How many casual fans will say that Chris Paul is a better player than Deron Williams? I think most of you would say he is. But in a head to head match-up Williams outdoes Paul nearly every time. The point of this comparison is, that basketball is a team game and players going head-to-head like this doesn't really mean all that much because there are so many other factors than the two players who go head-to-head.

You have to take into account teammates. Certain players play well against certain teams so stars do not get as many touches as they normally would. This will of course effect their stats for the game. Team A may shoot better against team B than they do against the rest of the league strictly because of match-ups.

We also have to take into account the timing of the game. is team A playing at home after 2 days rest while team B is on the end of an 8 game roadie? These things will all effect how players play each other that night.

Looking at how player A plays against Team C vs. how player B plays against team E is not a good measuring stick either. Because a team is going to prepare differently vs. Yao and the Rockets than they would against Howard and the Magic.

Finally we have to take into consideration the referees. These idiots have dictated the outcome of nearly every basketball game since the mid 1990s at least. How they ref is going to also determine stats. If they allow for a physical game than Howard is going to have the advantage, if they allow for a softer game than Yao is going to have the advantage.

The best indicator on who is the best player than is the eye test. sitting down and watching multiple games of each player against various teams and at various times. I have seen about 60 Magic games the past two years and well over 100 Rockets game in that span as well. Just by watching them I can tell that Howard is the better player. Yes he has athleticism and uses that a lot. But it is an ability he has and he needs to take full advantage of it. Yao uses his height a lot too, because he has it and it gives him an advantage. If they did not use these natural traits they'd be nothing more than Shawn Bradley and Staley Roberts and no one would care. Because of their natural traits they both play entirely different styles of basketball, which again effect their stats.

Howard is going to try and get down low every time because that is where he is best. it doesn't mean he has lesser talent or that he sucks it means that is just his portion of the court. Also, Orlando does not need him out of the paint as they have a bunch of shooters. So having him in the paint is helps spread those shooters out and makes it harder on the defense. Houston does a similar thing with Yao, they like him on the upper block a little more because Houston has a bunch of slashers as well as shooters.

Why do I believe Dwight Howard is the superior player to Yao Ming. 1) Health. Howard had a minor injury which forced him to miss a couple games in December and that is it. Yao, he seems to get a sever injury every couple of years. Having the guy on the court is always going to help you win vs. not having the guy on the court.

2)Post play. Believe it or not, the post is where centers are suppose to play. We've seen to many Mehmet Okur types jacking threes up for so long we forgot that this is where the center is suppose to play. Howard is a lot better in the post than Yao. Yes he dunks a lot, but that is a good thing. it's a high percentage shot and it's points. Howard is also a beast in the paint, and he makes sure his opponents know this. Yao, not so much. Yao will readily concede the paint to power forwards like Duncan and Boozer all the time. Yes Yao has a nice little jump shot, and that isn't a bad thing to have, but he's 7 feet six inches, he needs to dominate the paint.

3) Rebounds. Yao is a decent rounder, but Howard’s probably the best rebounder in the NBA right now. Yao is also a bit lazy on the boards. He'll start running back on defense on a lot of missed Rocket shots.

Howard gathers about one third of his team’s rebounds, Yao gets a little less than a quarter of his teams rebounds. But the rebounding argument is not one I’m going the flesh out very long because it is extremely obvious than Howard is the better rebounded of the two as he has lead the NBA the last couple of season.

4)Style of the game. The NBA is once again becoming an up tempo up and down style of game. Yao is slower than Continental drift, Howard isn't.

5) Scoring. A lot of people look at Yao’s scoring numbers compared to Howard’s and believe Yao is the superior scoring threat, that however is not completely true. Taking into account the last two years, because that is where we can get things to be most even because previously Howard had not yet quite developed into the best center and Yao back than was the best center, Howard’s offensive efficiency is actually marginally better than Yao’s.

In 2007-08 Yao averaged 22 points to Howard’s 21 points a game. Not much of a difference However, Howard took 12 field goals to Yao’s nearly 16 and both made about seven field goals a game. The discrepancy in scoring is free throws, Yao made about one more a game than Howard which would account for the one point difference. This season Yao is averaging 20 points a game on 13 shot attempts while Howard is getting 21 points a game on 13 shot attempts as well. Those two season Howard has averaged 60 and 57 percent field goal shooting while Yao garnered 51 and 55 percent.

The argument that Tracy McGrady effects Yao’s numbers is a somewhat valid one, but it can be rebutted with the fact that Howard plays with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu who take more shots combined than T-Mac does. In 07-08 McGrady took a quarter of Houston’s shot attempts, in comparison Lewis and Turkoglu took about 26 percent of Orlando’s attempts. So, any effect McGrady has on Yao’s stats are negated by Lewis and Turkoglu on Orlando.

6) Defense. Both players average the same number of blocks, less than two a game, for their careers. But this argument is about who is the best player right now. To decide this I have been taking the last two seasons only, and here, once again, Howard is superior to Yao. In 07-08 Howard averaged two blocks a game to Yao’s two. However, this year Howard is averaging three blocks a game to Yao’s one and a half.

In other defensive stats such as steals and defensive rebounds Howard also leads Yao. According to basketball-reference.com’s defensive win shares statistic, Howard once again bests Yao with 6.5 to 4.0 in 08 and 5.3 to 3.3 in 09.

We also, have to look at where each player has lead their team in the post season. Howard lead the Magic to the second round last year before being knocked out by Detroit. The East is a lot easier to win in does help Howard a lot. But Yao has yet to get out of the first round of the playoffs, he missed all of last years playoffs with an injury, and the previous year he lost in seven games.

One last thing I want people to think about before we end this argument. Who’s team could more afford an injury to their center; Houston or Orlando? Both teams are very similar in make up and talent, and both have other all-star caliber players. But Houston has shown it can not only make the playoffs without Yao Ming but also win 22 games in a row without him; actually I think it was 16 in a row with out Yao. But can anyone honestly see Orlando being anything more than a lower seed in the East if Dwight Howard went down with a season ending injury right now?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mingya01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/howardw01.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/hou/stats?sort=25&year=season_2007
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/orl/stats?sort=25&year=season_2007