http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/10940847.htm Posted on Sat, Feb. 19, 2005 Suns' Amare Stoudemire proves doubters wrong BY SCOTT BORDOW East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Ariz.) DENVER - (KRT) - Amare Stoudemire is everywhere. On the cover of ESPN the Magazine and Inside Stuff, the in-house publication of the NBA. He's the subject of a long feature story in this week's edition of The Sporting News. He'll play in his first All-Star game Sunday and participate in his second Slam Dunk contest on Saturday night. But Stoudemire's official coming-out party as an NBA superstar occurred Friday night, when he and Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal co-hosted an invitation-only Red Carpet party at a Denver nightclub called Serengeti. (I know it was invitation-only because when I asked Stoudemire if I could come, he just laughed). Shaq and Amare - this is All-Star Weekend, the center of the universe for first names only - became friends years ago, when Stoudemire, then a high-school player in Orlando, Fla., asked O'Neal for an autograph. They kept in touch and now they're two of the alpha males in the NBA. "I knew he'd do this," Shaq said. Not many others did. It was just three years ago that most of the NBA viewed Stoudemire with equal parts suspicion and mistrust. He was the kid who went to six high schools, the kid with the mother and older brother in jail, the kid who probably would waste his extraordinary talent because of his questionable character. We all know the rest of the story, that Stoudemire wowed the Suns in a workout prior to the 2002 draft, Phoenix was ecstatic to get him with the ninth pick, and, well, here he is, at 22, one of the best big men in the NBA. The concern teams had about Stoudemire becomes an even more egregious misjudgment when the list of players taken ahead of him in the '02 draft is reviewed. Yao Ming, Houston. Jay Williams, Chicago. Mike Dunleavy, Golden State. Drew Gooden, Memphis. Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Denver. Dajuan Wagner, Cleveland. Nene Hilario, Denver. Chris Wilcox, Los Angeles Clippers. There's not an NBA executive around who would trade Stoudemire for any one of them. Or maybe even two of them. "I don't think they did their homework," Stoudemire said. "I think they looked more at my family and my situation than they did me." Stoudemire, Cleveland's LeBron James, 20, and Miami's Dwyane Wade, 23, were the focus of much of the media attention Friday. The "young guns," as Stoudemire calls his brethren, have trashed the notion that kids can't prosper in a man's league, and their success flies in the face of commissioner David Stern's desire to raise the minimum age limit in the NBA from 18 to 20 when the league's collective bargaining agreement expires this year. "I think if young guys come in responsibly and understand the game of basketball, it's OK," Stoudemire said. Perhaps that is the greatest surprise of Stoudemire's emergence as a world-class player. Everyone knew he had the athletic talent. What no one could predict was his desire to get better, and his willingness to put in the work. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has marveled at Stoudemire's development, both from afar and as an assistant coach on last summer's U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. "Amare was an athletic phenomenon and a dunker when he came into the league," Popovich said. "There wasn't much variety in his game. He'd go one way (the right) and he'd be like a bull in a china shop. "Now he goes both ways. Now he can hit the mid-range jumper. Now he runs the floor and rebounds at both ends. Amare has put in the time. Last summer, even though he wasn't playing much, he would stay after practice and work on his bank shots, or his moves to the left. That's how great players are made." Remarkably, Stoudemire has just scratched the surface of his game. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni believes that when Stoudemire improves defensively and learns he can't take nights off, "the sky's the limit. He should be one of the five best players in the league." That's not enough for Stoudemire. He wants to be the best, and for those who think that's not possible, he'll remind you that few thought he'd be this good this fast. "This is just the beginning for me," Stoudemire said of his All-Star appearance. "I'm going to be back. There's nothing I can't accomplish in the game of basketball." No one doubts that now.
I hope he is the second Shawn Kemp, it's gonna feel so good when he hits rock bottom after the media has kissed his A$$ this much.... Now I can understand why people didnt like YAO when he was getting this much press, but unlike Yao you can take away the next best player on the team(NASH) and he will have a hard time putting up good numbers...
Only stoudemire can decide how good he can be. He has all the potential. If he puts in the time and has the desire, he could be an all time great.
"Yao Ming, Houston. There's not an NBA executive around who would trade Stoudemire for any one of them. Or maybe even two of them." hmm...wrong! There'd be many Execs who would take Yao over Amare - let alone Yao + another....
It's interesting, as much as Nash has helped elevate Amare's game, it might not be until Nash leaves that Amare can take it to the next level if you can believe that. Just look at Dirk today. I think Dirk doing things on his own is making him a better player. He doesnt have Nash as a crutch. Amare has come a long way. Him adding a medium range jumper was huge for his game. Now he has to work on defense and being able to play offensively effectively without Nash feeding him passes for dunks. The key though for Amare, is that he has the hunger and the desire and that will go a long way. That will be what drives him. It will be interesting to see if he progresses past being just another Kemp/McDyess clone to something more. If Amare ever turns into a bigger rebounder and shot blocker,that's when he will have hit his zenith.
A better comparison for Amare would be Karl Malone. Malone, like Amare, was mainly a dunker coming into the NBA. He was a terrible shooter and early in his career he benefitted greatly from having Stockton. But after a certain point, Malone worked on his game and improved so much that he would have been a great player even without Stockton. Amare seems to have that same type of work ethic. I think in a season or 2 it'll be Amare carrying Nash instead of the other way around.
Amare is very talented, and very gifted, both physically and mentally on the court. He is, without doubt, a serious consideration for Most improved player, and he is a large factor in one of the best teams in the west. that said, can't say I like his personality much, too cocky sometimes and comes off as the kid who probably bullied other kids in the playground when he was young. The league seems like the perfect place to foster that attitude. I still like to watch the suns play once in a while, nash and amare, IMO is a more lethal pg/C combo than shaq/wade.
Agreed.... Yao doesn't belong on the list. However, with the other 7, the point really stands. Everyone there has either been a disappointment on varying levels or hasn't gotten off the pine enough yet. I guess what bothers me most about Amare is the Rockets knew well about him. They knew he was going to be a monster physically. They were one of just a few teams who worked him out, no doubt because those in Stoudemire's camp wanted the team with the #1 pick to get a good look at him. Houston brought him in against Drew Gooden and Amare killed him. I know this because I knew someone who was there at the workout -- I <a href="http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35983">posted about this</a> back then before the draft also. Newspapers reported later that Stoudemire got injured in the Houston workout and I think that is why he didn't go many places. I also remember that I think Portland thought they had a deal worked out with the Clippers at #12 (if I remember correctly?) in order to take Stoudemire, but then the buzz got around that Phoenix was going to take him. Bulls taking Jay Williams (only because of how it turned out so quickly), Grizzlies taking Gooden, Denver taking Tskitishvilli, Cavs taking Wagner .... those are the teams that really have to be kicking themselves. Certainly no regrets about taking Yao Ming ... it's just a shame the Rockets couldn't have swung a deal with the Clips for the #8 pick. Hell, the Clips practically gave away the #2 pick last season.
I think more than anyone, the Grizzlies (under Jerry West's watch) are the team most kicking themselves for not taking Amare even though they have Pau. Pau would be traded right now with Amare on that team. West probably would acknowledge that taking Gooden over Stoudamire was one of his BIGGEST blunders in his watch. Although, in fairness to West, he was only on the job a short time then and took the scouts advice a bit too much on Gooden and then he went with it. Stoudamire never worked out for the Grizz like Clutch said.
Not that I'm arguing he should ever be taken ahead of Stoudemire, but isn't Gooden having a pretty solid season with the Cavs? It looks like one of those cases where the guy was just a bad fit in Memphis and Orlando, and finally found the right situation in Cleveland.
That quote about any GM wouldnt trade Amare for Yao really pissed me off. Who in their right mind wouldnt trade Amare for Yao? I cant wait 4 years from now when he will be trash and Yao having a ring on him.
Let's be patient and wait for another 10-12 years before we put a final stamp on Yao & Amare. Amare is a great talent, but he has not proved to us that he is remotely close to be the same player without Nash at the right moment. It's not impossible that he becomes the greatest player ever to play the game down the road. But again, the Rockets won't trade Yao for Amare right now even if Yao is not backed up by all the Asian fans.
I read that West was livid that the Grizz scouts did not do any real homework on Amare. West saw Amare during summer league and was like upset that the scouts before he got there mainly focused on, like amare said in the article, his family and not the actual talent that was there. West did truly believe with the information he had on the players that Gooden was the best pick after Yao and Williams and pulled off a little of his magic by hyping up Mike Dunleavy so much that GS picked him and let gooden fall down to West. Gooden isnt a bad player but clearly not on the same level as Amare. Clutch- Yeah it would have been nice to have gotten the #8 from the clippers that year but I dont think they would have traded it. the Clippers traded the #2 pick because they wanted livingston and it would have been silly to pick him that high when a player like Howard or Okafor was on the board. The PF rotation of brand and wilcox is quite solid so by trading the #2 pick and Peja Drobnjak for the #4 pick and the bobcats second round pick they were able to still get the player they original wanted and clear up cap room in their push for Kobe that offseason.
The thing that is unbelievable to me is how easy the media disreguards defense. We all love offense but when we evalute players IMHO we have to look at offense/defense and all around game. My main knock on Amare (barring attitude) and difference from Yao is on the defensive end. Every game I've seen of Amare, even before this "Nash high scoring/We don' care about defense era", he shows absolutely no maintained interest in defense...it's an afterthought. On the other hand, you have Yao hussling around the court, stepping out on pick and rolls. That's the one huge improvement I've noticed from Yao. How he's stopping the penetration by stepping out...then hussling his 7'6'' ass back to his man. Yao has really impressed me on his interest in playing good team defense. With all that said, it could simply be because JVG is our coach. And for that, no one can say he doesn't develop young players. I love Amare's explosive offensive game, and yes, besides Yao, exec's would pick him over the others listed. Yet, he has to learn and improve a ton in his all around game before I or most execs pick him over Yao.
This is this height of journalistic fraud. Interestingly, this Fraud continues to get to remain on Mercurynews' payroll for some reason. I hope even those that subscribe to this news see that part as sacrilegious as well. Where is integrity? The responsibility to give your readers far and wide a piece of work that will not be blatantly found wanting. It is one thing to be subjective - it is another to be subjectively folly.
i always thought he was overrated. Hell, i told my cousin, a diehard Duke fan, that he was going to be the second coming of Bobby Hurley. After he had the accident, I didnt mean it like that...
