With all this talk about how Amare is better then YAO and will likely be ROY, let's just compare the numbers. Yao is doing better then Amare in every way other then avg one less rebound. YAO changes the game when he is being used and he is an extremely efficient player. Amare is going to be a good player but at this point, I have little respect for his game. He has one move, the dunk. That is it!!!! I have seen him play plenty of times and I just don't think he is very impressive at all. It does make things a lot easier when you have two all stars being double teamed and all you have to do is dunk the ball( step and marion). He is big and strong but has little bball skills at this point and time. I think it would be a joke if he actually ended up winning ROY. Yao's significance within the game is not always seen in the box scores. Even then Yao has better numbers all around, including the fact that he is a much better shot blocker and his passing skills are obviously far superior. The ONLY reason why Amare would win ahead of Yao is because PHX is doing better then the rockets. The biggest telling stat btw the two, YAO 52% FG/ AMARE 45%.
Look, I love Yao and there is no way I'd deal him for anyone, but Amare is the real deal. The guy came straight out of freakin' high school! He is a beast. I think Yao will become the better of the two, but Stoudamire is a tremendous player.
Amare is something like 3-4 years younger than Yao. To compare Yao who's played organized ball and had training for about 6 years to a kid out of high school is pre-mature. Only 10-15 years from now and looking back will we know who was truly better. When Karl Malone came into this league, he couldn't hit a free throw to save his life. When Jordan came into the league passing and jumpshooting weren't his forte. When Drexler came into this league he had no clue what a jumper was. They all turned out to be pretty decent players. Amare with a jumpshot could end up becoming one of the best PF's to ever play the game. Yao with some tenacity and bulk in the upper body could end up becoming one of the greatest centers to play the game. Wait and find out.
For some of you that may not know, Amare is not an avg kid coming out of H.S. He is actually 20 years old (which would make the avg person a soph in college). Yao is 22 so the age difference is really not that big.
I agree with all you've said but I think we are debating on two separate subjects. Right now, who is the better player (discounting Yao not being in training camp and being only in the country 3 months and Amare being only 20 years old and straight out of high school). I stated that based in my opinion, I felt Yao was better NOW due to the fact that he has better stats, improved more % wise than the Suns and the much improved defense as illustrated in pts allowed and %s. BTW, it is perfectly valid if you feel that you can not compare the two based upon the 2 year age difference etc. but I dont think they select ROY based on age only rookie status. Go Rox!
I stand corrected, but the age difference isn't to point out just age... it's that the kid just got out of high school. He hasn't had the experience of learning anything structured via college or via programs such as China runs. He really hadn't faced any professional competition until now. Think how good Amare could be with that training and when he's a 22 year old. Who knows, he may never get better. It's still a toss-up (at least to me) as far as ROY is concerned. The argument about "skills" is pointless. Shaq, relatively speaking, has few skills, but I doubt anyone would pass up having him on their team. I guess this is more of an argument about ROY than "who's better" as the title would indicate. I don't care about ROY. I'd rather know in 15 years that we made the right pick. Hopefully we did. Yao hasn't done anything to prove we didn't.
Barring a major injury, Yao will win ROY. He is leading in most of the meaningful stats and he is getting the kind of media exposure other rookies can only dreamed of. Yao is a landslide victory.
just to follow up on Dr Dunk's comments. Amare didn't grow up in a structured environment on and OFF the court. He wandered around from school to school and did not have the guidance and family structure that Yao grew up with his entire life, also I think the one father figure he did have is like being investigated by the Feds.
I dont think we should be comparing whether Amares transition from High School to the NBA is more difficult that Yao's transition from China to America. Otherwise, we can debate for months. The initial question was who should win ROY.
If both of them are even statistically at the end of the year, they'll be co-rookies of the year. In my opionion, right now they are co, but whomever finish the year stronger will win it. If its even, then they'll both win it.
I think each of them has showed his vast potential in their unique way with Amare's unbelievable athletics to Yao's height & court awareness. As Dr of Dunk has said, only time will tell who will turn out to be better. Now back to the thread subject, I think it went too far to state “YAO VS. AMARE is no comparison”. Their stats are actually very comparable other than FG % and BLKs. It is too early to hand ROY title to either one considering their performance so far. Yao was the ROY for December, Amare won in January. There is still 30+ games to play, so let’s just wait a little longer. My prediction is that the eventual ROY winner will largely depend on how his team performs. If the Rockets miss the playoffs, Amare probably will win it. So let’s hope the Rockets will be in the playoffs this season.
This board is pro-Yao. What do sportswriters across America think? They decide ROY, not obsessed Rox fans. BTW, aren't there enough topics about the ROY? Did you have to create ANOTHER thread about it?
Of course this board is pro-Yao. He is only the most important player in our quest for NBA rings. If you are not an "obsessed Rox fan", you are obviously in the wrong forum.
What is Amare's height. He plays big, but is he around 6'8. How well does Amare shoot the mid ragne shot? I have only seen him play against the Rockets, but he reminded me of Moses Malone. I love his aggressive, full tilt attitude. However, Yao will be more of a force. Franchise and Yao need time and experiance, say two years, to become the dominante force in the NBA.
If they had to vote now, I bet they would give the ROY to both Yao and Amare. In the long term, I think Yao has a better upside. Yao has a nice all around game that works inside and outside. He's not a one-dimensional player like Amare is at this point. Amare's game at this point is based solely on his explosiveness. Unfortunately, that kind of explosiveness can quickly decline with age. Even relatively young players like Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter don't jump with the same explosiveness as when they first got into the league. Amare will become a great player if he can develop other aspects to his game before his legs start to tire with age (like Michael Jordan did and like Kobe did).
who's better between yao and amare? there's no comparison. at the present moment, yao is better than amare in all faucets of the game: scoring, passing, blocking shoots and understanding of the game. amare might have an edge in rebounding by numbers because he plays 3 minutes more than yao. As long as, yao continues to score in double figure and grab about 8-10 rebounds a game; he will no doubt be the RoY. however, he loses if he plays poorly, amare plays well and the suns finishes ahead of the rox. but, that's not going to happen because they have selfish marbury. in five years, people won't compare the two because yao will be one of the top 5 players in nba while amare will just be an average nba player.
I would have to agree. Yao is having a great rookie year, and definately has more upside between the two however right now Amare is playing like a freakin monster. He's currently averaging a double/double which is almost unheard of for a rookie, much less a rookie right out of highschool. Yao will be the better of the two but right now Amare is playing better. Even if it's only slightly better he's still playing better, and having more of an impact on his team.
