are you telling me yao is the most double teamed player in the history of the league? and the ONLY center to do those "other things" you're mentioning here? yao struggled v. the fronting defenses. that was a fact. but our other players stepped up. the fronting defenses DID allow to make the game easier for brooks, scola... and others. but EVERY star who draws double teams make the game easier for their teammates. but our players STEPPED up when presented those opportunities.
Where exactly did I say he is the most doubled teamed player in History? He is one of the most doubled players in the league and one of the most for big men that's for sure. Yao struggles against Fronting Defense, Yes, I don't know where I said he didn't. I really don't understand your argument either to be honest. The question the OP asked in this thread was who would you rather have and I'd rather have Yao, because his intangibles are on another planet compared to T-Mac and Yao is a big man. I'll give you an example, Here are the Top 10 players of all-time to me in no order. Jordan, Wilt, Kareem, Russell, Shaq, Hakeem, Bird, Magic, Kobe, Duncan. 5 of the 10 Are centers and 6 of the 10 are Big men. I value big men over wing players, simply because they can influence the game in more ways a wing player can, not to mention their efficiency is better. There's a reason why Michael Jordan is widely considered the GOAT, It's because he's a wing player that has an efficiency that you see Big men commonly average.
that oscart robertson guy puts up triple dubs for quite a while i heard? teammates-wise, i agree yao is better b/c he's a GREAT team player. but like cabbage and leeb said, tracy went to play with deke and hayes (2 guys with ZERO offensive capabilities) and still won at a 65% clip. before artest arrived, yao couldn't win a game leading the team without mcgrady. WITH artest, who is an all-star type player, he was able to. at their peaks, tracy showed he could do more with less (albeit not advancing past the first round).
so what is your point? don't tell me Tracy doesnt do his best in the playoffs.. ok . so you think he is a high volume shooter.. whom should he pass the ball to? who should take more shots.. lets take the 07-08 team for example.. Scola/Landry .. Rookies/still developing/new to NBA. yeah Tracy ! pass it to them!! Deke.. is not Yao.. Luther Head.. ah . i dont need to explain.. Rafer-- 4/13 high volume shooter FTW Shane-- oh well. go stand in the corner.. Chuckwagon- ask him to work the post and draw fouls. then make him shoot free throws. .. well ... so what do you expect Tracy to do? he is best man on the court and obvi.. he should take a lot of shots..
the 2 main reasons we were successful in the playoffs, along with yao/scola/shane but their productivity were the same basically, were brooks and the bench (wafer). brooks was a MAJOR upgrade from rafer (and his 33% in the playoffs). and wafer was a HUGE upgrade over luther head. those 2 guys put us over the top.
I am just wondering how this board would have reacted if we had lost 1st round last year.. I dont know who would have been crucified.
The Blazers, in my opinion, were the greatest (a.k.a weakest opponent) matchup that we have ever had. Despite not having homecourt, I was 100% confident we would have beat them. If we didn't, I'm pretty sure Yao would have been the one to take the blame.
despite having more offensive weapons, we still struggled MIGHTILY offensively in BOTH rounds. fortunately, the blazers were inexperienced and lost that game 1. plus, like i said brooks and wafer were difference-makers, unlike rafer and head. if we want to be a contender again, morey needs to give adelman his type of players b/c his offensive system DOES produce in the playoffs.
Under JVG he averaged 25-26 and 10 and was a beast during a stretch I remember Good centers were rare back in the days so if you consider this Yao was the best center IF we were without a chance of picking up Yao TMac all the way
I agree.. I think Blazers were just the perfect match up for us.. we literally killed them in the regular season ( except for that Brandon Roy rainbow shot game.. which was.. again. still close) ..and the trend continued in the playoffs.. I am pretty sure that we would have lost if we had played Utah.. or even Dallas for that matter. I think Artest/AB would have been crucified. not very sure about Yao.
Oscar is not a Top 10 player of all-time, I think he's a bit overrated. Sure he dominated the stat sheet, but he never dominated the stat sheet to help his team win. People are in love with his eye popping stats, but not the more important stuff. I really don't even understand your question either. Tracy McGrady has more capability of doing more things because he's a different player, Both bring different values because they are both different players that play different positions. This... Determining who's better between Yao and T-Mac is an opinion.
It definitely does produce in the playoffs.. there are so many instances to quote that his system is very effective in the playoffs.. i frankly think we need to unload both tracy and yao and start again with new players... if Rick is staying on for a while, that should be the way to go.. we already have a budding star in AB.. we need to capitalize on that..
actually it's not. at their peaks, tracy was a 1st team all-nba all-world player, during an era of perimeter players (kobe/kidd/iverson/vince/bron/wade).
not comparable .. absolutely.. but we are not comparing skills i guess. but if you give me a choice .. bet Yao and tracy. . I wil take tracy in the team.. simply because he can do more with less... as illustrated by his performance in Orlando and Houston in 07/08
Pretty much, Who would you rather have a Wide Receiver or a Punter. Now that might be a stretch, but you get the point. Yao plays a more important position/role than T-Mac does, which makes me want to take him over T-Mac. Now you factor in intangibles, It's Yao. T-Mac can do more with less, but how is that Yao's fault? It's not his fault he never got to play with no teammates. Yao just impacts in the game in more ways than T-Mac does, with his rebounding, defense, shot blocking ability, screen setting, etc..... All of that. That's all I have to say, I don't see anybody disputing this.
I don't think we wil be able to get him .. we might have toooo much competition in 2010 sweepstakes.. and I dont how if he would be interested in playing with Yao.. as Leeb says lotsa players have their doubts abt playing with Yao.
ok I flip on this one though I would still take Yao under some circumstances I take Tracy in his Orlando Days minus the diva attitude
I agree with you there. A good-decent center is the key to a championship. Have you ever seen a team win a title without a decent center/post player? No. Heat had Shaq Lakers had Gasol Spurs had Duncan Celtics had Garnett
