Someone at ESPN is saying that the Warriors should have picked Garnett, 76ERS should have picked Kobe and the Rockets should have pick Stoudemire
Enough with this Yao vs. Amare crap, "Draft Do-Overs" & such....... I look at it this way: Its like asking a Rockets fan if they could re-do the '84 draft if they would still take Hakeem over MJ. Sure, you could have gotten the better play but what's happened, has happened---and the bottom line is you're happy with what you got. Only difference here is both stars are still very young with their futures still ahead of them with no telling what will happen.
I'm glad we got Yao. He is a great player. The funny thing is that before we won the lottery the rockets already wanted Amare, so if we got to pick as eights we would have selected Amare, and everybody would say how good the rockets are in drafting, instead of the arguments we hear about how terrible we are, and that yao was an obious choise(i do remember alot of posters who wanted to trade the draft pick for Odom )
You don't pass on a 7'6'' player with skills. I think the gamble has payed off, no matter what EScraPN says.
I serioulsy doubt that writer understand what post play means. Yao is a really polished post player in which when he gets the ball in the post, it's pretty much a score. Amare could not get anything in the post if people are really challenging him because he needs to practice more post plays.
LOL, I don't know why that's so funny. Maybe it's the look on Horry's face, or the sadness you can see in JJ. Pugs
Am I the only one with ESPN Insider? Sheesh. (Glad I don't pay for it, though.) Amare as the #1 pick in 2002: If you want to know why NBA execs keep picking so many high schoolers, just check out these lists. Stoudemire, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett ended up being the best players in their draft class. Rashard Lewis, Jermaine O'Neal, Al Jefferson and Josh Smith all rank very high as well, and none were lottery picks. Stoudemire was a shaky Rookie of the Year choice over Yao in 2002-03, but since then has cemented his status as the 2002 Draft's best player with a 26.0 point per game eruption in '04-05. Yao as the #2 pick in 2002: The top overall pick has lived up to his billing, more or less, making the All-Star team each season while providing some of the most bizarre interview translations in NBA history. He's taken some unfair criticism for not becoming a top-tier superstar, but the question is whether he's hit his ceiling yet – figuratively, that is, not literally. To sum up the article for us Rockets fans: Rockets picks Jamal Crawford as the #9 pick (Rockets) in 2000. Tyson Chandler as the #7 pick (Rockets trade 3 to NJ) in 2001. Amare Stoudemire as the #1 pick (Rockets) in 2002. Rockets players Bob Sura as the #12 pick (Dallas) in 1995. Tracy McGrady as the #2 pick (Philadelphia) in 1997. Kelvin Cato as the #12 pick (Indiana) in 1997. Cuttino Mobley as the #10 pick (Boston) in 1998. Steve Francis as the #5 pick (Toronto) in 1999. Yao Ming as the #2 pick (Chicago) in 2002. Team Grades: 22. HOUSTON ROCKETS Best pick: Cuttino Mobley (No. 41, 1998) Worst pick: Jason Collier (No. 15, 2000) and Bostjan Nachbar (No. 15, 2002) Analysis: Houston's problem has been picking in the mid-to-late first round. In addition to Nachbar and Collier, there was Bryce Drew at no. 16 in 1998, Mirsad Turkcan two picks later, and Rodrick Rhodes in 1997. One exception was Kenny Thomas, an excellent call at No. 22 in 1999. Score: 0.41 Grade: C-
I guess everyone at ESPN is a Yao hater, too. They see everything I see, that Amare is far and away a better player than Yao and the Rox if had the Do-Over opportunity should have taken Amare.
I don't care for ESPN or their hind-sight. Their articles are as empty as Burman's dinner plate. I guess now that ESPN is moving most of the half-ass articles into the pay service, I'm a bit edgy. Ya think?
It was not a mistake for the Rockets management to take Yao over Stoudemire..........Yao sells millions of jerseys world wide,Yao got the Rockets a Chinese television deal and a Chinese beer sponsorship, neither has won a championship.... advantage Rockets.
Yao is also a fun guy to root for. Amare seems too full of himself. Amare has some good dunks. Big deal, that's why we have Tmac. I'd rather have Yao on the Rockets than Barry Bonds on the Astros. I hate that Barry Bonds guy. His head is big, he's not fan friendly and he's on roids. A high school kid in the NBA that can dunk, we already have that. A chinese dude that dribble behind his back? that's what I'd pay to see!
As a Rox fan, I couldn't are any less how many Jerseys Yao sells or about the Chinese TV deal. The only number I care about is the number in the win column and Amare's team had more than Yao's team. Yao flopped against the Dallas D, while Amare breezed through them and Put up 40- and 16 a night against the Spurs. If the managment cares more about merchandising and advertising then they made the correct pick but if they are truley serious about forming a championship team and a dynasty then they made a huge mistake.
It's a pipe dream, do-overs only happen in the csecret lottery room as witnessed by nba commsioner david stern and an accountant.
You know why Amare's team did better against Dallas? Im not worried about this team. The Rockets lost to Seattle in 92 in the playoffs. The lesson they learned from that season propelled them to the Finals in 93. Heroes will emerge next year!
I'm sure if we do a search, it'll say that I suggested Tayshaun Prince at 15. Or, maybe I kept that to myself.
Those guys told us to draft Jay Williams in 2002. And now they are jealous of Yao's success and say we should have picked Amare? ESPN is nothing but a bunch of losers.
