57 games in 05-06. 48 games in 06-07. 55 games in 07-08. 77 games in 08-09 but we all know how that ended.
At first, I did not agree with the rating. But upon thinking about it more, I really cannot fault him. Maybe he should be more around 8/9/10, but 11 is not not far from that. Yes, it is completely not debatable that when Yao plays 30+ minutes productively he will be a Top 3 Center. However, will that happen and for how long? We all expect them to start Yao off slowly with < 30 minutes a game for the 1st month. Then it is debatable how well he will gel with the new freer style of play. Lastly, Yao has had major injuries for 5 years in a row. He has not finished an NBA season for the last 3 years. He has missed significant playoff games (or stretch runs) in every one of those years, times that most people consider when the best players step and lead their team despite fatigue and injuries. Yao showed flashes of that against Portland/LA two years ago, but was injured again when mattered. No this is not his fault, but when you rank the best current center you have to consider how many games that player will play and if he will play in the most important games of your season. Yao has not done that for 4 years. How many people would truly bet that it won't happen again. There are flukes, coincidences, trends, and a history. 3 years of missing the most important parts of the season and 5 years of major injuries would qualify to most people as a history. Given all that, can you really fault him for ranking him 11? He could be Top 3 or he could be No. 32 with another injury. It is hard to predict either.
Hey I like Hibbert! I think this is fair... by the end of the season I expect Yao to be back to his top five position... but not at the beginning.
I like to think of Kelly as Steve Novak whereas DD is larry hughes. Novak might be better at shooting the 3 but at the end of the day since hughes shoots aobut 10 3's a game he'll make more.
You guys are unbelievable. Kelly Dwyer has said he can be the best center in the league at times and the low ranking is due to his health. I don't see anything wrong with what he said. Chill out guys.
He's taking his injury and limited minutes into account. Still I disagree with him but I guess I understand his reasoning.
Look I'm okay if Yao isnt classified as the best center due to the lack of stats he will probably have sine he will play limited minutes. But that's okay, as long as we win as a team, nothing is better. I say we try to keep Yao as fresh as possible for playoffs.
How remarkable!! Ranked 11th without playing a game in over a year!! What will he rank after 10 games?
He's basically saying a ~50% Yao still ranks at 11th, which you could take as complimentary. Although I think I'd still rank him a little higher seeing how weak the field is.
Our team would be turrible if all of these rankings were accurate. Some starters in the bottom half, nobody in the top 10 I can recall...that's pretty bad. I think we're a bit better than he gives credit for. We'll win our 50 games, which is better than one would project based on his rankings, but pretty bad for a "moneyball" team with a massive payroll. Think about this: Morey thinks the best value players are rookie contracts and max players who outperform the max. There's no denying that prime Yao and prime Tmac created value surpluses in their primes and outplayed their contracts. Yet if you look at all the moves Morey has made and how mediocre our teams have been, the value he's added hasn't been any more than the value he's lost as Yao and Tmac have declined. Moneyball works too slowly to get us a title.
We are going to be turrible... didn't you read the article where we are the 17th ranked team in the nba
The writer actually did state that he expects Yao to play limited minutes. Even so, He should still be ranked in the top 8 with limited minutes.
I give us 12-15 with a bit of upside. The chance is there to be Top 4 with a dominant Yao and a blockbuster trade. But people are forgetting that with prime Yao and Tmac (or them slightly hobbled + Artest), we were already ranked in the Top 5 a lot of times. IMO we're going to see champions coming from trade/FA coups, not moneyball incrementalism.
