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

Would your stance change if Yao is playing in playoffs this season?

And yes, I was keeping the "better" and "reliable" issue different. To me Yao is better (again not by much and very situational) but Dwight is more reliable.

 

Who would you rather have in a 7 game series!?

 

If Yao is healthy in the playoffs, he's a guy I'd be more comfortable with running plays for in the post. That's usually an important facet of playoff basketball, so I think I'd prefer Yao.

You made a good point earlier about Tracy McGrady. If I knew that T-Mac would be capable of "carrying" us in the playoffs, I might prefer Howard's more energetic, athletic style. Imagine how many dunks McGrady, if he's on top of his game, could give Howard. But I'm skeptical Tracy will ever be close to that on a consistent basis.

We may want to focus in on the teams we'd likely face in the playoffs. It's early, but I think these are the likely 8 playoff teams: Lakers, Rockets, Jazz, Hornets, Suns, Nuggets, Spurs, Mavericks. The Blazers may be able to knock off either the Spurs or Mavericks. I have a feeling the Nuggets will be there.

I'd prefer Howard over the faster-paced teams that like to play small and athletic. I'd prefer Yao over the slower-paced teams with traditional big men.

 

^^^^^ I agree with everything above.

 

Yao Ming

 

Yao is the best center in the NBA.

Dwight can be the best center on his team and in his state, but in the entire league It's Yao.

 

Maybe if I yelled booyah in every post I could regain my credentials?

 

we can all agree that Yao and Howard are the top 2 centers in the league.

Howard is slightly better at against other centers.
Yao is better against Howard head to head.

Conclusion, Howard is better than all centers other than Yao.

seriously though, if Howard lead his team to a title, then i will give him a slight edge. if Yao takes the team to a title, then it's obvious he is the best center in the league.

 

Why don't you go look up Kemp's career numbers then come back. Howard at 22 is a better player than Kemp ever was in his career.

 

Well, Shaq is still da best according to himself

"Oden, meanwhile, watched mostly from the bench but did get a bit of court time against the 36-year-old O’Neal. Shaq said he didn’t offer any advice.

“I’m the shogun,” O’Neal said. “And before you get to the shogun, you’ve got to go through a lot of ninjas. He has to go through Dwight Howard and Yao Ming and by that time, I’ll be out of here.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AoARGw334OG6sgx2guxKKWm8vLYF?gid=2008112221

 

Ye of little knowledge.


Dwight Howard - 22 years old - 20.6 ppg, 13.5 rpg, 3.9 bpg

Shawn Kemp - 22 year old - 15.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.9 bpg


Go watch some old Shawn Kemp videos kid, see if those numbers add up there buddy.

Shawn Kemp's career high numbers don't even match up to Dwight Howard's numbers at 22 years old.

Shawn Kemp career highs

20.5 ppg (1998), 11.4 rpg (1995), 2.1 bpg (1993)

 

I'll agree on that. The reason I wouldn't quite give the edge to Yao is one he's not as healthy, and two, he doesn't always play other centers like he does against Howard. Vs Howard, he seems to gear it up a notch. Vs some other centers, he seems to lose his intensity.

 

Oh please, let's talk Rockets history. The Dream vs DRob matchup was in the CONFERENCE FINALS. Every game on national television for the right to go to the finals. It was a SIX GAME series. In other words, they played as many games against each other in 2 weeks than Yao and Howard play against each other in THREE YEARS. Not only that, DRob wasn't 22 years old. He was an MVP winner in his PRIME.

What an idiotic comparison.

 

Howard is playing 5 more minutes than Kemp on a crappy team and only averaging 1 more point. Advantage Kemp

Career .750 FT% vs .600 FT% - advantage Kemp, centers are supposed to be used at the end of tight games. If they cannot hit FTs thats real bad for winning.

2.2 vs 1.6 blocks per game advantage Howard

.9 vs 1.2 steals per game advantage Kemp

14.2 vs 11.4 rebounds per game advantage Howard

Kemp was also on a team that won 64 games when he put up these numbers and he made it to the finals.

 

actually you do not understand. Robinson was given the MVP over Dream and Dream showed that he owned Robinson anyways. Thus head to head is the preferred way to judge.

 

Kemp was much more skilled on offense, he could dunk, shoot jumpers, had great post moves, and etc.

 

If Yao owns Dwight Howard in a playoff series, then a lot of people will agree with you. But a couple regular season matchups per year doesn't mean much.

 

I am telling him the logic he missed in the above reference about Dream.

 

You're not contesting anything I've said. Howard's numbers at 22 years old are better than any numbers Kemp ever put up.

Kemp was on a team that won 64 games but that team had Gary Payton in his prime along with Detlef Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins, Sam Perkins, Nate McCmillan, and Eric Snow. Kind of a talented team.

Maybe when Howard starts to reach his prime he'll have players of that caliber to play with and then we'll see what he does.

 

Eh, actually I do understand the difference between two players playing each other twice a year and two players playing each other in the Conference Finals.


Conference Finals > Regular Season