last time I checked, Spur go 4-1 on the suns. WHen it's the last time Amare shoot 13/14 from the field? so who's better shooter. I remember most of the time Rockets owned Suns, Yao owned Amare. Dare I say if Yao was in Spurs line up, Amare won't be as effective.
I'd say Amare creates his own shot very well. He can face up on just about any big in the league from 15 feet, and get to the rim for a bucket or FTs. Amare scores 35, but gives up 31. I think he can be a very good defensive player, he just has to put the effort into it. Remember the game saving blocks on Duncan in this series, and Brad Miller against Sacto in the regular season? He has the ability, he just needs to mature and realize that scoring 40 doesn't mean a win.
No joke! KG is easily better on offense because of his versatility and skill set. There's no one his size that can play the point, no one with as many post moves, and nobody that can pass as well as him at his size. Dirk, I will conceed, is not as good but still a great offensive player when he's not getting punked out of a series.
wow, many of you r just so fair and cool. just hope when in toyota center u could be more mean than now. that would give the rockets some 'home court advantage', i believe.
Yeah, who the hell is saying that Amare is better than KG? Are you guys freaking out of your minds? Do you realize what you are saying? KG destroys double and triple teams while Amare still doesnt know what those are. Amare numbers get inflated because teams know that if they let him get his but shut down the suns 3pt shooting and their other players they win. Look how much attention marion got this series and nash and joe. It seemed defensively they got more attention than Amare. Spurs just let Duncan handle Amare as best as he could. Also you have to remember that Duncan is still not a 100%. He just came off his injury in the first round of the playoffs. Stopping Amare was only the 3rd priority for the spurs this series. Right behind 1. keeping Marion off the boards and have Bowen hound him on defense and 2. Make sure Nash doesnt create and get Q and others involved from 3 pt land. During the regular season, Suns put up as many 3's as anyone. But this series the spurs shut them down and beat them.
Nash made Dirk's life a lot easier. Did you watch this year's playoffs, compared to prior ones? As a scoring big man, you would need a post-up game if you are routinely double teamed. Due to the Suns offense and Nash, Amare is rarely in that position (double teamed). Other PF's (KG and Dirk) can get away with less of a post up game because their jumpers are money. Wade can create his own shot, was leading his team in the playoffs last yr without Shaq and has 2 postseason victories this year without Shaq. Perfect post Fuzzybear!! Francis 4 Prez Yes, I watched the game today. I also watched the entire series. How many times was Amare doubled, in this game or that series?
Whats funny about this whole thing is that how people were saying Amare and Yao were evenly matched during the regular season which by the way, their matches with each other had shown that neither player could guard one another. Now that Amare played great in the playoff vs the Spurs, these same people began to think Amare is a lot better than Yao. The only way to truely tell which player is better is when both players play the same team and that its not fair to Yao to compare his game to Amare's game vs the Spurs. Sure Amare played great against Duncan but the fact is, we don't know how Yao would fare against the Spurs in the playoff. I think its fitting for Amare to have the game that he has vs the Spurs regardless of Nash b/c it was fast pace and was playing their own style of basketball...and Duncan admitted himself that they beat the Suns at their own game. I'm not shock or surprise at all to see Amare avg. 30pts and 2/3 blk in the series. Judging from the regular season, Yao could hold his own agaisnt Duncan and company and that Duncan was only slightly better statistically b/c he is a good rebounder. So, who know how Yao would fare against the Spurs in the playoff and the fact that both the Rockets and the Spurs play a half-court game it would benefit Yao I think. If you guys want to compare their game then use the Dallas Maverick series where both player had to go up against. Judging from that series both player had a good series. Yao didn't really play great in the two game vs Dallas but neither did Amare...If I remembered correctly Amare was a no show in that series until the very last game where he exploded for 35+pts. But man, did you already forgot that Yao exploded in game 5 of that series where he nearly took the game upon himself in the 4th qtr in Dallas? Where it stand now, its to early to tell which player is actually better, therefore I declare they're even at the moment. In terms of a team game, than of course Amare gets the nod since his team advance to the next round, but lets wait another 3/4 years to see how these two players stack up vs other team and what impact they have on their respective team.
Amare is quick to dunk. I did see some good passing, but I believe that the surrounding team exploited his positives. When we fill in the last few pieces of the Rockets, Yao Ming will make all centers look like rookies.
Yao is DEFINITELY better at changing light bulbs. I think the question is not so much "who is a better player" as it is "who is more valuable to their team". Would the Rox be better with Amare than with Yao (long term)? Maybe not. I think Phoenix, though is MUCH better off with Amare than Yao. Don't think I wiould want to give up Yao, even for Amare. That said, I absolutely love Amare's game. If he develops over time like Dream, he's going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Believe me, if teams could double team Amare, they would. They guy makes it so difficult because he's always so active. He's never stationary. With players like Shaq and Yao, you know exactly where they're going to be on the floor, left block. It's easy to design a defensive scheme that takes post players like Shaq and Yao out of the game. For a player like Amare it's much more difficult, because you never know where he's going to attack. And as soon as Amare gets the ball, he doesn't wait for the double team. He attacks immediately. For the same reason it's difficult to double team guards, it's difficult to double team Amare. Bill Walton said Amare will revolutionize the way big men play the game and I think that statement if very true. With all of the rule changes, the traditional big man that plays with their backs to the basket and gets double teamed (Shaq, Barkley, etc.) are slowly being phased out. There are going to be more and more big men like Amare that play a face up game, because it's so much more difficult to shut down these type of big men with double teams.
Okay. How long can Amare keep this athleticism? He's only 23. I don't think he can maintain it...but he'lld evelop in other ways. If Suns drafted Yao and we drafted Amare, we would be good with Amare and Tmac..and Suns would be good too. of course roster wouldn't be exactly the same. I'm happy with Yao. I'm surprised by all the jump hooks he makes. He drives and spins and makes the hooks consistently. And jump shots go in. JJ screwed them over twice in the 4th quarter btw
I like Yao and am a huge Rox fan, but anyone who would rather have Yao than Amare is out of their mind. Yao's max potential = less athletic version of Kareem abdul Jabbar. Amare's max potential = best power forward to ever play the game. I just watched the old Hakeem video (http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?threadid=97078) and honestly, it is not that far of a stretch to see Amare doing the things that Hakeem did, from an athletic standpoint. In college, Hakeem had few of his classic post moves, and lived off of incredible athleticism, remarkable quickness, and great instincts. If you watch Amare, he is dominating the NBA game with those same skills that Hakeem did, and just like Hakeem, this is before he even really knows how to play. Amare also shows several of the characteristics that make it likely he's going to get a lot better. 1) He has outstanding handle on the ball, which is what allows him to catch and finish so effectively. This means that when he develops some real post moves, he's unlikely to turn into one of those guys flustered by double teams. 2) His shooting has noticably improved in the last couple of years. On occasion, he even shoots 3 pointers, and he looks natural doing it. A big man with a reliable jump shot, good driving skills, and good finishing skills can not be stopped. Remember those pull up jumpers Hakeem used to shoot in his later career? There was no one in the league who could guard them. 3) An incredible will to win. Read his stats the last few series, in the biggest games he's ever played, and consider how he handled post-game questions. He's not going to be the kind of player who folds or stops trying to improve. 4) Likely improvements on defense. Consider the spectacular blocked shot on Duncan at the end of Game 4. You can't teach a guy to be able to do that kind of thing. All Amare needs to do is learn some timing and understanding of half court offenses. Anyway, before anybody accuses me of being a Suns fan in disguise... GO ROCKETS!
Dream was raw, but he was a defensive beast from day 1. Please stop comparing Amare to him. Best PF to ever play the game? I guess you just forgot about the PF that just beat him 4-1, or that other that can do it all (KG).
Nothing good to add to this thread, but HA HA SUNS LOST!! With the Suns fast tempo game and NO defence we have the NEW LOOK SAC KINGS... Welcome to the era of only getting thier fans hopes up with nothing but painful exits in the playoffs... THIS JUST IT....YOU CANT WIN IF YOU WONT PLAY -D-!!! HAHHAAH, LMAO.. all this still doesnt change the fact that they got a HELLA lot better in a hurry, but they are still gonna have problems... next year will tell alot if they will be consistanly a winning team for years to come, same goes for the Sonics.. YEAH I'M A HATER!!
Amare did not perform well when Nash was out earlier this season, no one can argue that. But he did get his no matter what Nash did against the Spurs. Nash didn't exactly help Amare out every game this series having some very sub par performances in a couple of games. Amare scored over thirty every game. That being said, Yao is still one of the most efficient scorers this league has ever seen and considering Amare still doesn't play the best defense, I wouldn't say Amare would be a slam dunk pick over Yao. Yao is still a tough match-up for every center not named Shaq.
Why is everyone on Amare's jock even though his team dropped 3 straight home games and lost the series in 5?! Do you know in the regular season, Amare average 11 more points versus the Spurs than he did the Rockets? The Spurs didn't care if Amare got his. They knew Nash and the 3 point shooters were still the key. You have the #1 team in the NBA and it's not really a series and all anyone wants to talk about is how Amare is gonna be the best PF in the NBA. Amare's good, he's better than Yao right now, but not by the miles and miles that some posters here think. Like many, I believe if Yao gets a real offseason, he'll improve greatly. Did anyone also think that this might be the worst Rockets team we have in the next 3-5 years (if Yao re-signs and our offseason options) and with Nash getting older and their money tied up, the Suns may have peaked?
Amare right now is ten times the player Yao can ever hope to become. Amare is dominating against some of the best PFs to ever play the game. Yao is playing agianst the sorriest crop of centers in league history (aside from Shaq, whom he only plays twice a season) and still cannot seem to put up half the numbers Amare puts up. In a must win for the Suns Amare put up 41 and 16 against Duncan and the best defensive team in the league. Yao, meanwhile put up 30 in a 40pt loss against the scrubs of the mavs in garbage time. Amare is a the real All star and all nba team player.
Dude, you are just obsessed. Do you ever post anything that doesn't have to do with Yao: http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=46339 Apparently not.
Well Bird and Magic could be said to be in Hakeem's generation. But it was just a rhetorical comment about passing up someone really good (Jordan, Amare) for somebody that wasn't as good but still spiffy (Hakeem, Yao).
Be honest, if Amare's team were the one eliminated in the first round, and Yao was playing in the Western Conference finals, averaging 37 points a game against the best defense in the league, would you say Yao is only slightly better than Amare? I think that with all of the valuable playoff experience that Stoudamire has gained this postseason he's now one level above Yao. There are all-star level players (Brand, R.Wallace), superstars (Dirk, LeBron), and mega-superstars (Duncan, Garnett). Amare (along with Wade) are superstar players looking to head into "mega-superstardom" next season. Yao is an all-star caliber player hoping to be a superstar next season. I don't know if that's "miles and miles" better, but the difference is not insignificant.
