You are calling others fake fans but will you still be posting here and following the Rockets years after Yao retires? Just an honest question.
It was a staple of his low post game during his Laker years. The skill-level of his low post moves was very much underrated, in my opinion.
There is one thing I've noticed about Dwight he doesn't get fronted and his able to easily catch the ball Yao just doesn't have the mobility he has
Fronting Howard is a bad strategy, because he's so good at catching and finishing lobs, and he's such a potent offensive rebounder. He's been doing a good job passing out of standard double teams throughout the series.
I have to completely disagree with the OP. Howard has not impressed me at all. He has almost no skill. He's all athleticism and isn't a very smart player. Yao just seems a lot more polished to me and much more reliable in the clutch.
I agree. If anything, Dwight should watch Yao. Imagine if he got down Yao's fundamentals offensively combined with his natural athleticism.
Well, yeah. Kind of pointless to front someone who is bigger, stronger, quicker, and can jump higher than anyone you got.
that use to be his weakness, but his also destroying those double teams at times. And he has a good read of running in and getting those offensive rebounds. If Yao gets them he needs to settle himself first before putting it back in. Howard can just tip in dunk half the time. I think essentially the other reason why Howard is so successful is because his 4 can shoot the three and essentially is like Okur and Boozer. It gives him so much more space. Even the backup PF Battie can shoot from just inside the arc. We dont have that Scola needs to hit the long range jumper more consistently like he did in the playoffs for Yao to get more space
I'm really impressed with the performance of the Magic's starting forward tandem, Lewis and Turkoglu, in this series. They're such an offensive threat that the defense can't just collapse on Howard, and Howard is taking advantage. I wonder how Yao would do playing with these guys.
Imagine Yao with 4 three point shooters on the floor, he'd do more damage than Howard. Fronting Yao isn't goint to work that well either because the 2nd guy can't cheat that much anymore.
That 2nd guy really doesn't matter that much. JVG said it, and he knows Yao as well as anyone. He's not good at catching lobs regardless of the help defense. And it's not like the Rockets have never put 4 3-point shooters on the floor around Yao Ming before. It's just not a sustainable strategy, because Yao isn't a good enough rebounder to make up for the lack of rebounds his teammates would get.
Don't forget that it took time for Shaq to develop his offensive game. He developed a hookshot and eventually after training with Hakeem was able to utilize his speed with his strength. Dwight will become this dominant. HeYangW, we are Rockets fans not just Yao fans. Don't think we hate Yao but seriously you can not deny what Dwight is doing out there. Heck even Tmac fans on this site as much as some love him would be screaming with joy if we traded him for Lebron. Me as much as I love Yao if a chance were to come where we could trade Yao for Dwight...well I'd do it in a heartbeat and I'll buy a round of drinks for everyone. The fact is yes Yao can hit a few turn around jumpers here and there but the fact is we need to sit down and think what is it that you want your center to really do. What is the point of having a Center? I would believe it is to dominate the paint. Better yet just OWN the paint. You want him to rebound better than the opposing teams' bigmen at ease. You want him to be able to block and swat anything around the hoop. You want to be able to pass him the ball at ease and know he can dunk it at ease because of his height and strength. These are all things that Dwight does basically naturally all this at his age right now. He has been in the league for a while but don't forget the kid is only in his early 20's and just flat out durable.
They both should watch each other. If you combined Yao and Howard into one player, you would pretty much get Hakeem Olajuwon. All said and done, Yao Ming is still the best center in the world. Dwight Howard has sub-par post defense, while Yao Ming has elite. Yao Ming can score on any given moment when he has the ball, Howard can't. Howard scoring on Big Z is like saying I can score on my little brother's friends.
Yao can't guard the pick and roll to save his life. Have you ever even really watched Yao play? Still no cred.
Insightful post. I'm guessing you never heard of Shaq, but then again somehow you manage to have more credibility than everybody else from nothing.
Best Olajuwon description ever. Howard's athleticism meets Yao offensive variety and low post defensive skills.
Again, proof you don't watch basketball. Shaq was never considered an elite defender the way you consider Yao to be an elite defender, better than the DPOY this year apparently. Shaq never won a DPOY award and was never first team All Defense and never led the league in blocked shots. The difference between Shaq guarding the pick and roll and Yao is that Shaq could guard it if he wanted to and if it was important enough whereas Yao doesn't have the physical ability to guard it. He's not quick enough to get out on it. If you watched any games you'd know this tidbit.
Can Yao learn something from Howard about being officiated differently? If you noticed, Howard is not even the focal point of the whole Cavaliers' defense. I bet you Yao will be doubled and tripled if the Rockets ever play the Cavs in the playoffs. No, Yao is far better than Howard is and that is a fact. If the mark of a great center is being able to dunk like Howard, then Russell, Kareem, and even Hakeem would not make it to the all time greats. It is sad that ESPN and its highlight dunks is now the standard for greatness.
Never seen that before. Even if there were such lineups that had 4 3-point shooters around Yao, they were only transient, not strategic game plan. Plus, those shooters were mostly likely not as a good rebounder collectively as the 4 players surrounding DHo you see now.
