WTF!!!CBS SportsLine.com ranks Yao 4th best center

That article deserves zero stars, not even one. Absolutely r****ded. It's so obvious from anyone that watches basketball that Yao is better than Shaq is right now. He creates more problems at this stage of his career with his shooting ability, his free throw shooting ability, and his plethera of post moves. The ONLY thing Shaq has on Yao is bullish strength. That strength is what allows him to collect himself and blast off the floor for the dunk shots. Shaq's offensive game has a range of 5 feet and that's it. And he is a liability on the floor with his horrid free throw shooting. In fact, Shaq has slowed down so much that he routinely gets back doored 3 or 4 times a game. Sure he's still a GREAT player. But anybody that thinks he is better than Yao is right now is out of their mind.

Howard and Amare aren't even centers and if they were, they still fall woefully short of Yao. Take Nash away from Amare and he turns into a 16/12 guy who CANNOT stop Yao. Howard is another Amare type big PF with great hops and quickness. I think he will dominate rebounding stats for the next 6 years or so. But at C or PF either one, he is not the dominating presence that Yao is offensively and defensively. The only thing he does better than Yao is rebound. Sure he can intimidate and block some shots defensively. Yao does it just as well. Sure, he's got the quicks to get to the offensive glass and even get a few throw downs off his simple post moves. But he does not impact the game the way that Yao does. Teams don't play Orlando and design their game plan around double and triple teams of Dwight Howard to shut down Orlando. Even if you take the 2 extra boards that Howard gets and turn those into 2 extra possessions for his team and they convert 100% of those 2 possessions with 3 point shots, he doesn't account for the offensive point production that Yao does. And we aren't even talking about all the shots that Yao creates for his mates off all the kick outs. It's totally ridiculous to put Howard over Yao, totally ridiculous. Even if you don't even take into account actual games and the effects on their team, when you look at their sheer statistics, there is no comparison. Yao is the better statistical player. Just a totally ridiculous argument to have Howard up there. He's not even as good a center as Duncan.

Amare??? LOL. He barely played last year. He's not a center. And how much of his offense comes off a Nash penetration and dish?? Amare is a mobile PF playing center. He doesn't create offense. He gobbles up what is created by Nash. Yao creates. There is no comparison.

Put it this way. Take away salaries, take away ages. Put all the NBA players in a pool of talent and you have the ability to pick a player to play center for your team next season, any player you want, right now, to play for your team next season. You aren't paying them, you aren't worried about long term dollars or long term commitment. After next season everybody goes back in the pool and you pick them again. If you had to pick one or two guys to play center, a starter and a backup, who are you going to pick at that position that would give you the best chance to win a championship next season?

The answer is: Most people will take Yao or Shaq. I'm sure there are still plenty of Shaq homers out there, so he will get his. But 1, 2, and 3 are going to be Yao, Shaq, and Duncan, maybe not in that order but those are your clear cut top 3 and frankly we all know we'd take Yao and most of us take even Duncan over Shaq at the 5. Amare and Howard will trail after that. Now go to PF. Same thing, pick 'em. The votes are going to go to Dirk, Garnett, and Duncan primarily, with Howard, and Amare following up. Amare probably would be at the very best the 3rd pick at PF simply because he is coming off major injury. He's not even the best PF at this point because of the injury. It's just another totally ridicuous argument.

If you did a poll of basketball coaches, scouts, etc., people connected with the NBA and you gave them the choices of picking a player at each position for the next season to win a championship with, it would look like this:

Center - Yao, Shaq (I don't know which would 1 or 2 but I would bet Yao)
PF - Duncan, Dirk (once again, I don't know who is your starter or backup)
SF - Lebron, probably Melo (I doubt TMac would be here because of his back)
SG - Kobe, whoever (Kobe would be the dominant choice here, with any number of possible SGs coming in second, and probably either Wade or Vince)
PG - Nash, whoever else.



How do these guys that write this trash get jobs and how do they keep them?

 

F*** this article! How dare this guy not even mention Dampier and Ben Wallace? These two are obviously the No. 2 and No 3 behind Shaq!

Totally worthless. I am pissed.

 

Another funny tidbit: on his player stock figure, he has Yao's arrow pointing down. He moved up on this guy's stupid list from 5th to 4th, and raised his numbers from 18.5/8.5 to 22.5/10 and his stock apparently went down in this guy's book.

 

That entire article is jacked...

Check out the table posted in the link. It says "Last Year's Rankings" and has the 2005/2004 dates on it, but then goes ahead and has the current rankings on there...so somehow Yao, despite moving up from #5 to #4 (as stupid as that is) still has a down arrow.

Seriously CBS...try hiring some professionals.

Amare number 3....hahahahahaha! Dude's never average over 9 boards a game...never average more than 1.63 blocks per game (yao's never average less, btw)

And you think you should be pissed about Yao...check out Mehmet Okur...they've got Krystic and Kaman ranked ahead of him.

Speaking of Kaman...#5 - that's got to be the biggest joke of all...why this guy is rated so highly is beyond me....what's next, James Donaldson a hall of famer...for those of you who don't know who he is, there's a reason....stats like Chris Kaman's don't make you one of the top [fill in the position] players in the league.

 

i guarantee this guy would pick Yao first as his center in fantasy league.

 

I sent him this comment:

 

No problemo. This question will be answered on the court not in the media. My money is on Yao.

 

IMO, Yao still has another step to take. It's funny how some posters deride stars from other teams because they play well but can't win/close out games.

I'm actually curious to see how Yao will go without T-Mac now he has better supporting cast, ie Battier.

 

great post jopatmc. you should email that to him.

 

You can just tell from the way he wrote this that he has something against Yao.

As for the rankings, honestly I think those four will be pretty close next year. I expect Yao to surpass Shaq, but then Dwight Howard and Amare might also be ahead of Shaq as well. I don't think Amare will quite reach the level he was at a few years back, but that's just a guess. He could still easily be a 25/9 player. Defense is a question mark with him, though.

Dwight Howard is going to make another big jump next year ... I think he'll give the Magic something like 20 pts, 13.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game.

If I had to guess ... I'd say:
(1) Yao
(2) Dwight Howard
(3) Amare
(4) Shaq

 

Who cares what this guy says. He can't take anything away from Yao. Just ignore him.

 

3rd at best, behind shaq and Dampier.

 

unbelievable

 

Can't speak to everyone, but the point here isn't just that his list makes absolutely no sense...it's that taken in context, with his past lists, with mistakes in the article, etc., that he probably shouldn't even be working for CBS, much less anyone, reporting on basketball.

Look at last year's list - Chris Bosh, Jamaal Magloire, Brad Miller...? Shocked that those guys aren't still on the top 10 list...shocked I tell you
Of course, he did actually have Dampier on the prior year's list, along with Theo Ratliff, Eddy Curry and Rasho Nesterovic, of all people.

Here's his expert analysis on the Bonzi Wells situation before free agency started: "1. Bonzi Wells, Sacramento: He's the most sought-after shooting guard on the market, so don't look for him to be back with the Kings if all they can offer is their mid-level exception. They might have been able to get away with that any other season, but for the reasons stated above, that won't fly now. Besides, Wells proved to be a valuable weapon during the playoffs and is one of the top rebounding guards in the league. In the right situation, he could be a tremendous performer. The Pistons, Nuggets and Pacers are said to be in pursuit."

Really nailed that one. He had Al Harrington as the number 1 SF on the list, too....number 1 PF, Drew Gooden.

I mean, I understand it's not his fault these guys have found the FA market such a difficult experience, but how many times a year can this guy prove to be as out of touch with the NBA as he apparently is?

 

I do agree that these are the top 4 centers in the league, just not particularly in that order.....

I think it should be,

Shaq
Yao
Amare
Dwight Howard

You gotta hand it to him, Dwight Howard is a good player and is going to be a hell of a great player in this league. I though they had made a mistake in not taking Emeka Okafur but apparently they knew what they were doing.

 

haha omfg this guy has no clue about basketball. Amare who hasn't even played in 2 years ahead of Yao? Please, no mention of how Nash helped him in his offensive game, yet still, Yao is a better rebounder, shotblocker, and is more refined. Yao >>> Amare

Dwight Howard? The guy is light years behind Yao offensively, defensively they might be equal, with the edge going to Dwight's athletiscm.

Ludicrous article

 

I don't know, dwight howard is a force already. 15 points and 12 rebounds. and he is still raw offensively. if he ever steps up his defensive intesity, its gonna be scary.

I would definitely however put him in front of shaq and amare to start the season.

 

Big deal.

If we don't tolerate stupidity, the media will disappear and a lot of people are gonna lose their jobs. Without those jobs, their family will suffer.

I am totally for stupid journalism, it's only humane.

 

Calm down guys.

This same guy rated Yao at 6 last year after Chris Bosh and another guy I can't remember (Ben Wallace?). And he didn't really diss Yao in his comment this year while he was not as friendly before. So actually he's making progress. Just give him time, he is on pace to put Yao at the top in year 2010.

 

why are you guys complaining so much? yao is the 4th best center.

shaq is shaq.

amare is much more athletic and a great scorer.

dwight howard is a much better rebounder and he will easily be better than yao this year.