Player of the D.A.Y.
Microfracture surgery? Don’t make me laugh
Lots of honorable mentions today. Or as I like to call them, losers. T-Mac, Vince, KG. All great Hall of Fame players putting up big numbers, carrying their respective teams to wins. I salute each and every one of you. On a lesser day, you all would have made a great choice. Not today though. Kevin Martin, great free throw shooting exhibition, but still not enough.
Chris Webber was the best player on the floor between two teams that have arguably the best chance of going to the Finals. Microfracture surgery slowed him down and he’s not the same leaper he was but now he’s playing great and, oh I can’t keep up this charade. Yes, C-Webb did have the surgery and played the biggest role in a huge Eastern Conference win but there’s another post-micro man that is taking the Player of the D.A.Y. from him.
To quote Charles Barkley after the Suns-Spurs series two years ago: “Amare Stoudemire. Damn!” He came out early and got the Hawks into foul trouble with his dominance inside. He dunked on shotblocker and fellow power/speed blend Josh Smith. Down the stretch he made some of the bigger plays of the game for the Suns. The dunk on Josh Smith was humbling for a former dunk champion, who was quoted after the game calling Amare a beast. This is the kind of respect Amare was receiving two years ago when Tim Duncan was just trying not to get embarrased in that playoff series Charles referred to. There are many very good players in the NBA, but few that put the fear of God into their opponent like the one with a neck tattoo that reads “Black Jesus.” Amare’s legs aren’t all the way back, and he’s still beasting. One of his dunks was the kind where a guy starts going up for what looks like a layup with some contact - only he keeps going up and OH he just dunked on Josh Smith again!
By the way his numbers were 43, 16, and 6.
27 Responses to “Player of the D.A.Y.”
Feb.26 at 5:42 pm
dez says:
what? 43, 16, 6? what a filthy, filthy beast
Feb.26 at 5:44 pm
Drer says:
Amare owns Josh Smith. Ouch! http://youtube.com/watch?v=f57El16-Xqo
Feb.26 at 5:56 pm
Tom says:
amare is the new kemp! That line “put the fear of God in their opponents” is the same thing they used say about kemp
Feb.26 at 5:58 pm
Hersey says:
STAT aka the BEAST 43,16, 6 and 3 blocks
Feb.26 at 5:59 pm
Tariq says:
All due respect, but The Beast is Julio Baptista. Holla if ya hear me!
Feb.26 at 6:01 pm
Aaron says:
Feb.26 at 6:48 pm
Paniscus says:
Yeah, no doubt. I’m happy to say that I was wrong Wrong WRONG about Amare. I thought that his game was too centered on athleticism and that he wouldn’t get it back. Like I said 1) WRONG! and 2) happy to wrong.
Feb.26 at 6:51 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
The inevitable Mavs/Suns Western Conference Final is going to be roughly 3423453465453243657827 times better than the NBA Finals.
Feb.26 at 6:57 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
AGAINST ATLANTA! What happened to not giving PoD awards to guys who beat up a crappy team?
CWebb deserves the award (Maybe Rod Thorn for showing why he didn’t trade kidd+carter - even though he’ll be out of luck come free agent time).
Feb.26 at 7:00 pm
thomas says:
inevitable russ? that’s a joke! how is everyone throwing the spurs out soo damn early!
Feb.26 at 8:02 pm
dpak says:
thomas - maybe because the mavs and suns are both better than they were last year and the spurs are worse.
Feb.26 at 8:50 pm
whooo! says:
manu lights em up for 24 straight on the way to 40… then amare shits all over josh smith and racks up 43… and tonight they get dirk and the mavs’ 11 game winning streak! can we get another 40+, or will it be too big a blowout for that?
Feb.26 at 8:55 pm
Ang says:
all star game was fun to watch cause dwight beasted all over amare. i expected amare to return the favor, but he settled for jumpers instead of taking it strong.
Feb.26 at 8:56 pm
whooo! says:
dpak, make no mistake that the suns n mavs do not want it w/ the spurs in the playoffs. they’d rather have the other face em n hope they eliminate them. they’re starting to click after the break, which isn’t a coincidence. older teams pace themselves for the playoffs.
Feb.26 at 9:59 pm
Chief says:
yeah Amare. I got him on myspace i’m gonna send him the link.
Feb.26 at 10:02 pm
Will Lee says:
better than Kemp. and a better than Payton and a better than Shrempf.
Feb.26 at 11:34 pm
truce says:
no live blog for the white rapper finale?
Feb.27 at 1:35 am
francis says:
Just got done watching amare on yutube. Sorry to say it but he owns duncan. timmy just withers like a leaf around amare. I’ve never seen him get punked like that before…not even against Shaq, but for some reason amare owns him. I see that as a problem for the spurs. Also in looking at the footage I will say without a doubt that’s amare is better than Kemp…WAAAAAAAYBETTTTTTER! The kid reminds me of another beast from back in the day Daryle Dawkens, only turbo charged!
Feb.27 at 3:23 am
FLUXLAND says:
Word to truce.. I was waiting on that too. And Mr. Reeves, I hear ya. Buuuuuut…. that STAT line is crazy to argue with. I hope he really is back. If he is, the show has only begun. Please don’t compare this guy to anyone. He is in his own orbit.
oh yeah and Josh Smith wants to be Amare when he grows up.
Feb.27 at 5:31 am
snyper 48 says:
Amare might a beast but the Mavs right now the are the Evil Empire, they got 666 ways to beat you
Feb.27 at 6:09 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Speaking about knees, was anyone else unfortunate enough to see Shawn Livingston’s left fold like Origami last night?
Feb.27 at 6:50 am
SwingMan says:
Good Lord Russ, please don’t remind me. I’ve NEVER seen a knee give way like that and not have it end a career. Send some prayers to Shaun Livingston, folks. That looked 10x worse than Googs when another Livingston (Randy) ran full speed into the side of his knee in 2000. Oh yeah, snyper, when the Mavs have to go through some injury adversity, THEN keep winning, come back and talk. For now, consider yourselves LUCKY. Out.
Feb.27 at 10:43 am
francis says:
The Mav’s can beat anybody during the regular season, but in a seven game playoff series they havn’t proved they have what it takes to win. Yeah, they beat the suns w/o Amare, and barly beat the Spurs with a 50% Duncan. I’m thinking the Mav’s draw the lakers in the first round, Kobe drops 50 on two seperate nights, and the series goes 5 games. They get past the lake show–then get rolled by either SA, or Phoenix.
Feb.27 at 1:40 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Amare is now tied for second place with Kobe Bryant with 4 D.A.Y.s
Feb.27 at 1:41 pm
Boyd says:
Although I don’t embrace francis’ argument completely, (i think the Mavs will offer the hardest challenge to anyone) I hear where you’re coming from. The Mavs were hugely fortunate to play a Suns team that was about 6 deep and limping badly in last years conf. finals. They had no Amare, no useful Kurt, no useful Raja. 3 of the Suns top seven players. The Mavs folded hugely in the finals. Also Jerry Stackhouse ominously said the Mavs ‘aren’t worrying’ about the Suns, and still class the Spurs as the top opposition. Stackhouse appeared to be speaking for the team, and that kind of arrogance would be suicide against the Suns, the wheelchair version of which took them 6 games last year. They actually have the skill, speed, and youth to destroy the Mavs if they fail to take them seriously. I don’t think the Mavs have an answer for Amare. That dunk over Smith was the moment when everyone watching him for the last few months (me included) finally exhaled. STAT is indeed back.
Feb.27 at 2:26 pm
Jonathan says:
amare is the best player in basketball, also a heart warming hero story.
Feb.27 at 5:20 pm
J-Bird says:
Mavs fans be afraid…..be very afraid