You have not convince me of anything. Yao was still robbed of the ROY award, PERIOD. I do agree that Lebron was and still better than Melo.
If Yao got all the calls and asslicking treatment by the refs that Duncan gets and has been consistently getting since his rookie year, then Yao would probably still be playing right now. And unlike Amare, he would more than likely not be down 0-3.
Even without Nash around to spoonfeed him, Amare was able to average 20 ppg last season, which is something Yao has yet to do. It just seems to me that Amare has a much better knack for scoring the basketball around the goal than Yao at this point in their respective careers, no small part of which has to do with Amare's ridiculous athleticism.
Yao has better post games thus resulting his higher shooting percentage. Also Yao is a better FT shooter.
I don't think this is true at all. Granted he gets a lot of points from pick and rolls and fast breaks, but he also creates a ton of his own shots too. It looks deceptive because when he's in the post, he doesn't try to back his way down. But that's because he starts out with great positioning already. All he has to do is turn around and dunk it or shoot a little baby shot. The key is that he knows how to get great positioning. And did you see him block Tim Duncan's dunk today. That was unbelievable.
The difference between Duncun and Amare is this: Duncun has game that's built around his size and skills. Duncun beats people with a nearly impossible to defend bank shot. Amare is electrifying, but his game is built around his athelticism and energy. Those things fade with time. Great players need to have more then that to last. When your patented shot is a dunk and you aren't a freak of all the freaks like Shaq or Yao, you will eventually be in trouble when age catches up even slightly. Amare in four or five years will be on the decline. He's still be useful in a role-player type role, but he's on his way down unless he develops a more complete game outside the paint. Amare isn't Shaq.....but he just might be the next Shawn Kemp or Vin Baker. Guys like Duncun and Yao will last a long time, because their games aren't solely dependant on athletism (in fact, one could argue that Yao's game just isn't dependent on athleticism).
Having watched Yao over the last three seasons like most of you have, I think I've got a pretty good idea of what player he's going to be for the next 8 or 9 seasons. I guess we could realistically say that Yao and McGrady are going to play together for the next 5 or 6 years, and that they're going to have to have another major piece to seriously contend with SA(atleast until Duncan declines). I have a pretty good feeling about Spannoulis, but I don't know if he will be enough. Not having a first rounder the last couple of years really puts a lot of pressure on this year's pick.
Time will tell if Amare can develop a more complete game. But he is showing signs that he is. Now, he can hit the mid-range shot when his feet are set. He couldn't do that in his rookie year. And about Yao - I'm not sure he'll last as long as you think. Forget that he plays basketball all year around, but if he gets even slower than he is now (due to age), that'll seriously limit what he can do no matter how complete his game is.
How the Hell was Yao "robbed"? Amare and Yao put up the exact same sats. Amare's team made the playoffs. Yao faded down the stretch. Stoudemire deserved to win ROY. That's not to say Yao was undeserving, or less deserving, but to suggest that Stoudemire didn't deserve to win the award is idiotic. What's also idiotic is to criticize Amare for getting "spoonfed" his points, all the while singing the praises of Yao Ming. HELLO! Yao was assisted on 72% of his FGMs! Amare was only assisted on 60% of his FGMs! I don't have a problem with homerism, but I do have a problem with blind ignorance.
Blind ignorance??? Whats blind ignorance was how the idiots who voted amare to get the award justified thier decision on the suns getting into the playoffs and the rockets did not. Okay, fine.... Yao and amare both had the same stats as u pointed out, lets flash forward to one year later. Melo and Lebron. which one got the award??? sure as hell was not the guy who got into the playoffs, but the guy who went fishing that year in a weak azz conference. HELLO!!! its late i'm tired, so sorry if i offended u with my "blind ignorance" caused by your hardon for amare, but u can say the same for me about Yao or any of the Rockets.
Amare has proven to be the better player so far, so the judges of the rookie of the year award, are looking pretty good so far. Amare is playing better or as good as Duncan right now.
LeBron put up better numbers last year and is putting up better numbers this year, and he's CLEARLY been the better player for the past two seasons. Yao Ming was not clearly a better player than Amare Stoudemire in 2003. How the Hell was Yao more deserving than Amare of the ROY Award?
Amare is pure athletic...Yao has skill, if I had to do it all over again, I would draft Yao every single time. Amare cannot create his own shot, how many times have you seen him get the ball from Nash on a pick and roll and just kind of throw the ball at the rim and have it go in. If the ball doesnt go in, Amare has the athleticism to get the board 9 out of 10 times. The day Amare can hit a turn around fadeaway consistently I will have to re-evaluate the situation.
Amare's a great player who has put up some monster games in the playoffs. I do think he's overrated though. Lots of people think he's a rebounding and shot-blocking machine. He's not a center and just doesn't have the same defensive presence that a true big man would have. While it's fair to say that Tim Duncan can be/is a great center - the same just isn't true for Amare. He's a tremendous power forward playing out of position. I'm sure the Suns would be a lot happier moving Stoudemire to a true forward position while nabbing someone like Dalembert to start as center.
I love both Amare's and Yao's games, and reading the debate here is awesome. But you cannot predict how much better Amare is going to get. He is so young, his body will grow and get stronger and he seems to want to improve his game. The sky is truly the limit for him. In 4-5 years, he will be 25 years old and one monster of a player! The only "role" he will "play" is that of a superstar. I feel confident he will develop a consistent medium jump by then as he realizes physical effort and talent will only get him so far (which very far). He has also made it plain he doesn't want to play center next year. The Suns will oblige. What that does to their "run at all costs" style remains to be seen because Amare playing center is a key to it. Who will come out of their starting lineup to accomodate a true center? Marion or Q? Another question: What power forwards can guard Amare? Not many. Yao will also continue improving. He will correct some of his glaring weaknesses (like dumb fouls & silly turnovers) and his increased playing time will itself better his stats. While he will never be the mean, ruthless assassin we want him to be, I expect him to adapt more to the NBA style. One aspect of Yao's game almost lost this year was his passing; I hope he brings that back next year. No matter what JVG says, Yao's overseas committments hinder his NBA development and the tremendous pressure he will be under building up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics will especially hamper him big time. I guess Yao's offseason issues bother me more than most people. With all I've heard about Bird, Magic, MJ, Hakeem, Karl Malone, KG, Reggie Miller, etc working out and improving over the summer, Yao is losing out.
He is young...but I just don't see his game as being versitle...or even flashes of it. But maybe i'm wrong, I was wrong about Yao so...call it my gut sense. I don't know if gaining weight is the key for this guy right now...especially if he's going to play a more definitive pf. I just see Amare as a player who benefits a great deal from his teammates, but not a guy who can carry his team when they will need an offensive score.
