<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">McGrady had played in at least 75 games in 5 of the previous 6 years. Kobe Bryant can't even say that.</div> I disagree with this statement. McGrady hasn't even played a full 82 game season much less made it past the 80 mark. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">97-98 TOR 64 98-99 TOR 49 99-00 TOR 79 00-01 ORL 77 01-02 ORL 76 02-03 ORL 75 03-04 ORL 67 04-05 HOU 78 05-06 HOU 47 </div> Meanwhile Kobe: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> 96-97 LAL 71 97-98 LAL 79 98-99 LAL 50 99-00 LAL 66 00-01 LAL 68 01-02 LAL 80 02-03 LAL 82 03-04 LAL 65 04-05 LAL 66 05-06 LAL 80</div> While T-Mac may hold that edge of played 75+ in 5 of 6 years, Kobe has still played more overall games than T-Mac. But this is a pointless debate. T-Mac was injured and so was Yao AND practically the whole Rockets team for that matter. You shouldn't take last season into account when comparing the duo of T-Mac + Yao and Kobe + Odom. That isn't even a fair comparison imo. Odom is nothing like Yao nor is their playing styles. They also differ greatly in height and position. It would be a more fair comparison if you said Kobe and Shaq > Yao and T-Mac.
Except there's no point in that comparison seeing as how Kobe and Shaq aren't even on the same team anymore, nor have they been for 2 seasons going on 3 seasons.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">Except there's no point in that comparison seeing as how Kobe and Shaq aren't even on the same team anymore, nor have they been for 2 seasons going on 3 seasons.</div> No there would be a point. It would be gauging the effectiveness of Shaq and Kobe compared to Yao and T-Mac......duh. It would not only be a fair comparison(Big+SG) but would see just how effective T-Mac and Yao are when compared to the the duo that won 3 championships.
Well, regardless of that, it's still unfair to compare at this state. They've played together for only two seasons, only one full. Kobe and Shaq played together for what, eight years? Something like that. Maybe in a few years we can compare, but when they've only got a season and a half or so under their belts together, it's still highly unfair to judge what Yao and TMac have done as opposed to what Shaq and Kobe did.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post"> EDIT: One last note about Yao here, look at the amount of minutes he's playing. He has an 18/9 career average in just 31.5mpg for his career. If he were getting 40mpg, he'd be seeing 23/11 or so on a consistent basis.</div> He can't play those kinds of minutes, so you can't really argue that. Big men that can play heavy minutes are a huge advantage.
I never said that he could and I never said that he would, I was just stating a fact. His per 40 from last year were flat out great. He was the most productive center in the NBA when he was healthy, and he's the best center in the NBA when he's healthy as well. For some odd reason though, 22/10 in 34mpg isn't enough for the guy I was arguing with, and apparently those numbers, despite being great, make Yao a bust.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">I never said that he could and I never said that he would, I was just stating a fact. His per 40 from last year were flat out great. He was the most productive center in the NBA when he was healthy, and he's the best center in the NBA when he's healthy as well. For some odd reason though, 22/10 in 34mpg isn't enough for the guy I was arguing with, and apparently those numbers, despite being great, make Yao a bust.</div> I get what your saying, and i agree that yao's numbers are great. His inability to play heavy minutes is a factor for him though. What would you rather have, a center that gets you 20/10 in 30 minutes or a center that gets you 20/10 in 40 minutes. I would definately rather have a center that can give the same numbers for almost the entire game. With Yao, the rockets need a very adequate backup because he cant play all that much, but if you have a center that can play 40 mpg, you only need to fill 8 more minutes at the center position.
^ Thats just plain ridiculous You'd rather have a guy put up 20/10 over 40 minutes, over another guy doing 20/10 in 30 minutes? Dude its not like for those 10 minutes Yao's not playing its a 5on4....Throw in a defensive big man for those 10 minutes Yao's resting and he'll probably get an additional 3 boards and 3 points on his own, do the math 23 points 23 rebounds > 20 points 20 rebounds basketball is all about effeciency.....SOOOOOOOO many people think its just about big numbers
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheFreshPrince:</div><div class="quote_post">I get what your saying, and i agree that yao's numbers are great. His inability to play heavy minutes is a factor for him though. What would you rather have, a center that gets you 20/10 in 30 minutes or a center that gets you 20/10 in 40 minutes. I would definately rather have a center that can give the same numbers for almost the entire game. With Yao, the rockets need a very adequate backup because he cant play all that much, but if you have a center that can play 40 mpg, you only need to fill 8 more minutes at the center position.</div>I'd rather have the center that's getting me 20/10 in 30mpg personally. Even if he's playing less, while he's on the court, his impact is being felt a lot more than the center playing 40min and putting up the same numbers. I think Yao will likely see more than 30mpg this year, likely in the 34mpg range like he had last year. If he does, I wouldn't doubt to see him put up a huge season. Beyond that, it's not hard to throw in a backup center near the end of each quarter for 3min or so. They have Juwan Howard that can do the garbage minutes there if need be as well. But you're crazy if you'd rather have a center putting up 20/10 in 40 as opposed to Yao putting up 20/10 in 30.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Franchise4Ever:</div><div class="quote_post"> That isn't even a fair comparison imo. Odom is nothing like Yao nor is their playing styles. They also differ greatly in height and position. It would be a more fair comparison if you said Kobe and Shaq > Yao and T-Mac.</div> You could compare players even if they're nothing like. For instance, if you could have Yao or Odom on your team, without knowing who the rest of the players will be, who'd you take? When considering who the better duo is, you'd frame it in a similar way. If you could pick either Kobe/Odom or McGrady/Yao, without knowing who the rest of the players on the team will be, who'd you take? Actually, that could make a pretty good poll question in the Out of Bounds section. We could ask that only non-Rocket and non-Lakers fans respond, to keep it as unbiased as possible.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">You could compare players even if they're nothing like. For instance, if you could have Yao or Odom on your team, without knowing who the rest of the players will be, who'd you take? When considering who the better duo is, you'd frame it in a similar way. If you could pick either Kobe/Odom or McGrady/Yao, without knowing who the rest of the players on the team will be, who'd you take? Actually, that could make a pretty good poll question in the Out of Bounds section. We could ask that only non-Rocket and non-Lakers fans respond, to keep it as unbiased as possible.</div> I would take Kobe and Odom, then trade Odom for KG.
