Is there any reason to keep posting stuff by Chad Ford? Whether he is a good or bad reporter, he gets way too much play on this board.
What a joke. Amare looked absolutely lost against Yao last night, especially on offense. I didn't see him make one shot on Yao, and that was one-on-one. To the Rockets, it was about finding someone to guard Amare. Yao did just fine. For the Suns, it was about scheming and having two or three defenders neutralizing Yao. And even then, he was getting right to the basket and having shots roll in and out. Saying Amare is a better center than Yao is a really pushing it, IMO. Amare is great because he has bigtime scoring threats all around him and gets matched up one-on-one with a physically inferior player 9/10 times. When Amare faces doubles before he even gets the ball and puts up the same numbers, then we'll talk.
Chad Ford is all about the sizzle and less about the steak. He is like a fish, he sees something glittery and it's hook in mouth. He is high on Stoudamire now because of his scoring a flashy dunks. And no question Amare is producing on the offensive end. But as pointed out already in this thread his defense leaves a lot to be desired. BTW, I threw Duncan in here as he is as much a center as Amare is in this case. PF/C, whatever. Post players.
With today's NBA and its lack of quality center maybe it is best to just lump the "PF" and "C" under another catergory - "BIGS". In the case case of "BIGS", here is my top 5.... (all around game including FT, rebounding, floor shooting, dominance and defense) 1. Tim Duncan 2. Nowitzki 3. Shaq (formerly my #1) 4. Kevin Garnet 5. Jermaine O'neal
Amare is better than Jermaine O'Neal. OT: WTF has happened to Yao? He looks worse than he did last season. Just seems to be going through the motions when I see him.
I disagree. I feel Jermaine is a better passer and a better defensive player. Amare has a higher ceiling than Jermaine from what I have seen already, but I dont think Amare is better than O'neal right now. Just my opinion.
Although Amare hsa no business going one on one with Yao and Shaq, he is able to dominate the other centers in the league. That will put him as the second best center in the league because Yao is not consistent against 3rd tier centers on a nightly basis.
You missed the whole point of my post. The point was that Yao isn't playing just against these 3rd tier centers you speak of, entire teams scheme to stop him. If teams did the same for Amare, doubling and tripling him constantly, he wouldn't dominate the other centers in the league. Period.
Well, Amare really isn't a center. He can't play center forever. Eventually they'll have to move him back to power forward, which is his natural position. The Suns are fun to watch, but they can't run to a championship. In order to become a legit contender, they have to get a true center sooner or later. But Ford is right on this one. If you look at all the players who are listed as centers this season, Amare is as good as anyone. His numbers are great and his teams are winning. It's hard to argue against that.
How often have you seen him this season and when was the last time be the game against Phoenix? And do you know he was very sick last week?
I cant believe nobody has brought up how freakin young Amare is! This guy should be a junior in college and he is scoring 26 ppg against men in the pros. If he doesn't get hurt, this guy is going to absolutely ridiculous in another three or four years. Although he is for sure a 4, I would be willing to bet he every big as big as Dream (MUCH bigger than Dream at 20)so he could play at the 5 without giving up too much at all. As far as he or Yao, I would go with Amare simply because it looks like his ceiling is higher at the moment. Yao just hasn't found a way to make himself a dominant player in today's NBA. 10 years ago Yao would have been much more effective against teams that play like this one or the 93 finals teams, teams that set up half court and grinded the game out. Todays 5s play from the perimeter or are just stiffs. Other than Shaq, Duncan, and now Stoudemire name 1 all-star that plays almost primarily in the post. The game has moved outside which takes away Yao's biggest plus, his tremendous size. Because of problems with Yao and the Rockets teams (02-now) we have been unable to consistently effective utilizing Yao's potential. Unless he becomes a player that is able to effect every game in the same way that Dream, Ewing, Robinson, Shaq, and now to certain extent Amare does, Yao is going to have trouble when comparing these two pleyers. He has got to make this style worth running for him.
Amare is nothing but a Shawn Kemp clone. As long as the guy maintains his speed, he'll have monster stats in the regular season. But what about the playoffs? And what happens when he slows down? I don't think the Amare trend will continue for much longer. He's a perfect fit for the system that Phoenix plays, but the Spurs would rip them apart in a 5 or 7 game series. And if he ever gets fat like Kemp, his career is over.
anybody who thinks that Yao is better than Amare right now is just a big time homer. Amare's aggressiveness is what all rocket's fans would like to see from Yao.
Offense? Amare can't hold Hakeem's jock. I don't think Amare can score against triple or quadruple teaming they way Hakeem consistently did. Plus Hakeem never had an All-Star pg to feed him the ball.
Spot on. Same skill set, and both of their successes depended largely on a superstar point guard (Payton; Nash) and great shooters (Schrempf, Hawkins, Perkins; QRich, Johnson, Jacobsen). Can either survive in the half-court oriented playoffs? Ehhhhhh... we'll see about that.
At 22 years old, he should be a senior in college. This guy will be ridiculous is another 3-4 years if he doesn't get hurt like what happened last season.
I agree with you man. I even said Stoudamire does not see those same double teams. And certainly defenses are not geared to stop him like they were Hakeem. And no one - I mean No One- could stop Hakeem with one man while the other night Yao was doing a damn fine job of shutting Stoudamire down with no help. Hakeem in that same situation - oh no, it wouldn't have been pretty - let me put it like that.
