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Updated: April 16, 10:54 PM ET That's Amare: Best NBA prep rookie ever By Marc J. Spears Special to ESPN.com |
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Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady struggled. Jermaine O'Neal was basically on the bench. Kevin Garnett showed potential. Amare Stoudemire, well, he has been flat out impressive. If you take a look at all the high school players that made the jump straight to the NBA, no rookie in league history has had a bigger impact on their team in their first season than the Phoenix Suns forward.
With the regular season coming to a close, Stoudemire is averaging 13.3 points and ranks 12th in the NBA in rebounding with 8.9 boards a game, sixth in offensive rebounds per game at 3.1 and 18th in double-doubles with 24. That line is an impressive one for most NBA players, not just a rookie. "A lot of times with a high school kid, the veterans are a little reluctant to bring him into the fold," Phoenix coach Frank Johnson said. "They kind of keep him on the outside until he earns his stripes. They gave this kid some respect." Bryant, O'Neal, McGrady and Garnett are all All-Stars and considered among the top 10 players in the league. But before they ascended to superstar heights, none came close to having the season that Stoudemire has enjoyed as a rookie.
In essence, adapting to the NBA from high school isn't an easy task even for the marquee players. Well, that was until Stoudemire came along, who produced his aforementioned statistics after attending six high schools, not playing basketball until age 14 and having to deal with numerous personal problems, including his mother's incarceration. "Those guys played four years of high school ball and I just played two," Stoudemire said. "I guess those guys did have the advantage because they had more experience than I did." Stoudemire, whose body is much stronger than your typical 20-year-old, still has limited post moves and a work-in-progress jumper. But in just his 31st game, the 6-foot-10, 245-pounder scored the most points by a high schooler making the jump to the NBA with a resounding 38 against Garnett and Co. at Minnesota on Dec. 30. He is behind two All-Stars (Stephon Marbury and Shawn Marion) on the Suns' scoring leader list and helped propel them to a possible playoff berth, despite having to compete regularly against the long list of great power forwards in the Western Conference. "I am just playing on raw talent and God-given talent," Stoudemire said. One high school to NBA player not mentioned was Moses Malone, but it's probably not fair on Malone's or Stoudemire's behalf to compare their rookie campaigns.
One thing Malone, Garnett, Bryant, McGrady, O'Neal, Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Rashard Lewis, Al Harrington or Darius Miles did not do was win the Rookie of the Year award. Stoudemire is a legitimate contender. In the Houston Chronicle's recent polling of 28 voters about whom they would select for Rookie of the Year, Rockets rookie center Yao Ming received 20 votes to Stoudemire's eight. But that was a month ago. And when voters really consider Stoudemire's tough road and inexperience coming into the league compared to Yao's experience in China's pro league and top-level international competitions, the voting could change. Keep in mind that the Suns and Rockets are fighting for the West's last playoff spot and that Phoenix owns a 2½-game edge. When asked if whether the rookie whose team ends up in the playoffs should be Rookie of the Year, Stoudemire said: "Yes, I think so. I think (that's fair)." And it's more than fair to say that fans are watching the best-ever high schooler to jump to the NBA in Stoudemire. "Amare has been pivotal in the resurgence of our ball club, and we are more than pleased with his development both on and off the basketball floor," Colangelo said. Marc J. Spears, who covers the NBA and Denver Nuggets for the Denver Post, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. |
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