I didn't hear the broadcast, but I doubt they were talking about the two being equals. It's probably more like: How much better/worse does Yao play than his norm vs How much better/worse does Okur play than his norm. In other words, whichever center exceeds expectations more than the other will be the winner of the round. Does that sound fair?
They have no answer on defense for Yao, if he erupts we should be within a possession of winning every game at the end of every game. We might not win every game, but we should be there. They also have a tough time with T-Mac, if each of them are on their game it will be tough to stop them. Yao did alot of covering of Boozer in the game and largely did a good job, I saw Hayes, Howard, Battier, and a couple of switches Tmac on Okur, i think that will be a crucial match up and Hayes staying out of foul trouble will be very important. Kirelinko is a non factor, doesn't matter if he plays or not he sits til the playoffs, he was struggling so much i dont see him turning it on. Which just depletes their bench a little bit more. Battier really needs to get off the list of never having won a playoff game, its amazing as good as he his, he has never won even a game. He needs to be a little more assertive with his shot and those hooks in the lane, no one on utah is goign to block those shots especially with Kirelinko out. Head needs to erupt in the playoffs, i think everyone feels it with his shooting, if we can minimize his PG mistakes he could have a good impact.
so you expect them to treat Yao as an equal to Duncan? as great as Yao has been in these two injury-plagued seasons, he's probably still not considered on the same level as TD outside of Houston.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Yao guarded Boozer for most of the game from the start, Hayes was on Okur. Those match-ups make since, since Yao doesn't like to guard the perimeter and Hayes has the footspeed to keep with Okur, but not the height and mass for Boozer.
i still don't understand why Sloan didn't have Boozer jack 18 footers on Yao or why Okur didn't post up hayes more... Maybe he was saving it for the playoffs?
probably cuz okur cant post up and boozers range is only really effective 15ft in. come out 18 feet and his shot has too high of an arch to go in consistently. also its a slow release and he brings it behind his head all allowing rotating defenders to help. granted if let alone yao will give him that jumper all day long even if he makes a good portion of them, over the long run he will miss his share/more than his share and it will disrupt the offensive system sloan likes to run
Maybe they did switch in the first half.. I know they started out with Chuck on Boozer cause he got an early foul off him. I am going to have to go back and watch it again. Maybe he was coming over to help on Booz and that's where he got that foul. I haven't watched that one a second time yet cause I was so disappointed in the results.
Yao PPG 24.7 RPG 9.5 APG 2.0 SPG .33 BPG 2.00 FG% .510 FT% .864 3P% .000 MPG 33.6 Tim PPG 20.1 RPG 10.6 APG 3.4 SPG .82 BPG 2.36 FG% .542 FT% .640 3P% .111 MPG 34.3 So they really can not compare? Why is that? Please enlighten me.
tim duncan has 3 mvps, 3 rings, 8 all first-team selections, 1 second-team, 9 all-nba defensive team selections (6 first team), not to mention has been the MAN for the spurs in his entire career with them. stats arent everything, and yao doesnt compare.
We are not talking about life time achievement here right? We are talking about current playing ability(as in right this minute).
THe last time we played Utah, Yao, T-Mac, and Juwan were the only Rockets who scored more than 6 points. The Jazz bench outscored the Rockets bench 26 to 11. We are gonna need better help from our supporting players.
Duncan can guard Okur effectively, if necessary, and he'll punish him on the other end. While Yao can punish Okur on offense, he becomes a serious defensive liability trying to guard him because he can't defend away from the basket. That's why it is a matchup worth debating over. Outside of free throw shooting, Duncan really has no weakness. He's probably one of the top 15 players of all time. Yao hasn't reached that class. Yao will never be as well rounded as Duncan, due to his physical limitations.
its not really fair since duncan is slowly declining while yao is just beginning to improve, but ive seen duncan literally take over games down the stretch, something yao still can't do. duncan is still more seasoned and experienced than yao and when he retires he'll arguably be the greatest PF to play the game.
Your mind is also playing tricks on you You need to set your mind back to basics...... Duncan.... POWER FORWARD, Yao Ming...... CENTER....... Completely different positions and different ways of playing. Yes Center Yao Ming will never be as good as Power Forward Duncan and Power Forward Duncan will never be as good as Center Yao Ming!!
I agree there is no comparison between Yao and TD in terms of achievement. However, to claim that their performance in this season can't be compared, is something I can't agree nor understand. Speaking of playoff this year, we ARE comparing players at this moment. Heck, people are comparing Howard with Shaq, who had 4 rings, 1 of the 5 greatest centers of ALL TIME, the most dominant player. What has Howard achieved?
