He's not dominate at any thing, but the thing is that he's really good a certain thing or even above average in most categories. 1. Great scorer, he can pile up points in heart beat against most teams, only thing is he can't log heavy minutes...if he could play 36+ mins. a game...he would average about 27 ppg - 30 ppg. Everyone keeps saying his numbers will drop in Adelman's system, but I don't think they will necessarily be the case. He only needs about 15 - 19 shots a game to average 23 -28 ppg...I've looked at other c/pf...like Shaq, Ewing, Nowitzki, and Amare...all pretty much had around 13 - 19 odd shots a game and averaged from 21 ppg - 29 ppg having below 20 shots a game. And remember is very efficient and high percentage shooter...if he averages 7 to 9 shots a half with his current fg% shooting it comes in a range of 24 ppg to 27 ppg. 2. Shot blocking vs. shot altering, he's not a great shot blocker, but pretty decent at the same time, he can alter more shots probably more say than other player in the league simply because of his size...players like Howard, J. O'Neal or Camby might block more shots, but they can't really give a team the same kinda post defense Yao can. 3. Defense is probably above-average, good, but not great or even shut down. But they are games I've seen against other good centers and power-fowards where he has completely shut-them down, especially if their in his szie range or height. He usually struggles against smaller, quicker pfs...but most centers shouldn't be expected to guard those type of players. Defensively as far as centers he would be in top 5 or 7. He did all that silly stuff Van Gundy made him do, like chase pg and sg out on the wing around 4. Has great shooting range (that expands all the way out to the 3 pt line) and has been the best FT shooting center while he has been in the league. and move away the paint. 5. Great Team Player...very unselfish, has good passing ability, he doesn't have any ego problems, and will willingly gives up the ball...in fact this might be sort of knock against him. To sum it all up, what other centers in the league can bring that to table. This guy is unbelievable, he has been the only player in the league in the last ten years outside of the 80s-90s breed of centers (Mourning, Mutombo, Ewing, Olajuwon, and Robinson) that actually play against Shaq in his prime. That right tells you he isn't pushover....what other center in the league could go toe to toe with the Shaq with his LA years. *crickets*
Get ready for it.... NBA.COM's Rankings for Centers: Center Rankings: 1-19 Rankings: 1-19 | 20-38 Provided by Rotowire.com and NBA.com 1. Amare Stoudemire - PHX [C] Stoudemire put any lingering doubts about the condition of his surgically repaired knee to rest last season, playing nearly 33 minutes per night.and re-establishing himself as one of the elite big men in the league. The emergence of Leandro Barbosa had a dampening affect on his scoring opportunities, but Stoudemire got his 20 per game nonetheless. Stoudemire can score from mid-range and possesses a quick first step. He outworks bigger men and is one of the better athletes at the position. Playing alongside Steve Nash helps and so does the fact that there isn’t a quality backup with Kurt Thomas now in Seattle. 2. Pau Gasol - MEM [C] Gasol is a big-time producer, and is now center eligible after starting 59 games at the position in 2006-07. He’s very skilled offensively, has an assortment of low-post moves, can use either hand, and can score facing the basket. And if double-teams are your concern, he’s a gifted passer, averaging 3.4 assists per game last season. He was sixth among centers with 6.8 FTA per game. On a weak Grizzly front line last year, he averaged 20-10. He’ll benefit from Darko Milicic’s presence this year. There has been little talk of Gasol’s much-publicized unhappiness in Memphis since the club hired Marc Iavaroni as coach. However, there will be no talk now that the Grizzlies added Juan Carlos Navarro, a friend and former teammate of Gasol when the two played in Spain’s youth programs and on the Spanish National Team. 3. Yao Ming - HOU [C] Depending on how you define “center,” Yao could be the best. He has incredible size and matches that with a skilled offensive repertoire, featuring good range and an accurate turnaround jumper. Yao contributes in all the categories we look for in a center, in addition to his deadly accuracy from the free throw line (career 82.2 percent, 86 percent in 2006-07). The Rockets are still an inside-outside team with Yao and Tracy McGrady leading the way in points and shots. Yao had a career-high 2.0 assists per game in 2006-07, but also turned it over 3.5 times per game. That’s bound to happen because he touches the ball so often, but it would be nice to see that drop. He’s missed some games due to injuries during the last two seasons, but they aren’t chronic. http://www.nba.com/fantasy/draft_kit/centerrankings1_19.html Pau Gasol ahead of Yao...what in the hell is wrong with people today?
I think the fact that that NBA.com ranking is a fantasy team measure and probably more stat-oriented makes it all screwy. I mean, Shaq is all the way down at 21, and even though I think he's just about washed up I'd still rank him as one of the very best C's in the league.
Amare is a good player, but not that good. I mean look at the FIBA tournament, if he was the best center in the NBA then why didn't he start. On top of that, I saw Scola school him a few times and Amare only got him back once when he was finally able to dunk on him. Wooo! If you put him as a center, he isn't has good as Shaq, Yao, etc. You have to dominate both ends of the floor to be first, he doesn't even dominate one end. If you put him as a PF, Duncan, Garnett, etc. are better than him. No way he is number one in anything. He can't beat double teams, he can't shoot over them, he won't pass out of them. He's not that great.
Read what I wrote. I said that people who criticize others for thinking Amare is better are not "haters." That's it. You are going into stuff that I never said, and that I don't necessarily disagree with.
Compare what I wrote with what you wrote, and write me a one page paper about the disconnect that should be obvious to you.
whocares...what a bunch of talentless, bandwagonin', fourth-rate, probably doesn't know what difference between a motion or set offense, who only watch 2 or 3 teams in whole season, lack of insightful views about basketball,never played one day in their life pathetic NBA critics and writers have to say about who is great and who is not. Most of them know absolutely nothing about basketball....judging from some of the awards they give out (All-NBA defensive team comes to mind)..... They probably think great defense comes from getting on ESPN with insane block or defensive play....probably don't understand what defense....with all of the rotations, effort plays, and every inch that it can take sometimes to alter a shot or someone's path to basket or the passing lanes. Who is Pau Gasol better than Yao...? In head to head competition, most meetings have went in the favor of Yao, while Yao number wise is a superior player. Everyone should on this board should analyst...rookies to contributing members...moderators....I have seen more intelligent basketball discussion on this board than I have ever seen on ESPN, NBA.com, local newspapers, and etc. Even though, we might be a little bias...and trash the Mavs now and then. We know good defense when we see, we know which players are underrated and overrated....we could've picked a better All-NBA Defensive squad and chosen the right MVP (Nowitzki...is a good player, but did he really deserve to win the MVP. Most writers are not even good with picking fantasy players...they're selection most of time are so obvious it's waste of time and website space.
True just about the two softest interior defensive centers in the league are better than Yao? LMFAO That ranking is ridiculous.
Actually, Yao is a better shotblocker than he's given credit for. Other than the year where he could barely move because of his toe, he averaged near 2 blocks per game. Yao averaged 2 blocks per game last year which would make him 11th in the league. That's better than Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Samuel Dalembert, Shaq and Kevin Garnett. Look at the guys that were ahead of Yao...most are great shoblcokers: Ben Wallace, Camby, Mourning, Duncan, Jermaine Oneal, Kirilenko... with Ben Wallace jsut slightly ahead of Yao. Then, look at Amare who has this super athleticism....he averaged 1.3 blocks per game last year, which is 29th in the league. Yao also has to do more things defensively as a help defender.....Yao is certainly way more of a presence defending the rim. Not to mention that Yao is way more skilled as a post player and is definitely a better shooter. You would have to watch the FIBAs America's tournament to see just how horrid Amare's interior defense is. Team USA was just dominating because they have super wing players and guards like Kobe. Guys blow in easily into the lane and Amare always seemed out of position. One of the announcers commented that Amare finally dunked on Scola because he was getting frustrated by Scola repeatedly scoring on Amare with ease. Amare is supposed to be way more athletic than Scola, but Scola was just taking it to him down low.
The things really give Yao a bad name are his turnover, and sometimes he disapeared in the 4th quarter... Both of those Amare seemed to do better than Yao, but overall skill level, Yao is much better than Amare.
The media still hates Yao.... what a surprise. Yao is better than Amare period. Yao creates offense in the post while Amare can't, and even though Amare gets his baskets spoonfed by Nash, he still can't outscore Yao in the same number of minutes. On defense, Amare doesn't even try, so he plays extremely poor defense, while Yao at least tries and plays acceptable to mediocre defense. Gasol isn't even close. Dwight Howard said himself that he'd like to be as good as Yao. Yao is the best center in the NBA.
http://www.nba.com/suns/news/stat_071001.html The Phoenix Suns today announced that center Amaré Stoudemire will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee tomorrow, Tuesday, October 2. Team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Carter will perform the surgery to remove a loose body. Carter performed microfracture surgery on Stoudemire’s left knee in October 2005. The 24-year-old Stoudemire will miss 2-3 weeks and is expected to have a full recovery. The two-time All-Star and 2007 All-NBA First Team selection averaged 20.4 points and a career-high 9.6 rebounds last season, playing a full 82-game season after missing all but three games of the 2005-06 campaign due to injury. 2007 Phoenix Suns training camp runs Oct. 2-7 at McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.
amare will have his career shortened b/c of that. it's really tragic. even when u hear "full recovery" it's never gonna be 100%.
That's a fantasy basketball perspective, not a ranking of who's better. Playing time means almost everything in fantasy, so if you've got Kobe on your team and he severely sprains an ankle, you're screwed. Amare in 05-06 would have been at the bottom of the rankings. Gasol will play more minutes than Yao if both are healthy, thus putting up better fantasy numbers. Join a fantasy league and bet your life on it. Hell, you'll pick Eddy Curry over Shaq under those circumstances.
