it wasnt what hakeem was capable of. we all saw that in the second championship run when he destroyed shaq and robinson. that was normal hakeem. the first run i think a lot of it was psychological. trying to get that first championship for a cursed city. all the flack he got from the press. if i remember correctly, that run was not too long after he had requested to be traded. so because of all of the psychological issues hakeem was taken to 7 games. and having a young inexperienced team around him. he was so good that he overcame the houston curse. if you remember the Astros in i believe 1986. losing to the Mets. Daryl Strawberry hitting the top of the astrodome. If you remember the Oilers. no matter what kind of lead they had, they would find a way to lose in the last half of the game. Thats how great Olajuwon was. he overcame those odds. he was so much of a winner that he turned a cursed city into a winning city. all that said. because he was overcoming these mental blocks, (he would normally have a field day with Ewing), Yao could have taken the knicks to 7 games in that series against houston. In fact insert Shaq or Robinson there and maybe we lose. thats how big of a mental block there was.
Sure DREAM apologists. Every rockets player talks about how Yao makes it easier for them and you could say Yao hasn't had enough help as well. That argument runs both ways. Lets be frank according to Yaos standards DREAM was a failure for 10 years.....right? DREAM scored 3 pts against the Sonics in a playoff game right? So he wasn't tired that game I guess he just flat out SUCKED against someone smaller and quicker against him, right? So that argument runs both ways right? Yaso can't guard Okur, still waiting for someone to switch like they teach players in high school just as DREAM still can't stop Sam Perkins! That argument works both ways right? I'm sorry once again I was there for PHI SLAMA JAMA and still I will give credit where it is due. All the guys that you never blame on this team are never the focus of the other teams game plan, YAO is! So his lateral movement is not great and he is not a dominating player he still would be cherished on 30 other teams in this league. I just hope he doesn't expect to be the focal point of this team when he can't get done physically like DREAM and TMac.
dude you weren't even born for Phi Slamma Jamma. Yao hasn't even made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Christians don't hate Christ. Fish don't hate water. and Rocket fans don't hate Dream.
I wouldnt even respond to foolishness. What i dislike about these kind of threads is that they turn into only fans thinking someone is hating on Yao. like I've said before, people will still take a healthy mcgrady as the best player on the team.
My father is still great friends with Reid Gettis to this day.....where were you? BLAME Yao and forget that your idol turned into a washed up ego maniac just like TMac! All of those teams that were mediocre in Dreams time after the championship hurt our draft picks and when he took alot of money without the results because his body was deteriorating hurt our future as well. SO BLAME HIM FOR YEARS OF CRAP I DO! Greedy religous wanna be!
You are a moron. I hate to say this but you are at the same level as the idiots like Superstar, Legend Killer, etc.
You are starting to be my best friend with your post..... Again, this is why I hope they TRADE Yao and T-Mac..... Yao is a good player... No more and no less and trying to compare with the guys on the list of Durvsa is just ridicules. I like the intention but over half of the individuals never SAW or HEARD of the pioneers. Most of them think that Nike has always been the official SHOE and the only LEATHER shoe... They know nothing about "PONY"... They know nothing about the days of Chuck Taylor's.. They know nothing about Chocolate Thunder or the fact that Bill Walton played for Portland and was a beast on the court (even with the bad feet). They know nothing Moses Malone owning the boards on a NIGHTLY basis and carrying a Rockets team on his back to the finals.... Naa see they know nothing about these things... They know nothing about Alex English, Bernard King and Andrew Toney; guys who could light it up for 50 on any given night. I love the fact when they say that Yao would be great back when those guys played... Makes me laugh... See the fact is, theere were no MILLION dollar players back in the day of Artis Gilmore, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and Lew Alcinder (Youngsters go google it). See these guys brought it HARD every single night; their bonus money was the Playoffs, Championship and All-Star game. So when you guys want to try and RANK Yao up there with the best pleas go back and do your history lesson first.
killer instinct was a stupid game it was never street fighter 2 and we know that street fighter is the original and all those other games are jealous
What's funny about killer instinct is when tinman said he wasn't even born for phi slamma jamma. He responds that his fater is cool with reid gettys. Lets do some math. Reid was born somewhere between 61 and 64, so let assume his father is around that age. Lets also assume his father was 20 when had his which puts killer instinct birthday at 1981. So he was 1 or 2 in 82. How the hell can he know anything about phi slamma jamma? These kids kill me.
well he'll learn. the older you get, the more respect you have for the past. we haven't been past the first round since Charles Barkley, back then you didn't think about it. You think the Rockets would always be contending (contending = at least making it past the first round). Now you look back and say, wow those were good days. You wish those days to be back, but you never take them for granted. I met Otis Thorpe and told them that the first championship team made me so proud to be a Rockets fan. He smiled and crushed my hand. He was happy I didn't forget. How could I? We've only won 2.
Yao is not an elite center, he is no where near Olajuwon obviously, not even better than Ewing, Robinson, or Mourning. Defensively, Mutombo at his age is better than Yao, he blocks more shots and doesn't take charges like guards do! Yao is at best an above average center, but he is not a great center and not a clutch go to guy down the stretch cuz he's too soft and loses the ball so easily.
so why does every team try to double and stop an "at best an above average center" every single night? and if we use stats only, then wilt is the goat. there hasn't been, is not, will not be another player like him. all those names in your post would just be nobodies.
using the logic some use here, since mcgrady has not passed the 1st round either, i'd say stephan jackson is closer to jordan than mcgrady is. at least he's got a ring.
SA05 was comparing Yao to the all-time greats. In that sense, then Yao is indeed above average. You're comparing Yao to today's crop of centers who are mostly garbage. Compared to them, Yao is great.
i was comparing akeem, mourning, ewing, drob, shaq etc. to wilt. they are nobodies compared to wilt based on numbers. so "all time great" is overrated; only wilt deserved it - if based only on stats.
Utah doesn't. I think he's a good center like daughtery and there isn't anything wrong with that. During his best stretch a couple years ago, he was 25 and 11, but the team couldn't win without tracy. Think about this, they replaced tracy with wafer and artest and they're going to win less games than last year. Who did they replace yao with last yr? Deke and hayes. The one thing all those centers have in common except brad is they are the best player on their team. Im not sure the same can be said for yao.
Wilt Chamberlain (LAL, PHI) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (MIL, LAL) Shaquille O'Neal (LAL, ORL, MIA) Hakeem Olajuwon (HOU) Bill Russell (BOS) Tim Duncan (SAS) Moses Malone (PHI) David Robinson (SAS) Patrick Ewing (NYK) Bill Walton (POR) Robert Parish (BOS) Elvin Hayes (WAS) Dave Cowens (BOS) Wes Unseld (WAS) Alonzo Mourning (MIA) Willis Reed (NYK) Yao Ming (Hou) Amare Staudamire (PHO) Jermaine O'Neal (IND) Rik Smits (IND) Kevin Duckworth (POR) I noticed some placed him above Mourning. Yao's career has never been better then Zo's peek. Had Zo not suffered from the Kidney disease, he would be a sure fire lock for the Hall of Fame. Zo at least was 2nd in MVP voting (back in the day when the award was legit) and a 2 time Defensive Player of the Year.
