Without reading any replies to this - yes, I do. Yao can shoot from the outside. Yao can also sink 3's. If Houston cared enough, Yao could be the new Dirk of the West. However, Houston's rotation doesn't allow that with Adleman. Centers are definitely not as important as they once were. However, I only attribute that to the fact that there are so many dominant centers in the game now that coaches are *forced* to shoot from the outside.
If Yao played in 1984 he would have averaged over 30 points a game. If he gets the ball he is brutally efficient. The current crop of centers are amazing it is just the rule changes that shut it down for the big man.
dwight howard will be all-nba 1st team for C this year. you think he is "that good?" the current crop of centers are NOT amazing. yao and howard are the only legit centers who can play in another era and be considered good.
I agree the Centers are not the same... Back in the day if you were 6-10 you could be a center (Mourning./ Hakeem) Now 7 footers want to be power forwards (Garnett/Nowitzki). All this fronting stuff is partially Yao's physical inability to jump high. They tried to front Shaq in the past and they could never stop him. He didn't have a smooth jumper like yao... but he really didn't need it. Even a perfect pass to Yao would be a high risk due to help side defense. Anyways, It's more hip to be a power forward anyways!
Threads like these are always cleverly disguised to bring out the same argument. My theory is the same and of course, ibm will not agree. If shaq can drop 17-8 and shoot 60% at age 38, imagine what he would do at 28. It doesn't matter the so called new rules because the game has always been geared to the athletes. Most of the athletes are 2/3 people. Start at 80 till present and look at the top 5 scorers. Most of those yrs, it was the swing men. Shaq was so great, he made a whole flock of big men not want tgo play center. In the 80's, garnett,webber,duncan,wallace, and dirk wouldve been centers,but since shaq was the main guy, those guys ran to pf. Other than duncan, most of those guys are perimeter oriented. They say evolution, I say cowards. Robinson, zo,dream, and moses were undersized either in weight or size, but they manned up. Sorry for the rant, but players that don't dominate today wouldn't dominate in the 80's. Like I said, go watch the 94 finals and tell me igts more physical now. The hand to hand combat between the bigs was crazy. Maybe they let yao play more physical, cool, but that also mean those guys could also. Hell dream used to get into foul trouble and get some ghost calls. Don't believe me, go watch hou vs bos in 86. Bottomline is if your dominant, you will dominate.
Centres can dominate games, they just can't carry teams. They can't make the plays down the stretch when you need them. Now sure, that's not their job, centres aren't meant to be playmakers, but centres just aren't THAT important in the clutch times. They are important, just not the most important. They can dominate, but not the way guards and forwards can.
yeah...nothing like putting a 7'6" guy way away from the basket to REALLY maximize his skills!!! particularly one who can't dribble and whose feet are slower than my grandma's!!! awesome!!!!!!!!!
I hope you are kidding... just hope. If you were the coach you wouldn't even win 10 game a season and Yao would shoot around 25% if you want to make a 7-6 guy a shooter.
It is not the Fronting it is the man behind him as well Rocket River not to mention . . evidently after seeing Oden do it in game 2 . . .. you can GO THROUGH him to get the ball without a foul call
yeah, that's what it was in game 2. that's not what it's been all season long. exhibit a: brandon bass!
You are basing that one one game. Look at game 1 of all the series. Duncan had 27 and 9 in game 1, Howard has 31 and 16 in game 1, and Yao had 24 and 9 in game 1 (in 25 min). If you had started this thread 3 days earlier would it have said big men can still dominate?
I love that. I was thinking the same thing the other day. Also, if you shackle a person's mind you control their body. Though fans won't admit it, Yao takes himself out of games. Even though Yao is not nearly as athletic as Dream was, I still think he could "overcome" if he became more aggressive and determined in those situations. If Dream wanted the ball he would get it by any means necessary.
Wow,is that true?I don't think so. I would like to break it down this way.How about Kobe went 5-for-24 last night from the field and only approximately 8 free throw attempts?He's one of the most dominant players ever in the NBA and he just went cold last night.It's not about one game stat,it's all about winning. Brandon Roy exploded to 42 points in Game 2 but how about his 1st game of the series?He ain't 'nuff.It's not like that.You need more proofs to support yo' theory.
its because the bad centers sandwich the good centers...thats why you need good PG SG now..... but about yao i really think its fine, they'll leave him alone ONCE scola, landry, battier, artest hits their shots they had many many open shots and all missed@!
This thread is underated.....10 STARS.... The way the NBA is refereed and the new rule changes make it nearly impossible for a Center to dominate. They need someone to get them the ball, and defenses can now, LEGALLY put a guy in front and behind. The old Shaq would struggle to get the ball under these rules.....Hakeem would struggle....ANYONE would....2 tall athletic guys committed to one person? Yao would have averaged 25-30ppg under the old rules......the NBA got it's way, they took out Goliath, and made it a league of Davids. And Leeb...Shaq can do that now because team's don't care about him anymore....they care more about Nash and Amare.......you are not thinking this through enough. DD
