Making a trade just for the sake of change is not smart. That's what teams that are constantly in the rebuilding mode DO! Making trades out of desperation is what losing franchises do! Secondly, Yao is going NOWHERE! Book it! Yao may have weaknesses but this just in, so does Shaq, so did Hakeem, Kareem, etc. Shaq could shoot from 10 ft in and in his prime could dominate the boards but could not hit the side of a barn at the charity stripe otherwise he possibly would have had Wilt Chamberlain like numbers. Hakeem rarely hit over 50% of his shots, was slightly better than average overall for his career at the free throw line but, had moves and athleticism that to this day and probably for many more will scarcely if at all ever be duplicated. Kareem was a graceful, finesse, intelligent basketball player. Had the skyhook when it was on could not be stopped. Good free throw shooter but, was considered weak and prone to injury. Yao consistently shoots over 50% plus can shoot over 80% from the stripe but, does not get to the line consistently enough. Apparently has weak hand strength and is very turnover prone but, is a smart basketball player. Great passer and has great moves and skill that at 7-5 have never been seen to this point in the NBA. Remember that time when he did that behind the back dribble in Portland eluded the defender in the open court and jammed the ball down in the hoop. Even the Portland crowd was speechless to somewhat appreciative. Meanwhile, Worrell just went bananas! The only remote logical move to go up would be Dwight Howard. It's flat not going to happen EVER! So who else ... Amare? Again, I seriously doubt the Suns would EVER entertain any remote ideas of such. Why would they? Think of it like this, if you think star 7 footers just grow on trees take a look at how many are out there? Howard, Amare, Yao, Garnett, Duncan. Possibles: Bogut, Josh Smith. In other words, not many. So, unless you can UPGRADE a position it makes little if any sense to make a trade. Thus, Yao will be a career Rocket end of story. Like it or not, believe it or not! T-Mac however, IMO come end of the season if the Rox STILL go nowhere in the playoffs may become an option to move.
If you want to get technical about it neither was Hakeem but if you're 6-10, 6-11 it's not that big of a difference.
Amare 6'10 & J.Smith 6'9" Duncan,Garnett and D.Howard are not either at 6'11" Yao(7'6") and Bogut(7') are true 7 footers.
Ok nice job on nitpicks. The point of the thread is who out there would be a better option cumulatively than Yao? Overall, Amare but, Phoenix isn't that dumb. D-How? I have a feeling though for RA's system our present personnel are not going to be a good fit. I'd like to see AB get more minutes I think that would help. Main problem with this team IMO is too many supporting cast players with incomplete games.
84-85 .538 85-86 .526 86-87 .508 87-88 .514 88-89 .508 89-90 .501 90-91 .508 91-92 .502 92-93 .529 93-94 .528 94-95 .517 95-96 .514 96-97 .510 97-98 .483 98-99 .514 99-00 .458 00-01 .498 01-02 .464 Career .512 14/18 seasons > 50% FG shooting (78% = rare?) 02-03 .498 03-04 .522 04-05 .552 05-06 .519 06-07 .516 07-08 .491 career .520 4/6 of seasons >50% FG shooting (67% = consistent?) You keep using these words... "rare" and "consistent". I do not think they mean what you think they mean. Don't invent weaknesses in legends to praise yao- he doesn't need it. His play speaks for itself. Yao is and will continue to be fine, so long as we don't use ridiculous standards (dream/kareem) to measure him by.
Ok rephrase ... not the numbers you would expect out of the center position comparing to say Shaq or Jabbar. Hakeem's best year .538 which was his rookie year! Followed by 92-93 @ .529 and 93-94 season @ .528. Worst ending cutoff (96-97). 89-90 .501 91-92 .502 86-87 & 90-91 .508 96-97 .510 I'm just saying you would expect better out of Hakeem, a HOF center but ... Olajuwon in the playoffs career FG% .528 and averaged 25.9 PPG. #8 ranked all time in playoffs. Jabbar in 84-85 .599 Career .559 10 seasons of .550 and above from 76-77 to 86-87 seasons. Amare so far early in his career .527 avg but last year .575. Duncan career .509 but in his rookie campaign shot .549 and last year shot .546 Wilt career shot .540. Worst year he shot .461 his rookie year yet still averaged 37.8 ppg. From 65-66 to 72-73 he never shot below 54%. Yao so far ... career .523. High .552 in 04-05 since then, .519 & .516 respectively. Again, worst year, rookie year .498. Thus, overall my point is valid that for a center should be shooting more like 54-55%. Not hovering just over 50%. So guffaw it all you want the stats don't lie.
Yao will not be traded, and this has nothing to do with his basketball skills either. The Rockets are increasing their Chinese sponsors every day. Roughly 200 million viewers in China saw the Yao-Yi game. Does anyone realize the potential of that market? Those who think that Yao will be traded are very gullible, and don’t realize that the NBA is a business.
BTW, source used: databasebasketball.com. Could not copy/paste because at work right now. Wario I'm not demeaning Hakeem or extolling Yao. I'm saying until you have a better option you stick with Yao because, quality centers are hard to come by. You may think he bites but, for whatever reason he STILL keeps going to All-Star games and no it's not always a political popularity contest. Yao's numbers are career presently 18.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg. Last year though only shooting .516 his scoring was at 25 ppg. In all honesty, he along with Amare have not had enough years of statistics to determine consistency. Ok, satisfied with that, Wario?
Didn't have the versatility Hakeem had outside of 5-10ft, played with the greatest PG ever and the greatest run and gun team ever for the last 8 years or so of his career. Before Nash arrived he was a 47% shooter. Since then he has played on the highest scoring team in the league with a back to back MVP PG who always leads the league in assists. When Nash was out last year Amare was a below 50% shooter. Bingo. Career average is below Hakeem's, and would be a wider margin if it weren't for the last year's of Hakeem career. Wilt was also playing against centers who were an average of about 6'9'', 220lbs (T-Mac). Yes, last 3 years hovering around Hakeem's average, and below Hakeem's prime. Valid, but very poor not taking into consideration many factors those basic stats don't include.
do you remember 80s AKEEM? He pretty much dunked on people most of the time. of course his percentage was really high.
hatemavs4life, What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone reading this thread is now dumber for having read this. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul. I love the way you compared Yao to the top 4 centers of all time mentioning their "weaknesses". the thing is, you didn't find a weakness for Hakeem and you didn't actually watch him play, so you decided to go SINA on us and make up total B.S about him not shooting 50% consistently. Are you kidding me? Hakeem didn't have a single weakness for a center. heck, he didn't even have a single weakness for a guard, except maybe his 3 point % could be a little higher and his relatively big body wouldn't allow him to handle the PG very effectively. just stop trying to compare Yao to Wilt, Shaq, and Dream man. Yes, Wilt and Shaq have very negligible weaknesses and they won in their careers being the primary players on their respective teams, Yao hasn't done anything. not to take anything away from him, the guy is absolutely great. but his "weaknesses" aren't even close to being analogous to the weaknesses of the greats. Yao can do a lot of things, and he is absolutely great, but he can't handle a pass, he can't hold on to the ball, he can't NOT get blocked by people under 6 feet of height, he can't limit his turnovers (shuffling his feet, switching pivot foot, traveling, moving screens), he can't stop mobile players that take him away from the paint or ones that are too quick for him that they blow right by him, and, most importantly, he has proved unable to carry a team (which the other 4 legends you mentioned have done). Now I know I focused on the "CANT's" of Yao, and that's really unfair because he has become such a great players and he has exceeded all expectations, but when it comes to comparing him to Hakeem, a line ought to be drawn there. compare Yao to Amare, to Rick Smits, to Jack Sickma, to Dwight Howard, and he is probably better than all of them, you can even go as far as Walton, Parish, and Russell maybe. Shaq (at his prime) and Wilt, you're out of the range. Now Moses and Dream, you have officially relocated to a parallel universe where Rafer hits 100% of his shots, Clyde Drexler is the best color commentator of all time, and Mike D'Antoni is a defensive genius.
Yeah I remembered 80s AKEEM! I remembered him able to jump like on a trampoline the second, third, fourth time ... regardless. I remember him going out guarding PG's. I remember him going down court like a gazelle and swating easy layups into the 12th row. He had moves that defied physics. In fact, Ewing is still looking for his jock from that move Olajuwon did in the 94 finals at MSG! I'm NOT villifying Akeem or Hakeem. I'm just stating what the stats say in particular FG%. Is he deserving of being in the HOF no question absolutely YES! It was just an EXAMPLE that it was disappointing that Olajuwon did not shoot a better percentage than he did for his career. You would've thought with your aforementioned statement confirming that he would've done better. That's ALL I'm saying! Jeez, you would think I insulted the Pope or something with my comparison. Good God!
I think RA should be fired! How the hell we still have no changes with 28 games,one third of the whole season. If we continue to play like this,we have no hope for the playoffs.
quoted for truth.. only if everyone understood this simple fact, we wouldn't have any threads discussing possible trades involving Yao Ming. let's put it this way, you go to a car show and you participate in a competition with your beautiful pimped out Lancer Evo.. in the car show, several people have Corvettes, GTs, and Vipers (which are all better than the Evo in several ways), BUT, most of the people voting are actually huge Lancer fans and they are in love with the Evo, which is a great car, just not on the level of the Corvettes and Vipers. Even though the Corvettes and Vipers beat the Evo in speed, 0-60 acceleration, and overall performance, the fans still prefer the Evo because they are Lancer fans! now, your Corvette buddy offers you a trade straight up for the Evo. would you do it? HELL NO.. Why not? because even though the Corvette is faster, better, and more luxurious, the Evo would still get the votes of the fans and you will end up winning the $20k prize, that's not mentioning all the TV ads you will be offered. This is how it works.
