Hoops

Amare'- What gives?

I'll give him a couple of seasons with Porter for sure. I think he needs to be coached hard coz he has proven he won't improve his D of his own accord.

Why do people always have to say it's one or the other? Are you all frickin children?!

I'm not saying he sucks, he is probably in the top 20 players in the L which isn't too bad.

I'm saying he could be top 5 if he put as much energy into defending as he does scoring.

Which is what he declared would be his focus this season, and i don't see it happening.

Suns will remain pretenders until he addresses this.

Rebounding is about athleticism, toughness, smarts and effort.

Take a look at the leading rebounders on a per 48 min basis. He ranks at 114th in the NBA.

So i removed any players that haven't qualified under NBA rules, gets rid of the low min players or one game wonders.

He still comes in at 67.

Athleticism, toughness, smarts and effort.

He absolutely has ONE of those qualities.

And stop telling me Bowen doesn't do everything his team needs him to do within his ability to win. He stays in that corner coz thats his job. He worked hard to get that jumper to fall coz the team needs him to hit it every time. He was a woeful shooter coming into the L, worked hard on getting better, added to his game. Amar'e no different than past seasons. He could be a lot better, but i think we have seen all he has to offer.

He is not tough enough to be elite.

Don't confuse effort with ability dude.

Yeah he is one dimensional- but it aint through a lack of effort. He just doesn't have the motor skills to be a quality offensive player. Like i said though- he does the absolute best with what he has.

Agree his D is slightly over-rated, he has had a great asset in Timmy D backing him up, which means he can get right into the shooters faces without too much fear of getting burnt on the drive. Duncan is a luxery not many teams have.

I am talking more in terms of effort though, to quote Sir Charles- 'Nobody works harder than me, there may be guys that work AS hard- but nobody works harder than i do.'

Amar'e cannot possible say this, and until he does he will continue to be a one dimensional scorer (ie- he finishes but relies on others to create) and will never be a top 5 NBA player.

He has been spoilt by guys like Nash and Matrix running with him, now Shaq. Dude needs a reality check in a big way.

Bowen gives 100% on both ends of the court.

He is extremely limited as a scorer because of a lack of handle and can't hit the pull up at all.

So what did he do? He worked his arse off to make sure he could hit his set shots, went 15/15 in the playoffs once i beleive. Does the absolute best with what he's got- your having a laugh if you think Amar'e is doing the same.

Tell you what, swap their attitudes and Bowen with Amares body would be MVP getting 25-30/15/5 and Amare in Bowens body would be cut by the sixers.

Nice work lads.

Do you think he plays defence as hard as he does offence? Is it unreasonable to expect that from players?

Maybe this is a real case of stats misleading me, like a Wallace or a KG, Amar'e is bigger than his stats...?

I still find it strange that he gets such a low amount of rebounds and blocks.

The Suns play a bit of zone defence here and there, so you have to take that into consideration, because it is harder to box out when your in a zone.
BTW, the apostrophe is bewteen the r and e in his name. Not after the e

Andrew Bogut was just another international player when the college basketball season started, not even meriting an honorable mention in the preseason All-America balloting.

All that has changed now for the 7-foot sophomore from Australia. The Utah center was the leading vote-getter on the Associated Press' All-America team announced Tuesday.

Bogut, who averaged 20.4 points and was second in the country in rebounding at 12.4, was joined on the first team by senior forwards Wayne Simien of Kansas and Hakim Warrick of Syracuse, junior guard J.J. Redick of Duke and sophomore guard Chris Paul of Wake Forest.

The voting was done on a 5-3-1 basis by the same 72-member national media panel that selects the Top 25 each week. The balloting was conducted before the NCAA Tournament began.

Bogut received 60 first-team votes and 330 points, 22 more than Redick, who had 53 first-team votes.

Simien and Paul each had 289 points with Simien getting 45 first-team votes, one more than Paul. Warrick also had 44 first-team votes and got 283 points.

Bogut was the only member of the first team not to have received any recognition after last season. In fact, he was the only one of the five not to have been at least an honorable mention selection in the preseason All-America balloting. Now Bogut is considered a sure lottery pick, and the possible top pick, if he decides to declare for the NBA Draft.

"The thing that impresses me the most about Andrew is his ability to get better as the year went along," first-year Utah coach Ray Giacoletti said. "I've never seen a guy his size with the versatility he has and the will to win he has."

Bogut showed off his passing skills with a season-high seven assists in the Utes' second-round win over Oklahoma last Saturday, a game in which he had a season-low 10 points on just seven shots. That led the Utes into the round of 16 for the first time since their 1998 run to the national championship game.

"We were just trying to have a successful year and do our best," said Bogut, Utah's first All-American since Andre Miller in 1999. "It just all came together these last couple of weeks."

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/8317326