I know in head-to-head battles, Yao has done admirably aganst Howard. But during this post-season, for any who have been watching the Eastern Conference playoffs, Howard has been an absolute beast. And he's doing it by (sound familiar?) DEMANDING THE BALL. Moreover, Howard does so much in setting the tone just by being aggressive... AS A CENTER!!!! A few observations of what Howard does that I don't see why Yao couldn't do either. Nothing crazy like jump as high as Howard. But why can't Yao do more of the following... 1. Commit "good" HARD fouls. i.e. Fouls that send a message, go for blocks, stop any chance of an and-1, and outright flattens any opposing player driving to the hoop. 2. Drive across the lane for right/left hand layups or running hooks 3. Generally speaking, just dunk more. 4. And finally, DUNK WITH TWO HANDS!!!! Is this expecting too much? I dunno. All the years of talking about Yao becoming dominant. Stat-wise, he's great. But in setting the tone for a game, I'm still on the fence if he wil ever be consistently dominant - something I think Howard is fast figuring out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kwhi1twVO0 theSAGE
Two completely different player types. But I'll bite, while I would like to see Yao be more agressive I'm sure Magic fans would love for Dwight to have Yao's post game. 1. It would be nice but that's not Yao's personality. Good hard fouls now are becoming flagrants. I'd hate to lose Yao during a close game because of a "good" hard foul. 2.Yao would most likely lose (Or get stripped) the ball if he tried to drive across the lane. He's just not as athletic and nimble as Dwight. 3. YES!! when Yao is two feet from the basket he needs to throw it down with two hands. But if you're expecting Dwight like dunks, well Yao doesn't really have much of a vertical. Now as far as becoming dominant well If yao had the offensive weapons Orlando has (3 other all-stars) It would be alot easier to A) get the ball to Yao and B) For Yao the get single coverage. Overall I think my biggest concern is just his health. Give me a full 100% Yao in the playoff and we should be fine.
lets not forget we had Rafer alston and everyone hated him.. with that said .. i think for the most part Aaron Brooks > Rafer Alston totally different players though . one guy can shoot one cant. but Rafer has better D and doesnt turn it over as much with dumb plays.. Lowry > Rafer alston in the play making department.. cant shoot either though.. so thats a wash.. Then we have Artest, Scola, Battier vs Turkoglu, Lewis Okay they obviously can spread the floor better with shooters.. but we dont have a shabby bunch at all.. But I agree we need a consistent outside shooter like the Ray Allen type to spread the floor for yao..
Umm...Yao does demand the ball quite a bit, but his teamates just overlooked his chances on the post in the playoffs whenever there was any. If you're expecting or wanting Yao to dunk like a beast as Dwight does then you haven't been watching Yao Ming long enough. He's just physically not the kind of player who can, Howards strength is just absolutely unbeleivable and he can generally just waltz right in the lane and dunk. Yao just doesn't have that kind of power. Yao does also dunk with two hands, but probably doesn't do it often due to he needs more lift. But you know at the end of the day, I want a center who can do more than just dunk and can only able to make hook shots 3/5ths of the time. I want a center who can make beautiful turn around jump shots, one who can shoot good from ten feet out, one who has a killer spin mover to the basket, and one who is almost automatic during the most critical parts of the game, and lastly I want a center who ALWAYS puts his teamates first, never cares about the individual accolades, and will always and forever be the hardest worker on the court no matter what. And that ceneter is Yao Ming.
...yes, because Yao could seriously pick up some pointers by watching a 7'0 freak dunk it down with two hands when the freak in question has a vertical nearly 4x the one Yao has. If anything, Yao should be watching Gasol. That man really does the best job in the league in keeping the ball high. He almost NEVER goes down with it. That's just pure and solid fundamentals that Yao should pick up on.
Go back and watch the second half of the 4th quarter. Instead of going down low to Howard, the Magic guards and forwards essentially ignored him, opting instead to heave long jumpers and 3's. That and some sketchy calls allowed Cleveland to get back in the game and tie it up.
I would love to see Yao get all of the open looks that Howard gets because teams can't/won't leave their 3 point shooters. Last night's game was a perfect example. You think a team would let Yao get 1-1 coverage 3...4 times in a row to start an OT period in a must win game, especially when the defender has 5 fouls? I completely agree about the healthy part though.......
yao should also take note and obtain a 40 inch vertical and a quick first step that rivals some guards.
The only thing offensively that Dwight does well, that i wish Yao would do (and that I think is possible), is gain good position early and often and seal his man off. It's not that hard to get Dwight the ball. Usually he's right under the rim with his man pinned almost out of bounds. Yao is usually jostling for position outside of the paint.
The only thing I want from yao is for him to be injury free. That's it. I am tired of people trying to expect Yao to be what he is not. I love the guy for who he is. In a non-gay way of course.
Rockets just need some guys with size to get Yao the ball. Hedo, Lewis all can throw the ball to Howard over defender without being intercepted. Plus Rafer is much better than AB at feeding the post.
I respect your answers. But to each, here's my reply: 1. Not in his personality? -to me, this is getting old. Hard fouls are part of the game. I'm not talking about deliberately hurting anyone or slapping people over the head like Rafer. I'm just saying, go for the ball, go for the ball hard, and if people fall, they fall. How many times have we seen Yao get a ticky tack foul fighting for position, or bumping a guard who's on their way to the basket? Stop with the stupid charge drawing nonsense which turns out to be blocking violations more often than not. I'd rather him just go for blocks. If he fouls, so be it. Heck, even DEKE called him out on this. 2. Yao losing the ball driving. Ewing used to take one mammoth step off one dribble. That's it. With Yao's size, something tells me, he can probably clear good space so long as he's not doubled and the lane is clear. No reason why he can't do more here imho. 3. Read my initial post. I don't expect Yao to dunk like Howard. I just expect him to find ways to dunk MORE. It doesn't take much for Yao to get deep position and once there, it doesn't take much to get his defender behind the restricted area... 4. One jump RIGHT INTO the opposing player whose pinned either in the restricted area or out of bounds and you have a dunk or a dunk plus one. --------- Look, just to clarify for those who seem to think I expect Yao to BE Howard in all his athleticism, the answer is "NO". I don't expect Yao to blossom with newly minted mad hops. I DO expect Yao to be able to do more with the ball deep than weak one-handed dunks and the like. A HEALTHY Yao at that. An unhealthy renders all of this moot. But again, I don't see any legit reason why Yao can't be better. b/c if he can't add this things imho, then Yao truly has peaked. Two cents. theSAGE
