Matt Guokas' Mailbag: Yao Ming won't rise above Shaq?

So Yao will be limited by his own guys????? I cannot believe a person who makes a living watching sports games is saying that. This guy lost all his credibility. First of all, Yao has caught everyone by surprise, Steve and Cat are gradually adjusting their games. People, we are talking about changing a player's playing style, that will not change overnight. It will take at least a full season, maybe more. Secondly, Yao at this stage of his career is not capable of carrying this team. We Steve and Cat to continue use their offensive weapons to keep us going. This is only the first year when we have a legit center. To say we will not develop Yao to his full potential by what's happening right now is completely bogus.

 

I dont agree with the power vs finesse theory but the fact is Shaq has 3 championships and counting. From the looks of our team, Yao will not reach those levels with the Rockets. Guokas made a good point about us having guards that like to shoot will prevent Yao to reach his full potential. Pretty sad indeed.

 

Guokas knows all about centers succeeding right? Guess that's why they canned his ass in Orlando when Shaq was there in favor of Brian Hill and then went on to get to the NBA Finals. Guokas' comments are worthless.

Chris

 

Even Guokas can see the problem the Rockets face!.Eventually, if we are to keep Yao Ming, a decision will ber made to go back to a dominent 'Big Man Game' rather than the mish-mash we are heading to at this time!

 

well certain guy by the name of Hakeem was a finesse player...and he didn't do too bad

 

Roc Paints' Mailbag:

Matt Guokas can't even rise above Mings' Bean-Bag.

Go Ming!!

 

Just curious...if he and Shaq were both in Orlando at the same time, was it he who drafted Shaq? If that's the case, he may know a little something about big men. Or at a minimum, that the center should be the focus of the offense.

 

I don't think it's silly to say Yao will never overcome Shaq career wise. All that's saying is that Yao probably won't be one of the 5 or 10 greatest to ever play the game. That's not exactly going out on a limb.

 

It's hardly an insult against Yao to say that Shaq will have a better career. What's more interesting is that Matt Goukas politely points out what everyone knows is true about Houston: the selfish play of their guards are holding back Yao Ming from realizing his full potential. This only reinforces my belief that if Yao were on a team that didn't have to deal with so many competing egos, he would be averaging close to twenty a game. It shouldn't take Francis and Mobley this long to adjust to Yao's game. Yao has managed to adjust his game accordingly for the NBA, it shouldn't take years for his guards to make a significantly easier adjustment to his game.

 

Visagial:- I expect Yao Ming to be one of the Games Greatest Players! Does anyone else?

 

yao will be like kareem if he becomes tougher and smarter. like others, i think it's too earlier to say shaq or yao will have a better career.

 

Shaq is much better than Yao will ever be. Look at their rookie careers. Shaq's rookie numbers are much better than Yao's. If Yao wants to pass Shaq's numbers, then that means that he has to have a season that is substantially better than Shaq's, to make up for the worse rookie season. Not gonna happen.

 

Yetti....unciviliZed is spelled with a Z...change your sig..

I have been chasing you all over this board

 

WARNING

This thread contains Mad Yao Disease, proceed with extreme caution

 

I agree that it's not an insult to say that Shaq will have a better career. In fact I think it'd be an insult to Shaq to say Yao will have a better career at this point. I don't think anyone expected Yao to become the most dominating player in the game and I still don't think anyone expects that.

It's interesting to note that Matt Goukas seems like the millionth analyst/commentator/former coach that has said that the guards need to get Yao more touches. There definitely seems to be a consensus. At the same time, I imagine it must be irritating for the guards to constantly hear how they're doing a bad job of getting Yao the ball. Hence, Steve's remark on ESPN about Legler yesterday.

 

All that Goukas said was that Shaq will surpass Yao in numbers and accolades by the end of their respective careers. That's not a particularly bold statement. Shaq's career is already more prolific than Hakeem's (more championships, more MVP awards, more scoring, better FG %, etc.). And as Goukas said, with guards like Francis and Mobley, no way is Yao going to get to put up those kinds of numbers.

But look at Jordan. By the end of his career, he will not be the league leader in several prominent statistical categories, and there are several basketball players who have had more prolific careers than he has. Don't forget the Celtic and Laker dynasties.

That doesn't mean that Jordan is a lesser basketball player than any of those guys (Russell, Chamberlin, Magic, Larry, Kareem). Everybody knows that Jordan is the man.

So Yao and Shaq, as basketball players competing against each other in their primes, that's not the question Goukas answered.

More interesting, though, is what everybody else pointed to -- that Houston has a huge dilemma to face. What's going to happen this off-season when the time comes to choose a direction for the team.

 

Their respective rookie seasons puts Yao at a significant disadvantage to catching up to Shaq's numbers, but it's not insurmountable. If Shaq's body continues to break down, his career could be over shortly. If Yao plays longer, then he could do it. A prolific career generally corresponds to a long career. But it's early to really make this projection, but if things continue as they are with the Rockets' offensive and defensive schemes (or lack thereof), then Goukas is absolutely right. But does that really matter?

 

Houston will make some changes I believe this offseason. Yao is the biggest star to come into the league in a while and he's already one of the league's most popular stars. Aside from his basketball skills, the guy is a goldmine. In addition to the money, teams just don't win focused on guard play aside from MJ and the Bulls. In the recent years its been Shaq, Duncan, and the Dream with MJ being the exception.

I don't think Yao will put up Shaq like numbers for his career, I think his impact on the game will be bigger. As great as Shaq was, he was never the marketing draw that Jordan was. I think that Yao's personality really makes him very popular and in the end he could be bigger than Shaq. He might already be more popular, if you use all-star votes as an indicator.

 

OK...but...what if Shaq's body only lasts another season or two and Yao (by virtue of playing a finesse game) has a much longer career? I can see Yao putting up numbers at age 37 a lot easier than I can see Shaq doing it.