Amare's numbers for February

[playstation]

28.5 ppg / 13.2 reb / 2 ast / .8 blk on 55%fg and 84%ft

that's over 13 games. 11 double doubles in those games (and 9 boards in the other 2)

this is unbelievable. it is the best month of reg season ball in Amare's career.

last year the suns avg'd 18 fta/gm. amare avg'd 10 fta/gm last month.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I said a week ago that he would be the player of the month. I still think that he will be.

 

[Covert Rain]

Amare has just been sick. Amare at the FT line and Amare passing out of double teams is what has impressed me the most. Amare is going to be huge in close games at the line.

Here is to hoping none of those playoff games are close enough at the end that we actually need FT to win.

 

[boisesuns]

Will Amare's play affect Nash's chance for a 3rd MVP or help it?

 

[Bufalay]

too bad the suns record was crap in feb

 

[Covert Rain]

Will Amare's play affect Nash's chance for a 3rd MVP or help it?

I don' think it hurts or helps actually. I think Amare is sort of this enigma on the team where everybody is interested in him getting back to normal. I have not heard people talk about Amare's impact on Steve Nash's game.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

too bad the suns record was crap in feb

I don't think it was crap. It wasn't January but it was still close to .600 ball.

 

[HooverDam]

Amare is just a beast. All year long, Ive been worrying about the Suns matching up with Dallas and who will cover Dirk. However, if I was a Mavs fan I'd be terrified of who on that team will guard Amare. Dampier? Yah right. At least the Suns have guys like Marion and James Jones who can guard Dirk and not foul out, Dampier will be made a fool of if he has to cover Amare.

 

[elindholm]

Dampier will be made a fool of if he has to cover Amare.

I wouldn't be too sure. Dampier is exactly the kind of player against whom Stoudemire struggles a bit, because he's too slow to bite on any of the fakes. In the past, Stoudemire has done fairly poorly against the likes of Dampier, Kaman, Olowokandi, etc.

 

[Bufalay]

I agree 100% that Amare struggles against Dampier. He struggled against him in the playoffs 2 years ago and also struggled somewhat in the game late in december. Amare has a hard time going over the top because Dampier has such long arms. Amare really needs to have his jumpshot going to be successful against Dampier.

 

[Chaplin]

I wouldn't be too sure. Dampier is exactly the kind of player against whom Stoudemire struggles a bit, because he's too slow to bite on any of the fakes. In the past, Stoudemire has done fairly poorly against the likes of Dampier, Kaman, Olowokandi, etc.

And yet, he's done well against Yao Ming...

 

[Covert Rain]

I wouldn't be too sure. Dampier is exactly the kind of player against whom Stoudemire struggles a bit, because he's too slow to bite on any of the fakes. In the past, Stoudemire has done fairly poorly against the likes of Dampier, Kaman, Olowokandi, etc.

Really? Because I have only seen maybe 2 times when Amare didn't play well against Dampier. All of the other times Amare has gotten Dampier in foul trouble. Amare will be fine against slow guys like Damp. It's the more athletic big men that Amare gets stuck on that worry me (like Dirk).

 

[elindholm]

And yet, he's done well against Yao Ming...

Not particularly. Stoudemire's numbers against Duncan are better than those against Yao.

 

[Suns_fan69]

From what I remember Amare has a tougher time on Diop than Dampier. Diop is long and fairly athletic whereas Dampier is just long.

 

[Chaplin]

Not particularly. Stoudemire's numbers against Duncan are better than those against Yao.

I assume you have those numbers, I'd like to see them. Are you also saying that Amare does badly against Yao? I remember him having good games -- not spectacular, but good nonetheless.

 

[elindholm]

I assume you have those numbers, I'd like to see them. Are you also saying that Amare does badly against Yao? I remember him having good games -- not spectacular, but good nonetheless.

He has had some good games and some bad games against Yao. I don't want to take the time to compile precise numbers. I'm not trying to start an argument. My perspective is that Stoudemire does less well against large, immobile opponents than against "athletes" whose quickness and movement can be used against them. Backing it up with numbers would be laborious and wouldn't convince a non-believer anyway.

In my opinion, the notion that Nowitzki can guard Stoudemire is laughable. The Dampier/Diop combination will be much more effective.

 

[playstation]

Backing it up with numbers would be laborious and wouldn't convince a non-believer anyway.

that is an AWESOME statement.

i'm pretty sure smoking causes AIDS, but backing it up with numbers would be laborious and wouldn't convince a non-believer anyway =)

 

[elindholm]

that is an AWESOME statement.

i'm pretty sure smoking causes AIDS, but backing it up with numbers would be laborious and wouldn't convince a non-believer anyway =)

Whatever, dude. Believe what you want.

 

[Chaplin]

He has had some good games and some bad games against Yao. I don't want to take the time to compile precise numbers. I'm not trying to start an argument. My perspective is that Stoudemire does less well against large, immobile opponents than against "athletes" whose quickness and movement can be used against them. Backing it up with numbers would be laborious and wouldn't convince a non-believer anyway.

In my opinion, the notion that Nowitzki can guard Stoudemire is laughable. The Dampier/Diop combination will be much more effective.

I'm not a non-believer, and I don't want to start an argument, I was just curious what the numbers were.

 

[Covert Rain]

Amare doesn't historically struggle against Yao. Yao has gotten yanked so many times because he can't keep pace against Amare or the Suns. If your talking about Amare defending Yao in the paint...who can? The guy is big. However, everytime the Suns play Yao they end up pulling the guy because he is so slow. Amare eats him up on the other end though. Yao cannot guard Amare.

 

[PetryJr]

He has had some good games and some bad games against Yao. I don't want to take the time to compile precise numbers.

Ok, I had the same impression, and since no one else seemed to remember that, I decided to take the time and find the numbers.

Let's see:

2002/03 (when both players were rookies)

Jan 15, 2003: Suns 96, Rockets 102
Amaré: 24 pts (8-21 FG, 8-12 FT), 13 rbs
Yao: 11 pts (4-13 FG), 7 rbs, 4 blocks, 33 minutes.

Feb 19, 2003: Rockets 107, Suns 89
Amaré: 11 pts (3-6 FG, 5-7 FT), 3 rbs, 39 minutes.
Yao: 12 pts (3-8 FG), 12 rbs, 3 blocks, 30 minutes.

Mar 16, 2003: Suns 75, Rockets 85
Amaré: 12 pts (3-10 FG, 6-10 FT, 9 rbs), 2 blocks.
Yao: 20 pts (8-15 FG), 8 rbs, 4 blocks, 29 minutes.

Amaré didn't shoot well in 2 games, and in the game he did, he didn't shoot a lot. But that was before Nash arrived, when the Suns were still a half-court team.

--

2003/04

Nov 14, 2003: Suns 85, Rockets 90
Amaré: 18 pts (7-17 FG, 4-5 FT), 9 rbs, 5 blocks.
Yao: 37 minutes, 21 pts, 14 rbs, 5-8 FG.

Mar 15, 2004: Suns 99, Rockets 97
Amaré: 24 pts (7-26 FG, 10-17 FT), 15 rbs, 4 blocks, 50 minutes.
Yao: 29 pts, 19 rbs, 6 blocks, 11-16 FG, 43 minutes.

Same thing here.

--

Jan 5, 2005: Suns 108, Rockets 98
Amaré: 19 pts (5-15 FG, 9-14 FT).
Yao played 28 minutes (14 pts, 10 rbs, 6-11 FG).

Mar 11, 2005: Rockets 127, Suns 107
Amaré: 31 pts (9-23 FG, 13-16 FT), 10 rbs.
Yao played 35 minutes (27 pts, 22 rbs, 5 blocks, 10-18 FG)

Apr 3, 2005: Suns 91, Rockets 78
Amaré: 9 pts (4-9 FG, 1-4 FT), 14 rbs, 27 minutes
Yao played 33 minutes (19 pts, 12 rbs and 2 blocks)

Apr 9, 2005: Rockets 98, Suns 97
Amaré: 32 pts (11-20 FG, 10-12 FT), 12 rbs and 3 blocks
Yao played 25 minutes (10 pts, 8 rbs, 3 blocks, 4-9 FG)

Well, even after Nash arrived, Amaré still had some bad shooting nights against Yao, and you can't help but notice Yao's blocking numbers. Also, Yao minutes were very close to his season average.

--

2006/07

Nov 29, 2006: Rockets 91, Suns 102
Amaré: 22 pts (7-11 FG, 8-9 FT), 15 rbs
Yao: 18 pts, 6 rbs, 1 block, 6-11 FG, 28 minutes

They only played one game against each other so far this season, and Amaré did much better, shooting-wise.

You can definitely say that Amaré had some trouble playing against Yao (and Mutombo) in the past. He still scored, but he wasn't nearly as efficient as he usually is.

I think we can all agree that this year's Amaré seems to be a smarter player, so it's more likely that he'll find ways to score efficiently against players like Yao and Dampier.

 

[elindholm]

Ok, I had the same impression, and since no one else seemed to remember that, I decided to take the time and find the numbers.

Thanks for doing that. I did it a year or so ago but really didn't feel like going through the chore again. As we've noticed, people will believe what they want to believe anyway.

 

[azirish]

Amare used to struggle whenever the refs let big slow defenders foul him with impunity. I remember one game when Ostertag gave him trouble.

My recollection was that the times Amare had trouble with Dampier had more to do with Amare getting into foul trouble than Dampier's defense. In any case, Amare's improved passing (not to mention shooting) could make a huge difference.

A key to attacking the Mavs is that Dirk cannot defend. This means that the PF playing with Amare could have a big game. During last season's playoffs, without Amare and KT, the scoring by the Suns inside guys was:

Game 1 won 121-118
Diaw - 34 points
Marion - 24
TT - 17

Game 2 lost 98-105
Diaw - 25
TT - 20
Marion - 19

Game 3 lost 88-95
Diaw - 20
TT -14
Marion - 10

Game 4 won 106-86 (big games by Nash and Barbosa)
Diaw - 20
Marion - 15
TT - 5

Game 5 lost 101-117
TT - 26
Marion - 20
Diaw - 16

Game 6 lost 93-106
Diaw - 30
Marion - 13
TT - 8

TT was inconsistent, but this had little do with Dirk's defense. The Mav's centers had all kinds of problems with Diaw and Boris was not nearly the offensive threat that Amare is.

Diaw caused so much trouble that the Avery began using small ball lineups. In game 1, Dampier played on 17 minutes and Diop none.
In game 2, Van Horn started and Diop played 32 minutes with no Dampier.
In game 3 Van Horn started and Diop played 25 minutes with no Dampier. In game 4, Van Horn started, Diop played 20 minutes with Dampier playing 7. In game 5, Diop played 30 minutes, Van Horn 15 and none by Dampier. In game 6, Diop started an played 21, Van Horn 4, and none by Dampier.

When I read these numbers, I wondered if Dampier was injured. But he played 27 minutes in the first game on their Miami series.

The odd thing about that series was the importance of people like Van Horn, Adrian Griffin, and Marquis Daniels to the Mavs success. None are with the Mavs this season.

 

[Chaplin]

Ok, I had the same impression, and since no one else seemed to remember that, I decided to take the time and find the numbers.

Thanks for doing that. I did it a year or so ago but really didn't feel like going through the chore again. As we've noticed, people will believe what they want to believe anyway.

Eric, I was just asking! Sorry it bothers you so much.

 

[elindholm]

Eric, I was just asking! Sorry it bothers you so much.

I wasn't referring to you. It was perfectly reasonable to ask for the numbers; I just really didn't want to do it. Nothing personal.