How does Yao Ming compare to Patrick Ewing?

[RHODEY]

Do you guys think they are about the same level talent /skillwise? With the amount of talent Yao has around him these days do you think Patrick would have won a title? Conversely how good do you guys think Yao would have bene considered if he played during Patrick's era?

[Paeds]

Its actually a good comparison, they are both good jump shooting Bigmen that rebound well and block shots decently.

[knicks82385]

I believe Pat was more agile and a lot healthier before his late career injuries.

[pwayknicks]

Pat always wanted it more then it looks like Yao wants it.... Pat just never really had another sidekick around him... Pat with Mcgrady and the rest of the rockets I think would have been awesome, Yao i dont know..

Skillset wise they have a lot of the same characteristics(whereas Ewing is quicker and more agile, Yao is a bit taller and wouldnt find some matchups very difficult, ala Smits, Robinson, Olajuwon)...

[Papa Midnite]

How does Yao Ming compare to Patrick Ewing?

He doesn't until he takes his team past the first round.

Pat always wanted it more then it looks like Yao wants it.... Pat just never really had another sidekick around him... Pat with Mcgrady and the rest of the rockets I think would have been awesome, Yao i dont know..

Skillset wise they have a lot of the same characteristics(whereas Ewing is quicker and more agile, Yao is a bit taller and wouldnt find some matchups very difficult, ala Smits, Robinson, Olajuwon)...

Exactly... well said.

[Deeeez Knicks]

Ewing > Yao by a decent margin. Although Yao still has time to catch up. Ewing was the greatest C never to win a title.

Ewing was a bit better offensively and much better defensivly.

Yao was 27 last season. Here's Ewings stats when he was 27:

28.6 pts, 10.9 board, 4 blocks, 1 steal, 55% fg.

But so far I would say Ewing would still be ringless playing with those Rocket teams. Although they would have been better. And this coming season if you had replaced Yao with Ewing they might win the title or go pretty far.

It really is tough to compare because the game is much different. The recent rule changes would have killed those Knick teams between zones, hand checking, etc. They pretty much made the rule changes to stop teams like the 90's Knicks. It makes things easier for perimeter players and tougher for big men like Ewing and Yao. Particularly zones or at least not calling illegal defenses. If not for zones, Yao's numbers would be a little better then they are now.

[BLACKFEET]

pat never had the sidekick that yao has
pat had a great cast of over achieving role players
but no second star
whats to say if pat had an er clyde drexler or mitch richmond
in their prime that he wouldnt have gotten a ring or two....?
i think yao is a bit more fluid offensively in terms of passing
and arguably range...
but p.e. was a beast in the truest bball sense of the word
post game, monster d and rebounder, and a jumpshot to boot.
warrior mentality
never dogged it.
never.
i think yao is more of a rik smits/tim duncan (sans the d and mobility)
a finesse guy who just happens to be really, really tall
just my opinion though.

[mjhp911]

Do you guys think they are about the same level talent /skillwise? With the amount of talent Yao has around him these days do you think Patrick would have won a title? Conversely how good do you guys think Yao would have bene considered if he played during Patrick's era?

I think Yao has a lot more skills than Ewing. But Pat had the bigger heart, more tenacity, and the bigger killer instinct. Yao is still trying to work on his 'nice guy' mentality. With Yao's cast, YES, I do think Ewing probably would have won a ring. If Yao played in Ewing's era, he would have been just another good, but run-of-the-mill center.

[teamny1]

Ewing is tougher than Yao, willing to bang more and hustled more to get back on D, but that could be just because Yao is so tall so it seems he doesn't try that hard. Both are great anchors on defense, Pat is better on help D while I'd say Yao is better on Man to Man unless he's guarding a PF like Boozer or anyone that's bout 8-9 inches shorter and therefore a lot quicker.

Intangibles Pat's got to have it here, no doubt. But I'd always wonder how big men back then would play in the rules they have now and vice versa. Even Shaq when the rules were changed he got noticably less effective than before zones and allowing perimeter guys to waltz into the paint without worrying about injuring themselves b/c of a hard hit.

I'd think if Ewing had a sidekick like McGrady he'd get out of the first round even with the terrible supporting cast Houston has, which Yao hasn't simply because he's not healthy during the spring time.

So no way can someone say Yao is better than Ewing just because Yao can't be trusted to be healthy. When he's playing though he's the best C in the game, just like I think if Ewing was playing now he'd be fighting with Yao for the top spot.

[Capn'O]

It should also be noted that Ewing was MUCH faster and quicker than Yao making him a much better defender... though Yao's size helped him against Shaq in particular. Yao's offensive game is also more like the latter day Ewing, imo. Ewing was much more dangerous on offense until the mid-90's early on because of that same quickness. Imagine Yao as he gets older and slows, lol.

I don't believe for a second that Yao would be able to hang with Dream or DRob. He just couldn't keep up... though he maybe could shoot over them.

[teamny1]

Do you guys think they are about the same level talent /skillwise? With the amount of talent Yao has around him these days do you think Patrick would have won a title? Conversely how good do you guys think Yao would have bene considered if he played during Patrick's era?

I think Yao has a lot more skills than Ewing. But Pat had the bigger heart, more tenacity, and the bigger killer instinct. Yao is still trying to work on his 'nice guy' mentality. With Yao's cast, YES, I do think Ewing probably would have won a ring. If Yao played in Ewing's era, he would have been just another good, but run-of-the-mill center.

Houston's supporting cast isn't that good. You have McGrady who is better than anyone the Knicks had with Ewing, but after that I'd take people like Oak, Mason, Starks, Childs, even Hubert Davis over anyone on Houston's roster (sans Battier and Artest, and even Artest doesn't count b/c he just got there).

I'd say if Yao played during the 90s with the game easier for the Center he'd right below the level of the elites. Just cause there were all-time greats that played in the 90s doesn't make Yao run of the mill. He'd still be top 5 along with Shaq, Hakeem, Pat, and Robinson.

[mjhp911]

Pfft... those cats would have had Yao for breakfast and spat him out before lunch...

[Capn'O]

pat never had the sidekick that yao has
pat had a great cast of over achieving role players
but no second star
whats to say if pat had an er clyde drexler or mitch richmond
in their prime that he wouldnt have gotten a ring or two....?
i think yao is a bit more fluid offensively in terms of passing
and arguably range...
but p.e. was a beast in the truest bball sense of the word
post game, monster d and rebounder, and a jumpshot to boot.
warrior mentality
never dogged it.
never.
i think yao is more of a rik smits/tim duncan (sans the d and mobility)
a finesse guy who just happens to be really, really tall
just my opinion though.

Did you _really_ just compare Rik Smits to Duncan??!!! Let alone Yao!

[Jesus Juice]

If Ewing had Tmac, Ron Artest, and Shane Battier, I think he would have won atleast one, def in the second round...

[Paeds]

wghat was great about Pat is that he came in as a raw defensive beast.

He offense came seemingly out of nowhere which shows you how hard he work at his game

[knick4life1218]

man.....ewing had his sidekicks

starks mason, oak, houston, i would love them more than any other sidekick, we didnt win because of PJ f********** brown

[teamny1]

Pfft... those cats would have had Yao for breakfast and spat him out before lunch...

I got love for the 90s big men too but there's no way they would destroy Yao like that, nor Howard or any bigman. They'd get the better of the matchup, but if someone told me Rik Smits in this era would be a top big man there's no way that's happening. Rik Smits and his level were def the level below the HOFs

[Radiohead311]

Yao doesn't have 1/100th the passion that Patrick had. You can't teach height well you also can't teach heart. Yao doesn't have much fire in his belly, Pat had it coming out his ears.

[MrCheerios]

I've watched both of their careers in their entirety so far. Ewing was definitely better. They have similar skillsets with Yao being taller and Pat being quicker. And speed trumps everything. There's only so much advantage to being 7'6"; at that size Yao can barely make rotations and isn't nearly the defender Pat was in his prime.

[XcalibuR]

Yao doesn't have 1/100th the passion that Patrick had. You can't teach height well you also can't teach heart. Yao doesn't have much fire in his belly, Pat had it coming out his ears.

NBA wise yes, but when you see Yao playing in international games for his country, he definitely has the same passion as Ewing.