I have nothing against yao personally and I still think he is the guy that our team can rely on, I just hope yao will get a championship for rockets and for himself as well.
Then how in the world would you put Amare over the 4 time defensive player of the year? What has Amare lead the league in? What Amare fans love to bring it up to make your argument that Amare is better than Mutombo? Answer these questions please. Don't just run away and hide.
I put Zo ahead because he doesn't limit the kind of team I can build and the style I play. Zo was good as a rookie playing for the up and down the court Hornets, he also played very well in a slow it out style of miami. Plus Zo was tougher to me. He got dunked on and stuff, but zo would give hard fouls and would rather stop breathing than lose. That has something to do with it also.
i believe durvasa asked who would u pick to build a team around. and i would pick yao over ewing. my apologies if that offends you and ewing's 24-11. even if we weren't going by durvasa's rules i would still pick yao over ewing. and if yao were playing in the same era as ewing then i am sure he would average around the same if not more. with those nba rules yao would be much more productive than he is now. oh yeah, and i just dislike ewing. like i dislike karl malone. like i dislike the dallas mavericks. so, it has nothing to do with "hoops knowledge".
I disagree, the centers in this era are weak compared to the centers of yesterday past. And Yao still can't dominate them.
So you would pick Ben Wallace over Yao to build a team just because Wallace has one ring more than Yao?
I would pick David Lee or Dwright over yao. Yao used to be real good but his prime is already behind him, even farther than T-Mac's prime.
It's not my list. I would have put Mutombo above Amare. I just to fit Yao as best as possible on Durvasa's list.
You could argue about the original list itself, but it's pretty good anyway. I'd put Yao just below Zo at this point. By the way, I like how some fans think that if you put Yao in the 80s/90s with the rules of that era he'd "easily," put up better numbers. Please stop making excuses. Yao is what he is.
Ben Wallace was another oversight on the list. Multiple DPOYs, all-star appearances, and a champion. He belongs.
I probably wasn't clear enough at the outset. What I'm asking is how Yao measures up to other players in his ability to be contribute to an elite, winning team. The rule changes are just a part of the game, so I don't think you adjust for that. I said before that imagine you're drafting them from a pool of players ... but I didn't quite mean that. I want to people judge/measure each player relative to his own era, the players around him and the rules he played under. So, would you rather build around Patrick Ewing under the conditions of the 80s/90s, or build around Yao Ming under the conditions of the 00s? That's kind of what I'm getting at.
durvasa, I think you kind of confused everybody. If you do not adjust for the rule changes, then I would not want to pick a center to build around in this era. So to answer your original question as you clarified here, Yao is probably about 2/3 down the list in terms of picking a center to build. I would pick Ewing IN HIS ERA over Yao IN THIS ERA, not because I think Ewing is a better overall player, but because of the disadvantages a big man has in this era.
You know assuming someone is a Tmac only fan because of their name is priceless coming from you . Yao cares about the Rockets and McGrady cares about himself?? Are you kidding me?? Are you McGrady for you to assume McGrady only cares about himself?? T-Mac throws people under the bus and Yao doesn't make excuses. Come on man you need to grow up. Stop bashing T-Mac and stop comparing what McGrady does and doesn't do to what Yao does and doesn't do. How were you last season and the year b4 that. Idk I'm just curious. Its funny just because a guy stands up for a player you automatically assume their a "only fan" instead of a true team fan.
Hey, why don't you explain this one: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/02/27/weekly.countdown/index.html "I haven't been the guy who's been fortunate enough to play with Shaq, to play with Tim Duncan. I always seem to have average teams,'' he said. "You take me back in my Orlando days with Shaq? Come on, there are no questions. You take a healthy me and switch me out with Paul Pierce [on the current Celtics]? There's no question. There's definitely no question.''
Robinson would foul out Yao in the first quarter. He liked to operate at the elbow and could take it to the basket hard. Both Ewing and Robinson were good jump shooters.
I know it might be confusing to look at it that way, but I think that makes the most sense. I mean, we can debate forever on how dominant Hakeem would be if he was playing today, or how Yao would play if we want transported to the 80s/90s. But as interesting as that discussion might be, it has no practical significance. More important is understanding what Yao is capable of as the major piece of a champion-caliber team today. One way of looking at that is comparing Yao's level of dominance at his peak in today's game to that of past players in their own time. And then, we look at what those players had around them and what their teams were able to achieve.
Exactly. He hasn't been fortunate to play with Shaq, Tim Duncan, KG and all. Do you know what that article was about for you to be posting it. You act like he is bashing Yao. Some guys on here put to much into things they read or hear from the media. If he was fortunate enough to play with those guys we wouldn't be having discussions we are having now. The way he played back then add a dominate force like those guys he named and he would be in the hall of fame conversations.
