I'm only comparing them as big men with foot problems. Obviously they were never near Shaq type super-stars.
*imagining* AHH!! Shaq threw Yao to the ground by holding on and not letting go! Yao has a concussion. I don't like imagining.
Well their foot problems are completely different too. Illgauskas had stress fractures in both his feet, pins and nails all over the place trying to hold everything together. Shaq's problem is his toe. He's operating on it in a few weeks and he'll begin play about a month into the season. No biggie. He won the championship WITH the injury and WITHOUT home court advantage. I don't think Ming can really go up against Shaq for another 3 years. In years, when Shaq is slowed down, and Ming is a bit stronger and quicker, it will be a showdown. But by then, Duncan will be the man to beat.
don't remember what website i found this on: "When the human body reaches proportions like 7-3 or 7-4, the stresses that are put on the joints are tremendous. Stress fractures and soreness are common simply because the human body is not designed to be as large as Ilgauskas or Smits are, and it breaks down more easily. Former NBA center Gheorge Muresan suffered from injuries like this one, and it simply takes longer for big players to heal. For Ilgauskas, his feet are betraying him. For Portland’s Arvydas Sabonis, it’s his knees. These things happen to big men" And none of those guys were as bulky as Shaq. I'm not saying he won't come back from this, but when big guys feet start bothering them, it's often the beginning of the end. Honestly, I hope Shaq pulls through this OK though because then when we win a championship again people won't put an asterisk beside it and say "Oh, but that was the year that Shaq had toe surgery and wasn't himself..."
Dusty, I was wondering about that too. It almost makes it a good thing that Yao is thin up top. That makes it less prone that he will put a lot of weight on his feet/legs. He's very strong in the lower body and very light up top. This might be a advantage that allows Yao to play a long career. Ilgauskas had thin legs/ankles, but big feet. Sabonis had strong legs, but he was also very big up top. Too much weight on his knees. Smits was proportional. His feet gave out. Muresan was just an accident waiting to happen, forget about him. He seemed to be in pain the first time he came into the league. It will be interesting if Rudy has Yao gain some muscle, but not too much. The saving grace might be Yao's HUGE LEGS that will give him longevity. I hope!
The Rockets management will do anything to help prolong Yao's career. I heard they studied Yao's feet and will make custom made shoes to protect his feet. Yao'll have less chance to experience the same problems to other tall players.
I agree to ur point... remember... Yao ming runs like a Small Forward.. he will be the fastiest center in the all leaguess
I've always said that Shaq can't stop Yao one on one. The only thnig Shaq can do defensively is to use his bulk to push. But Yao doesn't have to start down low to bang with him. He can face up and shoot midrange jumpers over Shaq all day. Or he can beat him on the dribble to dunk on him.
Although I don't think that would happen, I'd like to see Shaq give Yao a piggyback ride like Sabonis did Francis. (Ok, maybe Shaq would just fall down, but it would look cool.) Seriously, I doubt Yao could dunk on Shaq, but he could dunk past Shaq. I also am not sure about his "driving past." I would think there would be several pairs of hands trying to get the ball, and Shaq may not let him go that easily.
RC COLA who on NJ or SAC can compare to ming ? What I said is that Ming is taller than Shaq and harder to pass over, and shoot over just based on his size and mobility, even when he gets postion Divac and todd macollah are not taller than Shaq. a young David Robinson gave Shaq major problems, on offense and defence he was helpless. I think a young Robinson is what we have in Ming not as quick though. I think that a Rocket zone defense might be very effective against Shaq. Shaq is not a very skilled player just big. One last thing is Shaq is not the best bigman the game has ever seen !!! he is in the last three years; before that he was behind Dream and D Rob those guys wooped Shaq #ss worse than Shaq does todays centers. Shaq is lucky his only real threat is Duncan Then Ming.
You made it seem like Yao would hold Shaq to 5 points. If someone fronts him, he can either fight to get in front, or back him out and have a pass from another direction. If we doubles or tripled, the rest of the team would be open. Basically, what SAC and NJ did. If it was that easy, DAL could have had Bradley on him and he'd be scoreless. Even if it created problems, Shaq would probably find a way, epecially since he can get a little pysical because of the refs. Also, if they wanted to, Kobe could shoot 30, and Shaq would still get 20 or so since he has inside position on Yao. (gets putbacks.) I wish fronting him was the answer, but I don't think it is. I am hoping a double of Griff/Yao will "contain" him, though. edit: BTW, I don't like Shaq. I think he is not skilled. He's just big, like you said. But he won't go down that easily. Maybe some hustling on D will slow him down, which is what Yao should do. edit2: Checked Shaq's stats against Dallas, where they could have used the Shaq-stopping "tall guy fronting him" defense. In them, Shaq had at least 28, and 41 in the best game. Also went 3-1 on them.
RC Cola Ming has about 80lbs on bradley. Ming might be much more effective and may get more respect from refs than bradley has. Muresan has done a good job on Shaq, gave him the types of problems that I meant. Im not saying he can hold Shaq to 5 pts but under 30 pts is what he can probably do. If Sac could hold him under 45 pts the last 2 games they would have beaten them EASY. If Ming and Shaq dont have major difference in points. mobley might be the only player kobe has had a hard time getting around. Rockets have played Shaq well even without Ming. Result Lakers wont win!!! Rocket Have More Scorers
