Yao Now: Rockets center climbing into Shaq-osphere

The reason they keep claiming that Shaq is still the best center as long as he puts his uniform on, is the same reason that they can't wait to claim that Howard is the coming best big man.

 

Do you understand that the center's job is to guard the basket and prevent ANYONE from scoring not just his man so if it's weak side defense that leads to a career blocked shot average by Shaq of (2.5 per game) then he's doing his job.

Yao is JUST beginning to increase his block shot opportunities and have enough quickness to help on the weakside or even block his own man's shot for that matter. His timing is better now than it's ever been but he still needs to improve and should average 2.7 to 3.0 blocks per game. Dream averaged 3.09 blocks per game and a slew of altered shots. His last three years lowered his career average. Yao is averaging 1.9 for his career...

 

A lot of the unfairness Yao has to deal with comes from the officiating he gets, and that is why Van Gundy has put up such a fuss (rightfully so) to the officials to the tune of two hefty fines from the league. I recall a play in the Wizards game where someone put up a shot or a pass, and Yao is standing underneath the basket, and someone clearly bumps him out of the way of his position. No foul call.

The officials don't seem to understand (or care) that Yao's clumsiness comes from the fact that his center of gravity is so unstable due to his height, which makes it easier for opponents to dislodge his position. Many of the turnovers Yao commits during the game are due to the fact that someone is pushing him on the back as the entry pass comes in. If Yao does anything out of the ordinary on offense, the officials punish him with the offensive foul. In the late 90's and early '00s, Shaq was allowed to get away with murder on the low block. If Yao were afforded that same luxury, he'd be averaging >30 pts this season.

 

kenny's such a jackass. not even close? honestly i get the whole champion thing, shaq's one of the best ever, but he just isn't the same player anymore. it's clear as day watching him and no amount of analyst c#$k sucking is gonna bring the diesel back. if you had to pick one center for one year starting now and you don't pick yao, you're just not thinking straight.

tracy with shaq, this season, might be an 8 seed at best. playmaking tracy with an old shaq who can't convert in crunch time cause he can't make free throws? that's not a recipe for success. on the other hand tracy with yao, that's a nice combination.

also i love walton just for bringing up dream, rightfully so of course.

 

Call me crazy but I consider 26/11 bettter than 14/8

Maybe if Yao started pounding his chest and screaming after dunks - he'd get more respect from Americans.

 

i don't get it. we are talking about who the best center is now. why did they keep bringing up shaq's past achievements? even the grandma of my buddy knows shaq was great and he has four rings. but what does it have to do with who the best center is as of now?

no one had been more dominant than Wilt Chamberlain. So are they gonna say Wilt in his prime was better than Shaq and Yao, and therefore Wilt is the better center even now? Or that Bill Russell is the best center now because he has more rings than Shaq and Yao?

 

total scrub.. he owes his basketball career to the brilliance of olajuwon.

 

Is Hakeem still studying Arabic in Jordan? I'd like to hear his opinion on this whole debate on who's better, Yao or Shaq. His answer should be something in the form of:

"Yao is the best center in the NBA, hands down. But if you're talking about who's the best center in the world, clearly... I, HAKEEM OLAJUWON, AM THE BEST CENTER IN THE WORLD! MWAHAHAHA!!! I mean, I just took Emeka Okafor to school last month, and he's like 20 years younger than me."

But seriously, the problem I have with the Shaq supporters is that sooner or later, they will mention how Shaq has more rings, MVP's, playoff wins, etc. Here's the problem to all that:

WE'RE NOT COMPARING YAO'S RESUME TO SHAQ'S RESUME!

The people that claim that Yao is the best center in the league are not saying his resume is better than Shaq's. They are saying that Yao is the best center right now, in the 2006-2007 season. Anything that happened in previous years is completely irrelevant.

 

stop comparing Yao to Shaq... Shaq is freakin hurt ok ?? he is INJURED.. he has been INJURED for the past 2 years... they kept saying that Yao is better than Shaq last year.. but guess what? Shaq went to the finals and won the championship, Yao, on the other hand, went to the lottery ..

I know that we had injuries, Yao messed up his toe then broke his foot... the whole team was messed up.. Tmac was out, our bench consisted of 2 players... but that's the NBA.. saying that Yao is better than Shaq NOW is like saying Shaq is better than Yao LAST YEAR...

plus, who the hell cares?? who cares if he is better than Shaq or not?? I believe he probably IS.. but who cares what everybody else think?? have they ever mentioned Dream as the best PLAYER in the World ?? NO... they dont even mention him in the top 5 players of all time... not even top 3 centers... does he care?? NO.. we, true rockets fans who watched him play, know for a fact that he IS THE BEST CENTER TO EVER TOUCH A BASKETBALL.. personally, I think he is the best PLAYER of all time.. and I am sure a lot of people agree with me on that one...

point is, stop comparing Yao to other players.. please.. just stop... every time we do this comparison, something wrong happens.... leave him alone...!!

people keep saying that Yao is the best center in the world ... well, he might be, but in the eyes of Kenny Smith and others, he is not.. u gotta look at his game from a neutral aspect.. he is averaging a great 26 PPG, he is averaging over 10 rebs a game... great!! but how about the rediculous 4 TOs per game?? how about getting blocked by a 5'9 guy and having it replayed sixteen hundred times on ESPN and NBA TV with everybody making fun of him and calling him a sissy?? he was fouled, I agree a 100%, but critics will over look the foul just to point out this odd thing of a 5'9 guy blocking the "best center in the league NOW"..

Yao can still improve A LOT... he has a long way to go... he is gonna improve every year.. he will become more dominant every season...just give him time, and stop making pointless comparisons with other players because it just doesn't matter...

 

So with your logic, Derek Anderson and Jason Kapono went to the finals and won the championship, T-Mac, on the other hand, went to the lottery. Therefore DA and JK >>> T-Mac?

Chill out man. Us posters here didn't spontaneously decide to compare Yao and Shaq to see who's having the better year. We were motivated by all the hoopla on TV and the Internet. After Yao's monster game against Shaq and the Heat, there were numerous articles online about Yao and Shaq, along with a bunch of commentary from Inside the NBA, NBA Fastbreak, PTI, etc. Even this thread was motivated by an article suggesting that Yao climbed into "Shaq-osphere".

Of course all these comparisons are just trivial matters. But I'd still rather see/read these comparisons than nothing at all. Bottomline is it's getting Yao some deserved publicity. We need this because we all know that Yao is too modest to produce his own pub. The fact that people are even comparing Yao to a guy as dominant as Shaq shows how far our big man has evolved.

Forget about all the rankings of centers. Can we definitively argue that Hakeem is the 4th best center of all-time and Shaq is the 5th best center of all-time?

IMO, all that matters to me is when Shaq retires, he will go down as the most powerful center of all time. The way he was able to utilize brute force to destroy his opponents was something to behold.

When Yao retires, he will go down as the best shooting center of all time. For a center, the fact that he can shoot mid-range jumpers and >80% from the FT line is ridiculous. I mean, the guy is shooting technicals for us. But what makes him better than other shooting centers like Zydrunas Ilgauskas is when he is less than 5-7 feet from the basket, any shot is literally a layup to him.

 

And NewYorker is waiting in line to sleep with Wilt too.

 

what the hell?

 

Yao will never ever do those african american street style stuff.

 

Forget the racist nonsense. The last 5 seasons, Shaq has played 67, 67, 67, 73 & 59 games. It's possible the notion of a "healthy" Shaq may be dated because of his advanced age and weight. He IS 34 years old and will turn 35 in March. But let's be hypothetical and say Shaq would be "healthy" this season. From what we've seen so far, what would happen if Shaq and Yao were traded for each other? Do you think there is any doubt the Heat would be better and the Rockets would be worse? I'd love to hear your answer. Isn't it obvious the old Shaq we all know and love just does not exist any more? I agree Yao can grow more but Shaq's decline seals the deal on this debate beyond a doubt. It's a nice thought that Yao is the best center and could get better.

 

Why are you surprised? It's NewYorker there. There is no limit to how low he will go. What did you expect from a well-known liar and hypocrite anyway?