Hey guys, just heard a couple of things mentioned that involve the Rockets. First, NBA Fastbreak had Ric Bucher on commenting about a few "hot stories" around the league, and the Yao Ming story was one of them... Bucher said that China (as was mentioned in another thread) have released a statement saying that Yao Ming is "expected" to play in the Asian games. When he was asked as to "what should Yao do in this situation?", Rich Bucher answered that he believes that while Yao Ming is a "very loyal" individual and would fulfill his duties to the CNT, he thinks that Yao should refuse to report and stay here in the USA to work on his game and his conditioning, possibly even going to work out at UCLA to improve his speed and stamina. He thinks Yao would benefit playing against NBA level talent in the summer. The other interesting piece came up as I was watching the "Best Damn Sports Show", when the panel was discussing the Dallas-Phoenix series. John Sally picked up on something interesting that we on the BBS have, coincidentally, been talking about lately, and that is he made an outright comparison between Amare Stoudamire and Hakeem Olajuwon, saying that he believes the Suns' future is bright because Amare is "the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon". So thought this was a rather interesting comment, considering that we have been debating this in another thread for a couple of days now (Could Sally be a lurking member of this board? ) Oh, and just a quick mention, SportsCenter had the "top plays" of the postseason so far, and T-Mac's dunk over Bradley was the number one play of the playoffs, and Stuart Scott capped it by saying: "Oh my God! I mean, he put his nut-sack on his back!" Just wanted to pass these on, I know there is nothing "news-worthy" here, but thought I would share them and waste a thread while I am at it
Amare will fade in a few years. Rarely does someone who just has a face-fronting game last as a big man. Quickness and hops go south year by year, and if you don't have skills, you will be done... Hakeem was a great center from the get go, his game really didn't evolve, he had crazy moves even back in college. People forget that and start making comparisons too quickly
Yes siree Bob! That is why I had the going, because I was asking myself, "Can he say that on air?!" But I was cracking up for a few minutes afterwards, it was just hilarious!
So he will fade away in a decade from now is what you are saying? Amare will develop shots/skills in the next few years, don't worry, I am sure he will actually have time to practice during the summer, while Yao is back home playing in some meaningless games against crappy competition to fill up the CBA officials' pockets with cash That is why I am always reluctant to go with foreign players that have other commitments back home, it really is a major annoyance. Amare will continue to get better and Yao will continue to struggle for the first two months of every season trying readjust to NBA competition after playing with high school-level competition in China.
umm...the most Shawn Kemp EVER averaged in a season was 20ppg in 1998-99 with the Cavs, he averaged about 18 ppg in his prime. Amare is straight out of high school and in his 2nd season he was a 21ppg scorer, and making the jump to 26 ppg in his 3rd season, to go along with 9 rpg. They might be similar in style, but to say that Kemp is anywhere near Amare as a player is disingenuous at best. Stop the Amare hating guys, and check your facts before you make these comparos.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I can understand the comparisons between Amare and a young Hakeem on the offensive end. However, unless Amare develops some semblance of defensive intensity, he'll never be Hakeem. Remember, Hakeem was already an absolutely monster on defense before he even developed his low post moves. The greatest players play on both ends of the floor. So far, Amare only plays on one.
Amare is not or never will be in the atmosphere that Hakeem was in. Amare can't hold Hakeem's jockstrap. He'll be the Shawn Kemp at the end of his career getting lobs from McDonalds. Just wait and see.
You get the prize! Hakeem's main claim to fame was his defense, rebounding, blocking shots and steals. Amare may approach his skills on the offensive end if he works at it and get a patented move that doesn't depend on him having the best PG in the league; however , he is a long way from HO in defense skills. Think how many points Yao could average with Nash dishing him the ball.
Have to disagree with you there Tiger. I'd like to see Shawn Kemp's numbers if he had played in the Phoenix offense with a MVP ball distributor. Nothing against Payton, but he liked to shoot more than pass. I think the Kemp analogy is a good one. Of course, I don't think being comparable to Kemp in his prime is a bad thing at all. If Kemp hadn't gone out and gotten fat, he could have had a whale of a career.
Kemp was never the prime scorer on his team because he never played with a pure point guard. But he did shoot a high percentage, if he had a point guard like Nash on his team, he could been a superstar. Amare doesn't have the footwork Hakeem had. Maybe Karl Malone is a better comparison, a good finishers around the rim with a well built body, playing with a great point guard. Hack, they even share the same annoying personality.
Amare's game reminds me of Moses Malone more than Hakeem. Malone played a lot facing the basket as does Amare; Hakeem played with his back to the basket. End of comparison for now. Amare has a long way to go.
I wasn't sure if we could say "nutsack" on this forum, let alone national TV. The word is not very descriptive and it doesn't involve any forbidden words, but I highly doubt than you can say it on TV. Then again, Sportscenter could have bleeped it or they could have removed that sentence. It's interesting to see if they'll say it on today's repeats of Sportscenter. Can anybody check? Was this towards the end of the show?
