Yao Ming or LeBron James?? < Part 2 >

Those Detroit teams were most definately guard oriented. James Edwards was their center and Bill Lambier was a jump shooting PF. The offense went through Zeke and Dumars 80% of the time, not through their big men.

 

Kareem wasn't a factor in the Showtime era.

But I'd rather have a 7'5" guy with amazing skills any day over a perimeter player.

 

Bill Laimbeer is a guard?

 

No, I'm saying he wasn't a factor for 2 of the LA championships. That would be the "Showtime" era.

 

that's ridiculous . . . lebron isn't doing his dunking over "6' hs centers", if you knew anything about major high school basketball, you'd realize the folly of your statement . . . he plays the cream of the crop, which is coincidentally where almost all of the current nba badasses hail from . . . if you'd ever seen him play, you most certainly would be impressed . . . he's nothing like the other "baby jordans", although i do seem to recall a "baby jordan" *cough* kobe */cough* that's done quite well for himself . . . when you think yao ming, think rik smits with a little more game . . . i think he's gonna work out great for OUR team, but by no means is he "special" . . . as for the argument i've been seeing over whether it's better to have a "the best" big man or the best "perimeter player", you must realize that just because they are both "the best", that doesn't automatically resign the argument into a "what is better to have, a center or a shooting guard" . . . because it's not that simple . . . let me propose a hypothetical to illustrate . . . *brings jordon of old back to nba today* . . . now see it'd be debatable whether the best big man or "perimeter" player is better, but my "point" lies in changing the argument to "second best center vs second best perimeter player" . . . whoever vs kobe = incredible mismatch, which is the way i see things when shaq leaves . . . yao may be the "best big man", but it's ludicrous to take him "because he's the best big man" over someone like kobe or lebron

 

Like they say around here. Certain players have "it". Lebron James has that certain "it".


Let's say he's no MJ but turns out to be Kobe-like. Would you still trade everyone outside of Shaq and Duncan for him?

 

KOBE OR SHAQ

Talented Big man vs Talented Short man

Rocket River

 

If age is taken out of the equation, Shaq in a heartbeat. No hesitation, no doubt in my mind.

 

LeBron James may not be "the future", but he will become one of the most dominating players in the game. As for Yao on the other hand, well I believe Shawn Bradley was drafted in 1993. So I guess players like Yao come around every 10 years or so.

 

If Yao played against the competition L. James faces, he would've averaged 50 points, 25 rebounds a game.

No matter how you pump James up. The fact is:

LeBron James looks good 'cuz he's princess snow white among seven dwarfs. Muahahahaha.

 

I'm gonna go with the freak on this one, that was Magic's Lakers during the showtime era and Lambeer was not exactly the big offensive threat. In fact, showtime and bad boy teams remind me of the Rockets now. They have a lot of good players anchored by a good point guard. Now we just gotta figure out how to get either mean and gritty or smooth and flashy.

 

I can just hear it now: The Showtime Rockets!

 

Anyone who would take shaq over Ming is just r****ded. Ming is going to be good but Shaq is the most dominating center ever. That would be like saying you want to take LeBron James over Jordan when Jordan was 30.

LeBron James is going to be a stud, but he really would not fit into our team very well considering that we are very well suited in the backcourt. Ming is a perfect fit for us and for that reason I would take Ming.

And Panda you obviously haven't seen LeBron ball yet because the fool is sick. He is not called the most sure #1 draft pick to come out since shaq for nothing. Scouts aren't just some idiots who sit around and go "Let's decide to hype this guy!"

 

Somethings wrong with this. I take it you meant to say "wouldn't" not "would." Still, I may take Ming over Shaq, if you mean today that is.May. MAY. Please hear me out before you punch me....ow!

Well, anyway, I may take Ming because Shaq may not have many years left. His toe is hurting his career. Plus, he'll probably be gone in 3 years, if he makes it. Ming, even if he is decent, would last longer and would help us better, IMO. This all depends, though.

Then again, we could 3-peat....nah.

 

LeGrouper:
MY point all along is that L. James, playing against some 17-year olds, puts up less numbers against inferior competition than Yao Ming does. James is a good prospect, but he hasn't faced any real competition yet. As to his hyping up by scouts, I can find an equal if not more amount of praises by NBA experts on Yao Ming. Rick Barry, Marty Blake, Don Casey... just a few off the top of my head.

There's always prep stars hyped up to be the best thing since sliced bread. They don't always pan out. What's Baby Shaq Eddie Curry doing now? Sitting on the Chicago bench. It doesn't mean he's a bust, it says the jury is always out on high school ballers.

There's a huge gap between high school and college ball, an equal gap between college ball and the NBA. High schoolers at No.1 pick are huge risks, one just don't know how are they gonna fare against a sudden gargantuan leap in competition. Does the name Kwame Brown ring a bell?

James is younger than Yao but no one knows how much he'd improve. Maybe he's an early bloomer, maybe he's developed a fat head as some said. Who knows? Yao Ming is just better than L.James at present. Skills, mentality, physical advantage etc.... . Yao is a gym rat and loves to play basketball, I don't know about James on that.

I'll take a better performance in a pro league over an inferior performance against some high school competition any day. That's the gist of this comparison.

 

To be quite honest, I don't know how much better the Chinese Basketball association is than big high schools that prep stars come out of. Maybe they're not as experienced as the players in the CBA, but they have talent in the purest form.

No doubt Ming would dominate these High schoolers. But there's also no doubt in anyone's head that James would take the MVP, the trophy, and the top scorer from Ming in the CBA in just one season.

From this statement, it becomes obvious that you are misinformed about James and don't know the whole story:

"James is younger than Yao but no one knows how much he'd improve. Maybe he's an early bloomer, maybe he's developed a fat head as some said. Who knows? Yao Ming is just better than L.James at present. Skills, mentality, physical advantage etc.... . Yao is a gym rat and loves to play basketball, I don't know about James on that. "


Lebron James is 3 years younger than Yao. yet, at this age, he would've gone #1 in teh NBA draft in his JUNIOR high school year. Above Yao Ming. Maybe james is an early bloomer? Maybe Ming is. We don't know this. If you want to go through "maybe"s, then let's consider Ming's height will shorten his career, Ming may not be able to put on more lbs. without hurting his game, he may not be able to adjust to the NBA, and he may not be a good shotblocker. But what I'mt rying to say is, these questions are what make rookies what they are, and that's ROOKIES. Ming is not just better than James at present. At present, Lebron James has no holes in his game to be heard of. Skills? it's arguable, but I'm sure a majority vote would towards James being mroe talented. Mentality? How does a Kobe-type player with a Magic Johnson mentality sound? Physical advantage? He's 6'7, 215, and RIPPED. James is a gym rat too. Always at team training facilities (until the Cleveland fine) and always working on his game. Read what the scouts say:

"NBA Comparison: Kobe Bryant

Strengths: About as can't miss as can't miss gets. Blessed with supreme athletic gifts and the mind to maximize these tools. Very unselfish, and like Magic Johnson seems to get the most satisfation from a great pass. His vision and passing skills are one of the big aspects which set him apart from other 6-7 wing freaks. Lending to his amazing composure on the floor are his supreme vision and court sense. Has another gear to blow by virtually any defender, and has great leaping ability to get above the rim for spectacular finishes. LeBron excels against top competition, as evidenced in his showdown with Lenny Cooke at the ABCD Camp where he outscored the previous year's MVP and top 3 Senior (Cooke) 25-9. He capped the game off with a three pointer at the buzzer to win the game. A very fundamentally sound player with excellent form on his jumpshot. The sky is truly the limit.

Weaknesses: Still has physical developing in front of him but at just 16, strength does not appear to be a long term issue. Age, the task at hand is staying focused and continuing to develop, without developing a fat head. As Randy Newman said, "It's lonely at the top."

As a freshman, LeBron led his High School team, St Vincent/St Mary's to a perfect 27-0 record and a State Div III title.

As a sophomore, he led SVSM to another State title and an eventual 25-2 record placing 5th in the USA Today National poll. Facing Oak Hill Academy, a perennial powerhouse which recruits the cream of the crop players Nationally and even Internationally to play for them. LeBron was scintilating with a 33 point performance and gave the eventual National Champions all they could handle with a one point scare. (Article) -- Oak Hill weathers brush with James

LeBron toyed with the idea of declaring for the NBA draft after his JUNIOR HS season. It would have entailed challenging the NBA rule that a player nust be 18 and wait until his class graduates in order to declare for the draft. Some feel that the rule could be succesfully challenged. "


Go to NBADRAFT DOT NET and read some of the articles in his profile.


When was the last time a HS player was projected to average 20, 5 and 5? That's what I thought.

The only real weakness, is this fat head thing. Kobe had a "fat head" and it all turned out just dandy, don't you think?



*note: I noticed that in the article, it says he has work to do on his body. This artice was written a year ago, and since then.....Well just ask someone who's seen him on video.