[Chron Blog] Yao's not great, but he doesn't have to be

that trash made the all star team this year

 

This guy obviously doesn't think outside the box. I would also argue Yao is a top 5 NBA center of All-time in terms of basketball IQ and intelligence.

Anyways. who cares. Yao is a perfect complement to t-mac. that's for sure. in that category, he's number 1.

who else is willing to take a back seat at times and sit until 2 minutes in the 4th quarter. who else jumps for joy when the other star hits a three after missing the previous 5. Who else is as determined as yao is at age 26?? no one. no one in the nba is better to play with than yao, and that should have more influence on his status as an NBA center.

this guy is just r****ded. he says stats should be damned, then continues on a rant of how yao hasn't broken 10 reb more than once or 2+blks..

COME ON IDIOT!

 

he's just trying to cause controversy.

 

Is this guy a potential hall of fame center?

Career Stats

Career FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
Year Team G Min M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
2002-03 DET 72 19:00 2.5 5.9 42.6 0.5 1.6 33.9 1.3 1.8 73.3 1.6 3.0 4.7 1.0 0.9 0.4 0.5 2.3 6.9
2003-04 DET 71 22:18 3.5 7.6 46.3 0.3 0.7 37.5 2.3 2.9 77.5 2.3 3.7 5.9 1.0 1.4 0.5 0.9 1.9 9.6
2004-05 UTA 82 28:06 4.3 9.2 46.8 0.2 0.8 27.0 4.0 4.7 85.0 2.4 5.2 7.5 2.0 1.7 0.4 0.8 2.8 12.9
2005-06 UTA 82 35:53 6.3 13.8 46.0 1.0 2.9 34.2 4.3 5.5 78.0 2.6 6.5 9.1 2.4 2.0 0.5 0.9 3.5 18.0
2006-07 UTA 80 33:17 6.1 13.3 46.2 1.6 4.2 38.4 3.7 4.8 76.5 2.0 5.2 7.2 2.0 1.6 0.5 0.5 3.2 17.6
Career 387 28:06 4.6 10.1 45.9 0.7 2.1 35.6 3.2 4.1 78.9 2.2 4.8 7.0 1.7 1.5 0.4 0.7 2.8 13.2

I don't care if he made the allstar team of fat euro players. This guy has no business blocking a supposed hall of famer 4 times in a post season game.

 

Part of Yao's perception problem is that he seems like he has the skills and physical attributes to be much better. This should not and does not diminish what he is.

I agree that while he may not be in top ten of all time, ask any team that has to face him and they will tell you he is dominant, and a force to be reckoned with on any given night. Perhaps the detractors don't see his consistency and well rounded game as dominant... but that is part of the greatness of Yao. Consistency. Consistency often does not make the highlight reel, no matter how big a part of the team game it is.

 

and i don't see how you can compare a much taller player (yao) blocking shaq's shot with a much shorter player blocking yao's shot. it's not the same thing.

 

So getting blocked by a shorter guy doesn't entitle you to be a Hall-of-Famer. OK. But why is shooting at sh!tting poor FT% acceptable for HOF centers?

You YOHs care to comment?

 

Is Yao among the greatest centers of all time, up with Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, and Hakeem? No. He's got a lot to prove before he's considered with them.

But is Yao up there with the next tier of centers like Ewing and Robinson? I definitely think so. He'll need a few more seasons to cement it, but Ewing at his best and Robinson at his best isn't as good as Yao's best. And it's not going to be close in a few years, as Yao continues to improve and evolve.

And this notion that Yao is dominating in a weak-center era is a complete and total myth. The only thing that's changed is that the centers of the past would be playing PF today.

Duncan and KG >> Robinson and Ewing. Artis Gilmore has the same size and build of guys like Camby and Chandler. Dwight Howard is the modern day Moses Malone. Wes Unseld was the size of Ben Wallace. And guys like Brand, and Boozer playing PF is about the same size as centers of the past like Dave Cowens and Willis Reed.

Yao would have scored against any of these guys. Stick him in any other era and there's no doubt in my mind that Yao would still be as effective. Probably more so if you couldn't double-team him before the catch.

Don't let these two games against Okur fool you. If he continues to play behind Yao and let him catch the ball, there's no chance, no chance that Yao doesn't start crushing him.

 

But he's not a fan. He's a journalist and was offering a differing opinion than a fellow journalist in the same paper (on-line). Also it is a blog, where generally people just share opinions. It was not written in the spirit of a criticism, but of perspective.

King's not my favorite. I thought his rant against Van Gundy a few weeks ago was ridiculous. I wrote on the blog and told him so. But he's not a troll or a racists or a Rocket-hater because he differed on his blog with another guy's blog. Again, I suggest that he is also correct in his observations.

However, I still think Yao has enough upside that he could reach HOF status, but it sure would be helpful to see those defensive numbers trend up.

 

So we're all basically arguing the same thing.

Is he dominant and considered one of the greats now: No.

Will he be: Maybe.

I don't understand how you could put someone with the all time greats who's only played 5 years in this league. Of everything ive heard and read, people are saying he's the best center in the game TODAY, meaning at this moment in time, right now.

Only time will tell whether he will be a good center for his time, or become a great center forever immortalized in NBA history.

Lets enjoy this ride that he's giving us. Watching an amazing player that has the potential to exceed all of our expectations.

 

Great post. Now, if this Soloman guy can write his article as you just did, there won't be so many people think he is full of BS.

 

Not relevant in the least. I remember 6'4" Charles Barkley stuffed the crap out of a Dream dunk attempt in an all-star game. A very immobile, extremely unathletic Mark Eaton used to give Dream fits because he would stand there like a statue and wouldn't go for the head fakes. Does that make Dream a scrub???? It sounds silly doesn't it??? No different with Yao. Yao has often stuffed a lot of Amare's shots when he tries to post-up against the Rockets instead of using his open court skills. I guess that means he sucks too, right??? Getting your shot blocked if you are a big man just means you have a great opportunity to grab an offensive rebound and put it back in. Ask Moses about that.

 

that trash still made the all star team this year.

 

DOMINANT.. AND STYLISH!!

 

which one?

 

Like I said, I had no problem with what his conclusion -- Yao is not as great as Hakeem, Shaq etc. -- Yao has not won a thing in this league yet. What made me mad was the TIMING. Have Rockets won the title or eliminated from the playoff? NO, they are fighting for their life, their season is on the line right now.

I don't know what the chronicle people is trying to do today. One guy rants on Yao, the other going on and on about JVG's contract? It is almost like they are trying to sabotage Rockets's season or something.

 

Soloman was really just responding to John Lopez who was saying Yao ALREADY deserves to be mentioned with the all-time greats. He's been arguing on his radio show that Yao could replace Olajuwon and the Rockets would've still won a title.

He called Palillo yesterday and told Charlie that Yao was among the best minus Wilt and Russell, who Lopez says are in a class by themselves, and Charlie said, "Yeah, except Shaq, Kareem and Dream." Lopez told him to look at the numbers and Palillo recited off reasons why Yao wasn't close yet.

Palillo knows a lot more about it than virtually any sports guy in town and I agree with his assessment.

I don't think anyone, Soloman included, thinks Yao isn't worthy of high praise. I just think that as quickly as many fans of Yao and the Rockets get tired of hearing him called soft or not the best center in the NBA (me included), there are those who get tired of Yao fans claiming he is among the best to ever play the game without any real historical and statistical backing for that statement.

Some of this is a product of the fact that many Yao fans are new to basketball in America because they are from China or are Asian fans who didn't really follow the game before Yao. There is also the very young fan who doesn't have a great appreciation of the game and the history of the league.

I've often argued on this site that too many fans make claims that have little basis in historical accuracy. You can call Ray Allen a modern day Alex English and too many won't know who English was to understand the statement as a compliment.

I do think Yao has a chance to be among the best 10 players to ever play the center position and among the best 75 or so guys ever to play the game. But, Soloman is correct that Yao isn't there yet and that he doesn't belong in the same breath with the top 5. A lot of you guys may not like to hear it and you may not like the way he wrote it, but he's right.