I don't it's that Yao isn't as aggressive. Bottom line, he's not the athlete that Amare is. He isn't explosive and not quick at all. It takes him forever to get off the ground.Maybe because of that, it looks like he's not aggressive. I think we just have to get used to that. I do think he is a smarter player than Amare is. Amare is a monster though.
Yet Nash still averaged 11 dimes a game? The Spurs geared their defense to shut the Suns 3 point shooters. They were comfy with Amare shredding them as long as Q and Marion were held in check, and the plan was a blocked shot away from resulting in a sweep. Let me clarify....Yao is better at creating his own shot than Amare. He is not as dependent on someone creating a shot for him (ala Nash). He is doubled on a consistent basis (Amare rarely is) and is better at creating shots for teammates (i.e. it's easier to build a system around him).
Um, how about grabbing over 10 boards a game. How about dropping over 5 dimes. How about being the #1 option and doubled on the reg, creating shots for others. How about being a better defender. How about winning more than 1 game in the WCF last yr with an injured cast. If you put KG on this years Suns team, they beat SA for sure. You telling me KG cant run and catch Nash passes like Amare can?
Yao's main problem is playing time. Whether due to fatigue or foul problems, he just doesn't get the minutes an All-Star center should be getting. Everyone would have to admit that Yao is an extremely efficient offensive weapon when he does play. His 18/8/2 in 30 minutes could easily translate into 21/10/3 with 5 more minutes a game. If he was able to play an energetic 5 more minutes a game, the stats would speak for themselves and there would be a lot fewer detractors. I think the foul problems can be easily corrected. The fatigue is something else altogether. Hopefully some time off during the summer will help. Good thing we have someone like Mutombo who can be extremely effective and energetic in limited minutes. Would you rather have Yao/Deke or Shaq/Zo?
The Spurs didn't do anything special to Marion and Q. They didn't gear their defense to shut those 2 guys down. Quentin Richardson has struggled the entire postseason. The Spurs didn't guard him differently than every other team has. Marion's struggles had much more to do with the Spurs slowing the tempo down rather than the Spurs paying extra attention to him. Marion is most effective in an uptempo game. He did not get nearly as many fast break buckets as he did in earlier rounds. Amare, on the other hand, proved that he's just as effective, if not more effective, in a slow half court game.
I said Amare has the POTENTIAL to be the best ever, not that he is at that level yet. Of course Dream was better at early stages of his career and had many talents that Amare does not. I am not intending to disrespect Dream. Dream was, and is, a basketball god. What I'm saying is that Amare has the CHANCE to attain the level Dream did. He has all of the requirements at his disposal -- though of course he needs it to come together. And I do know the difference between fake potential (Harold Miner) and real potential. It pains me to say it, but the reality is that Yao does not have that potential. He is already very good and will continue to get better. But there is no way he will ever be like Dream. Think about the games that Dream played -- when the double team came and Dream spun through it and dunked, it was amazing, and yet it was a regular occurrence with him. The other team was left with this expression of "How the hell did he do that?" Watching the Suns games, I see Amare do some of those things a couple times a game, too, most often with ridiculous power dunks in a position where most guys would try for a desperate fadeaway. How often do you see Yao make a "wow" play? Honestly, not often. The fact is, Yao relies on a well-run offensive scheme to get his shots, which he then makes. When the offense breaks down, though, he gets in trouble (it's pretty easy to predict when the turnovers are about to occur). On the other hand, guys like Dream make plays where everything looks hopeless, and the next think you know they are jamming it over two defenders. BTW, I agree that TD and KG are better than Amare now. They know the game better. But in 2 years, I expect that that advantage will have vanished.
The Spurs didn't do anything differently than what the Mavs or Grizzlies did against the Suns, which was try and force Nash into looking for his own shot rather than create for his teammates. The only difference was that Marion had a better series against the Mavs because the games were still played at a fast tempo. Q still stunk it up against the Mavs, just like he stunk it up against the Spurs and the Grizzlies. It's not like the Spurs shut down all of the Suns perimeter shooters. Phoenix still made 41% of their 3-pointers during the series. On the offensive end, Amare and Nash did more than enough to beat the Spurs. The Suns averaged 104 points a game. It was their perimeter D that let them down. Wide open 3s all series long.
The reason Marion looked so bad in this series is simple. SA decided to stop Marion and let Amare and Nash beat them. Amare scored all the points and looked really good, but at the end they lost 4-1. In my opinion, Marion is the real MVP of that team.
At least Yao has owned Amare in their head to head matches so far. Just take a look Amare's 30+% shooting against the Rox (20+% while Yao on the court according to some calculations) and how many times he got blocked by Yao
does it really matter if amare is "better" or "worse' than yao? both are great players in their own right. I am just giddy that we have one of the two and we also have Tracy Freaking McGrady as well. I see the prototype of our team having a brighter future than the suns, provided we get a few more athletic, young players on the wings. The suns found a great offense formula, but they'll hopefully go back and retool their defense. D'antoni is imo the real weak point of that team I cant ever think of a worse coach to have won COY. i have never seen him do anything to adjust to the other team or even try to say something insightful in terms of the game of basketball. as for this whole nash elevates amares game etc etc. well of course he does, thats nash's job as the pg. while i dont think nash is responsible for all of amare baskets what i think nash does really well is get amare a few really easy layups and dunks early in the game to get amare's confidence up and rolling and from there amare can create his own shot. amare cannot at this moment create for his teammates but the guy is only in his third year with new players all around him, outside of marion, (i believe johnson was traded to the team last year from boston and amare was injured for most of the season last year too) if they can keep that starting five he will be able to create for others as he matures even further. yao has had the advantage of playing more organized ball, albeit in china, and knows the fundamentals of basketballs better at this point. the suns had a great season and know what they need to develop on and have a limited window of 3-4 years provided nash can stay at the top of his game during this time and injury free. i am hoping to see many suns-rockets matchups in the playoffs in the near future and of course the same results we had in 94 and 95
Amare came off my "don't like" list the day of the slam dunk contest where he and Nash did the soccer stuff. I love soccer.
What Yao said about Amare this playoff -- "This guy was like a bison in the playoff. When a bison gears up and crushes everywhere nobody can stop him." "It was a right choice for the Suns to draft him. He's gained so much progress in just one summer. He has an incredible future." "His progress is a good thing to me. It'll motivate me to work my ass off in this summer's training. Let him wait, next season on the court I'll give him some more big slams (block)." Yao also said once that Amare is his enemy for life. So he does care. BTW, 'bison', 'enemy' here don't mean anything offending or hostile. I'm not very sure if the difference in different languages' ways of expression will make ppl misunderstand.
that is sweet to hear. i guess that's why we see the yao we do when he plays against amare. All I have to add to this discussion is that...I wish Yao would stay in games as long as Amare then maybe everyone would see how dominant Yao is.
I still don't see how any coach would rather see Amare getting wide open point blank dunks rather than see Shawn Marion (who's not that great a shooter) taking 3 pointers. But even if this is true, it's just a testament to how good Amare is that teams are practically saying "no matter what we do to him, Amare's going to get his 35 points regardless, so let's stop the other guys." I can only hope that one day teams will be saying the same thing about Yao.
They aren't saying he will get 35 regardless. They are saying we don't think he can beat us if we don't allow these other guys to get involved. They almost swept, so it appears the formula worked. Nice way to try and spin it though.
That's pretty easy, every coach would do that - let Amare and Nash to have their numbers, and shut down everyone else. After all, it's a team game. didn't Dallas do the same thing to Rockets? They said many times and did many times, let TMac and Yao have their numbers, and dared the others to beat them, but we failed to do so. Nobody is arguing that Amare isn't great and didn't play great in this series. People here as Rockets fans, do have problem with the mood swing, after a good series (personal good series), all of a sudden Amare will be the best ever, and Yao has no future comparing to him. I have a problem with that kind of bold statement as well. Because we do remember how Amare did facing Yao, and we believe the Rockets has better future with our core. If that's "ignorant" or "homer", so be it.
On the offensive end, he did do enough to beat them. The Suns scored 104 points a game. When a team scores over 100 a game against the Spurs, they should be able to beat them. The Suns did not lose this series due to lack of offense from Marion and Q, they lost due to anemic defense that allowed countless wide open 3s from Horry, Bowen, Barry, etc.
On the offensive end, they preferred to have him getting his points than to be buried by 3 pointers. Check the Suns 3 pointers in this series compared to other ones, or this year in general. And defense is part of the game as well by the way, another advantage that Yao has over Amare.
No problems here. By "enemy" he just means "rival" which is a term that gets thrown around a lot in American sports. And that "bison" comment obviously means that Amare is about to be extinct.
