Amare has played in only 36 games this year, thus flying under the radar. I think that if he had played 60 games his stats would be worse than Yao's.
I am watching the Mavs vs Suns game also. Amare indeed improve from last year, and he is impressive. But his ball handling ability is still poor, he still makes bad decisions. He will continually improve on those areas, no doubt. But saying he is better than Yao now is absurd. He score 15pts total in 3 QTs, one point more than Yao scored in first QT the other day, and the impact on the game is not even close. They are down by nearly 20pts in some periods during the 3rd QT (although slowly come back in the 4th QT). Sure, he can score 20pt+ again, but I just feel he can't do the same thing when it matters (same in last year, he scored a lot of points in garbage time also, but Dear Mr. Larry Smith didn't allow Yao do the same thing).
2 mins left, Suns down by 16pts and Amare still on the court padding his stats, meanwhile Mavs already clean their bench. He get 17pts and still need score some pts to keep his so called "20+pts" streak.
The difference between a player like Yao and Amare is Yao has developed a go to move already. Actually two that I can tell. That fadeaway and his hookshot. Amare mainly gets his points off rebounds, spinning like a Tazmanian Devil with the basketball while attacking the basket, or on the fastbreak. But he's not a first option scorer much less someone you'd rely on to score late in the game. He's good and he'll improve but at this point Yao has developed a lot more than Amare has so far in their respective careers.
Amare is just another good player who is posting better-than-it-looks stats because he is on a losing team. It's easier to get 20 points when you on the only option(or one of the two, Suns do have Shawn Marion too). On a losing team, you need to have stats of T-Mac to stand out. Actually, losing just plain sucks; I don't think most people even keep track of how many points T-Mac is averaging. Congrats to Yao! Definitely a great start for March. Keep it up!
aha... You guys are jist untiring of bashing at any chance in any post! *a note of Yao* * 30 points 10th Game vs Dallas * 22 points/20 rebs Dec 6,2003 vs Detroit * 41 points 480 day vs Hawks * WC POW 495 day * MOP ? * MVP ? * NBA Champion ?
I agree to an extent, but quoting the stats of Yao's versus Amare's was a sad-ass way to make your point. Yao leads in every category there except steals (insignificant) and points (losing by less than a bucket/game) when Yao plays fewer minutes and is on a team with many more scoring options and a low offensive output. Yao's rebounding and shot-blocking both need work, though.
