Who is the best center in the league?

[Billy32]

Originally Posted by ClipperNation14

Yao.

A big man who gets to the line, and can't convert is a detriment. Dwights "touch" around the rim is horrendous, and he has no idea what to do if things get out of sync.

Yao is by far the best offensive center. And his presence on defense is underrated.

Thats all very well and dandy and I agree with you 100% but the guy can't stay healthy for one whole season. I'd rather take my chances with Dwight and try to develop him then take an injury proned Yao.

Dwights body + Yao skill set = Lethal NBA center. I doubt it will happen though.

Originally Posted by HMZ28

you should add pau gasol in the poll ...

No.

[ChApU#5]

Ask Gasol.

Pau had great defense on Howard by pretty much being intelillent. Dwight has no offensive game, he just takes advantage with his body. Although he's a defensive monster, Yao is the best center hands down. If he stayed healthy...

[omfgfcku2]

Originally Posted by orlandojumpoff

You can't say healthy yao because he's never healthy. This isn't fantasy land.

Yeah you can, this is the internet .

[Ferdi]

Originally Posted by john_tawil

Shaq should not be mentioned in this conversation, he's an awful player. Don't get me wrong he was the most powerful center to ever play the game, but now he sucks.

How about watching some Suns games from this season before talking out of your ass...
Everytime the same "he's too old, too slow" blablabla.

I don't know the exact date but Shaq had a great period between two months in January, ,February and/or March.
He was owning the opponent teams and imo was the best Center in that streak, and he still needs to get double teamed everytime he's near the paint, even by Tim Duncan and the Spurs.

[Sasha The Machine]

CarlLandry14, if you are gonna just criticise anyone who didn't pick Yao, from your fav team, why bother starting the thread and making a poll?

[CarlLandry14]

Originally Posted by orlandojumpoff

Yao isn't exactly out there scoring a lot of points now is he? For an offensive minded big, 20pts/game at a lower percentage isn't going to cut it when comparing these two centers IMO. At least not when Dwight just had such a good year. At their offensive output level right now, dominant defense contributes more to the team's success. That's why i say i'd rather have Dwight's 21pts and defense. If possible, you want your center out there rebounding and blocking shots. Dwight is doing that much better than Yao and he's still scoring more.

When Dwight goes out there, there's always a chance he'll grab 20+ rebounds and that is absolutely huge in a game. I can't say the same for Yao. Dwight had four 21+ rebound games during the playoffs, they won 3 of those games and the other one should've been a win as well if it weren't for the inexperienced magic players and staff choking on both ends of the floor in the final minutes. I think Yao has had only three or four 20+ rebound games in his entire nba career and those came 4 or 5 years ago. Howard had 14 of them this season alone and many of them were 20/20 games too. I just can't see how you can disregard huge rebounding numbers in favor of offensive moves with the same point average but lower %. Like i said, it’s not like Yao’s offensive numbers are impressive enough to overshadow what Dwight is doing with his athleticism.

When Yao starts scoring more AND can stay healthy, I’ll reconsider for sure – especially if Dwight doesn’t improve this off season. But right now, Yao's poor durability and his numbers don't give him the nod over dwight imo.

Maybe it's just me, but 1 mvp vote compared to 328 votes doesn't quite scream best center in the league to me.

The MVP is a season award not a lifetime achievement award or anything like that.

Howard has the better season HANDS DOWN.

However, If you know anything about history of the NBA. You would know that David Robinson wo the MVP in 1995. Was he the best center in the league? Not in my opinion, I thought it was still Hakeem Olajuwon and he proved that come playoff time as well.

MVP = Seasonal award, Kobe Bryant is still the best in the world but LeBron got the MVP.

[xNavjotx]

Dwight Howard would be better if his post-game was more efficient. Yao Ming's post-game, particularly his fadeaway, is very hard to defend because of his length. If Dwight wants to be the best, he has to work on his post-game over this summer.

[halfHAVOC]

Originally Posted by SteveNash3424213421J

Yao Ming, although this poll is kind of stupid. Howard isn't even in the top 10 for centers.

no, your post is kind of stupid .

[orlandojumpoff]

Originally Posted by CarlLandry14

The MVP is a season award not a lifetime achievement award or anything like that.

Howard has the better season HANDS DOWN.

However, If you know anything about history of the NBA. You would know that David Robinson wo the MVP in 1995. Was he the best center in the league? Not in my opinion, I thought it was still Hakeem Olajuwon and he proved that come playoff time as well.

MVP = Seasonal award, Kobe Bryant is still the best in the world but LeBron got the MVP.

So he had the better season hands down, right? Aren't we talking about who is the best right now? His numbers, his deep playoff run and his mvp votes... he's producing the numbers to back up the idea that he's the best right now.

I just threw that MVP chart to help illustrate the impact Dwight has in the nba compared to Yao. Yao isn't doing much. 20 and 10? Come on now. The best center in the league always has a big impact. At least Robinson and Olajuwon averaged the same ridiculous numbers during the regular season. I hate to compare Dwight/Yao to either of those two, but who is close to those numbers, Dwight or Yao? Robinson and Olajuwon won defensive player of the year before. Who has done that, Dwight or Yao? Yao has never even been placed on an all-defensive 1st/2nd/3rd team and never on All-nba 1st team. The best bigs always make those teams. Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, Shaq, KG, Duncan, etc.

-----
Dwight this year: All-nba 1st team, All-defensive 1st team, 4th place mvp voting, led the league in rebounds (2nd straight season), led the league in blocks, led all the centers in scoring.

Yao this year: All-nba 2nd team. All-INJURED 1st team.
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If you're going to praise a center based on his offensive skill, he better be scoring A LOT more than 20 pts. And please, the dream won MVP the year before, so it's not like he wasn't a contender to be MVP that year. Dwight received all those considerations to at least place in the top 4. Yao isn't even close with his 1 fifth place vote.

Yao hasn't done anything. It seems like if he tries as hard as he'd like to, he breaks himself. I know he's your boy and all, but there's just not enough there to back up your argument. And like i said before, durability is a huge part of analyzing a player.

Who will be hurt first next year, Yao or Oden? Maybe that's the poll you should post.

[CarlLandry14]

It seems like all you care about is numbers. Then I'll take a guess and say you think Chris Paul is the best player in the league right? Because CP3 does have the best numbers. Dwight struggles against winning/playoff team because their bigs have size while Yao dominates regardless.

I see no argument from you really, we are talking about when healthy and a typical no class Magic fan like you continues to make fun of his health despite Yao ****ting all over your center in head to head matchups