He definitely was the most important Rocket in the 2k era, the ones who had issues with the coaches and management as well as the fans got their asses traded away. He was cool with Kenny and Charles and not cool with losers like Stephen A Smith. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sa0dpftOGcI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
yao was a better offensive player, dwight was/is a better defensive player. Both players can be taken out of games offensively, but Dwight can still dominate defensively and rebounding-wise. Dwight is better than Yao overall.
the only one who can take yao out of games offensively is ref. Tinman, you have different tune about yao right now. what changed?
Yao was the best center of his time (post Shaq and pre Dwight). Unstoppable in the paint and unlike other centers, he could actually make free throws. I will say he did get owned by Boozer in that one playoff series though. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Jss1xEzh5b4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Sad to see his career so short lived. People ask me what I would do for a Klondike bar, but if only they knew what I would do to see Yao play one more season.
Couldn't put it on the floor? How many 7''+ guys can do this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvvAMDrMcO0
Answer: he was really, really good. The combination of back-to-the-basket and catch-and-shoot skill set was very unique in that any center versatile enough to do both usually also had a face-up game, but Yao did not. He was just a classical post player who also happened to have a nice touch. Despite the superior competition in Hakeem's era, Yao would have been a better player in that era because his biggest weakness was dealing with modern fronting and doubling tactics made possible only by zone defense rules. Don't look now, but among players with 10,000 career minutes, Yao is 22nd in PER and 20th in Win shares/minute. Had he managed a full career and had some team success, I don't think being considered in that second tier of all time great centers (Moses, David Robinson, Mikan, Ewing) would be a stretch in any way. He had more weaknesses than "star" players are supposed to have in the modern era, but the results he produced statistically are irrefutable - it was clear that with a coach and team that could emphasize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses he was the best big man of the post-Shaq era.
If we banned everyone that made idiotic posts, there would be a lot less people here. Yall need to learn who is worth taking seriously and who isnt....that guy is not. When you see that name by a post, just skip right by and dont respond....he wants you to get mad and respond. You are playing right into his hands. ontopic....Yao was one of the most skilled big men in years, maybe since Dream. His size had downsides for sure, injuries that shortened his career and a tendency to have trouble with matchups with big men with outside shots(Okur)...but he was still the first big guy I would have gone with if building a team(if injuries weren't an issue) but in the end, injuries to his feet were a problem and that is what kept him from realizing his true potential.....but make no mistake, he had the potential to be a top 10 all time center. I miss that guy, he was a great guy, a great teammate and I was always proud that he represented the Rockets.
Yao was great, there is no question about. If he was not injured all the time, and Rafer was not a starting point guard, the Rockets could go further in the playoffs.
Go suck something. Now, ignoring "Chef": the interesting thing to me is how much all the media were favoring Dwight back then as compared to now. Even though Yao was better, Dwight got all the attention.
If both were in their prime, and health, I'd take Yao, he will never be as good of a defender as Howard, but down the stretch, you can dump him the ball, and he can goto work against anyone.
Dumb. Yao didn't have the foot speed or ability to dribble or protect the basketball well enough to ever become a great center. It also didn't help much that he was overworked by coaches and opted on his own to play basketball for his national team when his body needed a rest.[/QUOTE] Bumber.
If you want to reminice on how good Yao was just go through his game log in 2006-2007 before he got injured. This was the year after Tmac was out most of the year with a bad back and passed the torch to Yao, so to speak. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mingya01/gamelog/2007/ Games that stick out to me: 35/17/7 vs. NYK 38/11/6 vs. WAS 38/18 vs. GSW 35/18/8 vs. LAL 37/7 vs dwight & ORL 39/11/4 vs LAL Yao definitely had his downfalls (athletic ability, consistent rebounding, turnovers) But overall, he was a great player that you could run your offense around and eventually win a championship with the right pieces. Those teams were always missing an athletic defensive forward (see Stromile Swift for failed experiment) and a legit PG.
