Prime Amare vs Current LMA

[waseem780]

who ya got

[moe94]

Amare was statistically better and it's not even close but LMA is much more complete and a better player.

[RoseCity07]

I've always seen Amare as a loser. He's never been interested in defense. In his prime he was a damn beast in the paint but not as able to take over the game on his own. Nash made Amare.

Aldridge on the other hand is a much better defender in the post and in general one on one situations. They are both pretty damn good free throw shooters. Aldridge has an unstoppable post game that I think puts him well above Amare at any point. His overall game makes him the best PF in the league.

Statistically Amare has an edge but I think Aldridge is the more skilled player of the two. We see what Amare is able to do without his super freaky athleticism and it's not much. Aldridge's game will age well because he has great skill.

[STATUTORY]

people tend to underestimate how much of a beast prime Amare was. But I prefer LMA's game aesthetically and from a team construction perspective but it's probably just my own prejudices with respect to that

[Blue&Orange]

i would say technically Amare is a better player right now that he was in his prime. Much better defensively and better post moves, better jumper etc...

He just doesn't have Nash and his knees nowadays.


So yeah current LMA wins

[annbafan]

Nash made Amare.

he had quite nice 1st and 2nd year in Phoenix right after HS without Nash on the team... And of course 1st year with the Knicks (specifically the part before Anthony trade), when he played perhaps the best basketball in his career and was a very strong MVP candidate as the Knicks were doing really good.

[chazzy]

The only thing Aldridge has on Amare is rebounding and length, and don't kid yourself into think LMA is some good defender. Blazers have been a bottom 10 team defensively and give up the most paint points. Amare's a much better offensive player period.

[RoseCity07]

he had quite nice 1st and 2nd year in Phoenix right after HS without Nash on the team... And of course 1st year with the Knicks (specifically the part before Anthony trade), when he played perhaps the best basketball in his career and was a very strong MVP candidate as the Knicks were doing really good.
:roll:

Amare has never been a strong MVP candidate. Just like Carmelo Anthony. Every year ESPN calls it someones year that really has 0 chance of winning the award. If you thought Amare ever was a serious candidate then you are delusional. The Knicks couldn't have signed two worse franchise players.

[chazzy]

:roll:

Amare has never been a strong MVP candidate. Just like Carmelo Anthony. Every year ESPN calls it someones year that really has 0 chance of winning the award. If you thought Amare ever was a serious candidate then you are delusional. The Knicks couldn't have signed two worse franchise players.
To be fair, he was in the mix for the first half of that season: http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/01/07/race-to-mvp-week-11/?ls=iref:nbahpt1
Either way he proved he can perform without Nash, though not as efficiently

[casual_fan]

Amare has always been extremely one dimensional and overrated. LMA got this easily.

[christian1923]

I've always seen Amare as a loser. He's never been interested in defense. In his prime he was a damn beast in the paint but not as able to take over the game on his own. Nash made Amare.

Aldridge on the other hand is a much better defender in the post and in general one on one situations. They are both pretty damn good free throw shooters. Aldridge has an unstoppable post game that I think puts him well above Amare at any point. His overall game makes him the best PF in the league.

Statistically Amare has an edge but I think Aldridge is the more skilled player of the two. We see what Amare is able to do without his super freaky athleticism and it's not much. Aldridge's game will age well because he has great skill.
NOT ABLE TO TAKE OVER GAMES?!?!?!?:biggums: :biggums: :biggums:

Watch amare in 2010 destroy the Lakers and Spurs, deep In the playoffs. Something aldridge aint to fimiliar with.

[j3lademaster]

I remember seeing a 22 year old Amare just go in on a prime Tim Duncan in the playoffs. I watched Amare that entire series with my jaws dropped, and as much as I love LMA, he's never had anywhere close to that kind of effect on me. You can even argue Amare's true potential was robbed from him by injuries.

[christian1923]

I remember seeing a 22 year old Amare just go in on a prime Tim Duncan in the playoffs. I watched Amare that entire series with my jaws dropped, and as much as I love LMA, he's never had anywhere close to that kind of effect on me. You can even argue Amare's true potential was robbed from him by injuries.
Yeah he averaged like 35 that series.

Anyone taking aldridge is crazy:coleman:

[scm5]

In 08', Amare put up 25/9/2 with 2 bpg on 59% FG and 66% TS.............. in only 33mpg.

LMA is nowhere near that level of production offensively and if we're being honest, not too far off from 08' Amare as a defender.

Give me that version of Amare over LMA if it's only for one year... but I would much rather have LMA due to health concerns.

[secund2nun]

Prime Amare.

[Teanett]

is this a joke?
is this a fvcking joke?

[redhonda76]

I remember seeing a 22 year old Amare just go in on a prime Tim Duncan in the playoffs. I watched Amare that entire series with my jaws dropped, and as much as I love LMA, he's never had anywhere close to that kind of effect on me. You can even argue Amare's true potential was robbed from him by injuries.

You probably didn't remember that Duncan was recovering from a badly sprained ankles right before the playoffs. Duncan with limited mobility still managed to drop 30/15 on Amare.

Current LMA's game is better than prime Amare. LMA is a complete player. No offense to Amare, which had an explosive game, however he had no defense and no post game. Plus the whole Phoenix offense was built around Nash, not Amare.

[hateraid]

Hindsight is 20/20

According to ISH 4 years ago Channing Frye was better than David Lee

If you're going to compare a player who's past their prime to a current all-star let be fair to the past player.

[tpols]

I've always seen Amare as a loser. He's never been interested in defense.
Amare has talked about how growing up as a player under Dantoni that defense was never stressed.. he played on the run and gun suns for a coach who literally did not have his team practice defense.:oldlol:



Nash made Amare.

Complete BS to anyone that saw him play as a Knick before melo came

[SCdac]

I remember seeing a 22 year old Amare just go in on a prime Tim Duncan in the playoffs. I watched Amare that entire series with my jaws dropped, and as much as I love LMA, he's never had anywhere close to that kind of effect on me. You can even argue Amare's true potential was robbed from him by injuries.

Yet the Suns were nearly swept.

It's well known the Spurs "stayed home on the shooters" (Suns were the best three point shooting team) in that series and took a gamble assuming Amare couldn't win them games alone (didn't double team him). Which worked. Duncan wasn't stopped either and averaged 27 ppg, 14 rpg, and 3 bpg contributing both an elite offensive and defensive impact in the series.

Personally, I'd take current LaMarcus Aldridge and maybe last season's Aldridge too. More of a complete player, seems like more of a leader, higher ceiling. Amare is a joke on defense, even though he can block shots.

[Cold soul]

Prime Amare.

[Teanett]

prime amar'e is 26ppg on 59% ...let that sink in for a bit.
smashing on people's foreheads with a wet, wet, wet jumper.
that's shaq-like domination on offense.

i know he's not a defender but aldridge over prime stat?

get outta here.

[Black and White]

People are forgetting how good prime Amare was, maybe they are focusing too much on current Amare that it clouds their judgement, I love LMA right now but I can't pick him over prime Amare, LMA does play better defense though so I can understand if you want to argue that aspect.

[Boarder Patrol]

Prime Amare easily. Total beast of a scorer, high volume on high efficiency. LMA has better defense but he's alright at best, and he's such an inefficient scorer too.

[Trentknicks]

I've always seen Amare as a loser. He's never been interested in defense. In his prime he was a damn beast in the paint but not as able to take over the game on his own. Nash made Amare.

Aldridge on the other hand is a much better defender in the post and in general one on one situations. They are both pretty damn good free throw shooters. Aldridge has an unstoppable post game that I think puts him well above Amare at any point. His overall game makes him the best PF in the league.

Statistically Amare has an edge but I think Aldridge is the more skilled player of the two. We see what Amare is able to do without his super freaky athleticism and it's not much. Aldridge's game will age well because he has great skill.
Except for the fact that Amare had his most dominant season without Nash.

[iDunk]

Amare, in his Phoenix days, could've easily averaged 30 PPG if he got 21 FGA per game like Aldridge is right now.

[r0drig0lac]

Amare and is not even close

[IncarceratedBob]

Amare quite easily. LMA is a nice player, but STAT would make this Portland team an actual elite squad.

[BlazerRed]

Aldridge is the more complete player. Amare was the perfect fit for that run n gun system but was never a good defender and lacked any real post moves when he couldn't dunk it on you. Aldridge is a serviceable 1v1 defender, unstoppable mid range game and decent in the post. A lot more rounded.

[BlazerRed]

When you think about it, Amare was on a successful team in his prime, running in the perfect system for him. Now that LMA is in that situation, he's absolutely beasting. Who knows how we'd be talking about LMA in the future if he'd had a team like this for an extended period.

[TheReal Kendall]

Black Jesus

[knicksman]

I've always seen Amare as a loser. He's never been interested in defense. In his prime he was a damn beast in the paint but not as able to take over the game on his own. Nash made Amare.

Aldridge on the other hand is a much better defender in the post and in general one on one situations. They are both pretty damn good free throw shooters. Aldridge has an unstoppable post game that I think puts him well above Amare at any point. His overall game makes him the best PF in the league.

Statistically Amare has an edge but I think Aldridge is the more skilled player of the two. We see what Amare is able to do without his super freaky athleticism and it's not much. Aldridge's game will age well because he has great skill.

spoken like a true idiot. Of course if you had a career ending injury, instincts would tell you to not play defense

[knicksman]

Amare made the league healthy. And could be the next jordan not lebron.

[hateraid]

Here's a relative comparison.

LMA or Griffin?

In this question will you find your answer

[kenny817]

Prime Amare was a beast. He even beasted in the playoffs

Aldridge has never even been out of the 1st round

Prime Amare was the better player and its not even close (not even talking playoffs)

[El Gato Negro]

prime amare vs lma now, i call a wash.

[Lebron23]

Amare is getting underrated in this forum. Prime Amare was a top 3-5 player in this league.

[Stuckey]

Amare is getting underrated in this forum. Prime Amare was a top 3-5 player in this league.

I remember Amare getting the ball in the post against our Pistons, and dunking over 3 dudes including Maxiell

that was probably '07 so we weren't no slouches up in the front either

[Trentknicks]

Aldridge is the more complete player. Amare was the perfect fit for that run n gun system but was never a good defender and lacked any real post moves when he couldn't dunk it on you. Aldridge is a serviceable 1v1 defender, unstoppable mid range game and decent in the post. A lot more rounded.
Not disagreeing with the rest of your post, but that was the point, Amare was so dominant he could dunk on anybody, and badly.

[BlazerRed]

Amare is getting underrated in this forum. Prime Amare was a top 3-5 player in this league.
Aldridge is a top 5 player in the league ATM with the way he's playing, so I guess you could say this is his prime. Question is whether LMA can continue this level of play for the next few years. Stat was more dominant a lot earlier in his career than LMA though. As I said I don't think the systems LMA have been in have helped him, unlike Stat who was in the perfect situation for him. Interesting comparison either way.


Not disagreeing with the rest of your post, but that was the point, Amare was so dominant he could dunk on anybody, and badly.
Lol true, he was fun to watch (and use on NBA Live).

[Artillery]

They're both overrated and nowhere near the Duncan/Dirk/KG tier of power forwards from the 2000s.

[tpols]

They're both overrated and nowhere near the Duncan/Dirk/KG tier of power forwards from the 2000s.
Nobody ever put Amare in top 5 GOAT PFs. Thats a ridiculous standard to hold him to.

[oarabbus]

prime amare vs lma now, i call a wash.

why

[GoranDragon]

Prime Amare was giving the Spurs and TD all kinds of trouble.

[D.J.]

Amare and I'll get into specifics:


Amare before his knee went was probably the most explosive big man I've ever seen not named Shawn Kemp. Once he got in the air, he was throwing it down hard. Steve Nash didn't make Amare, but he sure made his life a hell of a lot easier. Amare was ridiculously efficient and if he was getting more touches and playing an extra 3-4 MPG, he probably could have hit 30 PPG. That's how effective he was at the offensive end.

Now, neither one are exactly DPOY candidates. Amare sure wasn't and this is an advantage for LMA. But, Aldridge is no DPOY candidate himself. He is the more complete player, but his advantage on D isn't enough to make up for Amare's scoring and efficiency advantage(with or without Steve Nash). Amare made jaws drop with some of his plays. As good as LMA is, he just doesn't make me look at him and go "Holy f*cking shit". Amare did.

Also, let this sink in for a second. Amare at 22-23 years old was lighting up Tim Duncan at the offensive end. Mind you this was Tim Duncan still in his 20s. I know Duncan was playing hurt, but Duncan even at 70-75% was still better than pretty much any PF in the league. Granted Amare was invisible on D in that series, but he was still lights out at the other end. I highly doubt current LMA would light up 28-29 year old Tim Duncan for 35/10, even if non-existent on D.

I actually feel bad for Amare because if he had a coach that emphasized defense when he was 21-22 and made sure he used it in his game in addition to his ridiculous offensive efficiency, he could have been a top 5 PF of all-time. And I stand by that. The offensive game was there, the efficiency was there, and the athleticism and explosiveness were certainly there. If he was taught to defend in the post and actually rebound, instead of averaging 9 RPG and just under 2 BPG, I could see 12-13 RPG with 3 BPG. Picture an athletic freak putting up 26/12 with 3 BPG and shooting in the mid-high 50s from the field. That could have been Amare if he had a coach who actually utilized defense in the gameplan.

Amare had some of the greatest physical gifts for a big man I have ever seen. Unfortunately, he wasn't blessed with great coaching. His coach's philosophy was shoot the ball by the time the shot clock hits 16. The Suns in the mid 2000s, the Warriors in the late 80s-early 90s, the Nuggets in the 80s. All very entertaining teams, but they share one thing in common. None of them ever won a damn thing.