http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=96190&page=1&pp=20 "Because the Rockets chose the best player in the draft." - lwong, 05-09-2005, 10:24 PM
Quote from Stephon "best PG" Marbury: "We're all losers -- whoever doesn't win the championship" so it is still not clear that we have made the best choice but i am sure we made a very good choice and our choice is getting better and better and better.......
Do the rockets want Amare's bum knee? He looked pretty bad out there the few games he played, only the first one he did well and that was on adrenaline. I suggest we wait for a while before answering this question.
I see Amare being as gimpy as Weber. He'll play awful for the next year or two, then he'll be close to what he was before. He'll have to depend more on his mid-range jumper and less on his explosiveness. He'll never average a double double though.
we drafted the best player that year and probably soon to be the best center in the league, barring injuries.
You missed an option. "Because Yao was the best pick." Not necessarily the best player, but the best pick. He filled a need, was a safe pick, and yet had an enormous upside. That's ultimately what you want out of a #1 overall, low risk/high reward. Amare was high risk/high reward, and he still is considering his durability.
Ha ha. That is classic. The suns would fall over themselves to trade Amare for Yao right now. Edit: The part I like the most is when he makes Amare seem like such a transcendant messiah that he would convert Houston fans into to being Suns fans. That is too funny.
No one drafted Amare's ability but team's were scared of his off-court reputation as he was considered somewhat of a problem. We risked it with Eddie Griffin and got burned that time and there was no reason to risk it again when you could pick Yao Ming who had equally great upside and filled a need that had been vacated since we got rid of hakeem.
Ooh...that doesn't sound right. How about, 'since Hakeem moved on' or 'since it was time for Hakeem to retire'?
Hindsight is 20/20. Last year, after the playoffs, I would have had to think about this question. Amare was an absolute monster but one would have to think that a part of his increase in stats was a product of having Steve Nash. I think this also applies to Boris Diaw this year. However, after microfracture surgery and watching his first few games back... I don't think he will ever get back to where he was during last years playoffs. Especially since he got most of his points from dunks and with a system like the Suns where it's mainly run and gun , it's got to take a toll on the knees. Then comes to the question of Yao who has improved every year he has been in the league, is rarely injured, and has improved his stamina from years past.. it's an easy answer for me now. After the night and day difference in play from Yao before and after his toe surgery and his improvement at the F/T line (somewhat overlooked), you have to be dillusional to pick Amare at this stage. I can't wait to see the Yao/Tracy pick and roll that we saw from last year's playoffs.. I just hope that Tmac can be his old self again.
Ah, isn't it awesome how fast things change? I don't hear idiotic ESPN commentators *cough* Bill Walton *cough* calling Amare the "future of the center position" any more. It's such a sweet feeling.
You have to give big red some credit though, he was always extremely high on Yao from the very first day.
I know hakeem was way passed his time and it was almost sad to see him play those last few years, but we did get rid of him by trading him. You cant run away from that.
Goofy thread. m_cable nailed it in his post. But I'm not so sure Amare won't fully recover - he is very young - but we probably won't know until October 2007. That was a nasty injury.
