There is an interview with Andris Biedrins on SportingNews, comparing two of the NBA's top centers: Dwight Howard and Yao Ming. Andris Biedrins and the Golden State Warriors played the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic recently, so Biedrins has both players fresh in his head.
Yao's speed, or lack thereof, is brought up again. The guy is big and tall. He lacks lateral speed. The best way to guard him is with a quicker defender, similar to how the Warriors used Al Harrington to force Yao to commit turnovers. That doesn't work with Dwight Howard. He will just bulldoze Harrington.
Along with Yao's lack of speed is stamina issues. It wasn't mentioned directly in the interview, but it relates to the first question: fighting for rebounds. It takes energy to fight for rebounds. Its hell in the paint. If Yao fought for every rebound, he wouldn't last an entire season.
I agree with Biedrin's assessment on Yao's offensive game. Yao is more refined in his scoring. Yao can go down low, post high, and shoot mid-range jumpers. Dwight can dunk, and dunk, and dunk some more. Dwight is still very raw. His game has grown a lot, but he still has a lot to learn. Dwight could also work on his free throws. Big 7 footer with all power dunks and no free throw shooting in an Orlando Magic uniform? Where have we seen this before...
So who would you rather face?
Biedrins: "Eddy Curry."
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