Amare Stoudemire. MVP or Flopper?

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 6, 2008 9:02 AM MST Comment 13 comments

It's not often you get to see both sides of this question in one play but here in this clip we first see Amare square up Jeff Foster (who is not a bad defender and generally is the type of long mobile guys that have the best shot of slowing down Amare) get abused. Destroyed. And thoroughly Dunked On in any definition of that term.

Then little Travis Diener takes offense to his mate's embarrassment and gives Amare some high heat. Amare stumbles a bit and goes down in a heap.

During the Suns broadcast Eddie Johnson called his a clear case of The Flop. I've watched it numerous times and am inclined to agree but maybe Amare got his feet tangled and/or slipped on something (like the paint on the line).

Watch and judge for yourself.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 11/06/08 8:36 AM PST ]

In what universe does Tony Parker's fantastic performance possibly come in better than Amare's? This guy's apparantly.

Sure Tony scored a lot of points (55) and had a lot of assists (10) and he also played 6 more minutes (that's half a quarter) and took 15! more shots.

Parker played great but seriously - there is NO WAY that this is better than the sick numbers Amare threw up on both ends of the floor. 5 steals! 2 blocks! 11 rebounds! PLUS 81% shooting.

Puleeze - put down the pastry and think man think!

Poll

Did Amare flop?

Hell no - Diener is powerful and/or Amare slipped

40 votes

Amare got his Spur on - what's wrong with that?

87 votes

127 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 13 comments |

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Comments

Haha, the dude needs to work on his acting.

That was ridiculously obvious.

by rsavaj on Nov 6, 2008 9:35 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

working on it

he’s just trying to refine his “all-around” game

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Nov 6, 2008 9:47 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Second elbower?

Perhaps there was someone else involved?

It was pretty obviously a flop but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, he did just walk all over a sweaty Jeff Foster.

And Diener is a BEAST.

by Black Jesus Disciples on Nov 6, 2008 10:16 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I say no flop, for two reasons

First, Amare wasn’t looking in Diener’s direction, and in fact never looked, even as he fell. I think this genuinely caught him by surprise. (If you see another team’s player rushing toward you when the ball is dead, your natural instinct is going to be to defend yourself…or maybe get the hell out of the way. Amare didn’t do either of those things.)

Second, the forearm appears to have hit Amare mid-stride, when his weight would have been entirely on his back foot, which would make him pretty easy to knock off-balance with a shot from the side.

In conclusion: come on, guys, if you’re gonna be a homer, be a homer!

by beatcal on Nov 6, 2008 10:23 AM MST reply actions 1 recs

I considered this

and if it was a mere mortal than perhaps a little shove while on the back foot mid stride would do it. But Amare isn’t mortal. He’s a freak of nature with athletic cat-like prowess and balance.

I think if he wanted to he could have taken that hit, spun 180 and dunked.

That’s why I voted Flop. In respect for Amare’s greatness.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 6, 2008 11:07 AM MST up reply actions 2 recs

great comment

Suns Re-ignited.

by ZonaFlash on Nov 6, 2008 11:25 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

suck up

You already have the powers to post any time you want and choose not to. Sucking up won’t get you anywhere.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 6, 2008 11:27 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I also have the power to ban

that keeps me pretty busy. =)

Suns Re-ignited.

by ZonaFlash on Nov 6, 2008 1:19 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Amare was too busy beating his chest to notice that other people were trying to pick up the ball and play the game.

Suns Re-ignited.

by ZonaFlash on Nov 6, 2008 11:05 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

MVP AND Flopper.

Suns Re-ignited.

by ZonaFlash on Nov 6, 2008 11:06 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Both sides of the ball

So… It’s conceivable that Amare didn’t flop. As beatcal mentioned, it looked like Amare wasn’t expecting a push. Also, as he was doing the chest pounding and all that, he was leaning forward. Try leaning forward by 15,20 degrees and have someone push your back. It takes much less force to knock you off balance than if you were standing straight.

But… on the other hand, in the very last angle (the last 0.5 secs of the replay), it looked like Diener wasn’t pushing very hard.

In conclusion, Amare should have screamed pathetically and run back to high-five his teammates instead of strolling along the baseline and gently pounding his chest. Then this would not have happened at all and I wouldn’t have had to spend time watching the replay, replaying the replay, re-replaying the replay and then type up this.

by gadogry on Nov 6, 2008 11:16 AM MST reply actions 1 recs

Flop, Flop!

That was an obvious flop. Even Vlade Divac wouldn’t have flopped on that one. But hey, I’d rather he flop than throw a punch and get suspended!! Go Amare, great game last night.

PS you guys gotta see this video, Steve Nash is a riot… pay special attention to the Lakers diss…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb4lkUvxdhE

by jstead on Nov 6, 2008 3:08 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Hey STAT, save it for the playoffs, man!

He’s trying to improve his all-around play, like the other guy said. Taking a leaf right out of the Spurs book. But the key is to use it only in the postseason, whilst keeping a “clean” record during the regular season. Anyway, Diener needs to control that violent streak of his. That brutal assault on poor lil Amare should warrant a 50 game ban without pay, at the very last. He could have given our MVP a boo-boo =(

by felixthm on Nov 7, 2008 7:37 AM MST reply actions 0 recs