Yao Ming vs Minnesota Timberwolves (Houston Rockets win 94-86) MIN 26 FG% 3-10 3P% 0-0 FT% 3-4 OFF 2 REB 12 AST 3 STL 0 BLK 0 TO 2 PF 2 PTS 9 Amare Stoudemire vs Portland Trail Brazers (Phoenix Suns win 88-81) MIN 26 FG% 1-4 3P% 0-0 FT% 2-2 OFF 0 REB 6 AST 1 STL 0 BLK 0 TO 4 PF 1 PTS 4 Source ESPN.COM
Right now its obviously a 2 man race. I would say it is up for grabs but Stern would love for an international player to win it. As long as writers throughout the country don't vote or if they are the ones who make the decesion, they are willing to eat crow, Ming should win. Don't forget Ming has played a TON of games in the past 365 days so he's defenitely hitting the wall a little and AS was in that crappy HS they showed on real sports on HBO a year ago today so he's gonna have his off nights.
I don't think it is a 2-man race. I think Wagner is scoring enough that, with a surge, he can come back into consideration. I thought Gooden would be a contender, but he looks to have fallen off the map.
I was going to say the same thing Valdez, that Wagner should still be mentioned. As for Ming hitting a physical wall. I think you would have to consider that for Amare as well he is really young and not used to sustained games like this.
Wagner is playing well, but there is no way he should get ROY over Yao and/or Amare. Its a 2 man race. Wagner average about 17 points per game, which is great, but he does nothing else. 3 assists and 2 rebounds a game while shooting 37% from the field. He is a good rookie, but not in the same class as Stoudemire and Yao Ming. Plus, many will contribute the turnaround in the Rockets and Suns seasons to these two rookies. The same cant be said for Wagner and the Cavs.
Who really cares about ROY? It matters on the day it's announced and then everyone forgets about it. In academics, nobody cares what freshman courses you took, but your PhD dissertation is important. Sort of the same with ROY... who cares what you did your rookie year... it's the cumulative career and how you fit in with teammates that's important.
TURF TOE? Man they gotta play hoops on grass, where its meant to be played...that turf is killer in America West Arena....get a retractable roof already.
Yao Ming vs Orlando Magic (Houston Rockets win 91-81) MIN 37 FG% 8-14 3P% 0-0 FT% 7-7 OFF 4 REB 11 AST 0 STL 0 BLK 2 TO 2 PF 3 PTS 23 Amare Stoudemire vs Utah Jazz (Phoenix Suns lose 93-99) MIN 37 FG% 2-5 3P% 0-0 FT% 9-10 OFF 3 REB 4 AST 1 STL 1 BLK 1 TO 3 PF 2 PTS 13 Source NBA.COM
Right now Yao and Amare have clearly been the best--and look at the turn around on the teams they are on. Yao gets the clear nod because of shooting %, assists and blocks. Because I think Yao is not likely to fall off--he already is the focus of other teams defenses and has persisted with at least modest productivity, it would take a monster 2nd half by another player to wrestle the ROY from him. I could imagine a tie with Amare and Yao--but Amare would really have to sustain or even increase performance. That is a tall order.
