Yao = Most Athletic Rox?

lol. That isnt saying much for the rest of the Rockets...

 

if we take his height into account, he is the most athletic man on earth.

strictly speaking, anyone with his height should be lying on a hospital bed...not playing bball with the best of the world.

 

Possibly, outside of Mac, Artest, Landry, and Wafer, there aren't alot of great athletes on Houston's team. In fact, most of the best teams in the league are usually not filled with people who can jump out of the gym and run the length of the floor in Wide Receiver time. THe team that are filled with super powered athletes are usually the Memphises and Charlottes of the world.

 

I think Shawn Bradley jumped higher than Yao to get dunked on.

But on a more serious note though, Yao is definitely more athletic than any other bigman of his size in the past. But as far as most athletic on the Rockets....

 

Yao has actually gotten alot less athletic than he was in the past. When he first came into the league, he was actually pretty damn quick, even for a 7 fter.

 

Shawn Bradley was more athletic than Yao. Not stronger, but he ran the floor better and he definitely got off the ground better.

And the most athletic big man over 7'3 has to be Ralph Sampson.

 

exactly. everything is relative. also depends on how one defines "athleticism".

 

And we have genius posters here ,always complaining about how slow and unathletic Yao is!

 

Well, to me it doesn't really make sense to judge his athleticism relative to other people his size. There has only been a handful of such players in the history of the league.

You judge his athleticism relative to others at his position. How good is he at getting his shot off in traffic? How fast does he run the court? How does he rebound in traffic? How good is he moving his feet on defense? Can he get by his defender in the post or facing up?

This is what I think matters when assessing a player's "athleticism" in practical terms.

 

Injuries has been Yao's achilles heel. Two foot injuries and one broken leg. That doesn't help with athleticsm, just ask any running back or receiver.

I don't think he's the most athletic big over 7"3, because of that Ralph Sampson guy. Who was pretty much, like a much taller version of Kevin Garnett in his prime.

 

I don't know how good your judgment can be if you don't consider past injuries at all.

 

With all his "athleticism" you speak of, it seems odd that his team is near the bottom of the league in blocked shots.

Things that make you go hmmm...

 

I would say Von Wafer is the most athletic Rockets player right now.

 

I was listening to a Chinese broadcaster talk about Yao development over the years in the NBA. As we've all witnessed ourselves, Yao was quite an agile guy coming into the league 7 years ago and possessed a deadly outside shot. He wasn't so much of a threat in the post.

This all changed once he joined the Rox. The trainers wanted him to become a dominant post player and wanted him to utilize his height rather than shoot jumpers and 3s all the time like Wang Zhizhi. Thus, they emphasized on weight training and working on his hooks. Over the last few years, you can see that he's been molded into a typical American center. His quickness and range slowly faded away.

In the end, I think this is good for Yao. If you're always the tallest player on the court, why leave the paint and shoot jumpers? Go for the high percentage shots....dunks, layups, and hooks.

 

we are talking about yao, not "his team".

and according to your theory, hakeem will be the absolute #1 athletic to have ever played the game.

 

Not by a mile....

I'd put Wafer in that category now that Tracy is limpy.

 

ahh yes I forget about Ralph, the one man Yao is usually compared to when put next to centers of the past.

 

rik smits was very good, too.

 

Not to pick, but Dream was one of the most athletic guys to ever play regardless of position. If Dream was a 6'6 guard he would be great.