Bynum vs Yao

[TooNice00]

i think the espn poll is pretty good.

howard 60%
amare 17%
yao 16%
bynum 7%

other than maybe amare being over yao i think it is pretty fair. not sure how you can debate against 60,000 plus votes and howard getting 60%(36000 votes) of them. yao getting 16%(9600) of them while bynum only gets 7%(4200 votes). i think its fair to say howard is the best center in the nba by popular votes and bynum is around number 4.

[Lakers_4_Life]

-= original quote snipped =-



Yao takes more JUMPERS and FADE AWAYS. Which is why he shoots a lower %.

Bynum is superior when finishing around the basket.

Yao can not ROLL off the pick like Bynum. Why you ask? It's called athleticism, which is something Bynum has and is costantly underrated for.

Anyways, it seems most of you guys in this thread are denial about Bynum. Thats fine.

If in two years Bynum shows no improvement whatsoever I would gladly take Yao over him. But the fact remains, a 20 year old Bynum is showing more potential and more dominance than TWETNY TWO year old Yao ever showed. RIGHT NOW,

Bynum is already the superior defender/rebounder. You can argue against this all you want, but you would lying to yourself.

I think that's actually a completely incorrect statement. In fact Yao had a very dominating game against the Lakers his rookie year and made Barkley kiss a donkey's ass on national TV because of it, still one of the best games he ever played against the Lakers.

Also Yao had a game his rookie year against the Pacers where he dominated against a double team of Jermaine O'Neal and Brad Miller so bad it was absolutely ridiculous. From my own memory of the games I've seen him play that may still be the most impressive game I've seen from him. He did his version of the Dream Shake, "The Shanghai Shake" in that game I'm sure someone can provide it for you, Bynum has never unleashed a move like that.

Also I remember a game against Dallas his rookie year where he dominated like he was freaking Wilt Chamberlain (he dunked like a mad man). I think it was something like Yao 30 points 12 rebounds Shawn Bradley 0 points 0 rebounds or something just ridiculous and how Don Nelson and Dirk were like he was just insane in the game just dunking all over everyone every time he touched it.

There was a game his rookie year against the Spurs and I think Yao had like 20 points and 10 rebounds at half time after single coverage from David Robinson. In the second half Popovich doubled him every time with both Duncan and Robinson and he ended up with a 27/18 game against a double team of Robinson and Duncan as a rookie.

The difference between Yao then and now is then he, as a rookie had no consistency and only did this once so often with domination, BUT as a rookie then he did not have entire defenses swarming him.

Now Yao can dominate like this almost every game but he sees double and triple teams every game all game long but even then he can still some times have these huge games even against triple teams. I think last year against the Lakers and Dallas he had against each of them a 36/12 game and was triple teamed all game long.

In short, Bynum right now is not as good as Yao was as a rookie other than rebounding (where Bynum is better), which everyone knows Yao took about 4 years to become a good rebounder. But Yao at 22 was much better than Bynum at 20 and you sound like a stat whore with some of these arguments.

If your argument is once again that Bynum will end up being better than Yao is now, then you are saying he will be better than a guy that had two 36/12 games against triple teams last year and he just had a 36/11 game against a triple team just in the last few games.

So even with that argument you are then what projecting prime Bynum can give 40/15 against a triple team when he's "on"? You really going there?


Look, I like Bynum a lot, but honestly I don't think he's comparable to Yao, Howard, Amare, Kaman right now and Camby is debatable but I think I'd take Bynum at least for regular season not sure for such a young guy in the playoffs though. But I can see him being better than Kaman or Amare because if Amare continues to refuse to play any defense then if Bynum does develop an offensive game then he could surpass him and Kaman is very good but he doesn't really seem to have it all right on the mental part of the game or maybe that's just me I don't know.

That's IF Bynum does develop this vaunted post game, if not I still think Kaman and Amare and has everyone forgotten what Amare can do on offense even without Nash he can always put 20 points up basically any time and his rebounding is a lot better now if he just played D he would be tremendous? If Bynum doesn't do any better than Howard has at developing this great post game (and everyone keeps claiming Howard will automatically have this great post game too but yet to truly materialize IMO - in other words you act like it's automatic and it is not)...............

See Kaman always had a post game to begin with that's a difference great improvement for him but it was about getting his game right he already had the skills basically there. Amare was raw but he's a lot more agile and nimble and it's easier for those players to get some offense he just runs all over.

Dwight Howard and Bynum are more just physical beasts like Shaq. But just like Shaq for years people kept saying how he would develop all these great moves.............all Shaq did still was power people. Of course if you can do that great for you, (it's working great for Howard obviously) but Howard really isn't Shaq physically and Bynum isn't either. So the question is how much can just being a beast lead to? Well some think Howard is already better than Yao (but IMHO they must not think that affecting the game or distorting it on both ends of the floor as coaches say to the level that Yao does really counts because Howard still does not do to the extent that like Shaq did or Yao does IMO and just pulling defensive rebound numbers or percentage of FG due to volume of dunks does not really show that to me it's just everyone assumes since Shaq dunked that makes Howard "Shaq" and Yao is somehow "soft" then well that means today Hakeem would have been "soft"...................., maybe people are finally seeing it now with T-Mac out and an offense that let's Yao control things instead of Van Gundy's 50s style game

But basically the thing is it's this same argument over and over people ASSUMING that a player will exponentially increase his skill level. SOME do, like Karl Malone, Hakeem, the vast majority do not. If Bynum does the Lakers have a hell of a center on their hands but this "he's 20 years old so" arguments that we see endlessly for numerous players is just BS to me. You realie people were all saying Lebron would be averaging 35/10/10 now based on his age and numbers at that young age or how Amare would be 30/15 based on age and what he was doing or Howard many are saying will be 30/15 and blah blah. Then they have someone point out to them what prime Shaq did and suddenly they start back tracking or whatever. I mean let's look at Yao he did 14/8 at age 22 as a rookie, OK so why isn't he 28/16 now then? I mean using this same logic and all. It's not that these guys like Yao or Lebron could not probably put up thsoe numbers it's just that it's not even practical in most cases. You can't just say Bynum is 20 he gets 13/10 in 30 minutes or whatever that = 25/15 at age 25 or some nonsense like that.

Yao has two things, height and skills and a game that will not deteriorate any as he gets older even to say 35 because he already needs no athleticism at all. He's way more like Kareem than Bynum is, in fact if anyone is like Kareem it's Yao. While the great physical players decline FASTER if they cannot develop the skills once they get an injury or even without an injury just as they get a little older even late 20s age. And Shaq was the exception to the rule because of sheer mass, that Bynum does not have and will never have.

Yet endlessly these forums repeat that Yao will soon decline and players are better because they are younger and will automatically project to whatever. It's complete total BS and is proven again and again and will continue to be as every year it's another someone vs. Yao.

I would take Bynum honestly in a trade for any C not named Yao, Howard or Amare or Kaman right now, and based on potential I think he can be better than Amare and Kaman (but not now) and possibly he ca be as good or better than Howard (but Howard is incredibly CONSISTENT can Bynum do that?)

....................I don't see him ever being near Yao sorry and yes I still cannot believe everyone anointed Howard over Yao, it's just simply not true. Watch some damn Rockets games without a bias Yao is for real now he's arrived he does everything imaginable for that team he is every bit as good or better than Duncan has ever been right now and he's still not getting due credit.

[G35]

Yao's height is his greatest stregnth and his biggest weakness. He doesn't have a low center of gravity so players can take his legs away. He also is knocked down a lot by smaller players for some reason. Similar to Shawn Bradley in that aspect. His agility is lacking and he can't get up and down the floor quickly.

I think the ideal height for a C is in the 7ft-7-2ft range. Once players get taller than that they seem to lose some athleticism.


I agree with the point that people take one good year and assume a player will improve exponentially is going too far. Just because you score 15ppg and 8 reb's doesn't mean you will double those numbers in time. There is a limit and you have to consider that players role in the offense and if getting his numbers will detract from the team.

It's just like Kobe has lost 4 points off his scoring avg because Bynum, Fisher and the Laker bench has improved.

As long as Kobe and Odom are on the Lakers I don't see Bynum putting up more than a possible 18 and 12 reb's. Once Kobe slows down then yeah maybe. However I think the point is that Bynum has bigger window to improve from 12 ppg and 10 reb's than someone who is scoring 20ppg and 12 reb's. It's more feasible to project that especially with his age being considered.........

[TooNice00]

Well some think Howard is already better than Yao (but IMHO they must not think that affecting the game or distorting it on both ends of the floor as coaches say to the level that Yao does really counts because Howard still does not do to the extent that like Shaq did or Yao does IMO and just pulling defensive rebound numbers or percentage of FG due to volume of dunks does not really show that to me it's just everyone assumes since Shaq dunked that makes Howard "Shaq" and Yao is somehow "soft" then well that means today Hakeem would have been "soft"...................., maybe people are finally seeing it now with T-Mac out and an offense that let's Yao control things instead of Van Gundy's 50s style game

what? could that not be the longest run on sentence ever that runs on and on and continues to make no sense.

....................I don't see him ever being near Yao sorry and yes I still cannot believe everyone anointed Howard over Yao, it's just simply not true. Watch some damn Rockets games without a bias Yao is for real now he's arrived he does everything imaginable for that team he is every bit as good or better than Duncan has ever been right now and he's still not getting due credit.

and yao playing as good as duncan ever has? what are you kidding me. bynums chances of becoming as good as yao are a lot closer to him being as good as howard. you must remember howard is a good 5 years away from entering his prime and yao is 5 years away from being 32 and for the most part out of his prime.

[kookie_819]

i think the espn poll is pretty good.

howard 60%
amare 17%
yao 16%
bynum 7%

other than maybe amare being over yao i think it is pretty fair. not sure how you can debate against 60,000 plus votes and howard getting 60%(36000 votes) of them. yao getting 16%(9600) of them while bynum only gets 7%(4200 votes). i think its fair to say howard is the best center in the nba by popular votes and bynum is around number 4.

Wow, that's very low for Bynum, considering the huge fan base the Lakers have. Then again, I wonder why Yao is only 16% with 1 billion people plus Houston on his side

[Storm Surge]

amare ahead of Yao says everything, all ESPN hypes is dunking and highlights.

[TooNice00]

amare ahead of Yao says everything, all ESPN hypes is dunking and highlights.

true but then agains its only like 1% that can be probably credited to the hyping. but howard with 60%, i dunno that is a big difference just to be credit to dunking and the highlights

[farzi]

Are mods being lazy and not locking this stupid stupid thread?

[Flash is the Future]

I'm a Heat fan, but I'd actually take Bynum over Yao, as I'm just not enamoured with Yao. Then again, I'd take Amare over both of them.

Howard
Amare

Bynum
Yao

[MnM_McgradyMing]

Its pretty much well known that Espn polls are a load of garbage. Dwight is 60% nothing too wrong with that but if you are ranking Amare or Bynum as the best centre in the NBA then you simply dont know much at all.

[Patterns]

As a starter:

Bynum's efficiency: 23.79 in 31 minutes
Yao's efficiency: 25.05 in 37 minutes

Can Bynum get 2 more efficiency points in 6 minutes?