thegrahamcrackr
Registered User
Ok, not like I ever really liked them. Marc Stein pushed so many buttons of mine today in his stein line. For his post season awards he chose Yao as ROY.
Rookie of the Year
Stein's ballot
Yao
1. Yao Ming, Houston
2. Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix
3. Caron Butler, Miami
Houston's Yao Ming. For months we surmised that the No. 8 spot in the West would be the ROY tiebreaker between Yao and Suns sensation Amare Stoudemire. At the buzzer, even though Stoudemire and the Suns claimed it, we just couldn't deny Yao. Manly as Amare was, leaping from high schooler to NBA impact player a year after we had all lost faith in prep stars, Yao made a more daunting and historic transition, coming all the way from China to the heady heights of starting center in the All-Star Game and, for one night in January, legitimate Shaq foil. April has indeed been his worst month, after a great December (17.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.7 bpg) and February (16.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg), but Yao repeatedly dodged the Great Rookie Wall and hushed a lot of skeptics, all in the face of a relentless press following. No shame, meanwhile, for Miami's Caron Butler finishing third behind these two, especially with a Stein Line favorite (Denver's Nene Hilario) looming fourth.
In his chat today he said:
Dan (Phx): With the Suns making the playoffs, how much does that factor into the ROY award for Amare?
Marc Stein: (5:51 PM ET ) I thought it was going to be the deciding factor. But, in the end, I couldn't vote against Yao. I just think, for all the obstacles he has faced this season -- no summers off for years, unbelievable expectations, a daily media circus -- he had to be the choice.
and
Dan (phx): What about Amare attending 6 different high schools and not picking up a basketball until the age of 14? If nothing else, him and Yao should share it.
Marc Stein: (6:08 PM ET ) It's a good argument, Dan. Amare had to make a tough transition, too , especially one year after Kwame, Chandler, Curry and Diop had such poor rookie seasons. But voters aren't allowed to split votes. There can only be a tie if each guy actually accrues a like number of votes. If voters were allowed to split them, you'd see plenty of ballots with Yao and Amare both on there.
Here is my beef. He was one of the main people who were claiming the race would come down to who would make the playoffs. Now he is backing off of that, claiming he just cannot go against Yao. What happened in the past 2 months to solidify Yao in his mind? I mean his play has been downhill since like Feb. I am confident that the only thing that changed in the 2 months is that Phx became the winner of the 8th spot, where back in March Houston was looking like it would make it. Basically he used that playoff factor as a reason to give it to Yao over Amare when it looked like it was in Yao's favor. Now that the tides are turned, he got screwed and he knows it. He obviously had Yao pegged from the beginning.
His reasoning that Yao had to overcome so much is ********. The only thing Yao had to do was deal with the media swarm, which died down significantly as the season progressed. Yao was more ready, and more expected to compete at this level. Yao probably has 6 or so years of professional experience. Amare has 2 years of HS experience. Yao has the problem of changing from chinese to American culture. Amare has to go from his mom stealing to pay for groceries to having millions of dollars. Both are overwhelming changes. IMO if a writer wants to bring the things that had to overcome by each player, Amare has to have the edge.
Rookie of the Year
Stein's ballot
Yao
1. Yao Ming, Houston
2. Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix
3. Caron Butler, Miami
Houston's Yao Ming. For months we surmised that the No. 8 spot in the West would be the ROY tiebreaker between Yao and Suns sensation Amare Stoudemire. At the buzzer, even though Stoudemire and the Suns claimed it, we just couldn't deny Yao. Manly as Amare was, leaping from high schooler to NBA impact player a year after we had all lost faith in prep stars, Yao made a more daunting and historic transition, coming all the way from China to the heady heights of starting center in the All-Star Game and, for one night in January, legitimate Shaq foil. April has indeed been his worst month, after a great December (17.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.7 bpg) and February (16.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg), but Yao repeatedly dodged the Great Rookie Wall and hushed a lot of skeptics, all in the face of a relentless press following. No shame, meanwhile, for Miami's Caron Butler finishing third behind these two, especially with a Stein Line favorite (Denver's Nene Hilario) looming fourth.
In his chat today he said:
Dan (Phx): With the Suns making the playoffs, how much does that factor into the ROY award for Amare?
Marc Stein: (5:51 PM ET ) I thought it was going to be the deciding factor. But, in the end, I couldn't vote against Yao. I just think, for all the obstacles he has faced this season -- no summers off for years, unbelievable expectations, a daily media circus -- he had to be the choice.
and
Dan (phx): What about Amare attending 6 different high schools and not picking up a basketball until the age of 14? If nothing else, him and Yao should share it.
Marc Stein: (6:08 PM ET ) It's a good argument, Dan. Amare had to make a tough transition, too , especially one year after Kwame, Chandler, Curry and Diop had such poor rookie seasons. But voters aren't allowed to split votes. There can only be a tie if each guy actually accrues a like number of votes. If voters were allowed to split them, you'd see plenty of ballots with Yao and Amare both on there.
Here is my beef. He was one of the main people who were claiming the race would come down to who would make the playoffs. Now he is backing off of that, claiming he just cannot go against Yao. What happened in the past 2 months to solidify Yao in his mind? I mean his play has been downhill since like Feb. I am confident that the only thing that changed in the 2 months is that Phx became the winner of the 8th spot, where back in March Houston was looking like it would make it. Basically he used that playoff factor as a reason to give it to Yao over Amare when it looked like it was in Yao's favor. Now that the tides are turned, he got screwed and he knows it. He obviously had Yao pegged from the beginning.
His reasoning that Yao had to overcome so much is ********. The only thing Yao had to do was deal with the media swarm, which died down significantly as the season progressed. Yao was more ready, and more expected to compete at this level. Yao probably has 6 or so years of professional experience. Amare has 2 years of HS experience. Yao has the problem of changing from chinese to American culture. Amare has to go from his mom stealing to pay for groceries to having millions of dollars. Both are overwhelming changes. IMO if a writer wants to bring the things that had to overcome by each player, Amare has to have the edge.
