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

Kinda like guys starting threads in the GARM about free agents and coaches to replace JVG after this year?

 

While I agree 100% with your post, let's look at the first few sentences in his column

"Was going to talk a little NFL today, but had a debate yesterday about whether Yao Ming is a dominant center. Certainly the answer depends on one's definition of dominant.

My answer is emphatically no. Now, that doesn't mean he isn't a wonderful player with skills, who could very well lead a team to a championship. But as of today, he is not a dominant big man. He is a big man, not a dominant one."



He is NUTS if he says 25 and 9 isn't dominant for a center

 

The knee injury set Yao back, he has not returned to pre-injury form. If he does in the playoffs, all bets are off. Before his injury, Yao was an MVP candidate. Since his return, he is replaying some earlier bad habits: holding the ball low, hesitation before his move, etc.

 

Well, the Chronicle's not much of a paper. But then, it doesn't have to be.

 

LOL

 

I agree with the writer. i don't think Yao is dominant or will he ever be as dominant as Shaq, Bill Russel, or even Hakeem. He's still a great player and arguably the best center in the league today. But dominant? No. When I look at dominance, I see a player who no team has an answer for, they'll double, triple team him and he'll still score. He'll run down the floor and swat shots like nothing and completely change the game on defense because of his presence. Yao doesn't have that defensive presence, and I don't think he ever will. Right now Mutumbo, Shaq, Alonzo, and even Greg Oden are all better than Yao defensively. With that said, Yao is still the best center in the NBA, but dominant? No, and I can't see him cracking the Top 10 of all-time. I'm not a hater...I love the Rockets, but I know dominance when I see it.

 

This is a fair argument, however, there is a good argument to be made either way.

In the NBA, the term "dominant" is usually synonymous with a player who can distort the game, bend it to fit his will and force the other team to bend right along with him. A fairly easy argument can be made that the most dominant player in the NBA today is Kobe Bryant. I don't like the guy, but there are few players in the league who represent the kind of distortion he creates on the floor when it comes to defending the Lakers.

In the traditional sense, dominance is based on not just how well you score or rebound, but how well you bend the opponent to your will every single night.

No question that teams have to prepare for Yao and he does alter their overall defensive scheme. But, Yao hasn't reached the point where he justifies that on a nightly basis. There have been a handful of games where he literally has overtaken the entire game, particularly early in the season, but not enough to make him a threat for that EVERY night.

I personally consider Yao the most dominant big man in the game and there is a good argument to be made that he is dominant enough on a regular basis to use that word when describing him, but Soloman isn't nuts or a jackass or whatever anyone else here has called him for saying he isn't.

By comparison to the greatest to play the game, Yao is NOT dominant. By the standard set by Yao since his return from injury, he is NOT dominant. At the end of last year and through the first portion of this season prior to the injury, he WAS dominant and he can be that again. But, Soloman's premise is not as far out of left field as some of you would like us all to believe.

 

good point, Jeff

damnit

 

Yao couldn't touch Hakeem on the defensive end. What was John Lopez thinking?

 

I get lucky sometimes.

 

i think very few can

and i dont think yao will ever be an intimidator defensively

 

Yao will be 'dominant'
if he wins MVP, Defense Player of the Year, Lead the league in blocks, rebounds.. oh that Dream guy did that!

 

Jeff, you're trying too hard to defend that Soloman guy.
"My answer is emphatically no" . "And to this point there is not a lot of evidence that he will EVER crack the top 10". Between those lines I just can't imagine how the guy can claim he thinks Yao is great and his purpose is keep people from setting their expectation too high.

My question is: if 25/9/2/2 on 52% shooting in 34 minutes is emphatically not dominant , who is really expects too much here?

And to bring up Yao got blocked a couple times by Okur as his evidence is like saying Kobe is an average player after he shot poorly for 15 points and got blown out by the Suns, or Hakeem got dunked hard by KJ. I have to highly question this guy's logic and knowledge of basketball.

BTW, I agree with your take. Yao maybe top 10 one day, but definitely not there yet.

 

So true. I didn't expect such a blog coming from the chronicle.

 

Solomon is an idiot and his blog sucks anyway...I'm surprised someone bothered to read it.

 

When he say dominating does he include people like Patrick Ewing? Who did not perform much better than Rik Smits when they faced each other? You can say he was not a top five center but if Patrick is considered a top 10 Yao certainly has the right to be mentioned. Where did he think Yao will be like today five or four years ago? Did he expect Yao to be 25 10? Where will Yao be next year or the year after? Who knows. However, saying Yao will never be a top 10 center is what makes people angry.

 

If players like Steve Nash and Dirk are winning MVPs, Yao surely has chance to do that.

If management can go out and get the right players, Yao might could win a few titles.

 

I think its far more realistic to expect Yao to be one of the top 10 players in the league each year rather than a top 10 all time center.

Anyone expecting Yao to be Top 10 all-time is asking too much IMO. That's a far cry from what most thought he could BECOME back when he was drafted. Which was at best a 20/10 guy. And those guys were laughed at relentlessly. He is already surpassed that.

 

Come on guys, he writes for the Houston Chronicle.

What do you you expect?