no we dont forget how good he is sometimes, is just people remember how good he use to be and the look at stuff from the past and try to use them in this season, Shaq didnt lead his team to the playoffs by himself he had DWade, walker, haslem, william, posey....... ect. anyone of those players are better than what the rockets have right now outside of yao and tmac and Shaq could not and will not score 28+ points if he was with the rockets, hell i doubt he will even break 20+. the point is you need to remember this is a older shaq and this is a different NBA to the old days when shaq was throwing up 30+ per game. Teams are allowed to leave a man to double team at will, look at the past few games by shaq, he park his size 22s in the paint and wait for the ball to overpower the single defender guarding him. and why does he only have one defender, BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE ON HIS TEAM IS A POTENTIAL 20 POINT THREAT. I dont know how many rockets game you watched but all i have seen yao is him been doubled and tripled, and passing to wideopen teammates who cant shoot at all, and he still ended up with 22ppg.
dude please.. lets not go back to stats again... ask any freakin player in the damn league and he will tell u that Yao is a joke on Defense and Wallace is a monster... I mean, Wallace is freakin scary, especially with these headbands on his arms ... and yes, I like Yao... I think he is a great player and he is better than Ben.. B.WAllace is not even a top 5 center...
Hold on. You think Yao is a worse defender than Shaq? That's rich. Shaq hasn't even TRIED on defense since 2001. He's gotten killed on pick and rolls his whole career. At least Yao goes out and "shows" on the P/R every single time. And he's gotten back to his man a lot better this year (especially after the surgery). Yao is extremely underrated on defense. First off, while he doesn't block as many shots as some others, he changes a ton of shots every game. And his post defense is superb. He pretty much shuts down everyone that doesn't have a top-flight lowpost game. And he holds his own against the Shaq and Duncans of the league. Yao's lateral mobility is much improved. I've seen guys like Dwight Howard and Elton Brand who you'd assume to have a decided quickness advantage on Yao, face up and try to take him off the dribble, but Yao is able to keep up and challenge the shot. And regarding Mihm and Fortson. You have to be kidding me. They don't have one ounce of the presence or lowpost defensibility that Yao has. Fortson is a thug and a fouling machine. And the next time Mihm stops somebody on the low block will be the first time. The only thing they have on Yao is that they might be a bit quicker on their rotations. But you take a look at everything that Yao brings on the defensive end, and it far outweighs his negatives. Yao is excellent on-ball, very good on help defense, and average for a center on rotations. His fouls went way down after his surgery, while his defensive rebounds went up. There's no way Shaq is a better defender than Yao at this point in their careers.
he aint no 2nd best center.. b.Wallace is a joke ... but once again, DONT LOOK FREAKIN FREE TRHOW SHOOTING... everybody knows how much B.Wallace sux... I think he should switch to football..
BTW, the 2nd best center had a 0-7 from the free throw line, 8 points, and only 2 fouls, to lead the Pistons to a loss at home.
with the way the nba is right now Wallace IS one of the top 5 centers........ just not the #2 oh btw i dont c the #2 center helping the pistons blowing out the cavs
lol got to agree with you that he needs to switch to football, however free throw shooting should be looked at, if you cant hit a wide open jumpshot 10 feet from the basket with no one guarding you, that proves you cant hit a shot other then a lay up or a dunk.
Fortson and Mihm thing was just a joke .. it's just a hypebole and I use this kind of figurative language almost once every dang post, I just love to exaggerate.. hey man, u have some points, but lets forget all the analysis and details and look at the big picture.... YAO CANT DEFEND.... I know this might be a stupid stereotype, but please dont take it as racist or anything: THE LEVEL OF FITNESS AND THE FOCUS ON THE LEVEL OF FITNESS AND PHYSICAL ABILITY IS HIGHER IN THE US THAN IN ANY OTHER PLACE IN THE WORLD ESPECIALLY FOR BASKETBALL.... basketball is not the main sport over there.. and I am talking from and experience, I am not chinese, but I am from another foreign country and I played high school B-ball over there and here and I saw the difference...so u cant blame it on Yao...
can somebody bring up the opposing center ppg average against yao? I dont remember a single game where the opposing center outscored yao.
Seriously give me any example of Yao making a bad defensive play, and I'll find 5 where he does something good. And in case you haven't noticed, Yao's been training his fitness and physicality in THE US for 4 years now. Four years ago, he might have been weak and a pushover, but now. He's one of the strongest guys in the league, and like I said, his lateral mobility has gotten much better and he's decreased his fouls a ton. Honestly, that other countries excuse is truly weak and has absolutely no bearing on this conversation.
what a bunch of bull....give me a break. putting up mvp numbers 2nd half on the season and they put shaq and wallace over him. 3rd team is an insult seriously.
So if a tall guy gets dunked on, he is horrible on defense? I guess that means Alonzo must be a terrible defender given the number of times he's been posterized. Or Mutumbo even. Or any of the other great shotblockers. What's this height business? Just because you are tall you are supposed to be a superlative defender? Well AFIAK, Yao's defense on other 'tall' people like Duncan, Amare et al and other big men in the post has been more than adequate. As for stopping Parker in the paint, um..I am not even going to touch that one... Is Yao on the level of Mutumbo of old? No. But he is no chump on defense. As for not being able to teach defense, I guess that means LeBron (i am sure there are others) won't ever be a 'great' player b/c his defense also leaves a lot to be desired..
I concur. P.S: I agree with the rest of the post as well, but thought it was pertinent to highlight the last sentence.
Yaos the best center in the league atm. Idiots like Bill Walton think that people like Shaq and Duncan(who wasn't on the 1st team) to be 1st team simply b/c they were before or they're on great teams.
Tonight's Pistons game and last night's Heat game illustrates exactly why Yao should be 1st team all-NBA. You have to pull Shaq out of a close game because of his FT% and with Big Ben you have to live with the risk of what happened tonight - 2 missed FT in a critical situation. Both these guys have a gaping hole in their games, while Yao is at least solid in every area. His weakest area is probably guarding the pick-and-roll but Shaq is no better at that either. Actually Shaq and Yao and fairly comparable at every phase of the game except for FTs and outside shooting, where Yao is way better. Wallace is a marginally better rebounder and a considerably better overall defender, but that doesn't nearly make up for his deficit in offensive skills. Don't you worry - people are beginning to realize these things. This is the last year for a long while when Yao does not make the 1st team.
You may be right but as of today Shaqs better. Better rebounder, passer, defender, winner. About even in scoring ability (free throw shooting included) Note bein a great free throw shooter does nothing for you if you dont get there much In terms of scoring Yao is more efficient but not by much. Both have played too similar for Shaq not to be 1st team
If Yao gets dunked on every other day (hyperbole), then he has a problem.. just stop giving excuses, Yao is a great player, but he is weak on D.. lets not deny it...it's alright, nobody is perfect..he can improve,but you cant say he is a good defensive player.. as for mentioning LeBron, he has a 40 inch vertical leap and a super wing-span.. I still hate him, I dont like Lebron, he will never be or even come close to Jordan.. I dont think it's a good comparison with Yao.. it doesn't work that way..
i think it's ridiculous that shaq was on the first, i love yao and all, but he wasnt there the whole season, so i think ben wallace should be on the first team, and yao on second, while shaq on the third, cuz shaq just isnt shaq anymore, its time for yao's era. it begins next season.
Listen,I was there at the Summit for game 4...anyways..I think your underestimating how much Shaq still influences a game. As far as Yao goes,I could see him becoming one of the top 5 centers of all time.
