[WC 2nd Round] #2 Denver Nuggets vs. #6 Lady Mavericks

it depends on who you ask. offensively, yao is BY FAR heads and shoulders above dwight. so down the stretch, yao is the guy b/c you can throw him the ball and he can go to work. dwight isn't that player yet and that's why you see orlando just jacking up jumpers down the stretch.

however, dwight is vastly the superior rebounder/shotblocker/defender. so if you have a dominant wing like lebron or wade, that team might prefer dwight.

 

That's why Wade has his title. He let posey and haslem take him out the series when they were in control. He turned into the worlds biggest jumpshooter. You would think after that, he would come back with the improved post game. He came back and let matt barnes and stephen jackson take him out the game. Doesn't that tell you something about your game?

 

defender? I don't think so, he's an average post defender at best. Yao is an elite low-post defender in the league. Yao's a lot closer to Dwight's rebound/blocks than Howard is to Yao's offensive talents.

 

Yao, with some caveat emptor. We all know Yao's weaknesses, but being able to go to him in the late stages of the game is the deciding factor. DH, it's almost embarrassing that you can't go to him in the 4th.

 

they just might have to play dirk + terry 46 minutes a game to have a chance. no one else can score

 

but it's also their fault. their guards are trigger-happy. dwight has enough post moves to score, though not to dominate consistently.

 

Well said, I also think Yao is the better player. Owns him head to head, vastly better offensive player and I also think Yao is closer to Howard's blocking and rebounding ability than Howard is to Yao's offensive ability. Just saying.

 

I agree. The playoffs are a whole different animal. Regular season records should be thrown out the window.

The Western Conference finals will be very competitive, whoever makes it there. Yes, the Lakers seem like the biggest threat, but the Nuggets are not a huge drop from them.

 

let's give him some credit. NONE of orlando's players are even close to average defense material (outside of rafer) and orlando was the best defensive team in the L this year in terms of efficiency. he won the DPOY for a reason.

but yes, he has a long ways to go offensively if he wants to really be a superstar.

 

He's a soft finesse player. You're shocked by this discovery? You expect him to change overnight into a banger?

And yet he's managed to get an MVP and a finals appearance being a finesse player.

 

dirk has 3 this qt.

 

He's the best shot blocker in the league, I'm not saying he's inferior to Yao's defense, but his post defense is nothing special at all. That's why Gortat did a better job defending Yao in the low-post than Howard did.

And I'm guessing you never heard of Courtney Lee either cause he's a great defender.

 

soft/finesse is overrated. KG, you would think by his trash talking, that he's an aggressive player but yet he settles for fadeaways as much as dirk does. he has a ring. same with ray ray. hell, even paul pierce takes more jumpers than he drives.

it's about team. dallas had a great team back then, but they let the refs got to them. dallas now is a very good team.

 

I guess I grew up watching great players constantly improve. 1 yr magic embarressed himself as a shooter vs boston, then next yr he has almost automatic. Jordan went from a slasher to a great mid range shooter to a greeat post up guy in his 30's. That's what being great is all about.

 

an ugly ass jump hook and some drop steps is all I can muster up. Again, the word embarrassing comes to mind when talking about DH's moves.

 

u can't expect one guy to keep scoring when he's the only one basically scoring. other guys have to score to keep the pressure off of him so he can keep doing his thing.

 

give him some respect. there are a ton of athletic big men in this league. you don't see 1/20 of them putting up 21, 14, 3 and winning DPOY do you?

 

If you put him in Dwight Howard's position? Yes you probably would seeing pretty similar numbers.

There's a reason why Gortat had career numbers when Howard was out for 3 games this year and when he played in Game 6 against the 76ers.

 

Being a great college defender vs a great nba defender is 2 different things. There is no logic as to why that team is top 3 in defense except howard. They had jameer nelson at the pg spot.

 

oh? Why is it that ever since Yao has been on the Rockets, they have been Top 10 defensively every single year?

Howard is the better defender, but as much as people imply or as the stats show.