18 "basketball experts" voted Yao Ming #3 ROY: The final votes

Voting was pretty close.

I can't believe Manu got 1 second place vote.

 

and some genius didn't have Amare in the top three???

 

I'd love to meet those 18.

 

To be honest i wanted yao ming to win the ROY, but its not that big of a deal.

But I cant believe that 18 people didnt think that he was at least the 2nd best rookie that played this year. Oh well, I hope this really pisses him off and he comes back with a vengence next year.

 

Racism is a b****.

 

Yes, that must be a major factor. You can't get rid of that completely anywhere you go; but it is obviously not too serious in our country as the votes were so close.

 

Amare got lucky because he is American. Yao is a foreigner. It would make sense for the American media to back Amare up. That support could be the small determining factor in the votes.

Just to vent:

AMARE SUCKS! ALL HE CAN DO IS DRIVE TO THE RIGHT AND DUNK. THEN DUNK SOME MORE, SOME MORE, then SOME MORE. HE CAN'T SHOOT THE JUMPSHOT, THE BASIC SKILL OF THE GAME, HE CAN'T EVEN DRIVE TO THE LEFT PROPERLY. HE HAS NO SKILLS, ONLY ATHLETICISM AND CAN ONLY PLAY 5 FEET FROM THE BASKET.

HE SUCKS. YAO DESERVED ROY.

 

Pau Gasol won it last year. He's from Spain.

Why does it have to be the race card? I think lots of people just started to get swayed to Amare for some reason. He was like a sleeper pick, or an underdog. When the guys at TNT all picked Amare, that was a warning sign. But they still got it wrong.

 

The fact that amare only had one move makes him seem even more amazing. He was able to average the same amount of points as Yao, with only a right hand. Once he develops some more moves and a jumper, he could be as good if not better than yao, who has played professionally already for many years, and doesn't have as much upside left.

 

18 "basketball experts " are politicans.If they all work in company and they choose Amare as 1st pick,they all lose their job.Their boss ask them why all of you are so stupid?

 

Are you trying to tell me that playing in China League is better prepared for the NBA than playing in US highschool?

 

I would think that 5 years of Professional basketball at any level would prepare someone for the NBA better than 2 years in high school hoops.

 

I do not think race is the reason Yao lost, but i also think it's naive to think it wasn't a reason at all. Last year Gasol was clearly the winner...had there been a legit contender, and especially had there been a developed rivalry with a good ol' American who puts up similar stats, and we might be talking a different story.

Additionally, Gasol was never seen as the threat Yao was. He wasn't 1st overall pick, and was a last minute riser to go as high as he did. He didn't get anywhere near the race-related negative press early on that Yao did...look back at all the idiots on ESPN boards if you forget what I'm talking about. And he didn't get anywhere near the same numbers of 'experts' predicting doom for him that Yao had...most of whom had hardly seen him play, if at all. And what were the 2 most often cited reasons for his foreseen failure? His height and his race...or culture, if you will. Vaguely defined 'He's not from a basketball land...*read America*'..."He comes from a culture that emphasizes being 'nice'..' and ' My Granny could average 30 ppg against the Chinese' comments...

You think that the thinking behind these kind of comments just went away when Yao did well? You think that people didn't resent his success, and even more the attention he got?

If nothing else I think that Yao's race was a huge effect for this reason: He was an All-Star because of it, he was the most publicized player because of it, he was a walking press conference because of it, and because of it he generated a lot of sullen resentment; Howveer nice people think he might be personally, many resented him seeming to get more praise because he's Chinese...and so because he's Chinese many fely sympathy for Amare and others in comparison.

And then there is just plain old cookie cutter bigotry.

 

Give me a break with all of the racism and foreigner claims as the reason Yao did not get ROY. Amare's team made the playoffs and were 8 games better than last year. That is the biggest reason why Yao didn't win it outright or why they didn't share it.

Yes, I know we were 15 games better than last year, but we also had a healthy Steve Francis which played a BIG part in that turnaround. I would wager my left nad that if the Rockets made the playoffs we would be talking about Yao being ROY.

 

Yeah why didn't you tell that to all those people pre-draft?

 

I think in one of the Arizona papers it stated that all that gave Caron the top vote, gave Amare the 2nd and Yao third... makes you wonder.

-G'day-

 

Ya'll are right. It was a definate racial issue. It had nothing to do with the fact their stats were almost identical and they were battling each other for the last playoff, and Amare staying consistent helping to get his team over the hump and into the playoffs while Yao completley faded and is now watching the playoffs with his team. I see no way a voter could look at it like this to help decide his vote. It makes no sense. They should have just given it to Yao because anything else is blatant racism.

 

I talked to a bunch of black friends of mine and they thought it was racism too. Or at least they thought the fact that a lot of the voters were black meant they thought of Amare as one of their own and wanted him to win.

But I guess that's pretty much the history of the world so what are you gonna do?

 

I don't mind Amare winning it because it was certainly too close either way.

However, what does it say when almost every NBA player, coach, or announcer interviewed all made their claim for Amare Stoudemire. Shaq, Kobe, The entire Cleveland Cavalier team, Sean Elliott, Barkley, Kenny Smith, Magic Johnson, Doc Rivers, etc... do we see a pattern here?

Wasn't it Vlade Divac that thought Yao deserved it more? and he's from?

Did Amare deserve it? Sure, certainly as much as Yao deserved it.
Was Amare clearly superior? No, not as the informal poll of players would indicate.

And as the thread title states, did Caron Butler deserve it more than Yao?

It's not racism in the standard form with the negative connotations. It's the same racism, or perhaps favoritism, that could be expected within the NBA family.