Interesting Comments

[nowagimp]

I have never been more disappointed with Amare than after this series. His attitude seems all wrong. His effort is sporadic. He was a big reason why we lost, and yet he never takes any of the blame. With him it's always "what we must do" as opposed to what he should have done.


Well, Dwight Howard came out of HS and he's three years younger.

Amare said "we should have done what we did in the regular season". He said nothing about his utter lack of boxing out and rebounding the ball, or defending the lane area(like TD) against penetrators, or letting his man go back door on him. He apparently doesnt understand that Pop KNOWS what they did and did everything to take it away by giving elsewhere. I wonder if amare even understands the concept "take what the defense gives you". its like amare is punching and getting counter punched every time, but he doesnt get it. Forget it, he obviously is oblivious to the strategies being thrown at him.

Raja Bell looked pained in the interview, did not intimate that certain individuals or strategies were to blame, he was very uncomfortble obviously. A few less turnovers or fouls shots made and its a win. Raja played his heart out, shut down manu and fins, whoever he was guarding. Raja is a proven playoff performer, an impact defensive player. Amare is a statistical machine that doesnt win because his stats are the primary concern in his development as a player. I liked the team chemistry without amare much better. I am starting to think that amares need to dominate the ball as a focus of the offense has impacted Diaws productivity as well as led to guys like JJ leaving. In game one, he coughs up the ball twice in a row driving into a packed lane after halftime, leading to layups at the other end. That started the spurs comeback run, and he added to it by allowing his man some easy hoops during that run. When you play with a guy like that, so destructive so fast in a playoff game, its very hard to trust him, even with his great offensive skill. Bad judgement is a killer, its destroys team efforts. Add in his jumping up off the bench after the hipcheck last year and you have a guy that just seems to know how to do the wrong things at the worst possible times. But yeah, hes just a kid: a 25 year old kid that makes 14M per and makes bad decisions at the worst possible time, yet he still wants the ball in the crunch. Amare has no idea how damaging he was in this series, no idea at all.

 

[DeAnna]

A comment that was omitted from the article but can be heard here: putting hard work into their offseason and understanding what it takes to win. ..........I guarantee I'll be a better player next year.

That's exactly the same thing he said last year. After sitting out a year he "had learned a lot and became a student of the game."

 

[SirStefan32]

So you're saying Amare knows how to play good defense but chooses not to? I don't necessarily disagree, I'm just asking.

I was trying to be positive and point out that when he sets his mind to work on something, he usually improves. Maybe he's too stupid to execute the basics of good defense, but hopefully he will work on it.

Well, last night, for example, Duncan posted him up in the fourth quarter. Amare played perfect defense. He wasn't leaning at all, he was moving his feet. Duncan tried to go to the middle, tried to go to the left, couldn't do it, had to take a bad shot.

Defense and rebounding are all about effort, and Amare seems to be lacking in that area. As I said, defense and rebounding don't get you on sportscenter, so he doesn't do it.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Amare said "we should have done what we did in the regular season". He said nothing about his utter lack of boxing out and rebounding the ball, or defending the lane area(like TD) against penetrators, or letting his man go back door on him. He apparently doesnt understand that Pop KNOWS what they did and did everything to take it away by giving elsewhere. I wonder if amare even understands the concept "take what the defense gives you". its like amare is punching and getting counter punched every time, but he doesnt get it. Forget it, he obviously is oblivious to the strategies being thrown at him.

Raja Bell looked pained in the interview, did not intimate that certain individuals or strategies were to blame, he was very uncomfortble obviously. A few less turnovers or fouls shots made and its a win. Raja played his heart out, shut down manu and fins, whoever he was guarding. Raja is a proven playoff performer, an impact defensive player. Amare is a statistical machine that doesnt win because his stats are the primary concern in his development as a player. I liked the team chemistry without amare much better. I am starting to think that amares need to dominate the ball as a focus of the offense has impacted Diaws productivity as well as led to guys like JJ leaving. In game one, he coughs up the ball twice in a row driving into a packed lane after halftime, leading to layups at the other end. That started the spurs comeback run, and he added to it by allowing his man some easy hoops during that run. When you play with a guy like that, so destructive so fast in a playoff game, its very hard to trust him, even with his great offensive skill. Bad judgement is a killer, its destroys team efforts. Add in his jumping up off the bench after the hipcheck last year and you have a guy that just seems to know how to do the wrong things at the worst possible times. But yeah, hes just a kid: a 25 year old kid that makes 14M per and makes bad decisions at the worst possible time, yet he still wants the ball in the crunch. Amare has no idea how damaging he was in this series, no idea at all.

Since you are essentially blaming Amare for the decision to not sign JJ, and Diaw's inconsistency can we throw in Barbosa's constant disappearing and the Baseline Killer too?

There is plenty of blame to go around, it's not all on one guy.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

If Stoudemire ever realizes that a big man dominating the boards and the inside defense is almost as good as a 50 point scoring night.... then he will be in the right direction...



I'd rather see Stoudemire put up 14 point 16 rebound 7 block games...

than 30 points 7 rebounds 2 blocks.....

I think is what clouds a lot of you guys on Amare, you would rather see something he is not. Amare is not a 14/16 guy he just isn't, he isn't Dwight Howard, he isn't Ben Wallace, I don't know why it's so hard for people to understand that. It's like asking Shaq to be a 65% FT shooter, it seems reasonable but, he just isn't and will never be, ever. 14/16 sounds good in the mind of a fan, but it's wrong and will never happen, ever.

 

[nowagimp]

Since you are essentially blaming Amare for the decision to not sign JJ, and Diaw's inconsistency can we throw in Barbosa's constant disappearing and the Baseline Killer too?

There is plenty of blame to go around, it's not all on one guy.

In the playoffs, when defense matters, amare didnt bring it, for the 5th year in a row. At what he's getting paid, its pathetic. All you apologists for amare go ahead, be oblivious. In the post game interview, he calls for "doing what we do in the regular season", go to him(the black hole) as often as possible. Keep thinking its nash or diaw or even a bench player, but your #1 man is playing with a losing mentality. He's a tool for pops to screw the suns with. He doesnt understand what is going on out on the floor its obvious, but he wants the ball. Players like amare get coaches fired all the time(see AI), by their lack of team effort, lack of sacrificing their game for the good of the team. Amare doesnt understand that, this is what will stop him from ever being a champion. Look at TD even shaq, these guys just want to win. Amare needs to be "the man", he was embarrassed by his stats after winning game 4. "usually Im the one" paraphrased. Do you think you would ever hear that from a winner, actually making excuses for his stats in a WIN. Not whatever it takes, just "these guys usually dont do it, I do"(raja,boris). He made excuses for himself instead of saying his teammates played great, how pathetic. that dude needs a "team player lobotomy", he cant even feel good about a W unless he has "braggin stats". Any good opposing coach will mess with his head bigtime, he's toast.

 

[SirStefan32]

I think is what clouds a lot of you guys on Amare, you would rather see something he is not. Amare is not a 14/16 guy he just isn't, he isn't Dwight Howard, he isn't Ben Wallace, I don't know why it's so hard for people to understand that. It's like asking Shaq to be a 65% FT shooter, it seems reasonable but, he just isn't and will never be, ever. 14/16 sounds good in the mind of a fan, but it's wrong and will never happen, ever.

Why the hell not? He is over 6'9 and over 250 lb, and has incredible athletic ability. There is no reason for him not to grab 10-12 rebounds per game.

Shaq has a legitimate issue with his wrist. His wrist is completely messed up, he just can't shoot free throws. He is physically not able to shoot 65%.

There is nothing stopping Amare from grabbing 10-12 boards.

 

[elindholm]

Shaq has a legitimate issue with his wrist. His wrist is completely messed up, he just can't shoot free throws. He is physically not able to shoot 65%.

He could overcome all of his physical limitations by learning to shoot them granny style, but he refuses.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Why the hell not? He is over 6'9 and over 250 lb, and has incredible athletic ability. There is no reason for him not to grab 10-12 rebounds per game.

Shaq has a legitimate issue with his wrist. His wrist is completely messed up, he just can't shoot free throws. He is physically not able to shoot 65%.

There is nothing stopping Amare from grabbing 10-12 boards.

His brain being #1, mental midget.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

He could overcome all of his physical limitations by learning to shoot them granny style, but he refuses.

I am sure Phil Webber will try it, anything to actually do something to justify his job. What is his job by the way?

 

[btimsah]

Amare says this everytime we lost to San an..
"somethings gotta change" he said last year. He does not like the way we play defense but he sucks at defending. He wants us to go to him, but at times he doesnt seem to know how to attack guys in the post anymore and starts shooting his jumper and playing like a wannabe guard with his number 1 jersey.

To be honest, this team needs a Greg Popavich. As much as I hate to say it. Someone to tell guys like Amare - you suck, you'll never be a champion unless you do this, this and this. Instead Dantoni says - I know you guys are champions, lets just go, go go!

Ugh.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Amare says this everytime we lost to San an..
"somethings gotta change" he said last year. He does not like the way we play defense but he sucks at defending. He wants us to go to him, but at times he doesnt seem to know how to attack guys in the post anymore and starts shooting his jumper and playing like a wannabe guard with his number 1 jersey.

To be honest, this team needs a Greg Popavich. As much as I hate to say it. Someone to tell guys like Amare - you suck, you'll never be a champion unless you do this, this and this. Instead Dantoni says - I know you guys are champions, lets just go, go go!

Ugh.

Amare is a tease, he is so great at times, unstoppable actually, but he will always be a mental midget, bank on 25 and 9 from here on out, which is great but he will never take the suns all the way. The 12-14 boards per game is unrealistic IMO, Amare isn't that type of player he is more melo than Howard.

 

[cly2tw]

He thinks he is better than he is. I am sure in his mind, he is better than Hakeem, Malone and Barkley combined.

I think he believes he can be better than he is and the team can play better than it does, which is also what Kerr implied with the reported demand for changes yesterday.

What's not correct with his comments? Shouldn't we have played regular season more specifically preparing for the playoffs? The flashy style of easy scoring with Nash dribbling the ball was fun to watch but of no value in playoffs. Didn't we see the two crucial turnovers by Nash in the final minute coming?

Play him on the lowpost next year, he will dominate Duncan from there sooner than the bashers think. He has the basics trills of low post attack quite well done already. The reason he hasn't developed this part of his game is that his face up games are way more developed, and the regular season offense is way more easy run through Nash. In addition, Diaw way often gets mismatch downlow. Only practice makes one perfect. With the right coaching approach, Amare, baring health issue, has the chance to become the all time most dominant scoring Power forward!

 

[cly2tw]

Amare said "we should have done what we did in the regular season". He said nothing about his utter lack of boxing out and rebounding the ball, or defending the lane area(like TD) against penetrators, or letting his man go back door on him. He apparently doesnt understand that Pop KNOWS what they did and did everything to take it away by giving elsewhere. I wonder if amare even understands the concept "take what the defense gives you". its like amare is punching and getting counter punched every time, but he doesnt get it. Forget it, he obviously is oblivious to the strategies being thrown at him.

Raja Bell looked pained in the interview, did not intimate that certain individuals or strategies were to blame, he was very uncomfortble obviously. A few less turnovers or fouls shots made and its a win. Raja played his heart out, shut down manu and fins, whoever he was guarding. Raja is a proven playoff performer, an impact defensive player. Amare is a statistical machine that doesnt win because his stats are the primary concern in his development as a player. I liked the team chemistry without amare much better. I am starting to think that amares need to dominate the ball as a focus of the offense has impacted Diaws productivity as well as led to guys like JJ leaving. In game one, he coughs up the ball twice in a row driving into a packed lane after halftime, leading to layups at the other end. That started the spurs comeback run, and he added to it by allowing his man some easy hoops during that run. When you play with a guy like that, so destructive so fast in a playoff game, its very hard to trust him, even with his great offensive skill. Bad judgement is a killer, its destroys team efforts. Add in his jumping up off the bench after the hipcheck last year and you have a guy that just seems to know how to do the wrong things at the worst possible times. But yeah, hes just a kid: a 25 year old kid that makes 14M per and makes bad decisions at the worst possible time, yet he still wants the ball in the crunch. Amare has no idea how damaging he was in this series, no idea at all.

Ask Amare, he'd be all for a Pop-like approach in the regular season, even if it meant he'd have to sit for blowing a single defensive assignment. Before you blame Amare's defensive shortcomings, everyone has to start with the defensive mindset instilled by DA for the team, or lack of one.

As to Amare hindering Diaw, it's rather ********. Amare never really dominated the ball on offense. It's been Nash, always. Amare's role was merely to be the running mate for PNR or last resort if otherthings failed. So, it's the game plan (as Raja mentioned in his comments) of going through Nash that's the main problem of the Suns failing again vs. Spurs. I really pity Nash now that he has to burden all the blames for coach failing to work on more play sets to free him of the improvising responsibility that failed in the playoffs everything @#$%ing playoffs here.

 

[cobbler]

Who whould have thought when Shaq said he came there to take Amare to the next level that he was talking about the "it's all about me" attitude and comments that Shaq has clearly perfected over the years. So sad.

 

[nowagimp]

Who whould have thought when Shaq said he came there to take Amare to the next level that he was talking about the "it's all about me" attitude and comments that Shaq has clearly perfected over the years. So sad.

Amare was already at that level for years. And he does hinder Diaw because amare is the plan on the pick and roll. When amare encounters a defensive scenario that indicates he pass out of it, he typically forces the shot or turns the ball over. When he does pass out, its usually with 7-8 seconds left on the clock, not enough for Diaw to set up and work his offense. The "point forward" on the team is Diaw, amare never developed the ability to pass out of a double consistently. This means that pop wants amare to have the ball. I wouldnt be suprised at all if pops planned amare to have good first halfs to get his testosterone up, and then clamped him defensively in the second half, taking the ball away, making him pass into the teeth of the defense. This is what I was talking about "playing with amares head", and "amare being counterpunched strategically" and not knowing what happened. Then amare comes out and says simplistic things like (paraphrase) "we should have gone to me". Amares best games were L's and he mostly did not produce efficiently in the second half, chance or Pops strategy? I've seen that kind of coaching at the high school level, playing with players heads. Amares big series against the spurs a few years back was a strategy, to "let him score and take the other guys out of the game", and it worked like a charm. Well it still works, because amare is still a black hole.

 

[nashman]

Agree 100% nowagimp. Amare forces bad shots and makes terrible decisions at the worse possible times.

 

[cobbler]

Amare was already at that level for years. And he does hinder Diaw because amare is the plan on the pick and roll. When amare encounters a defensive scenario that indicates he pass out of it, he typically forces the shot or turns the ball over. When he does pass out, its usually with 7-8 seconds left on the clock, not enough for Diaw to set up and work his offense. The "point forward" on the team is Diaw, amare never developed the ability to pass out of a double consistently. This means that pop wants amare to have the ball. I wouldnt be suprised at all if pops planned amare to have good first halfs to get his testosterone up, and then clamped him defensively in the second half, taking the ball away, making him pass into the teeth of the defense. This is what I was talking about "playing with amares head", and "amare being counterpunched strategically" and not knowing what happened. Then amare comes out and says simplistic things like (paraphrase) "we should have gone to me". Amares best games were L's and he mostly did not produce efficiently in the second half, chance or Pops strategy? I've seen that kind of coaching at the high school level, playing with players heads. Amares big series against the spurs a few years back was a strategy, to "let him score and take the other guys out of the game", and it worked like a charm. Well it still works, because amare is still a black hole.

Great observations. You are so correct. In the first half of the games it seems like the spurs D was unusually soft and Amare had wide open lanes. In the 2nd half they clamped down. Amare does struggle when confronted and i have rarely seen him pass out to the perimeter. Usually, you see him throw up some awkward shot. Amazingly, many of them go in as he seems to have that touch. What i mean by that is when hes taking the shot I'm like going NOOOOOOO... then.... WOW... it dropped. Unfortunately, it gives him a false sense of superiority and he's prone to charges (game one) in those situations in the clutch. It also doesn't bode well for the perimeter players standing wide open with hands out waiting for the dish.

I always felt it was just the spurs ergency to clamp down in the 2nd half. I never considered that possibly POP was playing with Amare's head early. If that's truly the case... it's a brilliant move. Thinking about it now, you can see with Amare's "its all about me" attitude how that stategy whould mess with his head and disrupt the flow that was established earlier.

Nice insight.

 

[Cheesebeef]

AAmare isn't that type of player he is more melo than Howard.

sad to say this is the exact conclusion I came to during this series.

 

[abomb]

sad to say this is the exact conclusion I came to during this series.

Are you opposed to seeing Amare traded for good pieces?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Are you opposed to seeing Amare traded for good pieces?

no, but i'd feel a hell of a lot better about it if we had a competent GM and owner, which we don't.

 

[Griffin]

To be honest, this team needs a Greg Popavich. As much as I hate to say it. Someone to tell guys like Amare - you suck, you'll never be a champion unless you do this, this and this.

What makes anyone think that that sort of coaching mentality is going to work with Amare? Has he ever shown the ability to handle criticism? All he ever does is deflect blame away from himself.

I can already see the headlines:

"Amare benched for missing a defensive rotation"
"Amare misses practice"
"Amare fined by Suns for conduct detrimental to team"
"Amare demands trade"
"Amare traded to Lakers for cash and a bag of peanuts"

 

[cobbler]

What makes anyone think that that sort of coaching mentality is going to work with Amare? Has he ever shown the ability to handle criticism? All he ever does is deflect blame away from himself.

I can already see the headlines:

"Amare benched for missing a defensive rotation"
"Amare misses practice"
"Amare fined by Suns for conduct detrimental to team"
"Amare demands trade"
"Amare traded to Lakers for cash and a bag of peanuts"

add to that:

"Amare clashes with Kobe demanding the ball go thru him"
"Amare claims Kobe wont play team ball and its HIS team"
"Amare shipped to Miami for 2nd and 3rd teir players"

and in my best Yogi voice..." it's deja vu all over again"

 

[Rab]

A lot of people turning on Amare? Seems weird that just a few months ago we were talking about how we needed to "feed the beast" and give Amare more touches, and how Diaw should never see the ball, and now Diaw should get the ball, and Amare is a black hole.

I agree that Amare has a lot of shortcoming on defense and rebounding, and his overall attitude sucks right now, but it's just weird to see the change in perception.

 

[SirStefan32]

A lot of people turning on Amare? Seems weird that just a few months ago we were talking about how we needed to "feed the beast" and give Amare more touches, and how Diaw should never see the ball, and now Diaw should get the ball, and Amare is a black hole.

I agree that Amare has a lot of shortcoming on defense and rebounding, and his overall attitude sucks right now, but it's just weird to see the change in perception.

Diaw earned it. He was given a chance to play small forwards and he came through. Amare choked a few times. As far as I am concerned, Diaw earned more touches than Amare.