First off, I would like to say that Amare is nowhere near Yao in terms of basketball skills. All Amare can do is play in the paint, power his way in, and make a dunk. Thats all he can do. Meanwhile, Yao has the ability to play away from the basket and can consistently knock down outside jumpers. For some evidence, goto the rockets web site and check the media file that shows yao hitting 13/15 shots from 18 foot out during a practice session. Also, Yao actually has moves around the basket, not like Amare who has to ram his way in like shaq who is high on hamburgers. To complement his game, Yao is one of the best passing big man in the league. Folks, Yao hasn't shown his full repitoire yet, and when he does, he will be unstoppable. I'm telling you, if you have ever seen him play in pre-NBA days, this guy has a good inside-outside game. Amare, he can score, but he ain't a complete basketball player. He's one dimensional.
I agree totally with you. All I saw Amare do was the same move over and over and over. He recieved the ball pretty close to the paint and then muscled his way in for the other 5 feet (for the most part he had single coverage). If Yao could be in that position as much as Amare is then Yao would score easily 30 a night. However, the one thing I do think that Yao may lack is a little of Amare's attitude. If Yao could utilize all of Amare's offensive moves, (all two of them, the slam and the baby hook) I think it would really benefit his game tremendously. I'm not saying that Yao doesn't already use them, but in my opinion he uses them to sparsely rather settling on harder, lower percentage shots from the perimeter (which are still high percentage). If Amare can succeed like that, then I don't see why a much more talented much taller baller like Yao Ming can't. P.S. I really really hope Yao gets ROY, but if Amare keeps playing like that and ending up on sportscenter every night its going to be really tough.
enough already!!! there is already a thread about this Why in the HELL do you feel you have to start a new one?? Jesus-H-Christ!! (sorry Yetti)...are you brain damaged???
Speaking of the Pheonix forum can you give me the link? What was the link to all of the NBA forums? I thought I saw it before?
Isn't that what Shaq does? And everyone calls him dominating and one of the greatest at his position. I hope Amare adds some dimension to his game, he could be great. There is no comparison, Yao is the best rookie by a longshot right now. He is going to reinvent the center position and make us the luckiest fans because he plays for the Rockets.
I'm getting sick and tired of hiring Shaq is the greatest centre of all time!!! That's is an insulting to legends out there! Shaq has a fractions of their skills and all he's doing is bullying and pushing people off with his big Fat @ss!! The idiot can't shoot for god sake!! All he does is push people in and shoot from a foot away! I can't stand to watch him play a skill game of basketball. The guy is getting away with murder most of the time.
They are just two different type of players. No one dispute that Yao had much better skills than Amare. But the object of the game is to put the ball in the basket. If Shaq and Amare can bully their way in and the official allow that, then that make them an effective player within context of the rule. In that sense, Shaq is dominating. To his credit, most men his size do not have the agility or the quickness that Shaq had. So if the ref allow him to play that way then why should he change. But as far as skill wise Shaq will never be the same as Ming (even now when Yao is only a rookie). As far as Amare, he is too young and raw at this time to comment about his skills. He is no where near Yao at this time as far as being a complete basketball player. Yao can change the game with his size, defense and intimidation, passing, brain. It seems so easy for him to put 15-16 points in a game with limited number of touch. I think he could of score 30 + easily and lead the league in scoring if he is the focus of our offense. I think the difference between Yao and Amare is Yao had the potential for league MVP and bringing championship to his team where as Amare might be an All-Star and get his team into the playoff. Big difference.
When you can bull your way to the basket and dunk on people what does it matter what your skill level is? Two points is two points whether it's a Yao jumper or an Amare jump hook from 5 feet. I'll take a poorly skilled 25 points and 12 rebounds over a highly skilled 15 points and 10 rebounds.
I bet that if Yao had as much touches as Amare, he would easily average 20+ ppg. In Amare's 38 point game, he had 24 shots! The most shots Yao ever had in a game was 18. If Yao had 24 shots, Yao would get close to or more than 38 points in my opinion.
Amare has a much tougher attitude then Yao, you will never see Amare try to lay the ball in and have it blocked into the 2nd row. If Yao truly wants to be an elite player, he needs to adjust his atitude and get tougher and more aggressive. YAO MEAN would be awesome. DaDakota
YAO MEAN, that's a good one. I think all the great centers have a quiet toughness in them. How many times have you seen Shaq just walked away after getting hacked from all directions. Yao has the quiet toughness in him already.
Of course, it's much more fun to watch a player with actual skills... DaDakota: Of course you take he 25 and 12... but if you can have a skilled 25 and 12, or an unskilled 25 and 12... take the skilled. Makes it more fun to be a fan...
This is true, but think if this unskilled guy developed a few more skills. He could easily surpass the skilled man's 25 and 12. Give Shaq the skill to shoot 80% from the line, and I bet that he would have led the league in scoring the last 10 years. That said, no comparison...Yao rules!
Well most unskilled players never become skilled. It is VERY tough to get 25 and 12 consistently when you are unskilled. Skilled players always get smarter as the years go by.
vj23k: That does happen, but very rarely. It seems every draft day you see a team take a raw physical specimen in the middle of the 1st round on the grounds that he can "lean" how to play, but that the more polished prospects are "maxed out." Well, sometimes it does work out, like for the Suns with Marion. But more often than not, they never learn. Maybe most players are lazy. Or maybe being skilled is more than simply practicing. No matter how much I tried, I could never dribble all that well. And I'd wager that's true for a lot of 6'6 players with 42'' verticles who happen to lack jump shots as well.
