after HEAT vs PISTON game two, I really feel SHAQ's time is over or nearly done. if we can get better supporting cast for YAO, a good PF and faster backcourt, I think YAO will pass SHAQ. also , what about hire Kenny Smiths as GM?
shaq has been hurt, but i think that if yao can train here for a month or so this summer (forgot if he is actually staying here until the asian games or not) then he will come back next year much better. the only thing yao needs to improve is his understanding of defense. get some timing on block shots, learn about positioning, and learn how to avoid stupid fouls. that alone will keep yao on the floor for an extra 6 minutes a night. those 6 minutes can translate into him topping 20-10 next year.
CD>The Jet CD has been doing the GM thing for almost 10 years, and you want to turn it over to a rookie??
Even if Shaq continues to decline (I don't think he is "over" yet, this injury is clearly affecting him more than I thought) he will still be better than Yao as far as his overall impact on his team. Even if he averages 23-24 ppg, shooting about 60%, and avg about 10reb/game, then unless Yao averages at least 25ppg and about 10rpg, 2blocks/game, shooting near 60%, then it will still be a strong argument that Shaq is better, especially when you take in account Shaq's age vs. Yao's age. Also, as long as Amare plays Center, and is considered a center by the league, then Yao will still be the 2nd or 3rd best center in the league. I really don't think that Yao, or the Rockets or the fans, should get caught up in Yao's ranking among league centers. We should be content with his personal development and improvement over the past, that is all we should be concerned with. His personal development is the most important thing, and from watching him every game for the past three seasons, Yao has clearly improved in some areas, while lacked improvement in others. He should focus on his weaknesses and address those if at all possible. That's all I can ask of him.
Shaq showed during the season that he was playing as well as he has played during the last two years. His current injury is not a sign of age. It was a severe injury that could have happened to anybody. He'll have plenty of time in the offseason to heal and get his strength back. Even if Shaq was to experience a decline and Yao ends up being the best center, it's not saying a lot. Yao needs to gain more experience and get better in several areas of his game. It doesn't matter if he's the best center or the fifth best center. Yao needs to be the best he can be. If Yao is the best center playing at the level he's played during the last three years, it just shows the lack of big time centers in the NBA. If Erick Can't Score Dampier says he's the second best center, you know the center position is not producing in the NBA like it used to. I am not waiting for Shaq or other centers to fade. I am waiting for Yao to rise above the competition and utilize his unamtched skills on his way to being on the greatest centers of all time. I believe he'll get there.
I agree with what you said, but I just wanted to point out that you shouldn't say "at the level he's played during the last three years"...because that implies he hasn't improved very much.. but obviously (at least to me) he's improved a great deal each year.
You bring up an interesting point about Kenny Smith. While I don't know that I would hire him as GM, I do think he could become a very good coach in this league. I rank him as one of the top three analysts on TV (with Hubie and D. Collins in that group). I know that a good analyst doesn't necessarily translate to good coach, but if Rivers and Avery can do it I think Kenny can as well. I wonder when a team is going to give him a shot, I think it's just a matter of time....
well, KS got very sharp eyes and he is the very first one to find out our back court is slow. We can bring him as assistant GM and after 2-3 years, put him on
well, you got the point that ranking is not the issue. YAO's preformance is the key. after this playoff I do think AMARE is 100% PF, not center at all, there is no center in the SUNS team, and he even doesn't play at 5. I suspect somthing happen to SHAQ and that's the reason why they bring in A.Mourning
I think Yao has improved each year, but in slight increments. We all see his potential. I don't think Yao has to come up with a new move or some new shot. His skills are unparallelled. nobody over 7 feet has done what Yao can do. However, to display those skills consistently, he has to be on the floor more. So, I think that if he keeps working on his physique and stamina, he'll be a torch bearer for the league, just like Shaq, KG, Kobe, T-Mac and Lebron. China has ancient training techniques. Kids here don't just work on their game since they're 10 years old. They also work out and train with weights. So in that aspect, Yao is a beginner when it comes to acquiring the body needed to be able to bang and absorb the contact. Lebron and Stoudemire had NBA bodies when they came into the NBA. It took Tracy and KG 3 years to have the muscle they have now.
I think saying that Yao made a "great leap" in the past three seasons is a bit disingenuous. I agree he has improved, but like macfan said, it has been incremental improvement, not a quantum leap by any stretch of the imagination. Yao made his biggest jump from his rookie to his sophomore season, but his third season was not the type of improvement that some were probably looking for. Still, I do believe that Yao made serious improvements in his "comfort" level as a player in the NBA, I think he has gained crucial experience that he needed for his overall confidence/continued mental adjustment to the NBA game. I also believe that he has improved timing/instincts on defense, probably thanks to watching Mutombo play this season and learning a few tricks from the old dog. I have previously said, and still maintain, that Yao's long-awaited "breakout season" will be his 4th season in the league. I think he will make that jump from an all-star level center to a bonafide superstar big man. His scoring will definitely improve, his defense will improve as well, although his rebounding improvement is still up in the air depending on whether or not we will have a PF this season that can help him out in defending the PnR and maybe allow Yao to spend more time around the basket on defense, which would in turn improve his rebounding numbers. Anyways, I am a firm believer that we will see Yao's best in the next two seasons, he will probably reach his utmost potential by his 5th season in the league, that is as far as his numbers are concerned. Afterwards, all that will be needed is experience that will help him with the intangibles of the game.
I'm very much a Yao fan because he is a Rocket. But it should be obvious by now he will gradually get better and probably will never make a quantum leap from one year to the next. In 3-4 years, Yao will be a star in every sense of the word and should stay at that level for a long time. But betting on a huge step for him next year is a mistake. I look at him as a long term 10 year project that we will be very grateful for when all is said and done. Unless Shaq doesn't recover from his injury it's very unlikely Yao surpasses him by next year.
There's no such thing as a 10 year project. If that was the case, there would be no draft. Players reach their potential anywhere from 2-5 years in the league. They gain more experience after the 2-5 year period so they can potentially become mentally stronger, however there's no leap in skills and athletic ability. Again people, why are you worrying about what Shaq is doing? I would rather Yao be the best he can be and be the third best center, than play at the current level and be the best center.
Yao is a better center than Amare. Amare is a better PF than Yao. The 2 don't equate. Amare cannot stop Yao. Yao cannot stop Amare. But Yao is smarter and has a more level head. Yao is the best center in the West. The playoffs prove it. Take Nash away from Amare and give him to Yao and you will see total statistical reversal.
duncun is a center as well...the only reason he is listed as a pf is because he played along side Robinson.
Yao really needs an enforcer type power forward to play along side him. I really think Cato being the PF protected him a lot which explains the huge improvement in his 2nd year. If we can get a good PF next to Yao I think the improvement will be huge and Yao will be the best center. I just hate it that the media is crowning Amare the next great center when he doesn't have much of a post game, and all he does is dunk and not defend. Sportswriters will never vote Yao over Amare in the All-NBA teams if they insist on considering Amare a "center". (Now they will say Amare should start over Yao in the All-star game ) Similar to the whole Rookie of the Year business- they justified it because Amare got to the playoffs, and Yao didn't -even though they had similar stats and Yao improved the Rockets wins by much more. If the sportswriters really felt that way then Carmelo should have won ROY over Lebron since Carmelo got to the playoffs and Lebron didn't in a weak conference. They justifed it by saying that Lebron had the most attention and pressure on him and that's why they voted for him. They sure didn't use that reasoning when they were voting for ROY the year before... I guess its my long winded way of saying there's a media bias against Yao and Houston , and even if he is the best center next year he will not get the respect he deserves from the media. They will be too busy kissing Amare's ass...
and what happened after robinson retired? They went and found another Center. And it's almost the same in comparasion to what jopatmc said; duncan is a better pf than yao, yao's a better center than duncan. DUncan can't guard yao (heh most times anyway,) just like how Yao can't guard duncan (but sometimes yao's size does get to duncan).
Nope, Duncan is a better Pf AND Center than Yao is and likely will ever be. Sure Duncan plays PF, but he is a 7 footer that can play Center better than anyone else in the league. If Duncan can't be a Center, then Olajuwon never was a center and was a PF playing out of position.
