Sure you did... I posted it in that same thread. I have kept track of all who took that bet, as I have made it a point to try not to chastise those who had the balls to back up their belief when they comment on Steve being traded . Here is my list of loser...err..aaa I mean takers : Xiki $25.00 thegary $25.00 aelliot $100.00 GATER $50.00 pasox2 $50.00 Htownhero $20.00 If you can find the thread, I responded to ya aelliot, I wouldn't want the site to miss getting your hard earned money...
Hmm... Smits better than Yao? Smits: Season 1: 11.7ppg, 6.1rpg, 0.9apg, 1.8bpg, 1.6to/g Season 2: 15.5ppg, 6.2rpg, 0.9apg, 2.1bpg, 1.7to/g Season 3: 10.9ppg, 4.7rpg, 1.1apg, 1.5bpg, 1.7to/g Career: 14.8ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.4apg, 1.3bpg, 1.8to/g Yao: Season 1: 13.5ppg, 8.2rpg, 1.7apg, 1.8bpg, 2.1to/g Season 2: 17.5ppg, 9.0rpg, 1.5apg, 1.9bpg, 3.3to/g Hate to let a few facts take away from a silly argument...
aelloitt - I don't have the original thread link handy, but here is a later thread where O-dawg references our tip jar wager.... http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76037&perpage=30&pagenumber=2 O-dawg - You can't have it both ways...either Iverson is a streetballer and Kobe is a streeballer or neither is a streetballer. Francis' problem is he more an Iverson and less a Bryant. Kobe can exist with Shaq or Yao...neither Francis nor Iverson could. I've got my opinion and I've put my money where my mouth is.
Well, I don't recall seeing Shaq put up great numbers in this series...pretty much, he and Yao were a wash....... Difference was they had Malone....yeah, Kobe was hot at times, but we had no answer for Malone....Yao was tired, confused, and worn last night, but that could also have been said about Shaq in game 3, where he had all of 7 points....
I think you are spot on. Rox did avoid a sweep and they were close in 3 of 5 games. The two games I saw in Houston were great. At a high level what got to Rockets in game 5 was their inconsistent play - they have a tendency to bottom out - something they have struggled with all year. It can't be distilled down to Yao - it is a problem with the coaches and players. Not one Rocket had a decent game Weds. Even Cat who did start hot - fizzled. Lot's of teams and players start hot - but it's how you close that defines you. You somewhat have to credit the Lackers players and coaches for that. The Lackers are a group of playoff hardened veterans. The Rockets are - in a word - green - and it showed.
This thread is a true testament of how bad alot of the fans are in Houston. These people who want him gone or think he is no good now, will be his number one fans if he comes out and dominates next year. They will all they say they told us so and it is pathetic how these so-called "Houston fans" just jump off and on the bandwagon as they please . Many well established NBA minds still believe Yao is going to be a great, great player (more after this year than ever), but they all say it will take another season or two before we all realize his true potential. He made good strides this year and he will make good strides next year and the next. He looked VERY worn out at the end of the season and into the playoffs to me. It seemed he was trying to put the effort in and at times tried to do what he could on the offensive end to help this team win, but a constant collapsing defense and fould trouble limited his effectiveness. You could say the same for Shaq as he had a subpar series as well. I know alot of you laugh at the tired excuse. I am not making an excuse for him and I do feel as a star player you must push through it, but come on, give him a little break. The man has played competitive basketball non-stop for 4 straight years, goes to the NBA where the competition is better and the inside players are bigger and stronger; he is punched, grabbed, kicked, clawed, elbowed by two or three 6'10+, 250 lbs.+ men every other night for seven months. It's going to take a little while for him to fully adjust to that kind of style and physicallity. But then again, these people shrugging thier shoulders to the fatigue factor are the ones who work a 5 hour day at Burger King and then come home to only sit their a**es on the couch too tired to even do a situp. Oh well. People, get over yourselves and let it go. Yao and the Rockets will be better next year.
Rik Smit was a dynamic shot blocker, everyone knows that, Yao is doing well in this league to draw these comparisons.
ya'll yao bashers need to shut it,our offense throw him off. whatever steve is saying to yao,i don't think it helped him.I am for sure want steve to go. Homeboy cost the Rockets game 4.
Yes Yao did neutralized Shaq's offense. Yao's ability to play Shaq straight up helped us immensely in this series. Only when Yao pick up early fouls is when Cato holds shaq. Notice when Cato holds him, we have to send out help to double team shaq. Just compare all defensive possessions when Yao was holding shaq and Cato holding him. All crucial possessions, especially in the 4th quarter, Yao was holding Shaq. (When he's not in foul trouble)
That is just not true. Re-watch game 2, and also games 4 and game 5.... I don't recall if it happened in game 3. Yao was not in foul trouble, but Cato started out guarding Shaq in the First Quarter. Yao was guarding Malone. He didn't guard Shaq when Cato was in the game.
yep i agree wholehearted samfisher. yao stunk out on defense. when cato was in together with MoT, both shaq AND malone was neutralized. also, Cato deserves the credit of stopping shaq, holding him to a career playoff low and only one game over 20 point. Cato is a Shaq stopper like no one we've seen for the last ten years. i bet any team would love to have him, let's trade him and the TE for T-Mac straight up! maybe they'll throw in Gooden too.
Did I say Cato did a great job on SHaq? No. I'm just pointing out that Yao didn't match up with Shaq that much on defense....which is true. You're right, though Yao had an awesome performance and is above criticism. His 3-10 performance last night with an astounding 5 boards was a thing of beauty....we needed him, and he answered the call, big time. He was a monster on the boards all season long, and he wasn't afraid to take it right to Shaq and Karl Malone whever he wanted too.
I agree. It's the what have you done for me the last game or games syndrome. See the "Padget should start" threads after a few meaningless games at the end of regular season.
listen. all i'm saying is that it worries me that a lot of people, including you, are so hesitant to give credit, yet are so quick to take credit away. have i ever said that yao is awesome and can do no wrong? please, when he stinks it up i'm on his case as quick as anyone.
Don't twist things around please. Look at the tapes man. When Yao was holding Shaq straight up, he couldn't do crap from what he can normally do to other centers in the league like Kelvin. <b>Just look and compare how much the team have to help out Shaq when Cato is on him. Then look on how little the team have to worry about Shaq when Yao's holding him.</b>
You don't need to twist facts to support your claim, if you do not, you just lose all your credibility. You sound like Shaq, Yao can never guard me one on one. If Shaq does well, Yao's fault, coz he's supposed to stop him; if Shaq does so so, Yao's fault, coz why couldn't he take advantage of a Shaq's off night, take out him defensively and beat him offensively; if Shaq does poorly, Yao has no credit, coz it's team defense, Cato's help defense, Lakers stopped Shaq by not going through him etc. All in one, Yao does not take credit, only blame. Did I summarize correctly? Lakers is a veteran team, they know what to do in an important game. If they see a clear mismatch in Shaq and Yao, they will go there. Even if their guards neglect that, Shaq is no Yao, he would yell "Gimme the damn ball!". In the series, they pretty much cancelled out each other. Yao's stats isn't great in the serie, especially last night. I am not saying he played great, but depends on the stats last night, to diss him completely, is just plain wrong. Shaq's number in this serie is at all time low, and you take Yao totally out of the picture. Please use your logic. Shaq is old now, may past his prime. When he was raw, he scored 20+ on Dream, although Dream scored 30+ on him on the other end. But Yao's presense on the court can be felt by every team, every coach, and every player in NBA, of course just not by your great basketball mind. Time will tell everything, let's how Shaq does in the Spurs serie against Spurs' famous defensive system. We can judge Yao's impact in the game then from another angel. Of course, your arguement then would be Cato's presense stopped Shaq. You know what, if that's the case, Cato would be an all-star like Ben Wallace long time ago. If you watched the game last night, how many times Kobe successfully drove to the hole when Yao was on the court, but he did 3 times consectively when Yao was on the bench in the second quarter. You know what I am talking about.
Technique, skill, shooting range, strength, all these can be taught. All can be learned in the NBA. Agressiveness, on the other hand, is an inborn trait. Either you have it, or you don't. And IMO Yao doesn't have it. Not night-after-night anyway. That doesn't make him a bad player - he's going to be a superstar in this league. But I don't see him ever being an Olajuwon, a Shaq, a Moses, an Abdul-Jabarr, etc., guys who took it to you every night and dominated the glass. He falls a notch short of Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, and pre-injury Ralph Sampson, but still above the likes of Rik Smits. Closest comparison I can come up with is Brad Daugherty, who people forget but was a really solid center for several years with Cleveland.
Yea real_egal about Shaq. He always brags about playing Yao one on one defensively but when you watch the games this series, every time Yao tried to back him down or do a low post move; Kobe, Payton and Malone all sagged down to force him to take a contested shot or try to steal it from him. That's not one on one. He gets help just like Yao gets help from Cato. Both defenses employ different tactics but both help their big man so they dont pick up fouls.
