in terms of potential: ming/griff = jabbar/worthy?

crash,

You are right I did say that SF's were always changing for the Lakers. Sorry, I didn't mean that. I meant the role players were always changing and least important while the Rockets will have (most likely) changing SF's who will be least important. Again, sorry for the confusion.

In regards to Worthy/Griffin - again, I put them together because they fit and because that was the original comparison. Worthy had "big" numbers all around. A few years in the late 80's his rebounds were high - 6-7 per...and he scored about 20 per. Rasheed Wallace, an All-Star PF and Griffin's hero, has gotten about 19 and 7-8 rpg the last few years. That is pretty close - that is all I was saying. True enough, the blocks are way off...but Griffin will be a league leader, something most PF's are not (as well as centers).

Does that make more sense?

 

The one thing that I don't want Eddie to be like Worthy is getting arrested for ordering up 2 prostitutes at a time(in Houston) and getting arrested for it.

 

As far as "potential" I think Yao/Griffin have more. Jabbar and Worthy don't have much right now...

 

Lobo, you are certainly correct that the longevity of Kareem's dominance is too much to compare anyone to. So consider my remarks about "potential" to mean that Ming has the potential to reach Kareem's plateau for at least one year.

 

I don't understand...you want more or less being ordered up at the sime time? Or you just don't want him being arrested for it?

 

This is a funny posy. LOL

 

I thought u need a link to prove whatever u say these days...

 

I hate judging players based on their potential. That argument is tired and overused to the point of naseum. If Cato played up to his potential, we wouldn't have drafted Ming. If everyone played up to their potential, we wouldn't watch the game. We'd put everyone's numbers into a database and hit the "generate champions" button.

I like Yao a lot. I've very very happy to have him on the team. I think he has an EXCELLENT shot, especially for a big man. I'd also like to see him hit that shot consistantly in an NBA season. I'd like to see how he rebounds, and how he posts up. I like to see a lot of things from him. I'm just not ready to hand him Kareem-like immortality.

I think it's important to look at players within the context of their eras. That's the best representation of their impact and significance to the game. I honestly believe that Yao will be the first of the super-giants to be very successful in the NBA. It's the optomist in me. I think he'll be better than Rik Smits, who is the best of the truly BIG men that have gone before him.

To answer your question HP, yes, I do believe that Shaq has changed the way the game is played. The day we got the number one pick, the day rumors of Yao started to circle, everyone was asking the same question. Will getting Yao Ming allow us or anyone else to contend with Shaq? Teams are building offensive and defensive schemes around the man. He's that dominant. You know that. Now maybe he hasn't invented any signature moves or changed the fundamentals of rebounding or anything, but everyone in the league knows that to raise the trophy over your head at the end of the year, you're going to have to go through Shaq.

That's an impact.

I hope Yao gets there.

 

Hmm... 2 of the 50 all-time greatest in Kareem and Worthy. No chance in hell BOTH of them are as good. Also, there is a very small chance that Ming or Griffin would be as good as just 1 of them.

 

Darkhorse,

Of course, you are right. No need to explain to me the uselessness of dreamcasting, speculating, and talking of potential. But I will say that Yao has me getting into talk about potential for the first time in a loooong time. It is a lot easier to estimate the rookie dominance of a 7er than a PG like Francis. Saying Ralph Sampson had Kareem's potential before he played one day was not farfetched. Hell, Ralph stormed into the league with two immediate 20/10s. Same goes with Shaq. The only early question with those types of 7ers is how long they can sustain it and produce in the playoffs.

I'll say another thing...I will be wrong if Yao doesn't storm into the league. There is a good chance that he'll hit the wall this Spring, but aside from that one-time excuse ... we should see his dominance really quickly, or I'll be pulling back my Jabbar speculation to maybe a more pedestrian one like Duncan

I don't intend to give Yao 2 years to prove his potential HOF dominance. If it is there, we won't be waiting too long to see it.

 

Heypartner:- Yao Ming exhibited some extraordinary passes in the WBC! Don't be surprised,when he settles in, if he surpasses all great centers in passing ability!
Unless my memory fails me I can't remember Jabbar being an outside shooter! If I am correct, then Yao Ming is already better than Jabbar at passing & outside shooting! So as we are talking about potential, I would give the edge to a Yao Ming/ Ed Griffin over Jabbar/Worthy! Time will tell, remember Yao Ming is not even a Rocket yet!

 

I agree with HeyPee et al who see Yao as having a much bigger impact earlier than any of the pundits seem to think.

I said it in another thread, but barring injuries, no one will want to run into the Rockets come playoff time this season.

Rudy has always been very adept at having his team gel come playoff time.

 

verse...you seem to be hedging your bets on Yao, and placing his success on the fact he'll get single coverage.

Is that a proper read of mine?

Within a few games of your predicted success...he will not longer be getting single coverage. All predictions of Jabbar-ness have to be predicated on the fact that Ming will get dble teams more than Francis/Mobley within a few small number of games after he proves his Jabbar-ness/Sampson-ness.

Very simply put: I think it is an oxymoron to say that Ming will feast on single coverage at ROY numbers!!!!

 

I'm with you now. And if Griffin is as productive as Worthy then we have a lot of good years ahead of us.

 

All this talks come down to the same basic thing.

Is Francis and Cat going to pass the ball enough for them to get 20-30 pts a game?

 

To win they need to pass the ball around more often..... team plays ..................................ming/griff can be better than jabbar/worthy

 

ming as good as jabbar is a stretch. Jabbar is the all time leader in pts. i doubt ming will accomplish that. I do think Ming can be the best C in the league w/ in a few years but just no where near jabbar. Eddie can defintely be better than Worthy. He has the outside shot unbelievable shot blocking ability, once he gets his post game. i think he will be one of the better players in the league. They can defitely be best froncourt for the next decade or more. but just not jabbar and worthy. Add that to are already very good backcourt. rockets should win some jewerly. cant wait till october