but only dumb people say those things, I don't understand the effort people make in actually analyzing extensively the assumptions that casual observers and r****ded sportswriters make (with no offense to people with DS).
Normalization of numbers - the great equalizer. Gotta love it. Y'all need to get off this Amare vs. Yao kick - you're grasping for straws.
What great PG did Hakeem have at his peak? What great PG did Shaq have at his peak? What great PG did Tim Duncan have? What great PG did David Robinson have? What great PG did Patrick Ewing have? This may be a reach, but do you see greatness at PG in Indiana with Jermaine O'Neal playing the post? Amare and Hakeem similar? Funny. I could've been running the point and Hakeem would've still been an elite player. Great players are great players because they are great. Great players make other players good. They don't rely on other players to make them great. Yao's biggest problem is consistency. Once he gets over that he will be greater than Amare. Unless Amare improves his range even further. Yao should be unstoppable. If he gets his turnaround and other shots off as quickly he did the last game, he will be. Anybody that gets 26 pts and 9 rebs a night should get his props and Amare deserves it.
LOL - the per 48 minutes arguments just don't make too much sense. Being able to play 40+ minutes should be a positive - especially with a foul-plagued guy with stamina problems. I think some of us are intrigued by the Amare vs. Yao arguments because we honestly feel that Yao is getting shortchanged in media. While the players are arguably equal in value, Amare is considered a stellar MVP candidate by some, while Yao is considered the "most disappointing player in the league". I honestly think Phoenix Suns would seriously consider a one-for-one trade.
Let me tell you the while story then..... I agree he's a great athelet and it's very convincing that he finally finds his midrange game. But his poor low-post move and defense prevent me call his a "great" bball player. Sorry about that!
Offensively speaking, Amare has the aggresiveness of a very young Akeem. But,...he does not rebound as well and his defense is not even in the same galaxy as Dreams was.
There's a pretty simple way to look at this: Would you trade Yao for Amare straight up?? I, for one, would not. IMHO, over the long haul Yao will impact the game in ways that Stoudamire will not. Kind of tortoise and the hare....and the hare has the lead after the first turn - but it's a long race. D R
Yeah, that's why I said it was a reach. He's good, but if you look at his assist totals lately they aren't overly impressive. Jermaine gets his points with or without Tinsley running the show.
Jermaine is primarily a jumpshooting center. They don't need a good entry-passer to get him the ball. Entry-pass becomes very hard with the new rules, even Shaq doesn't get the ball nearly enough.
I hope they revert to the illegal defense rule, or Yao should be allowed to play in both low AND high post.
Amare is extremely ATHLETIC and will be a great player for years to come but so will YAO. Personally, I would take YAO b/c he can play in the low post AND shoot the outside shot. From what I have seen of Amare, alot of his baskets come in transition with easy dunks created by Nash. No one should diss Amare as he is very talented but to compare him to dream is unfair. He reminds me of a Shawn Kemp (his Seattle days not his overweight Cleveland and Orlando days). Peace.
Wow, that line looks EERILY familiar But in all honestly, instead of then averaging on a per-minute basis, I'd point out that Amare shoots 9 free throws a game and Yao shoots closer to 4 free throws a game. Give Yao another 5 or so free throws, and those lines become CLOSE!
Enough with this Garbage Amare Stoudamire is the most one dimensional player in the NBA. Sure he makes highlights everynight with his dunks. blah blah blah. But give me a break, what 6 foot 10 inch player doesn't stay back to grab rebounds but instead sprints down the court for an easy dunk. If Yao snowbirded all game he could score 26 points a game also. He should be averaging tons of rebounds per game but he is always cherry picking. Any shot he takes outside of a dunk is gonna be a miss. When Yao was gaurding him and playing off he only scored a total of 1 point. People can talk all they want about Amare but he will never win a Championship. He's all highlights. I'd much rather have Yao, even thought he is not as athletic, he plays the Defense that helps us win the games. Watching Yao sometimes makes me angry because he helps out way too much. But that is still much better than Amare. There is no comparison, Amare may always have better numbers, but come playoff time Yao is gonna be the player we need.
