Out of curiosity: Yao or Howard, now that we have Howard

not even a legitimate question.

Yao, all day, every day.

Unstoppable offensive force and dominating defender. Intelligence + basketball IQ. Humble + Fire in the belly. Incredible FG% + FT% efficiency.

I am really liking Howard, but comparing those 2 is like comparing Harden to Drexler. If you saw Yao play, you understand.

 

add: in the east

 

Poor excuse. The beat one of the top teams in basketball to get to the Finals. We got out of round 1 with Yao once and it's not like we were losing to great teams. Howard probably isn't getting torched by the likes of Boozer or Okur. He's also probably grabbing more than 7-10 boards a game and he definately isn't shooting 44% like Yao did in the 2007 postseason.

You can blame injuries all you want but Yao has never brought the playoff production that Howard has.

 

Howard also doesn't get double/tripled teamed like Yao did in the playoffs and wasn't the primary threat on offense that opposing teams based their game plans on stopping.

 

Yet howards team got to the finals going through lebron. Yao's rockets couldn't beat the mavs or the jazz which they really should have.

 

As much I as I love DH on the team right now, Yao Ming was still the more dominant big man when he was healthy. I disagree with those people who kept saying DH was better in our roster, the thing is 100% healthy Yao was quick enough to run fastbreaks and had some highlight reels of him dribbling behind the back and dunking the ball. The problem was his health and his peak never really matched up, for a short time (1-2 seasons?) Yao was considered the best big man in the NBA but even then he was already breaking down due to several freak accidents which curtailed his growth and the Chinese team which kept on getting him to play ball every summer, essentially removing his "recovery time", forcing the Rox to cut short his summer training camps so he can rest more.

What I'm trying to say is nobody saw the "100% healthy in his prime" Yao Ming, judging from his production IMHO he would've been one of the best ever. But...this is just like Prime Sabonis in the NBA or DH who can make 90% fts or Tmac with Kobe's work ethic. I voted Yao since he would've been better but if we're talking about "real world" Yao Ming then it's DH no question. DH might not be a good match compared to the "true greats" but he's perfect for the watered down current NBA with his mix of athletic ability and high bball IQ. Dude was averaging 20-20s in his prime and was the only other guy besides LBJ who was able to take a crappy team to the finals.

 

I don't think you know Dwight Howard or watched him in Orlando

I understand the emotional attachment but if we can't admit that the Yao/McGrady era was a failure with both Yao and T-Mac being responsible then we're a bunch of homers. Dwight was just better than Yao except wen they played against each other.

 

healthy Yao? what made Yao's inevital downfall so tragic was that he was finally putting everything together. His only limitations were through his sheer size, dude was the complete offensive player.

 

Yao wasn't the primary threat, Tmac was. IIRC Jazz were running wave upon wave of defenders at Tmac to slow him down and had Okur/Boozer take turns dominating Yao Ming.

Don't make excuses for Yao, the truth is that DH achieved way more than he did, and at a younger age too. You're acting like DH didn't get double and tripled team, he was the only star on his team, Yao at least had Tmac and Battier.

 

Howard's edge on defense isn't as vast as some of you are making it out to be. Yao's career on/off defensive splits are better than Dwight's (despite having Deke as his backup). Yao's career DRtg is 99. After his Rookie season, none of Yao's teams ranked lower than 6th in DRtg (and that was the disastrous '05-06 campaign).

Dwight's clearly the more athletic and versatile defender of the two, and Yao clearly had trouble guarding perimeter 5s, but his sheer size made him a major asset on D.

 

After a brief moment of thought, I agree with this statement.

 

You should take a look at the Magic's roster from those years. You'll be surprised at their talent level.

 

How many seasons did Yao play without another all star on his team?

 

Dwight for D
Yao for O.

Dwight is like Ben Wallace with a bit of O. If Yao was healthy, it's not even close.
Dude is all about O and not bad on D. Mid range Jumpers, Post ups, Hook shots, and Automatic Free throws. Man, if he was healthy and on this team, we be deadly.

 

Prime Yao dominates Prime Dwight all day every day.

 

Let me put it like this. Howard is a beast. Yao was a monster.

 

Prime Yao couldn't even dominant Okur/Boozer.

 

Really brings out a lot of good ol' memories...

His new video with Prince Williams and David Beckham to save the rhinos
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dk2lqX4PS6o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Dwight can't even be in the game in the last two minutes to close. I am sure that is going to be more exposed come playoff time. OTOH, Yao takes the technical FT.
Dwight doesn't get double teamed, while leaving Yao single covered ... You can ask LMA and the blazers.
I love Howard. But Yao is not even close??? That is a crazy statement.
Do the switching test. Switch Yao to the current team

Bev
Harden
Parsons
TJones
Yao

I think that is a contender.

 

It depends on if you can guarantee a healthy Yao. But that's Yao's biggest problem. He is fragile.