Luka Doncic Rookie of the Year

[Mainstreet]

Yes I should have mentioned his tenure with the Suns when he was literally killing it on offense, rebounding like crazy, and consistently defending the opponent’s top perimeter players. If I recall he even checked tony Parker. He got shafted because he was on great offensive teams, back then scoring was seen as a bad thing haha.

Marion took some undue criticism in Phoenix because bigger forwards like Dirk could shoot over the top of him. No one was going to block Dirk's shot anyway.

 

[Lorenzo]

Marion took some undue criticism in Phoenix because bigger forwards like Dirk could shoot over the top of him. No one was going to block Dirk's shot anyway.

Truth. Early on, I actually think marion was probably one guy that frustrated dirk the most because he was long enough to bother his vision, but also marion could keep dirk in front of him forcing dirk into that fadeaway jumper. it's dirk's signature move, but dirk mastering that shot came midway to later in his career. early on in dirk's career he was very inconsistent with his fadeaway jumper because he could usually get very close to the rim when there was a smaller guy or a bigger guy on him. If you ever watch KG, shaq, or TD try to guard dirk, he usually put the ball on the floor and got to the rim for an and1 or forced a put back, where as marion would force dirk into a pass or a fadeaway jumper. of corse around the time dallas made the finals in 2006(the year amare hurt his knee), that was when dirk really elevated his game because he got more physical and consistently started to hit that fadeaway, especially late in games. I truly think if amare was healthy in 06, with the mavs taking out the spurs, the suns could have won the finals.

 

[GatorAZ]

Truth. Early on, I actually think marion was probably one guy that frustrated dirk the most because he was long enough to bother his vision, but also marion could keep dirk in front of him forcing dirk into that fadeaway jumper. it's dirk's signature move, but dirk mastering that shot came midway to later in his career. early on in dirk's career he was very inconsistent with his fadeaway jumper because he could usually get very close to the rim when there was a smaller guy or a bigger guy on him. If you ever watch KG, shaq, or TD try to guard dirk, he usually put the ball on the floor and got to the rim for an and1 or forced a put back, where as marion would force dirk into a pass or a fadeaway jumper. of corse around the time dallas made the finals in 2006(the year amare hurt his knee), that was when dirk really elevated his game because he got more physical and consistently started to hit that fadeaway, especially late in games. I truly think if amare was healthy in 06, with the mavs taking out the spurs, the suns could have won the finals.

Amare used to give it hard to Dallas... Some of Amare’s numbers vs San Antonio was Pop refusing to double him. He was fine letting Amare score as long as Duncan stayed fresh. The Mavs doubled Amare and other guys beat them. His numbers were still great though.

Out of all the bad luck during SSOL
Amare getting microfracture was 10x worse than anything else.

 

[Hoop Head]

Out of all the bad luck during SSOL
Amare getting microfracture was 10x worse than anything else.

I haven't heard of a player considering microfracture surgery in some time other than Patrick Beverly, whose game was never built on athleticism. It seems the medical community has turned away from microfracture as well, which is good to hear but also makes Amare's case sting a bit more because if it happened a decade later then he might not have had it.

Here is an article with some quotes from Amare about his microfracture and how he wouldn't do it again today if he had a choice. It also says he contemplated retirement when he was unable to return in the 4-5 months that he was originally projected to be out for. The article is from July 2018.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...-surgery-amare-stoudemire-20180706-story.html

 

[GatorAZ]

I haven't heard of a player considering microfracture surgery in some time other than Patrick Beverly, whose game was never built on athleticism. It seems the medical community has turned away from microfracture as well, which is good to hear but also makes Amare's case sting a bit more because if it happened a decade later then he might not have had it.

Here is an article with some quotes from Amare about his microfracture and how he wouldn't do it again today if he had a choice. It also says he contemplated retirement when he was unable to return in the 4-5 months that he was originally projected to be out for. The article is from July 2018.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...-surgery-amare-stoudemire-20180706-story.html

Without knowing how bad his knee was specifically at the time that is kind of surprising. He came back with probably 80-85% of his natural explosives and the rehab process probably allowed him to perfect his jumper. He still went on to get another max deal.

For the Suns specifically it would’ve been interesting to how the alternative to surgery went down... 05’ Amare on the 06’ Suns with their added depth is an all time team.

 

[Hoop Head]

Without knowing how bad his knee was specifically at the time that is kind of surprising. He came back with probably 80-85% of his natural explosives and the rehab process probably allowed him to perfect his jumper. He still went on to get another max deal.

Of course the max was from New York, where they disregard the cap regularly. The Suns weren't wrong for refusing him the max uninsured. He did fall apart within 2-3 years of his new deal. The Knicks couldn't find a taker for him on the backend when it was clear he wasn't going to return to what he was. That showed his value then. I think most teams would have paid him max money for 2-3 years but any longer than that was handicapping your flexibility for a decade since deals could be 7 years when resigning with their original team and 6 years signing with a new one.

For the Suns specifically it would’ve been interesting to how the alternative to surgery went down... 05’ Amare on the 06’ Suns with their added depth is an all time team.

I think the 06 Suns would have been amazing but then again, how much does Diaw develop if D'Antoni didn't need to play him in Amare's absence? I doubt Nash gets another MVP that year but I could see a 64-68 win team that year with a healthy Amare.

 

[Lorenzo]

Amare used to give it hard to Dallas... Some of Amare’s numbers vs San Antonio was Pop refusing to double him. He was fine letting Amare score as long as Duncan stayed fresh. The Mavs doubled Amare and other guys beat them. His numbers were still great though.

Out of all the bad luck during SSOL
Amare getting microfracture was 10x worse than anything else.

It’s still a shame that the nba decided to meddle in the playoffs and suspend amare for a game against SAS. During that period the NBA was going too far with playoff suspensions.

 

[Mainstreet]

It’s still a shame that the nba decided to meddle in the playoffs and suspend amare for a game against SAS. During that period the NBA was going too far with playoff suspensions.

The real killer, both Amare and Diaw were suspended the same game depriving the Suns of someone to play center. That was not going to work against San Antonio.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The real killer, both Amare and Diaw were suspended the same game depriving the Suns of someone to play center. That was not going to work against San Antonio.

never had a problem with Amare getting suspended. He definitely jumped off the bench and went towards the scuffle and had to be held back. Diaw on the other hand looked like he moved forward to see what happening and then recoiled immediately.

And if we have Diaw in that Game 5, I think we pull off the win. he always played better when he could be the focal point.