kountzer, nobody has said yao is as good as duncan. i said yao is similar to duncan in many ways. yao has the potential to be just as good as duncan if not better. have you seen yao shoot with his left hand? he HAS a capable left hook shot. don't forget, yao is 7'5" not 7'0" and with his height, he passes the ball better than duncan.
I wouldn't be suprised though if Yao becomes better. There is nothing (skills wise) than Duncan can do that Yao cant. Period! So the main draw back for Yao is his conditioning and experience and both should come with time. He has the tools to become one of the greatest Centers ever. Now he just needs to put in work in his conditioning and learning the NBA style game. Passing face up jumper free throws right hand hook left hand hook turn around turning right turn around turning left up and under move with both hands spin move drop step BB IQ blocks (great but can improve. 4 blks a game is possible in 3 years) defense (very effective but can still improve) rebounding (needs work) With conditioning and experience (understanding the NBA game), his blks, defense and rebounding should all improve. Watch out league, in 3 more years, Yao is gonna be a monster! In 3 years, it is perfectly imaginable that Yao average 25.7, 12.4, 4.1 asst, 3.7 blks, 55% FG, 80% FT. Is that not Duncan like???? Yaos FT is better too.. If TD shot 80% this year, he would be averaging about 2 more pts a game! Go Rox!
Overall, Yao has a better outside shot whereas Duncan is a decent outside shooter. The proof is in FT shooting. Those that can consistenly hit 80% of their free throws year after year are the ones that turn out to have great jumpshots. Don't get me wrong, Duncan has that bankshot down, but in regards to being a good shooter, Ming has that on him. Its a direct correation. With that, Duncan is in another level, not a knock on Ming because that level only includes another 4-5 players. But whoever started this thread is onto something, if there is a player out there that is like Tim Duncan, it is Yao Ming. Tim is a rarity in that he came in and dominated. I believe Yao will be one of those superstars that need a couple years to hit stride a la Clyde Drexler and Karl Malone. STuart
hikanoo49 is God. He's got Yao's stat figured out to the first decimal. Seriously though, Yao is really the next Big thing for Rox and NBA. I have witnessed the beginning of the Dream Era and now I am right there for the Ming Dynasty. Everyone should be a Rox fan once in their life time.
No Yao MUST take the Rockets to the playoffs this season. All the great players should take their teams to the playoffs. Duncan did it. Malone did it. Hakeem did it. If he can't do it, I fear it will hurt his overall reputation and preception among people.
There was a practice video clip in the beginning of the season in which Yao shot 13-15 all from 15 feet out in run-catch-shoot fashion. Moochie just stood under the basket looking at Yao in a way like he's his son. If Yao is allowed to do that in game time, that'll be a money shot. All the Rockets need to do is to set a screen for Yao and let him catch and shoot. Yao'll have a easy time shooting those jumpers because he's 7-6 and he's able to make it more difficult to by shooting a fadeaway jump shot, at least this shot is easier than his turnaround fadeaway jumper.It'll be unstoppable if the Rox can get that play down. When you have someone that can shoot and run like Karl Malone if not better, while being taller and passes better, there's no way that facet of game shouldn't be effective. I won't be surprised if Yao turns out to be better than Duncan offensively in the right system. He's the complete package with at least the equal amount of talent. With Francis getting better in the last two games and Yao moving up the food chain, my outlook on the Rockets for this season is turning brighter. Keep working hard Yao, the force is with you.
Please! Stop smokin' that pipe man! I guess guys like Antonio Davis or Robert Horry or Rick Smits will all be HoF'ers huh? They can all play good defense (ok maybe not Smits) and shoot jumpers just as good if not better than Robinson (who had the ugliest looking jumper ever!).... "if you can play defense, run the floor and make a few jumpers, you'll make it to the hall of fame." You just don't know how stupid you sounded with that comment. Hey, while we're at it...let's add Raef LaFrentz to that list. He can block shots and run and shoot jumpers! Get real...You just dissed one of the best centers of the past 15 years by saying he was a "waste".
yao is slower, yao is softer. if yao can average 18 points a season in a couple of years, i will be more than happy.
Neither of these guys had a Mobley or Francis and dumb as a rock coach like Rudy T. to hinder them though.
Yao had proven that he can help the rockets win consistently and make his teammates play much more efficiently when he is the focus of the team offense. That is the sign of greatness. No matter how great a player is, if he gets only 8 shots per game, consistently being ignored on the offensive end and not allow to fully utilize his other skills then it's impossible for him to show his greatness. Last night the Spurs-Lakers game is a good example. Tim Duncan started out cold, 2-14 yet the Spurs never gave up on feeding him. They relentlessly continue to make plays for him to give him better looks. They understand that if they give TD the ball then they would have a better chance of winning than losing. As a result, he made big play after big play in the second half and not suprisingly the Spurs came on top. This Rockets team won't go far until the rest of the Rockets players accept Yao Ming 100% as the main focus on their offense just like the past Rockets players did for their previous great big men in the middle. It would be interesting to see what type of change the Rockets would make next year, because obviously something is not right with whatever the Rockets are doing now.
yao is slower, but he's taller. yao is softer, but he can work to become stronger. if the rockets gave him the shots, he would average as many points as duncan. 18 points? he can average that with his eyes blindfolded.
