I see your point. Maybe, but I’m not sure… I’ll have to think more on it. My favorite part was you calling Diaw a girl though! Priceless.

Great post by the way
I’ve said several times that Amare is a monster on the offensive end, he has sick and I mean SICK skills. But the fact that he is so agile and powerful on the offensive end is what makes people wonder why he looks like a school girl on the other end of the court.
Sure, we can blame this on D’Antoni and his system and short practices but a lot has to do with a players mindset and willingness to do things. Every time Amare said that he wanted to improve defensively…I just didn’t believe him cause that’s not what I saw on the court, he lets people blow by him without even trying to defend… why isn’t he able to defend the pick n roll? If he can jump to the roof…why are there games where Steve Nash gets more rebounds than him? Its just unacceptable.
There’s so much we can blame on the coaching staff and the misuse of his abilities. He has to show everyone that he understands basketball is more than scoring in bunches.

I think there’s just really a certain amount of BBIQ, at least on the defensive end, that Amare lacks and probably won’t ever be able to attain. I mean, between coaching and will you can make someone a solid defender and that would be ideal, but great defenders like Duncan and Garnett just have an intuitive feel for D that I don’t think Amare has.

It’s not a knock on him either. There aren’t many 26 ppg scorers who also defend well consistently (actually I can’t think of any, even Kobe takes the first 40 or so minutes off every game). Honestly, I’d be thrilled if Amare would just stop fouling so much. If nothing else that would help our D not to mention our offense.

I agreed with most of what you said until I saw you call Barkley a great defensive big man … unless you’re saying his defensive rebounding made up for his poor man-to-man defense (and his retarded steal attempt at the end of Game 6 in 1993).

Amare doesn’t have the (m)ass to keep post players from getting good position. Therefore, he has to expend a lot of energy to play defense there. Playing defense just takes more energy and stamina that playing offense (think about a good running team in the fourth quarter of a game). So, that left D’Antoni with the options of running a bunch of Skinner types (a deep rotation) at Duncan (or whoever) to allow Amare to conserve energy for offense or just let Amare try to outscore everyone. We know what he chose, and it almost worked.

Shaq has the (m)ass, but cannot defend the pick-and-roll because he’s got it. It is a rare combination to be able to do both. Diaw can defend the perimeter and guard smaller post players.

There’s simply no excuse as to why he doesn’t get more rebounds. There’s also no excuse for the dumb fouls.

On perimeter defense, I don’t think its his problem. Defense is about drilling and training. It’s like Maverick says, “If you think, you’re dead.” The failure to jump out on Finley during Game 1 is a great example. Coach D told everyone to switch every pick. Amare heard him. In Amare’s brain, he knew what to do. However, he had to think about it and it slowed him down, made him freeze. He had to think about it because he did not know what to instinctively do. That’s why you practice and drill and train. He hasn’t had that.

Amare has got to want it. PERIOD.

As Amare slowly grows, his maturity has risen – there’s still those boyish statements, and the joking around, but getting disciplined on the defensive end and as you guys said, him “wanting it” is something that now has to turn into an action. I believe the Suns have always wanted to get that big defensive stop when it mattered most, but to some degree at least, lacked the ability or foresight.

Amare certainly is built for offense. Even though he is all muscle, power and speed, when you look at him, you don’t see a great defender. The good thing is that there is more than enough room for improvement, and the only way is up.