I'd love to see Yao become "unstoppable" too, but Shaq's one of a kind. I don't think it does Yao any good to try to live up to his standard. Yao is very gifted but he isn't and will never be a bizarre freak of nature like Shaq. I expect Yao to develop into an exceptional player, maybe even dominant at times, but never "unstoppable."
What makes me laugh is Dampier tried to brush the whole thing off with the "he's no Shaq" comment even though the Warriors completely choked and Yao stepped up in the 4th to hand them their loss. So ironic and funny at the same time.
Kind of says something about quality big men in the NBA these days when the 2nd best center gives you 16/10 a night. Imagine Yao in the Year Hakeem won his MVP. Hakeem 27/12 Robinson 30/11 Ewing 24/11 Shaq 29/13 daugherty 17/10 Mutombo 12/12 Yao would've been 5,6,maybe 7th in the league? Conversely, the guy everyone compared Yao to, Rik Smits, went for 15.7/6.2 that year. That was around Smits' prime.
Yao and Shaq are totally different players. Yao's game is much similar to Duncan's. Some years later, Yao can surpass both of them undoubtedly.
In these days, basketball is very different. Back in the days, most centers were the go-to guys. The leage is getting more intense. It's harder to score points.
You put Hakeem or Shaq in one of Chamberlain's prime years, they'd look like high school ballers. Things changed. That said, I don't think that Yao Ming has established himself as the No. 2 center in today's NBA, yet.
I agree Shaq is the man, however, Yao will emerge in the very near future, say 2 - 3 years as the best Center in the game...
Good point. Although Hakeem fought through a lot of defenses that seemed to be zones at the time(like Seattle).
True, but no team double or tripple you BEFORE you even catch the ball. Yao had well less catches than any of those guys, you don't score points without touches. --daoshi
dude, you're way too optimistic about yao. but in hand sight, "some years later" yao'll be in his prime while the other two will be near the end of their career. so yeah, he'll "surpass" them. but if you have followed shaq and TD since they came into the league when yao was a skinny kid, you'd think twice before you make these bold predictions. when all of the three end their great careers, shaq and TD MAY be placed in top 10 all-time greats and where will yao be? likely out of top 10 IMHO. maybe top 20 to 30? i'm not sure. the way he's playing now, he wouldn't even crack top 50. so just enjoy the game that yao has brought, and leave the assessment of his "greatness" or lack of it to the good'ol Time.
Exactly - those were the good ol days when it was illegal for defenders to double-team a player who didn't have the ball. Yao gets doubled before he even gets a look at the ball. Most of those didn't have that problem. Man, can you imagine what you would be like if those rules were still around? Imagine how Yao could play if zone D was still illegal? If he didn't have two or three guys pulling on him before he gets the ball? The new rules hinder finesse players like Yao, and helps brute force players like Shaq. Just reminds me of how much I hate the new rules. -- droxford
and oh, stats don't really tell the WHOLE story. to say yao is the second best center in the league now solely based on his stats isn't a strong argument. you have to also consider leadership, defense, clutchness, and the ability to make others better (vlade is the best example in this department although his stats are not as good). now shaq is the daddy at this position, and may i say all the other centers don't really have a clear rank behind him? hmm, a big bad daddy and a bunch of wannabes. that' s the current center situation. work harder, yao, if you want to be the second best.
Leadership - did not know that Vlade was ever known to be a leader Defense - Vlade and defense? Clutchness - When was Vlade a clutch player? Ability to make others better - I can give this to Vlade but by no means he wins it by much. Where would you rank Yao then? Who are other players that he has to beat to get there? One more question, when teams play Sac, do they worry about Vlade's impact on the game as much as they do Yao? I just find it hard to believe that if all the NBA teams were given a choice of a center(except Shaq), that they would pick Vlade before Yao.
