot of people dont realize that the back injury that he suffered as a result of that fall is what led to his numerous knee injuries.

Houston drafting Hakeem hurt Ralph's career somewhat. It would have been interesting to see what Ralph could have accomplished had we drafted someone instead of Hakeem, he remained at the 5 and the team was his instead of someone else's.

I think the fact that a man his size could make the transition from C to PF was amazing. In todays NBA, he could easily play the 3 and would still be an all-star.

Like we both said, add 4 inches to Kevin Garnett, and you have Ralph Sampson.

BTW, I think we can agree that the Schisting incident was the biggest black eye in Sampson's career. Im sure Boston fan considers it to be poetic justice that the fall occured on their court and led to the downfall of his career. Interesting.

 

The one thing you guys should remember is that although Ralph was a very good player in the pros, Yao's ceiling is higher.

Sampson was very polished out of college and had a very good career before he was hurt. However, he was never what you would call super-dominant. Hakeem was more raw but his ceiling was much higher and you could tell when they played together.

Yao has that potential to be come a dominant player..

 

Actually super dominant are two words that I would have used to describe Ralph Sampson on many nights.

 

How long was RS career? Man, I felt like you guys are a lot older than me. I know nothing about these legends.

 

Riet,

I would say Ralph was indeed very dominant, even after Hakeem came around. During the 1986 season, he averaged something like 20 pts, 11 board, 4 assists, i think 1-2 steals and around 2 blocks a game. That is very dominating and are Kevin Garnett like numbers.

I also think Sampson didnt come into the leak already peaked and without a ceiling. Sampson could have been even better than he was. Unfortunately for him, Hakeem came along and the rest his history. So in the end, Ralph never had the chance to prove how high he could go before his injuries hit.

If he had stayed healthy and had Hakeem not come along and took away alot of Sampson's touches and had Sampson remained at the 5, I could easily see Ralph being a 25-28 PPG, 13-15 RPG, 4-5 APG and 2-3 BPG player.

 

I never remembered him as a super dominant player. Maybe my view was skewed and although he put up very good numbers, I never felt he could just take over a game.

I do remember that one Dallas game where he was unstoppable.