Well, I started watching Hakeem in 94 and 95, when I was about 6 or 7, and I have old recorded games my family used to record during the playoffs and any classics they show on ESPN. I didn't get to watch Olajuwon when he was a one man show in the late 80's/early 90's. But he never had to worry about having 2 players defending him before he ever caught the ball the way Yao does today. I still believe Hakeem would put up good numbers but he would have to work a lot harder on offense. Teams could double Olajuwon, but not before he got the ball. Olajuwon could make moves before extra defenders could get to him, so it was a lot easier to "get yours" back then.Defensively, Yao will never be Hakeem, but he has gotten a lot better. I agree Yao should be more aggressive and dunk more and foul harder at times, but he is not a selfish player like Kobe is, who will make it a point to take shots, no matter how bad they are. Yao is the ultimate team player, and he'll trust his teamates. In tonight's game against the Suns, he trusted his teamates, they delivered by hitting shots and cutting to the basket and finishing, therefore Amare was going through hell trying to guard Yao 1 on 1. Yao showed how dominant he can be when he faces a single defender and at times tonight he went through 2 when he felt that was the best option. You have to trust your teammates in this day and age in the NBA, because that is why the zone rule was put into the NBA in the first place, to increase scoring by forcing teams to get away from pounding the ball in the post to forcing players to make perimeter shots and create shots and play at a higher tempo. Personally, IF Yao has peaked, I wouldn't mind seeing him putting up 25 and 10 and 2 for another solid 5-7 years. I don't think he has peaked, I think he can do some little things better, but he is a very talented center, and the Rockets are blessed to have him here. We got the best center in the league with the 2nd best shooting guard in the league. Now its time to win some titles!
Let's not kid ourselves. Yao is what he is: a skilled supersized player who's limited physically. His physical limitation is the reason why his ceiling is not as high as someone like Dwight Howard. Yao may still get better in some areas of his game (like his decision making, his mid-range shooting etc.), but I doubt that he will make another major leap in his career. Defensively he'll always have problems against certain matchups. I believe that Yao peaked early last season before his injury. For a stretch of a month or so he was playing at the MVP level. That was Yao's peak and unfortunately it ended too abruptly with an injury and he never regained that form again after he came back. Currently Yao is playing at his 2005-2006 form, which is good enough to be a top three center in the league, but not at the MVP level. I don't know if Yao'll ever regain his pre-injury form from last season because he is not getting any younger after all. I think that as long as Yao doesn't suffer any major injury again, he can maintain his current level of play for another five to six years. That will be the Rockets' window to win a championship. I agree with Morey's assumption that Yao is not getting better. The same thing can be said about TMac. What the Rockets need to do is to get the right role players around them in the next few years in order to win a championship in the TMac/Yao era.
apparently he hasn't peaked. he overcame yet another hurdle with a team that has plagued him throughout his career. give the man some credit, he is a student of the game and constantly works on his skills. i love this game, i love this team. period.
i was actually watching the game online and made the post during timeout. but whatever...i've been on this board for 5 years and you're the first person that has had a problem with me. guess you can't make everyone happy. so i'm done with you.
oh really? known to whom? is there a list of known yao haters somewhere? have we had any disagreement or debate on this board before? man, jumping out of nowhere calling me a hater really creeps me out.
Oh really, LOL. Whatever, dude. You know what you are. And I am not the only one in this thread who said you are a hater. Like I have said, people here are not foolish. No matter how you spin it, they can read between the lines of your post to tell what you actually are. Your past posts are solid proofs of my judgment. Those are things that you can't hide. Too bad you can't edit anything 48 hrs after you have posted them.
Why? Because he has eyes and he has a brain to analyze what he read. Right, guys have disagreement or debate on this board. But your past posts and consistently bashing and dissing of a particular player is crystal clear. You can keep denying and lying. But you can't escape from what you have said in the past. Too bad.
Hah..Howard has played great for a month, I'll give him that, but before everyone starts calling him the best center, lets see how he does for an entire season. Magic started off good last year too....
Yao obviously has not peaked yet, wait until he get his long jump shot back and start mixing it up in his offense like the Dream we loved. He might not be as good as the Dream in defense because his physical limits but I think if NBA didn't change the rule because of Shaq (Double team before the player has the ball, touchy foul on dribblers to encourage guards driving in for lay up/dunks, etc), Yao will be avg. 30+ pts a season already. I lol'ed when I see him almost shoot a 3 tonight vs. the phoenix, he hesitated a little bit then passed the ball after realizing he's on 3pt line in that play. LOL.
