... but the truly sad thing is the Suns fans' rationalizing that the problem they have with Amare is that he says positive things about the team.
I gotta tell you, the way that discussion of Stoudemire's empty promises brings old Penny Hardaway apologists out of the woodwork is pretty frightening.
He had spectacular potential, but he couldn't even shoot free throws.
This really isn't all that telling. Yes, over his first three years, he increased his FT% from 66% to the low 80s, which is where it is now. That is commendable. But it's a small thing.
Now, he is one of the best jump shooting power forwards in the game.
Someone can dig the numbers out of 82games.com, but in fact Stoudemire's little 16-foot jumper isn't an especially powerful weapon. A lot of PFs in the league, even lesser names, have that shot. David West has it. Kenyon Martin, of all people, has it. Elton Brand had it before he got hurt and may get it back. Obviously the likes of Duncan, Gasol, Nowitzki, and Garnett have it. What makes the jumper especially effective in Stoudemire's case is that he is better than most at getting by a defender who plays him too close. And yes, he has worked on it. But it is another small thing.
Does anyone on these boards think that his jump shot just developed out of thin air? Was it luck? People act like while Amare was running his mouth with empty bravado to reporters, his all-around skills developed magically.
Which all-around skills are those? The ones that improve his scoring, improve his scoring, and improve his scoring?
Can you point to the
slightest improvement in
any other aspect of his game? Has he made any progress as a defender? (The answer seems to be no; his foul rate is unchanged throughout his career and the Suns' interior defense is still awful.) His rebounding hasn't budged. Blocks and steals have gone nowhere. Assists may be ticking up very slightly; we'll see this year. He's still among the league leaders in technical fouls, so he's done nothing to control his temper.
we've never heard anyone say it directly
Well, it's in Seven Seconds or Less, of course, although I acknowledge that treating that book as gospel would be going too far. But it's well known throughout the league that Stoudemire has been shopped for the last year and a half, if not more. If the Suns were sold on him, they wouldn't be taking (and making) so many calls. You don't hear constant trade rumors about Duncan and Nowitzki, do you?
Personally, I'm encouraged by the fact that Amare has been sponsoring events and organizing get-togethers for the whole team in an effort to develop the chemistry that seemed to be lacking with last year's team.
Me too. I think he does the community outreach thing pretty well.
Yes, this is just another quote, and while it has gone almost completely unnoticed on this forum because it doesn't mesh with the charicature of the selfish "me-first Amare", I tend to look at it as a testament to Amare's maturity.
I don't know why you think it's an indicator of maturity this time, when it wasn't each of the last several times. But who knows, maybe this will be year that he finally gets it.
Of course, if it's not, I know we can count on another round of excuses and criticism for the naysayers. And not just from Stoudemire.
The fact is, he's not a super-freak athlete like he was when he came into the league 8 years ago. People want to blame Amare's attitude, because that way, they can tell themselves that they view Amare as something other than an athlete, an object that they can write about. If Amare's raw athleticism has diminished, it's hard to fault Amare. Yet people still feel disappointed. So, they rationalize other reasons to blame Amare, the person, for not achieving the potential he once had; they nit-pick any little sound-byte they can find that advances this idea.
Plug "Hardaway" in for "Stoudemire" and it's deja vu all over again.
Just compare Stoudemire to Grant Hill and the differences are obvious. Hill, too, was derailed by injuries and robbed of the opportunity to reach his potential. But now that he's able to play again, he focuses on the areas where he can still improve. He understands the game better, is a better position rebounder, takes better care of the ball, and has improved his shot selection. And he does it all without needing to be told, without needing to be praised, and without needing the incentive of the next big contract or endorsement deal around the corner.
And the truly sad thing is that they've wrapped their opinion of Amare so tightly within this idea that they don't even realize they're doing it.
Yeah, that's right, we're the deluded ones.
