No question Dwight Howard CAN be better than Yao in the FUTURE, given his youth, physical tools, and good work ethics. I doubt, however, that Howard is as good a player as Yao is as of this moment. We'll see soon enough when they match up with each other.
I would choose Yao over Howard just because of the obvious bias and preference (since someone before did say at this point the difference is just by opinion). I could see why others would go for Howard over Yao. Howard is more explosive, faster, younger, and pretty much performing at the level Yao is. But in terms of Duncan vs Yao.. for me it's a no brainer for Yao.
ya gd pt. yao changes the defense more than t.d. does. however, tats due to two things: 1) t.d. is quite a lot more effective when doubled/tripled than yao with his court vision and kick out than Yao, which makes yao easier to be doubled, and 2) spurs have better supporting cast that make opposition defense unable to focus too much on t.d.
depends. I think with the old mcgrady, it may be better to have howard. because i think mcgrady plays much better dominating the ball on the offense and howard is the kind that doesn't demand the ball that much and do the dirty work. clean up rebounds/ putbacks/ catch a gd pass and dunk. we see how t-mac's game suks b/c the offensive focus becomes yao.
First of all, there is a reason that Dwight Howard took 7 shots less than Yao. If I were Orlando's coach and if Howard is as lethal as Yao in offense, I'd do whatever I can to make sure he gets at least 15 shots a game. Also, guys brought up Yao's TOs to support their claim that Dirk deserves the POM more in the other thread. I wonder why no one has mentioned the TOs of Yao and Howard here. So far in this season: Yao averages 16.9 shots and 3.9 TOs per game. Dwight Howard averages 9.7 shots and 3.3 TOs per game. And then in the possessions that neither of them shot the ball, I am pretty sure Yao touches the ball more often than Howard too. So if you think Yao's TO problem is bad, you haven't seen D Howard yet.
Knickerblogger.net tracks a turnover stat called turnover rate, which is the % of the team's possessions that a player personally uses up (shots, assists, and turnovers are counted). Yao's turnover rate this season is 14.7%, which is pretty bad (35th worst), but hardly outrageous compared to some other big men. Howard's is a horrible 18.1%, which means that one out of every 5.5 possessions that Howard uses up is a turnover. Howard is the currently 11th worst player when it comes to turning the ball over.
its simple...the reason being that a player gets a lot more attention when the team gets far in the playoffs...the rockets have not done that yet but after this yr Yao will be all every sports show will talk about.
Interesting that Howard gets the nod over Yao because of his "youth" and "potential", whereas a few years ago Yao couldn't get the nod over Shaq for the same reasons. The preconceived notions about Yao are pretty astounding.
Except a few years ago Yao wasn't doing what Howard is doing, and today Yao isn't quite doing what Shaq was doing 2 years ago. 2 seasons ago Yao was averaging 18 pts, but under 9 boards and his assists weren't great...though he was still a very good player. Howard is doing more than marginally better so far in his 3rd season, imo, with the only category where he is behind, again, in total points per game. He's pulling down over 5 more boards a game than Yao was, shooting a better percentage, more assists, etc. Similiarly, 2 seasons ago, Shaq was still putting up great numbers. I'd say Yao is basically almost at that level right now from a pure stat perspective, but then O'Neal was coming off 3 championships and, though not known at the time, about to be a key cog to a 4th. Again, it is certainly obvious that Howard isn't the offensive player right now that Yao is. Even more, I'd definitely agree that Howard isn't the offensive player now that Yao was in his third season. Ironically, because of some of Yao's deficiencies (stamina, coordination, high dribble, etc.), he was forced to create more of a post-up game. Dwight can simply just jump over people, or use a combination of speed and brute strength...much in the same way that Amare does. And Dwight isn't being double-team right now a lot either. Nonetheless, he does put up the stats he puts up. He is still just starting year number 3 in the league, and he is just 21 years old. I'm looking at this objectively. I'd rather have Dwight than Yao. He's probably the only true big man I'd say that about. Pass on Duncan, pass on KG, pass on Boozer (though I think he is having a slightly better so far), but Dwight over Yao, that's not a stretch.
It's not because he's Asian and it's not because he's not black. It all has to do how Yao is on court. If Yao was dunking on dudes Shaq style, talking smack like he owns the paint, there wouldn't be any discussion on who is the most dominant big man. But since Yao plays simple but effective and not flashy, he won't get the recognition because his plays aren't on the Highlight Shows even though his team is winning. For Yao to start gaining respect from EVERYBODY, he's going to have to win us a title or go deep in the playoffs.
who cares about this stuff now anyways. we all know the rockets/yao will never get respect until we win a playoff series...theres no point in feeling 'disrespected"
Per game stats are next to useless, since they don't consider minutes played or team pace. Yao in his 3rd season was getting his numbers in 30.6 mpg. Howard this season (his 3rd) is getting his stats in 36 mpg. Howard has 5.4 more mpg to get his stats with. He's a better rebounder than Yao will ever be, but he's still not the scorer Yao was 2 seasons ago. PER for Yao in 2004-2005, and Howard for this season so far, is about equal, at 23. One thing I've really noticed is the unequal treatment between these two players. Both are #1 picks, but since he started his career, Yao has been criticized for not averaging 20/10, not getting 2-3 bpg, not being "dominant," and most ridiculously of all, not being Shaq. Meanwhile, Howard was praised as "dominant" for getting 15.8 ppg, 12.5 rpg, and 1.4 bpg (not exactly mind blowing numbers, are they?) in his 36.8 mpg last season.
If the question was about the best "big man" in the league -- not best Center -- then I fully concur: it's Duncan and it ain't even close.
so how considering minutes played or team pace would favor Yao in this argument? There's a reason Yao didn't play as many minutes as DH or Rockets didn't play at a faster pace? Maybe because of Yao's own limitations such as poor stamina, being foul-prone and slow running up and down the court? Just a thought.
Considering minutes played is NOT intended to unfairly boost players with low mpg. Whatever production your another player isn't making because he's riding the bench is the price a team has to pay to put someone on the court. In more minutes, Howard is scoring less than Yao did in 2004-2005. What player in the league scores minus 2.5 points in 5.4 minutes played (just talking about personal scoring, not all factors)? Not even Ryan Bowen brings that. Howard was producing less points than 2004-2005 Yao was, even though his team is paying more in minutes. That's not a good thing. Likewise, a slow team pace should not be considered a negative by itself. Sure, your team doesn't get as many scoring opportunities, but the same thing goes for the opposing team in every game. What matters is per-possession efficiency. The only thing a fast pace will guarantee are inflated per-game stats all around.
Is that girl Kit from Road Rules still on that show? Always thought she was a nice looking milf to be.... I keep saying this. Don't need respect to win a playoff series 4 of 7. Thats when the respect will come. I don't mind an under appreciated championship like the Pistons got. Plus Yao will probably be leading All-Star vote getter anyways.
