stevebozell wrote:If by value, you mean marketing, then fine. Yao has more "value". But as a fan, I could give a **** less about marketing. The best comparison is what they do on the court, especially in a 7 game series where they match up one on one with eachother. Boozer dominated, and it wasnt really even close.To boot, you still have no comeback for as to why you say the Jazz are this run and gun team that would inflate Boozers numbers, not to mention Yao's inability to play at a faster pace if they wanted to in the first place. How about coming back with something instead of personally attacking guys that prove your argument incorrect?You can dispariage Jazz fans as a whole to distract from your losing argument, but as well as a losing argument, its even moreso a transparent one. We all see it for what it is. Nice try though.
I'll lay it out to you in layman's terms so that you can understand.
NUMBERS SECTION:
Boozer's numbers are inflated by playing at a faster pace. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YAO'S SPEED! If you collect more rebounds, but there are more rebounds available to collect, that doesn't necessarily make you a better rebounder than someone who rebounds less with less opportunities.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Yao plays next to Chuck Hayes, who is among the BEST per minute rebounders in the game. Naturally he steals some rebounds from Yao. When you look at Dwight Howard's or Boozer's box score numbers, generally it is those two collecting the lion's share of the defensive (easier) rebounds. Yao and Chuck share. This obviously has a negative effect on Yao's rebounding numbers.
EXAMPLE: Player A rebounds 10 of 50 misses for 20%. Player B rebounds 8 of 24 rebounds for 33.33%. Player A got more rebounds. Is he a better rebounder? The percentages say otherwise.
EXAMPLE 2: Player A gets 5 assists on 100 possessions for 5%. Player B gets 4 assists on 60 possessions for 6.67%.
This example is a little less relevant, as we all know that assists aren't always a great indicator of passing ability.
PACE:
You are correct, Houston plays at a slower pace, probably at least in part because Yao is probably not capable of playing at a whirlwind pace a la Phoenix/Golden State. Boozer is and does play at a faster pace than Yao. This leads to more possessions, more shots per minute, more passing for assist opportunities, more rebounding opportunities, more block opportunities etc.
Does that make Boozer better in ANY of those categories? Not necessarily, which is why REASONABLE people who look to remove as much bias from statistics as possible use pace adjusted numbers.
As it stands, if you adjust the paces of the two teams (like smart people looking to compare stats do), then Yao beats Boozer in SEVERAL of those other categories, including rebounding AND scoring.
HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS:
Many people butt heads on this one. Some people think they are good indicators, others say no. I'm on the fence.
By your argument, Boozer is a better player than Yao because he outplayed him in last season's playoff series. He did, we are in agreement.
Yao CLEARLY outplayed Dwight Howard in the second matchup between the two teams, and the first was marginal, and in my opinion leaned slightly towards Yao as well. I'm assuming that you still have some inkling of sanity and that you don't think Boozer is better than Dwight Howard. If you do, then this argument is clearly over.
Is Yao better than Dwight? Some people say yes, and the H2H matchups this year and other years support that argument. I happen to think there is parity between the two, which is why H2H matchups aren't always great indicators of which player is better.
DEFENSE!!!:
Yao is among the best post defenders in the game. He is among the leaders in blocked shots, and alters many, many more. Blocks, such as steals, are not necessarily indicative of good defense, but Yao is the anchor of Houston's TOP 3 defense, and is widely acknowledged to be an excellent defender. Boozer is not. He is acknowledged to be a poor defender on a poor defensive team.
UTAH vs. HOUSTON:
Boozer (and Okur) are both jumpshooting big men, and both are faster and more agile than Yao. They are a matchup problem for him.
Boozer is a good finisher, and has one of the best point guards in the NBA setting him up.
Yao is generally given the ball in the post and does his own thing. THIS IS HARDER THAN CATCHING AN ALLEY OOP DUNK PASS! Yao is a more SKILLED post offense player than Boozer is; Boozer's job is made easier by having a TOP 5 point guard helping him out. Yao gets far less easy opportunities generated for him than Boozer by Alston/McGrady.
Utah struggles with different teams than Houston. Some teams matchup better against others, we all know this. Utah happens to matchup fairly well against Houston, because of the jumpshooting ability of Utah's bigmen. Against more traditional players, (like Dwight Howard) Yao performs MUCH better than Boozer. Its a matchup game.
IN SUMMARY:
Practically everyone who isn't a Jazz fan agrees Yao is both a BETTER AND MORE VALUABLE player than Boozer. Better AND more valuable. Yao plays the toughest position to fill in the NBA, and is ARGUABLY the best at his position. Yao's pace adjusted numbers are better than Boozers in many categories, and his impact on a game is easily noticeable to be greater than Boozer's by anyone who watches the two teams play. Yao is a somewhat less efficient scorer than Boozer, particularly this year (by FG%), but gets far less easy buckets, and does not have a great PG setting him up. Yao handily beats Boozer in FT%, and the TS% is very close, meaning Yao is actually a comparatively efficient scorer EVEN BEFORE you add in Deron's obvious impact on Boozer's numbers.
Offensively: Yao>=Boozer
Defensively: Yao>Boozer
Position: Yao>Boozer
Other teams fear/respect: Yao>Boozer
$$$: Yao>Boozer
Is there enough empirical evidence for you here? Honestly, there isn't much more I can possibly bring up. The evidence is conclusive and OVERWHELMING in favor of Yao.
