Dwight Howard is the best center in the NBA, live with it.

Yao is better than Howard at the moment. Is that so hard for you to understand? THis is NOT Yao vs Hakeem or Shaq or whoever else. It's Yao Vs Howard.

 

who are you again? honestly what forum did you join? Look Yao may not be antyhing compared to the Hakeems or wilts or shaq's when he was at his prime. But to say that Dwight howard is the best center right now is rediculous. Let's put yao vs dwight in a game oh wait we've seen them battle each other. Wait who came out as the better player.... yao with his team winning too. if you are into the muscle bump and grind then yeah obviously you'll say dwight is the best center. but for the man who gets the job done on both ends of the court... our boy number 11 is doing on hell of a job and will murder dwight as he's done previously.

 

What does Dwight Howard have to do with the Houston Rockets 2008 (Let's Talk Rocks)?

 

What really matters is when Yao matches up with Howard. And Yao nearly always gets the better of Howard, so im content with that.

 

Put it this way. since we've drafted yao, we'vbe had a top 3 interior defensive team. we've had a 50 plus wining ball club in 4 of his 6 seasons here. his impact far exceeds dwights impact.

Defense Yao
Offense yao
Rebounding dwight
Shot blocking Dwight
Passing yao
Offensive awarness yao
Defensive awarness yao
Handles yao
Drawing double teams yao
Post moves yao
Impact on both sides of the ball yao

As you can see has him beat on almost every facet of the game. basketball isnt played on both sides of the ball. thats where yao's true value kicks in.

 

Wow, the fact that everyone has taken a dump on you has driven you crazy. You are making no sense now. No need to identify yourself as an ass troll there because everyone knows you are one already. You still haven't told us how the dump taste though.

 

Fixed

 

so what's your points? trade yao for superman?

 

LOL what a loser. B!!tch like you just has no clue.

 

Dude... you need to get laid. Starting threads of idiocy because you're starving for attention can only do so much.

 

I JUST WASTED 5 MINUTES OF MY LIFE READING THIS THREAD... AND I WANT THEM BACK.

 

Howard wasn't even the best center on the US Olympic team. They played MUCH better with Bosh in. Howard is not a winner and won't ever make his TEAM better. The only way Howard will ever have success in this league is if they pair him up with a PG that can feed him like old Kidd or Nash.

Howard is not now and I don't think he will ever be a better center than Yao in terms of making his team and teammates better.

Howard dunks real good though.

 

No debate about it?!?
Errnntt!!!!! Wrong answer.....
..and yes, you ARE delusional

 

So faquing what as long as we get more Ws than any team.

 

I think the comparison is worth looking at. It's not as an absurd comparison as some seem to make it out to be. Perhaps the OP's opinion being stated as fact is a bit off, but it is tough to pick between the two.

Right now. I go Yao. 3 years from now...I might change my mind.

All I care about is right now. When I'm in a close game, I'd rather have Yao right now. Dwight could be our PF, hahah.

 

dwight howard is a beast right now, he will avg 25ppg and 14-15 boards this season and is a much better defender and more durable than Yao, I would trade yao for dwight in a heart beat If I was the rockets gm......... yao is good but he has reached his ceiling and dwight is young and continues to improve every game, and free throw argument is flawed, shaq sucked at free throws and look how successful his career is

 

We can take a look at really athletic big men who were successful in the NBA in the past....power forwards included.


Hakeem Olajuwon, maybe the greatest big athlete mainly because of his coordination. The man could cross people over better than most point guards of the 90's. He could hit fadeaways like Jordan, and his post moves make Tim Duncan's look like Eric Montross. Late in his career, his athleticism diminished naturally, but he could still outsmart opponents, and he had a nice offensive game still. He was productive until 35.

David Robinson was probably a very similar athlete to dwight Howard. Much stronger, but not very coordinated and is a vertical athlete, not a lateral one. He could run the floor faster than most bigs, and he could jump out of the gym and he was 7'1. His jumpshot was very consistent however out to 20 ft and his post game wasn't bad either. His back injury took a lot away from Robinson, but with Duncan's help, he was productive until a year before he retired.

Shaq was the most dominant and strongest big man ever. But he could run the floor extremely well for a 315-350 lb center. He also had very good footwork and he developed a post game to add to his brute strength, and thats when Shaq truly became unstoppable. Shaq was productive until 33.

Patrick Ewing was a good athlete early on in his career, but injuries took some of that away a lot earlier than it should have. However, he still had a great jumpshot and post moves to go to and pure hustle. Not many people would work harder than Ewing on the floor. He was productive until 35.

Shawn Kemp was one of the most gifted athletes the NBA had ever witnessed. He did not have a lot of skill though. He had a nice little jumper out to 17-20 ft, but he was not the rebounder or shot blocker he should have been at 6'10 combined with his athleticism. Injuries and age took EVERYTHING away from kemp. He became a role player by 30, a very limited one at that.

Chris Webber was a good athlete, but he was one of the most skilled players at any position in the NBA. He could pass and dribble like a point guard, he could rebound and play decent defense. However, once he had microfracture surgery, he became a defensive liablility with nice jumper. That and age caught up with Webber, but he still had a nice career. He could still play now on a good offensive team, because he could still pass and shoot great.

Alonzo Mourning was much less skilled than all of these players, but his defensive instincts were great. At 6'10 he could lead the league in blocks, and had a few, but effective post moves. He also had a decent jumper out to 15 ft. He was productive until his unfortunate kidney failure.



Now compare Dwight Howard's game to the rest of these guys. I know the first 4 guys I named are some of the greatest to ever play this game. But there was a reason why they were great. Their skillset. Dwight has no post game, not even much of a jump hook. He can't shoot free throws (not even better than Shaq). He is as good a rebounder as everybody I listed here, and is better than Kemp was. He is probably as good a shot blocker as Kemp or Webber, who were not natural shot blockers. Dream, DRob, Shaq, Mourning and Ewing would average 3-5 blocks for multiple years of their careers, more so in the younger stages of their respective careers. Dwight was Shawn Kemp when it comes to blocks. They both would over emphasize blocks and would get a few here and there, but they weren't effective shotblockers like Dream or Mourning. Those guys had people scared to drive until they retired.


Now compare Yao to these guys. Sure Yao may only be Brad Daugherty, Rik Smits, Big Z, or a Sabonis type of player. That is because a 7'6 man can't be athletic like Dream or Shaq. But Yao's post game is MUCH better than Daugherty, Smits, Big Z, or Sabonis. Plus he can shoot jumpers as good as they could and is a better defender than all of them. He's a mixture of really good centers and great centers. He has the post moves and defense of the greats but the overall skill sets of the really good centers and their lack of athleticism.

Dwight is just a physical specimen. Even Greg Oden has more skill than Dwight at this point. Dwight is Jaamaal McGloire, Theo Ratliff, Jonathan Bender. He isn't much better than Okafor. He does get better #'s because he has Reshard Lewis and Turkoglu playing next to him, who are not good rebounders or defenders. Yao anchors a great defense and he has good rebounders around him. NBA focuses too much on #'s sometimes, instead of impact. Dwight is not feared offensively except on rebounds. Dwight is basically a taller Dennis Rodman offensively. Defensively he is Marcus Camby. He just roams around waiting for blocks, but a poor one-on- one defender.

If this doesn't convince yall, then I don't know what will. Either yall are fooled by Dwight's power dunks and blocks, but don't see that Yao helps his team win on both ends of the court. Yao is an almost automatic score or double team in the post, where as Dwight is a liability, and hopes to get his own rebound. If yall aren't convinced, then I guess yall (people who believe Dwight is better) just don't know basketball.

Just see how Dwight recovers from a major injury such as a microfracture in his knees, a torn ACL, or a torn Achilles tendon. He won't be anything but Jaamall McGloire after that. Yao will is and still will be productive after major injuries utnil his mid 30's.

 

To be honest, I do not know how you can build a champion team around Howard.

Yes, if you surround him with sheed/prince/rip/billups, you can.

He has amazing numbers, but his team is not that good in defending the paint.

 

five star post....

I think that is a good analogy for Dwight being a little bit of Dennis Rodman and Marcus Camby with David Robinson's athleticism.

I also agree with the analogy, just because someone is a superior athlete is not going to make him a better player, just compare someone like Michael Vick (athletic freak) to Tom Brady (good footwork and fundamental player). I used this one all of the time, especially around 2004.


Vick, at the time, I thought had a much stronger arm, more explosive (passer/runner), and was far better runner in the open field, but he was nowhere the QB Tom Brady is and was. First, he can't sustain drives, like number 12 can or complete the short to intermediate passes. Second, he can't manage the game in the same way. If you had quick, athletic, and well-coached defense you pretty much could shut down Michael Vick, because he didn't always manage game really well. Brady, on the other hand, can keep his team in most games, not always by big 40 to 50 pass completions. He can manage the game to the point where he can slowly move the chains and eat the clock.

It's very much like the Yao-Dwight argument, one player is an athlete from another planet, but one is much more well grounded with much more intangibles. Dwight is probably going to be rendered useless in a game temporarily where Orlando is down by 15 to 20+ points. It can happen to Yao as well, but Yao has better chance of slowing down the other team by good post play and *drawing fouls and double teams*. Why is that so important, because he's a great free throw shooter and if other players can hit their shots...his team can easily get back into game.

On the other hand, if you foul Dwight Howard, then there's a good chance he won't score both free throws.

Right now, I would say Yao's offense is much greater than Dwight's, while Dwight's defense is not that far ahead of Yao's. He's a better defender, but not a whole world better.