I wonder if Yao was in Foul trouble in China?? I have to believe that he wasn't and a big part of his foul trouble is also due to the speed of the NBA. But having said that, YAO has come from a completely different system than 99% of NBA players so his climb will be steeper than most, but at the same time his potential is greater as well. There are so few good true centers anymore that easily Yao will be the best center in the western Conference. Maybe if the Rockets can Face the Heat in the Finalls next year, then Yao can prove his dominance.
I think the foul problem was not the major reason of Yao's limited court time last regular season. The main reason was his stamina. If Yao played 5 more MPG, he would've averaged over 20 pts. If they run more REAL pick and rolls and face up plays for Yao next season, like what they've done in the playoffs, and Yao's playing time remains constant, I see him breaking the 20 points mark, and if Yao is able to play 35 mpg, he may average over 24 ppg and 10 rebs. Still, Yao does need to improve on foul control.
Duncan is not a better 5 than Yao. Put Duncan down low defending Yao and Yao will score at will and foul him out the same way that Duncan would school Yao on the short wing, playing the 4, with the bank shot and the little dribble hooks. Duncan is a 4. He does not want to be a 5, even though he may have the body to be a 5. He is a 4.
I think most of us believe that the definition of center is ambiguous nowadays in NBA, namely Amare is listed as a center. But, whatever you call Duncan a 4 or 5, I only know he is a better player than Yao, especially on the defensive end. Most importantly, he is still contending for this year's title. KH
What kind of logic is that? No **** he can play center, and it doesn't hurt that there are only shaq, yao and maybe big Z and Brad Miller who all have something resembling an all round game. The rest are the Ratliffs, Ben Wallaces and and lol, Dampiers who are more specialists and who demand basically no attention and have zero post presence. Except for maybe miller, Duncan can't guard the 3 i mentioned who actually can post you up like a "traditional" center would. They're too big. Granted that his speed would almost guarentee him two points on the other end, they can't guard him either. Why? because hes a god damn Power foward. Your hakeem comparasion is just r****ded. It doesn't even make sense. I'm arguing that duncan isn't a center because he doesn't start at that position nor guards at that position. Hakeem did all those.
Yao will be the best center in the NBA next year by default, but it's up to him to play the best he can. Yao is on the verge of something big.
You know how when you look at a team's roster, they list the players' names and their height, weight, position, college they went to? Well, especially at the beginning of the season when some guys' role/position on a team is not defined, you'll see a lot of players who have two positions listed. For example, SG/SF(T-Mac, Lebron) or PF/C(Dwight Howard, Ben Wallace) or SF/PF (Bosh, Gooden). Duncan is one of those guys who I've seen listed as PF/C in the past and probably should still be listed as PF/C. He may not be able to guard the prototypical center (Shaq, Yao, Ilgauskas), but he's talented enough to play both positions. Especially with the league going smaller and quicker, you can say Duncan is playing at center more now than he's ever played. You mentioned three guys(centers) that Duncan can't guard. You'd be hardpressed to find any center who would be able to effectively guard those three one on one(especially Shaq and Yao). Besides, there are 30 teams in the NBA and he can't guard only 3 teams' centers. Duncan is not the prototypical center, but almost nobody is today. If Amare Stoudemire plays center at 6'9", I'm comfortable calling Duncan a center at 7'. Duncan is San Antonio's biggest player and he is their post presence and their anchor on defense.
Exactly! Thanks for clarifying it to the "r****ds" who don't understand this concept. Hakeem did at times and COULD play PF pretty well, I think if there is one player in the league that plays the two positions similar to Hakeem, it is Duncan. There is just so much in Duncan that reminds me of Hakeem: his quiet resolve, his greatness (clutchness) down the stretch, his mobility and foot work, etc. Obviously, Duncan is not nearly as good on defense as Dream was, nor is he nearly as fun to watch/creative as Dream was. But their body sizes, mobility, and character are slightly similar. So what I am saying is IF you had to compare a modern player to Dream, Duncan is the only one that comes to mind.
And I fully agree. He's better than most centers in the league. He's good enough so that he can play Center and be effective. But I don't think (personally) you can say he's a better center than Yao. Better player? Hells yes by miles. Um ok. Keep resorting to personal attacks, it makes you look that much smarter. I don't want to argue with you because there's not point anymore. And in the future, theres no need to rehash what someone who has something resembling a brain would know just to try prove your point. No ****ing **** hakeem was good. Still doesn't make Duncan a better center than yao
Do you even know the difference between a center and a power forward? The roles are somewhat traditional and no longer valid in today's game Centers where originally more defensively minded and played with their back to the basket in post-up positions. Power forwards were more offensively minded, and had greater range and the ability to play facing the basket. They were generally not the tallest on the team.. Todays game is far more fluid and loose with the positions. shooting guards posting up, playing like centers, centers playing like guards - Duncun is a hybrid players.
I wasn't using the word "r****d" to insult you, but rather to mock you for using the word in an earlier post in this thread: Anyways... The funny thing is, coincidentally, the Best Damn Sports Show had Robert Horry on tonight, and John Salley asked him what was "the best CENTER you ever played with: Hakeem, Shaq, or Duncan", Horry answered, "Oh man, it was Dream. Dream was just amazing". Throughout the entire interview, they kept referring to Duncan as a "center". I think the popular sentiment is that he is a Center playing PF. Regardless, I think he is similar to Hakeem (as I said in an earlier post) in that he can play both the 4 and the 5 pretty well, because they both are flexible and have a lot of skill that enables them to play facing up the basket or in the low post with their backs to the basket (remember, Hakeem had that nice long jumper). In fact, they outright COMPARED Duncan to Hakeem in their skills, speed, defense, etc (they actually showed a stat of some category in which only Hakeem and Duncan are the exclusive members of the club). They concluded by saying that Duncan is the best "low post player since Hakeem Olajuwon." So, thought you might be interested in that piece of info. It is rather interesting that I was mentioning the exact same thing in an earlier post today, only to watch the BDSS and see Salley and Horry talking about the same subject and comparing Duncan to Hakeem. Salley said that the only difference was that Hakeem used his speed more to his advantage.
TD is better player than YAO in any catogray, even at center. actually I think he is the BEST player in the whole league right now and yes, amare is better at 4 and yao is better at 5. but overall, Amare is playing better ball game due to his GOD-GIVEN physical body. I don't mean to it but I have to say any ingury will hurt Amare badly. He needs improve his vision and IQ on the court to get a longer lifetime in the NBA and should develop his game to 2-D/3-D
AMEN BRO!! The whole ROY thing was just xenophobic media bias. Melo not getting it over Lebron proves it and nobody is gonna convince me differently. Yao was totally robbed of the ROY award but its all in the past and since barely anyone remebers ROY winners. Yao will just have to settle for multiple championship rings and Amare can have his ROY trophy.
Lebron over Melo doesn't prove anything. They were fairly matched that year. Melo had lesser stats but more wins because Lebron didn't have a good supporting cast. However, everybody agrees Carmelo is not in Lebron's stratosphere. The Yao/Stoudemire situation is a little different. They were equally matched during their rookie year and there still isn't a lot of difference between the two. Yao is unguardable in the post which causes double teams. Stoudemire doesn't have a post game. He gets his points strictly of pick and rolls and fastbreaks, but he has great athleticism and quickness for his size. Carmelo is not in the same elite that Lebron is in and he also is a sizeable notch behind Yao and Stoudemire. I am sorry if you are a Carmelo fan, but he stunk up the playoffs. HE's always defended one onone and the only time he can score is when he has a smaller SF guarding him. His whole game is predicated on size advantage over opposing defenders, because he was fat and heavy. When he lost the weight he couldn't work the post, so his game declined.
I don't have any problem of saying Yao/Stoudemire equally matched in their rockie year. But it is really a (long) stretch to say they are this year. Look, we all are biased toward Rockets, and obviously the two teams has different talent level surrounding these two. But the truth still is Amare is the focal point of SUN's fun'n gun offense and putting up amazing numbers. He runs pick and roll with Nash almost flawlessly. He has weakness, but it is very hard for other teams to exploit. Yao unfortunately is just the opposite this year. But we always have hope for next season...
I see your point but Amare has Nash to spoonfeed him the entire game, and a very good supporting cast. We had a bunch of scrubs playing the point guard position for most of this year, plus old slow power forwards that couldn't help Yao out any.
