Bottom line is if we trade yao away like many of you want to build around steve, the rockets would be the laughing stock of the league and many editoriols of the nation. Trading a potential most dominating player only after 2 years? Maybe if yao does average at least 35mpg and 20/10 after his rookie contract I would trade him away. Great low post players that constantly demand a double team dont grow on trees and you can pick up a point guard that protects the ball from many places. Yao isnt going anywhere after only 2 years of play. At the least I would give him another year. If he breaks down again and his play drops off at the end of each season and playoffs I would seriosly think about trading him. I am interpreting the top 5 player thing differntly from all of you guys. Top 5 skills wise and idividually? Absolutely not. But on the impact that he has on the court defensive and offensively he is top 5. Only shaq, kg and duncan have a bigger impact then yao on the court. His presence will make a team that much better. No question tmac, VC, AI, and brand are better then yao, but which of them are in the playoffs. Whoops I guess none of them.
Number wise they do look similar. However, J O'neil has far more impact on his team beacuse he is very atheltic and He IS 6/11, which means far more alternation of opponent's shots than Brand can ever do. If you switch those two players, there is no way Indiana can be a title contender while Clippers could become a strong playoff contender.
that's bull. if elton brand jacked up as many shots as J O'Neal did he's have 25 ppg. i don't have the time to look it up, but i think O'Neal probably shoots the rock 4 more times a game than Brand. Brand is a better rebounder and a better shot blocker. He came off an injury earlier this season that caused him to miss 10+ games. when brand was in the East he didn't win because he was on the BULLS. if he ever had the supporting case J O'Neal does, he would be doing the same things, perhaps better. it boggles me how overrated J. O'Neal is. He's good, but he is NOT a superstar.
O'Neil is taller, but Brand has a huge wingspan. I don't buy the argument about O'Neil altering far more shots. Brand did lead the entire NBA is shot blocks last season. Shot alterations are going to be pretty much proportional to blocks. O'Neil and Brand are comparable shot blockers and they most likely comparable in shots altered. So if Indiana replaced O'Neil with a guy that puts up comparable scoring/rebounding/shot blocking numbers, but he was a better passer and a much higher percentage shooter, they couldn't be as good? Sorry, that's a bit of a leap there. On the flip side, if you swapped out Brand for O'Neil on this years Clippers, they still aren't close to the playoffs. The Clippers finished 14 games out of the last playoff spot. To say that Jermaine O'Neil would have improved LA by anything approaching 14 games is ridiculous.
I don't know how you could come out this conclusion. Players such as Raef Lafrenz has far more block/game than Yao ming but I cannot imagine he could have as much shot alternation as Yao Ming does. I am 6'2, when I went to basket, I don't really worry about those 6'5 or 6'6 guy, while I always watch out guys that are 6'8/6'9. Just my experience though. I don't really know their wingspans but taller guys seems to intimidate me more. I would like you give me more specific how you come out this conclusion.
Raef did not play lots of minutes in Dallas (02/03) and Boston(03/04). He also encounter some knee problem when he is in Boston, so I don't think it is fair to compare his numbers in those two years with Yao's. I remember he was one of the best shot blocker in NBA when he was in Denver. 1999 30.1M 2.2 DEN 2000 31.5M 2.6 DEN 2001 32.7M 3.0 DEN 2002 29.1M 2.2 DAL 2003 23.4M 1.3 DAL 2004 19.3M 0.8 BOS He is a pretty good shot blocker through his career.
I don't know how you could come out this conclusion. Players such as Raef Lafrenz has far more block/game than Yao ming but I cannot imagine he could have as much shot alternation as Yao Ming does. So what is your take here? Brand led the NBA in blocks last season, but he's not also altering shots just because he's a couple of inches shorter in height? He either gets a block or nothing? You don't think guys get intimidated once he smacks two or three shots back at them? You don't think that opponents go into the game knowing that he's a good shot blockeer? That doesn't make much sense to me. Ben Wallace gets a ton of shot alterations and he's only 6'9" . All shot blockers go after alot of shots. They don't get them all, but they get close and change alot more. I am 6'2, when I went to basket, I don't really worry about those 6'5 or 6'6 guy, while I always watch out guys that are 6'8/6'9. Just my experience though. I don't really know their wingspans but taller guys seems to intimidate me more. So, if you knew that the best shot blocker in your league was 6'5" and that he had blocked more shots than the 6'8"/6'9" guys last year, you wouldn't worry about him? Somehow, I doubt that.
