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Out of curiosity: Yao or Howard, now that we have Howard

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by HamJam, Feb 26, 2014.

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What would you rather have, Howard or a healthy Yao

  1. Howard (who we now have)

    17.9%
  2. A healthy Yao (two words that, when together, cause me to weep)

    82.1%
  1. pwnyxpress

    pwnyxpress Member

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    Yao was more than just not a free throw liability late in games lol. Yao was a career 83+% FT shooter...Harden is only an 84% FT shooter (and that's very good too) haha.
     
  2. aurocketfan

    aurocketfan Member

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    Yao would have killed Clippers bigs.
     
  3. New

    New Member

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    Very good point.
     
  4. archinkent

    archinkent Member

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    Why do people keep saying Yao was never healthy? He only missed 2 games his first 3 seasons. He was just overworked after that.
     
  5. deba

    deba New Member

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    a healthy Yao with limited minutes would keep him healthier longer and would also allow Asik to be much more productive. Yao + Asik makes more sense than Dwight + Asik.
     
  6. chenjy9

    chenjy9 Numbers Don't Lie
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    Most of us don't count that version of Yao where his testicles were still very much stuck in his body. That version of Yao did drop shots and got pushed around all the time. The beastly Yao emerged and then he broke down shortly afterwards.
     
  7. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Bionic Yao with bionic legs and foot all day every day
    and give him some athleticism!
     
  8. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Yah but he rather looked like a stick in his first 2 seasons
     
  9. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Good thinking with Howard 66 games and Yao 16 and playoffs.
     
  10. iku

    iku Member

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    Please watch this video to remind yourselves just how good yao was. That guy was a BEAST!

    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5pGV7yoZ_yY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  11. plutoblue11

    plutoblue11 Member

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    In a very mediocre Eastern Conference:


    Boston was without KG, while the Cavs only had LeBron as their one true star as well.


    I probably won't vote, because we are putting of my favorite players/people in sports history against one of my least favorite players in sports history. Which is another reason I would take Yao Ming for his intangibles ... He had "never-say die" attitude, worked vigorously to improve his game in the offseason, lead by example, did not force a trade/talk about playing for other teams in the middle of season, or ever question his motivation towards winning and performing well.
     
  12. plutoblue11

    plutoblue11 Member

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    To top things off, how many great centers are there in the Hall of Fame that didn't have at least an above average post game.
     
  13. plutoblue11

    plutoblue11 Member

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    That's where I think his downfall came physically...he played almost endlessly between 03-06, with the World Games and the Olympics. He would've last a little longer, if he only modestly particpated in summer games...but he was a patriotic person.
     
  14. plutoblue11

    plutoblue11 Member

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    Especially, when you have someone like Roy Hibbert talking trash ... a glorified scrub in the 90s. Would get eaten alive by Yao and Shaq in 2000s?

    In a year or two, I doubt he'll even be on par with Cousins and Drummond.
     
  15. Ramathorn006

    Ramathorn006 Member

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    Yao was unstoppable in the 08-09' season. There is absolutely no doubt in my find we would have made it to the finals if he had stayed healthy. We would have steam rolled Denver that year after beating the Lakers.

    I never really got to enjoy Hakeem because I was too young to really understand basketball when he was in his prime...I do remember the latter years when we used to lose to the Jazz and Sonics in the playoffs, which sucked. Yao was power, finesse and skill. A joy to watch but it seems like the refs slowed him down with all the flopping that went on when guys tried to guard him. On the other hand, Howard is pure power, which is nice to have but he is no Yao.

    Man do I miss the big guy :(. What could've been.
     
  16. Ramathorn006

    Ramathorn006 Member

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    I was thinking about this the other day.

    Yao, Artest, T-Mac/Brooks/Landry/Scola or Dwight, Harden, Parsons/Bev/Lin/T-Jones

    I guess it is about even but the 08-09' team was definitely a championship contender and that's why I think this team is also a championship contender as well.
     
  17. justtxyank

    justtxyank Member

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    There were plenty of frustrations with Yao when he was active. Yes he was a dominant post player sometimes. But other times he was totally negated by a fronting smaller big man or he was a turnover machine because he wasn't getting the ball passed perfectly or he was refusing to dunk the ball.

    I think they are probably 6 of one and half dozen of the other to be honest.
     
  18. Panda23

    Panda23 Member

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    Geez. How quickly people forget. Yao was an absolute force of nature before his injury against the Lakers. Dwight is a fantastic player, and looks more and more like his old self physically, but Yao had taken it too another level offensively. Dwight got neutralized against the Lakers at like Yao never would've.

    However, there's only so many times you can break a bone. Yao had repeated, chronic, stress related injuries after the injury I think Tim thomas fell into his leg (that would've injured anybody) and the rest is history.

    anyway, here is a video I made a while back, tried to cover all bases.

    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/y-xiUZXDBFc?list=UU_cPpXbudJC3DqW0mw7cdaA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  19. rockets2012

    rockets2012 Member

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    Yao's struggle with fronting has a lot to do with the supporting cast.

    When we had a decent support group in 08-09, fronting yao leads to easy buckets from other players(AB benefited the most from it). Remember it's not just fronting...it's one guy fronting and another one behind to prevent the easy lobs, and it's even before Yao was calling for the ball. And yes we don't even have TMAC to take more advantage of it then.
     
  20. haoafu

    haoafu Contributing Member

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    No doubt JVG molded Yao into a lowpost beast, but I always think his rookie season is the most fantastic one showing all kinds of potential. Yao may become a more unique player under Rudy T.
     

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