Stoudamire for ROY is disappointing as a Rockets/Yao fan but not surprising. What is interesting however according to this report are the 19 voters that had Yao in THIRD place behind Butler and Stoudamire. Can a case be made that Butler did more for the Heat than Yao for the Rockets considering the entire package (stats, culture changes, previous training etc etc)? I say no! Makes me wonder what those voters were thinking when they cast their vote. Perhaps jealousy?
We've seen people bash Yao and downplay his accomplishments all year, so it doesn't surprise me that many voters would put him at 3rd.
SoSo Def76 Is a poster with no location, no age/birthday, no interests. Sounds like a Fan of the Suns to me!
Yao suffered from a lackluster April, no trip to the playoffs and all the hyperbole surrounding him. Stoudamire, like a lot of guys with his physical tools, wins the macho, oh-my-God-did-you-see-that-nasty-ass-dunk, Sportscenter highlight reel contest. That, as much as anything, wins ROTY voting. In so many ways, Yao was hard for American sportscasters and athletes to handle. He was giant so the inevitable comparison to clumsy, underweight freaks happened. He was from China so the "we're Americans, damnit" attitude played a part. He got crossed over by Stephon Marbury and it was oh-so-funny to late night sports anchors. He also had to take everyone's best game because with all the hype, every guy in the league wanted to posterize him and NO ONE wanted to be embarrassed by him. He had a huge hole to dig out of with all the predictions he would fail too. Many of the sportscasters are former athletes with egos the size of the Great Wall and the one's who aren't former athletes have egos that are even bigger. The last thing they EVER want to do is eat their words. The reality is that Yao and Amare played to a virtual standstill as rookies, but Stoudamire's team was better (albeit by only one game) and his highlights were flashier and came more often. There is no questioning Stoudamire's skill and he is deserving of the award. It's just a shame that the battle Yao faced came as much in the court of public opinion as it did on the actual basketball court.
who the **** is walter davis and why was he given the ROY over Tim Duncan. And why is Amare winning the award for Next season?
I would have voted for Amare over Yao, his team had a better year. Yao faded down the stretch and Amare did not. Both will be great in the long run..but Yao needs to be more aggressive if he wants to go further. By the way, Amare got most of those points NOT being the focal point of the offense...think about that.... Also Yao faded like a pair of acid washed 80s jeans. Yao needs to turn into....: YAO MEAN !!! DD
Anything to help bring about a coaching change, I'm in favor of happening. Even to get Rudy T to make a change of some kind would be an improvement.
It is supposed to be 1978 for Walter Davis. His rookie year he shot 53%, averaged 24.2 points, 6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. http://www.nba.com/suns/interactive/davis_transcript_010403.html B
All politics of the American player vs. the Chinese player and the flashy player vs. the finesse player aside, I honestly think Stoudamire will win, although I wouldn't be suprised if the NBA announced co-ROY's.
I agree with you Jeff, Amare was on sportscenter wth this dunk and that, but Yao did receive a lot of publicity also-- only it was a lot of off the court stuff. He is what many NBA players are not. Respectful, courteous, and polite both on and off the court. Hre does what is the best for the team and is willing to get "dunked-on" to assist the team defense. In many ways, its a catch-22, he loses a lot of points with his peers because he is not following the NBA norm of dunking, screaming, showing off, and Yao helps people up when they are knocked to the ground but the fans seem to enjoy his smile, grace, and humble attitude. STuart
whether he wins or not, the media perception of yao still came a long way. it was interesting to see how the media jumped on and off his bandwagon since he was drafted. after the draft and during the world championships, just about everyone was saying that he would be a bust (kenny smith, barkley, dick vitale, david aldrige, all the espn sportscasters, anyone on 'The Best Damn Sports Show Period', etc...). I remember ESPN interviewing Jay Williams after the US played China, making a big deal about how he was the 1st to dunk on Yao (even though Yao was 15 ft behing Williams when he dunked it). Then they were asking Williams if he thought Yao had what it takes to be a decent player in the NBA (as if Williams knew). anyway, it turns out Williams is the bust so far and Yao the star. then there was the first couple of games of the season. and more people jumped on the bandwagon calling him a bust. then yao had the monster game against dallas where he posterized Shawn Bradley, and all of a sudden, everyone was all over his jock. I think people got carried away after this game and the game against indiana where he had i think 29 pts and 18 rbs. I think he became a little overhyped after this one -- people saying he could be the best center ever. before you knew it, ESPN was complaining that the rockets werent passing the ball to Yao enough. looks like the media has come back down to earth a little now. its too bad. i think Yao deserved to be at worst co-rookie of the year. theres no way anyone can convince amare had a better rookie season or more of an impact than Yao.
Personaly if Yao wins the award I think Amare would have a bigger gripe than Yao if he wins the ROY. The stats are almost identical. If you give bonus points for the attention Yao has brought to the league, you have to give bonus points to Amare for doing all what he has done out of High School and his team did make the playoffs. If I wasnt a biased Rockets fan I'd probaly say Amare is more deserving. Im hoping for a Co-Roy but I have a feeling that Amare will win it outright. I dont see how anybody can complain if this is the case.
This is bull****. Yao plays with one fellow All-Star and constantly gets double and tripled teamed. Amare plays with TWO All-Stars and never gets double teamed. The PTS and REBS may be identical, but the FG and FT percentages are not even close. How about the passing and number of shots altered? Swap EG or Rice for Shawn Marion and which team do you think makes the playoffs?
Go ahead, Amare. Take your Rookie of the Year award. See you in the Western Conference Finals in a few years when Yao Ming is dusting your ass. I was one of the people that argued the award depended on the playoff berth. But I have seen Amare play in so much garbage time in situations when Yao would be laughing with Steve on the bench...it creates a descrepency, you know?
Good recap. Sometimes you just wonder what's the standard to award ROY. It seems to be a trendy thing to do to vote for Amare as ROY, just to show that I am the wise guy againist the popular hype. The hype around Yao Ming is hurting him right now I think. Look at Amare's game and Yao's game. Except that game tiring shot Amare made against spurs, he can only score basically within 6 foot of basket. He is quick to get rid of the ball when he catches it down there. But the guy is not a complete basket ball player. One may argue that Shaq isnt one either. But Amare is taking advantage of opponent's attension on Marion and Marbulry. The guy cant make things happen when he's handed the ball first. Sun's offense still centers around Marion and marbulry. Yao has a complete game, because he can make things happen for his teammate, and his game isnt just one demensional as Amare's. I dont think I need to say this anymore. My point is while Ming's stats clearly has edge over Amare, and he earn his stats by being the offense starter of the team, getting opponent's attention with double tripple teamed, why media think Amare should win ROY.
Someone said it earlier. If the Suns offered us Amare for Yao we would turn it down...if we offered Yao for Amare they would jump at it. Yao is a harder find, but be honest, Amare is AWESOME and he is only 20...don't you wish EG played like that? DD
