You know without Nash, Suns couldnt even score 80 pts. As good as Amare is, Suns had worst record last year. See my sig.
Yao > Amare, especially in the long run. Amare Stoudemire has become so overrated this season it is not even funny. Amare doesn't have defenses gameplanning their entire defense on how to shut him down, he has no real low post moves to speak of, and still can't hit a jumper consistently. He just looks great stats wise because Nash gives him about 4/5 dunks a game and his athleticism gets him a lot of easy putbacks/free throws. If Yao got single coverage night in/night out like Amare gets, he would be among the NBA scoring leaders. But teams are intent on not letting him receive that kind of defensive treatment because they know he would destroy them for it. Until Amare has teams completely focused on stopping him with all assortments of defenses he is not as good a player as Yao is overall. Also, consider how many rebounds Yao loses due to the fact JVG has him going all the way out to the 3 point line to show on screens not to mention the fact that with our power forwards he is usually fighting 2 or 3 guys by himself for a board. Amare is a good player, but take away Steve Nash and we are not having this discussion. He wasn't the better player when he won the ROY over Yao, and I still take Yao's total package game over what he brings to the table now.
I like Amare but he is one dimensional. He will improve though. However, at this point I would not trade Yao for Amare. Yao has the potential to dominate more in the future. Yao is still developing, hasnt reached anywhere near his max potential and still disrupts the opposing team's defense. As Phil Jackson said, do not expect a giant leap from Yao. He will improve gradually each year. He is also a better passer and has better court sense. Yao can create a shot for himself in the post or create an open look for his teammate's thru double teams. As of right now, Amare is more dependant on his teammates, specifically Nash getting him open looks. Amare is 10 times more agressive than Yao though. If I am looking for finisher I would pick Amare over Yao every day. However, in terms of changing the complexion of the game, Yao is better and I think he will always have that edge over Amare. Another thing to remember is that as much success as Amare has against everyone else in the league, when it comes to playing against Yao he struggles mightly. For some strange reason, even though Yao is much slower than Amare, he seems to know how to alter or block his shot. On the other hand, Amare cannot seem to cover Yao by himself. I also wanted to add....that thing that people talk about...great players making other players better. Well, Yao, even at this young age, has that quality. He is inconsistent right now, but it cannot be denied that he creates for his teammates/plays team game and makes them better. Amare has not shown that capability. He is super athletic and gets his numbers because of that, but I have not seen him play a cereberal game. I just dont see it in him. That does not mean he cannot develop that quality later, but so far he has not shown any hint of it.
Oh brother, you can't be serious. The rockets were looking for a young stud big man at the time to pair with their talented backcourt(before Yao came along) and Griffin was considered one of the top two or three talents or even number 1 material in some people's eyes. At the time, nobody was upset about the trade, in fact most people believed the Rockets had just stolen a future stud PF with the 8th pick. It just so happened Griffin had some personal/emotional issues and didn't work out. And jefferson was lucky he got to play with Kidd his first couple years in the league because like Amare he was an athletic freak who had no shooting touch. Also, if you take away that trade you have to take away Yao Ming too, because the odds of the next seasons outcome being exactly identical is slim/none. And Yao is worth more than jefferson and griffin together.
Shaq, Duncan, KG and slowly Yao has started to enter that company. Not stats wise, probaly not talent wise. But in terms of effecting the whole game he is getting there. Teams have to double these guys every time they touch the ball or they will have a field day. Amare is not one of these players. I can count these guys on one hand... I can count alot more guys that can put up great #'s in PHX with Steve Nash and an offensive minded coach... Don't let stats fool you. Amare has better #'s than Shaq and duncan and arguably KG. Would you still take amare over these guys?
And if he was having fried chicken on that day, it would have changed his mind? Hope he stays away from Indian food then.
Aside from Nash the Suns have many scorers. Guys like Marion, Johnson and Richardson consume a lot of defensive attention when they get going. Nash makes Amare go as well as those scorers, and when those scorers go they also make Amare go by getting the defensive attention. That's why Nash is the MVP, not Amare.
Look at the mvp votes. Amare got 10th in voting. Where did yao come? Most GM's consider Amare the better player, and he's showing it in the playoffs.
Ahh. Obvious now, just trolling. Usually it doesn't take 2 years for someone to show their colors. Welcome to 'ignore'.
because Yao has more potential and noone knew Amare would be as good as he is now. like Orlando letting go of Ben Wallace, and Portland letting go of Jermaine O'neal. On top of that Houston GMs have a history of making asinine decisions. e.g. breaking up the championship team (as much as i love barkley i dont think either houston or barkley benefitted), going after Eddie Griffin rather than Richard Jefferson and the other two New Jersey requested, going after Steve Francis, hiring Jeff Van Gundy over Mike Dunleavy. the list goes on.
hmm.. i'm the first to critcize yao but i wouldnt make that trade. Yao is much more versatile than Amare. we could bring in Kelvin Cato again and somewhat fill in what Amare would do at the same time keeping yao. I only advocate the Yao for KG trade. and for all of you sheep who think i hate yao. KG is at least one of the top five players in the nba. this implies that i think yao's stock is pretty damn high.
Amare played 2 seasons without Nash and did quite well. Without Nash last season he averaged about 21/9. Not shabby. I love Yao. I'm glad we have him. But let's not pretend that Amare can't play...because he can.
