Excuse me while I stop laughing my a$$ off. For your sake, I hope you didnt watch the Suns V San Antonio Spurs game. Just to remind you... 24 Points, Rebounds Give Yao the ROY for all I care. I'll take Amare. . Oh, and about Amare scoring only on dunks? Wait, you gotta excuse me again. I'm laughing too hard. Please dont watch the highlights, you dont want to see that TREY that lead the way for a Suns win.
Yeah, that blows, the ROY is typically only about the regular season, but if Amare continue to play like this in the series, it can tip the votes in his favor. Especially since he won the ppg and rpg. I still think Yao should win, but I'm a little worried now.
Charles V You should promote your rookie for MVP of playoff and post your point in your Phexsun.net or something like that
I'm sorry "terra". I tried "phexsun.net" and all I got was a 404 error. I did however, try "phxsuns.net" and was able to talk to folks who understood the impact that Amare had against the best team in the NBA. All Amare did, under the spotlight of the playpoffs, was out-score both of the Twin Towers...both of whom had been MVP winners. No more negative talk about Amare. If you like Yao, thats cool - Yao had an awesome season. But please stop bashing Amare. I understand you guys like Yao, thats only natural - but why do you have to bad on Amare in the process?
Charles V , Anyway, I guess we both hope Suns beat Spurs in the series as they did before. That will make all lakers fans' life much easy. Oops, we both are at the wrong place.
It's too bad that the post-season does not count in the ROY consideration. Otherwise Amare might get co-ROY with Yao
Is this an attempt to portray Amare's outside "shooting" as a marketable skill? Then you'd better go flame ESPN for calling it a "lucky shot" on their front page. Amare is a force inside, but as of now, his range is Shaq-like.
Does anyone know when is the voting for ROY gonna happen? I remeber Matt Maloney had a good opening round of playoffs his rookie year and next thing you know he was voted on to all-rookie second team. The voting is all about opionion, if Amare continue to play like this, the voter's opionion will definitely be swayed. Let's break out the voodoo dolls and hope for a couple of bad games in a row from him.
If Amare wins the ROY because of the 24 points. The fans of the league (not Houston) will change their opinion of the ROY next few years. Amare can't grow 9 more inches. You can't teach hight. As Yao gains strength, he'll become more of a problem for the league. It's a lot more difficult to learn how the shoot FT, or pass than it is to get strong. Things that Amare is weak in. Thus, Amare will be powerful early and that's more spectacular. Yao will be fundamental early. But that's not as spectacular. But as he gains more strength, the "spectacular" part will enter Yao's game. Then, WATCH OUT! Then, they will be saying. "How did we vote for Amare for ROY. He's good. But not as good as Yao has turned into."
Man. I hope so. Let Amare win. But in 5 years....everyone will just love it when Yao is MVP and Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year and the Rockets are the champions. While Amare is older and just a Kelvin Cato. Actually...he will probably be a pretty good player.
Let Amare win the 1st quarter. Yao will finish the 4th! The great ones always leave their best for last.
Both Amare and Yao had terrific seasons, and are both deserving of the Rookie of the Year award. However, Yao Ming is the better player right now and will be the better player 5 years from now with his skills. I've seen both play, and while Yao isn't emotionally driven like Amare, he has a better shooting touch, passing skills, and on court awareness of the game of basketball. If Amare has a shot outside of 10 feet let me know because he does not. And excuse me, but polling most NBA players in this debate would take Amare. Why? Because all they see in Yao is a target to posterize. Amare is one of them, a "boy" so to speak. Vlade Divac was right on, the Rockets use Yao to run their offense. Amare was set up by Stephon or scored on putbacks usually. I'm not bashing Amare Stoudemire, but Yao Ming is the best big man to come into the league since Tim Duncan. Amare is an athletic freak, but he has a lot of holes in his game that you just don't see in Yao, even as a rookie. Like his passing, court awareness and shooting aren't even close to Yao's. And Yao did it under the pressure of pleasing all of China, no time off in the summer to rest, and constant media pressure. Amare's Suns might have made the playoffs but that doesn't take away the fact Yao Ming is the most polished rookie in this year's class, and the best big man since Duncan. I've had this debate with many people lately, and a lot of them are taking Amare. I just wonder if they have watched the two play, because Yao is far more polished and was the second option for a contending Houston team, while Amare was the 3rd option for a team that beat out Houston by one game for the playoffs. But overall this is one fine rookie class.
You can teach a kid how to pass, shoot, and through time gain he will gain more court awareness, but you can't teach a 7'5" stiff to have that athletic ability Amare has. They actually listed this in the paper today and there were exactly 10 people in between Yao and Amare in fg%. If you are gonna try to hype your boy up thats cool, but at least check before you type.
T-Man, It doesn't just take athletic ability to succeed in the NBA. And Yao Ming is not a 7'5 stiff, sorry to disappoint you. But anyways, you are right about you can teach skills but not pure talent. However, it's a heck of a lot harder to learn those skills than you make it sound. Also, the fg% statistic is very misleading. Amare's shots were usually very close to the rim. Yao has post moves, range and wasn't afraid to use it. Plus his strength forced him to take shots further out on the perimeter. And he still finished with a higher shooting percentage. Doesn't that tell you something?
With that logic, why aren't players more like Larry Bird (Note: What Bird lacked in physical ability, he made up in the cerebral game). Hey, you said you can teach players to pass and shoot (like if that's the easy part). The fact is, those skills are harder to learn over time than gaining muscle, strength or quickness (ask Matt Harpring; gained strength/quickness, already had bb-IQ). It's cerebral vs physical. Sure, Yao will not have the same strength that Amare or Malone will have. But his strong base, plus sheer size that will give him a position to dominate. The "whole package" will be too much for anyone to deal with, even if it's still not at the same level of "althetic ablity of Amare." It wont matter. Yao will be strong enough + high IQ. Add the fact that Yao already has shooting and passing skill. NOW! And those skills will improve as well. He has a head start. A good example similar to Amare, is our own Francis. He spent all his youth dunking, running and trying to be a "scorer" rather than learning how the play the game! The whole game! The complete game! Like Bird did. That's why Francis is under the microscope so much because he now finds his-self in the position of, "not knowing it all." His flaws are easy to spot because he relied so much on is athletic ability, he forgot to learn passing skills, defense, and court awareness. He's paying the price now. He's having to learn now, what he should have learned early in his youth. So, learning the cerebral part of the game is always the hardest. That's why amazing "athletes" always do well on ESPN highlights, but fail to reach the pentacle of greatness. Unless they have the mental part of the game down. So, who will excel in the cerebral game I ask you... Amare or Yao? So, watch your back. The "Great Wall" is coming. Enough said...
Just to poke a little fun at the Suns.. this has to be the three goofiest expressions I've seen in a long while Amare will win the "Tyrone Hill" award for sure. But that's not exactly a distinguished honor =\
yet you take it to another level bashing and putting down on a promising rookie from china who wears a rocket uniform.
Who makes who laugh now? So now we're basing the whole ROY campaign on one lucky shot. So here they are: 1. Yao - Shaq I: 10 points 11 boards 6 blocks, nothing spectacular The gravy: dunk on Shaq to seal the game. Amare's equivalent? 2. Pacers game: Pacers clawing back with J O'Neal taking charge, Yao, 11 points in fourth quarter. Amare's equivalent? 3. While we're talking 3's, I think Yao sunk one too. Those are just teasers for you, a lot more to come. Are you gonna keep a straight face and tell me Amare was more clutch than Yao down the stretch? You're obviously a homer that never watched another game outside Phoenix before. As for taking Amare, you take whoever the hell you want.
