I think it is very hard to win a champion without a good center in the future. And a team can not afford to have three Max player like Jordan had in Chicago.
I think the big difference between SF and LJ is LJ is a very good passer. But SF just started to learn it.
You are using Francis' stats in his fifth year and LeBron's in his first. Francis' stats in his first year is up to par with LeBron's. If a comparison is to be made between them, that more likely suggests LeBron can revert to this year's Francis several years later. 16.6 ppg at 40%. Not very good for LeBron. LOL.
This thing isn't really all that close. LJ came to Cleveland and instantly made them a much better team his first year. Yao came here and we've done about the same record-wise over almost two years. LJ is doing things that NO ONE has done at 19. I hear people saying he's a T-MAC or Kobe clone, and I realize that for most these people, if Yao isn't in the game, then they don't watch it. Kobe's rookie year, 7.6 ppg 1.3 apg 1.9 rpg TMac's rookie year, 7.0 ppg 1.5 apg 4.2 rpg KG's rookie year, 10.4 ppg 1.8 apg 6.3 rpg LeBron as a rook, 20.6 ppg 5.7 apg 5.7 rpg And that's at 19. LeBron is already a better player than Yao and he's 4 years younger. And the #1 arguement that Yao-fan always uses (Yao will develop and dominate) doesn't hold water because LeBron is younger and has MORE potential. LeBron already averages more points and damn near as many rebounds as Yao and way more assists. And, yes I know, Yao is 7'6. Doesn't matter. It's not a height contest. Trust me, if Cleveland called the Rox and offered LeBron, Yao would be in Cleveland tomorrow.
Take a look at SF's stats in his first year. Four years ago, everything we thought about SF applies to LJ. Who are you to say that he won't regress within 5 years? What I see between two of them is, SF is playing (at least trying to play) team ball this year. He's willing to change. SF might not produce the greatest stats but like DavidS said, there's a lot of things SF does that don't show up in the sheet. At this point, I'd rather have SF to compliment YM than LJ. *sigh*......i might get branded for SOF.
david i love your posts. but here i have to say Terry isn't a great fit for the team. he's a combo guard as well... if you look at his assist numbers they've never been that good. even this year i think francis averages more assists (could be wrong though). with yao and macgrady, there needs to be a distributor that doesn't look for his shot. obviously we can't get jason kidd, but someone like tinsley or snow or arroyo.
ROFL this post was so funny. There are so many flaws to your arguments it's hard to know where to begin. Here we go:
i think its a great arguement it seems as though both players make others around them better and play team ball its also tough to say because at the moment and a rookie, lebron is carrying his team night in and night out yao has a great supporting cast
Those players didn't get more minutes because they didn't earn them. Those teams would have loved for TMac or Kobe to get those numbers - they weren't holding them back. I love how you diminsh Lebron to "just another 6'8 fast athletic guy." Was Magic Johnson just another "6'9 guy?" No. Magic was great because he was 6'9, solidly built and had uncanny floor vision. LeBron has that same kind of vision. Imagine Karl Malone's size with Jordan's leaping ability and Magic's passing ability. That's what people/scouts see when they look at LeBron. When they look at Yao they see a 7'6 guy with good shooting ability decent rebounder and shotblocker. LeBron has a chance to be the greatest of all time. Any NBA scout will tell you that. How many NBA scouts do you think will tell you that Yao has a chance to be the greatest player of all time? None.
10-12 years from now Lebron will lose many of the advantages he currently enjoys. THat was my point. It doesn't matter who is considered the greatest player of all time, all that matters is # of championships.
Lebron is carrying his team to an under .500 record then. It's funny how these lebron hypsters fail to remember the 7'3" former all-star Lebron has on his team, or the Carlos boozer who is putting up 15/15 almost every night. That's a nice supporting cast if you ask me. Yao's teammates freeze him out. If anything, Lebron has the better SUPPORTING cast.
didn't realize the current discussion way off the line i started last nite (i can't say i started exactly). 1st, i don't say lebron is not good. don't try to label me as a lebron hater. 2nd, when you compared their 1st year stats, plz put pt, fgm-fga, other categories too. i dunno why the players you listed took less shots than lebron. many reasons could be contributed to their less attempts. for example, the coach likes to take rookie slowly into the lineup or maybe they had other good vets in their team at that time. i am not trying to argue those with you. 3rd, if you take pt and fga into account, you will see sf was better than lebron in 1st year. actually first 4 years, sf was pretty good. go to check his stats. this year is only year he does not have a good stats. 4th, sf's stats show there is a possibility that lebron's stats will decline in next few years. that is also applied to yao. when stats are bad, it doesnot neccessarily mean a player is becoming bad. he might do other things to help team. so someone says yao may not be good in next few years. it could happen to lebron too. 5th, your last paragraph is going to be laughed by everyone here and also by many experts like many team GMs, coaches, and HOFs. that is for sure.
Isnt that what tons of scouts said about Yao Ming? of course some broadcasters and such had doubts in the beginning but people who scouted played saw unlimited potential in Yao. Im not trying to make an argument either way for Yao or Lebron.. but juugie why are you always hating on Yao? You talk about yao like he's a crap player.. for a pretty long time now. Yao is going to be an awesome player in this league, on the flip side so is Lebron. it will be an interesting match up for years to watch.. J
Let's see. PPG Lebron 20.6 Yao 16.9 20.6-16.9=3.7 That's a whopping 3.7 points that Lebron averages more than Yao. Rebounds Lebron 5.7 Yao 9.0 9.0-5.7=3.3 That's a measly 3.3 rebounds that Yao averages more than Lebron. Uh wait, isn't 3.7 nearly equal to 3.3? Duh! Simple math. So you say Lebron averages more points than Yao and then go on to discredit Yao and praise Lebron saying that Lebron rebounds nearly as much as Yao? Going by your logic, I could also say that Yao already averages more rebounds and damn near as many points as Lebron. Nice job of embelishing the truth and only revealing the ones that benefit your lover Lebron. Why not put FG%, efficiency rating, blocks, turnovers, etc in as well? If you don't think height matters in basketball, then you are a complete idiot. I don't think I need to state what advantages being taller can give over another that is shorter. Trust me, if Houston called the Cavs and offered Yao, Lebron would be in Houston tomorrow.
Since we are on the James vs Yao subject, what do you guys think about MJ vs Dream? I remeber a quote from J. Krause during the Bulls title years that he WOULD take Sam Bowe over MJ, just like what the Blazers did. There was no doubt DREAM would be taken as No.1, IF they had to redo the draft again. Here was the GM for the Bulls when the team was in the middle of their dynasty, and his best player was widely considered the best player to play in NBA history. The funny thing was not that many people disagree with him at that time. I still remember I was think about the same thing, although I was a die hard Bulls fan back then. Granted, Yao is not as good as Dream was during his early years, but the comparison is still there. polished Dream vs a polished MJ; potential James vs a potential Yao I'd take Dream, or Yao in both situation. --daoshi
