Knowing Yao now, I would pick him as #1 for sure. However, if Yao hasn't had the success this season, I'd go with James. The reason? Would you like to pick an 18 years old or 23 years old?
Very tough. Id go with Yao but I dont feel its a no brainer. LeBron's skills or sick. plus he is younger and imagine cat francis and james running the floor wow He has everything it takes to be the best in the league. But a great center will always keep you in the game particurally in todays game filled with so few centers. They will both be some of the greats of all time. And both win some rings. But id go with our guy cuz hes a big man.
Yao, for sure. We have an OK SG who can get better over time. But Cato isn't no center who will make Us America's... better yet, America's team.
Very good point about Yao's demeanor and professionalism. I don't know how'd we deal with James's immaturity and cockiness for the first couple of years here. Even if personalities were unknown, I do think the Rox choose Yao because of the fact that he'd end up helping the team faster than James. Remember, the Rox feel like they have a good team and are on the verge of the playoffs. They wouldn't want to waste the good years of Stevie and Cat while waiting for the rook to develop.
Yao draws attention and money in around the globe, has a rare skill set for a center, is a big man's big man and has mental stability. James has nice game but is overhyped. Bad off court demeanor is what mostly sets him apart from Yao. From what I read he might be a tweener between 2 and 3 in the NBA and his outside shot is susceptible. James puts up nice all around stats in the HS but didn't dominate like Wagner and Stoudamire did. Another difference is James has already developed his body and Yao hasn't yet. Yao has more to show once his body is fully developed. Sure, Yao's obligation with the Chinese National Team is not welcomed, but most foreign players represent their countries in off seasons too. It's no big deal. That's all China can do, to make Yao to play for the national team. Worrying about China pulling Yao back for whatever reason is a waste of time and is overstating Yao's importance to China. No matter how big Yao is, he is a miniscule part of China. He is just a sports figure in a relatively unimportant industry among hundreds of industries in China. He's of little strategic value to China and pulling him back will only hurt China. I'd rather worry about James calling himself King James and refers to himself in third person. To me those are signs of early scizophrenia(sp?). If James entered the previous draft, I would still take Yao as the first pick.
It's kind of scary that LeBron's shot is suspect when he should be able to free-stroke it with the defenses that he is facing. I would guess that he will be more like Vince Carter than Kobe, and I think people are buying into the hype too much when they predict that he will win multiple championships. It's hard to win championships as a guard. Stockton never did it. Stackhouse, Pierce, Payton, Vince, and Reggie Miller are 0 for 40 or so. Heck, I bet Kidd or Payton tries to sign with San Antonio because they know the only way they are going to win a championship is to sign with a superstar quality big man (Duncan). I think at least 80% of the teams in the league would trade the number one pick in the draft this year for Yao Ming.
James has a personality that would not fit in with the Rox. He is a great High School Player and thats all I can say. Yao Ming had been seen at the Olympics and in International Competition. A 7'6'' Center with high Basketball IQ and international experience. The answer seems very clear... the Rox would pick Yao Ming. Its traditional for the Rox to play the Big Mans Game.
Useless thread... Who gives a crap about LJ... He will never be the player Yao will be and I don't think he'll be as good in his first year as Amare...
Let us take a look at the old scout of last year http://www.nba.com/draft2002/casey_on_yao.html I look at this draft in very simple fashion, two-to-three years down the road, will there be another ¡°star¡± guard or small forward available? The answer is undoubtedly ¡°yes.¡± Will there be another Yao Ming? That answer is a resounding ¡°no.¡± Now u got it?
Most people thinks in terms of yesterday's game. With the zone defense, big man will not be as dominate as before. But a physically gifted and fundamentally solid guard will have more impact. So I say Lebron James. But I hope I am wrong.
Man that's an amazingly accurate scouting report. We should hire Don Casey. He predicted Yao's assets accurately from only a couple of games. Here is a highlight of what he said: 1. Yao needs to be taught to hold the ball high 2. Yao sometimes has trouble identifying double teams 3. Great competitor and very hard worker 4. Might have problems playing all 82 games. Sounds familiar? We should definitely hire this guy.
Why age matters? When James fully matures, Francis etc would probably be in the wrong end of 30. Do you think we could win with James alone? Actually do you think we could win with only those guards alone and no frontcourt?
