Live From The Nosebleeds

If you want unadulterated analysis of basketball, whether it's the NBA, college basketball, or some pick-up game I saw yesterday, take a gander at my blog.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Dajuan More Chance

Call me Phil Collins: I can feel it in the air. Training camp doesn't open for another couple of days (Oct. 2 is the actual date), but the NBA buzz actually started with the release of NBA Live '07 yesterday. I had planned on staying up all night and writing a blog on how nasty the game is, but my controller decided to malfunction and I haven't even gotten a chance to play. Well, if it's any consolation, the game looks really cool, and I did get a chance to look at the rosters.

I've never been an NBA player, but I bet every year they look to the latest video games and want to check out their ratings. In a number of ways they can use that game as motivation. "What, I only have 45 defensive awareness?" Charlotee Bobcat forward Adam Morrison said in a recent press conference, "I'll show them." (He didn't actually say this, and I'm too lazy to bring up his defensive awareness rating, but you get the idea).

So how about this for motivation? Dajuan Wagner, the 6th pick in the 2002 draft, a player who once scored 100 points in a high school game, isn't in the game.

The obvious reason is that the Warriors signed him on Sept. 22, meaning that he missed the Jul. 26 cut-off date. But, that's too easy.

Wagner has been out of the NBA for two years after suffering from an inflammed colon, and even before that he was extremely injury prone. He has never played more than 47 games in a single season, and when he did play coaches felt that he played too out of control.

Though injuries do happen, it's almost safe (yet unfair) to label Wagner a bust. He's gone from a big-time scorer in high school and college to being probably an even money shot to make the Warriors. It's going to be interesting to see how he responds to this kind of role change. As a matter of fact, it's going to be interesting to see if he'll be even close to the same player prior to his injuries.

But, on a positive note, he's going into a pretty good situation. He loves to shoot the ball, and he's going to a team with a coach who loves to push the ball up the court. If he sticks, he has the potential to flourish in Don Nelson's system. As a Dallas Mavericks' fan for several years now (Dirk just re-upped for three years yesterday and I'm loving it), I can tell you that Nelson will make the Warriors every bit as entertaining.

Thankfully you can create players on NBA Live. Wagner will surely be one of the first people I add.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Reaction to the Duquesne Shooting

By now I'm sure everyone has heard about the incident at Duquesne University this weekend. At the risk of publishing untrue facts (oxymoronic) as many members of the media have done in the past couple of days, I'll review briefly.

Two men, one of whom has been detained while the other remains at large, allegedly shot at five Duquesne basketball players outside of their dorm room. Apparently the shooting was a reaction to a dispute involving a female at a black student union dance. One of the players, Sam Ashaolu, remains in critical condition and is apparently "fighting for his life" according to first year coach Ron Everhart. Two others, Stuard Baldonado and Kojo Mensah remain hospitalized but seem to be healing fine.

First off, my prayers go out to Ashaolu and his family. From every article I've read there seems to be a very supportive atmosphere on the Duquesne campus, who have put basketball on the backburner despite there being less than a month until the season.

But, I think it's sad that incidents like this happen all over the country in Division I athletics. Granted, this one is a little bit more serious than others, but to me it just seems like the players make themselves too accessible to the public. I'm not saying that basketball, football, or tennis players should stay in their dorm rooms all night and study, but I do think they make themselves targets for incidents like this.

Before fleeing to Towson, I was a University of Maryland student twice-removed (literally; they removed me twice). While there I saw Maryland basketball players at every single function, girls dangling from their arms and liquor on their breath even if they were underage. I've seen girls get into physical altercations just because they wanted to go home with the 12th man (I'll call him #21). These guys literally thought they were Gods. In fact, one of them (I'll call him #13) even tried to hit on my girlfriend while I was standing right in front of him.

And, these weren't like swanky parties. Hell, they couldn't have been if I was there. These were public settings. Guys partied like rock stars, and every girl wanted to be a video vixen.

The media hypes these kids up so much that they develop God complexes, but at times we forget that these are just college kids. Occasionally college kids get in trouble.

All this being said, nobody deserves to get shot, especially over something as petty as a lust interest. I really do hope that those kids heal so that everybody in the Duquesne community can move on.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Worst Picks Ever...

I was just watching "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith, and a story came up concerning 1998 No. 1 draft pick Michael Olowokandi. Apparently no one in the NBA wants him now, and things have gotten so bad that he has to pay his own way in order for the Phoenix Suns to give him a work-out.

Wow.

Even though I find it hard to believe that no team in the NBA can use an experienced seven footer with a couple (I'm being generous) post moves, this just proves that not all number one picks pan out the way league general managers think they will.

So, this got me to thinking... poor Michael can't be the worst number one pick of all-time, can he?

Well, let's examine further. Here's my list of the other candidates:

Kwame Brown- "Let's be fair: the jury is still out on Kwame," Washington Wizards' fans repeated after each of his first four seasons with the team. Finally, Wizards' management parted with Brown and his underachieving ways, receiving decent compensation in return (Caron Butler). I've never been much of a hater, but I just don't see Kwame getting any better anytime soon. The thing is, the Lakers must still think he has room to grow, as they gave him a ridiculous $25 million contract over the next three years. Click on the link, and if you can honestly tell me that you'd give him that big of a contract if you were an NBA GM, then you must be related.


Pervis Ellison- Unlike Kwame, Ellison had a good pedigree prior to joining the NBA, putting up solid numbers at Louisville. And, you know what, he even had a very good beginning to his career; heck, he averaged a double-double in his third year. And then came the injuries. "Never Nervous" Pervis was never the same after that. I remember watching him near the twilight of his career. I almost felt bad for him and his rickety knees. Honestly, through no fault of his own, injuries brought him to "bust" status.

Derrick Coleman- Based on his numbers alone, you wouldn't neccesarily consider him a bust. Actually, if you go back and look at that draft, he's arguably the second best player out of that draft (him and Gary Payton would flip-flop if you did the whole ordeal over). However, the consensus from NBA scouts over the years was that he never really lived up to his full potential due to his work ethic. Coming out of college many thought he would join that elite class of power forwards--the Charles Barkleys and Karl Malones of that time period. He topped out at 20.7 points per game in his third year, which typifies his career: better than most, but never as good as he should have been.

Joe Smith- He's been a solid player during his 11-year career, but when you're the No. 1 pick in the draft, much is expected, and Smith hasn't delivered like a top pick. In college he looked like he'd be a fluid big man for years in the league, but his fragile frame made him a tweener that couldn't attain consistent success. Even though he makes this list, however, he does earn himself intangible points for being an invaluable role player for the Milwaukee Bucks the past couple of seasons. He's handled his fall from the top very well, and although he never panned out, he is a stand-up guy.

Kenyon Martin- Now this one might surprise a ton of people, but look at his numbers. Granted, the 2000 NBA Draft was atrocious, and somebody had to go first, but I put him here based on what he does on the basketball court versus what he makes financially. Max deals go to superstars, players who have proven over time that they can succeed in the NBA. When Kenyon Martin becomes a consistent 20-10 guy, and when his team plays better with him on the floor, then I'll say that he deserves the money. Until then, he's on this list.

However, when you go back and look at all of that, I think that Michael Olowokandi is the pound-for-pound worst top pick in NBA history. First and foremost, when you go back and look at that draft, the top ten was loaded with upper echelon players in today's game. If the Clippers wanted to go foreign, they could have very easily taken an accomplished seven footer in Dirk Nowitzki who has revolutionized the forward position,. They could have had one of the most entertaining (when healthy) players in the NBA in Vince Carter. Mike Bibby was available for them at point guard. But they chose a project who played mid-level Division I basketball.

But, then again, I have the privilege of having perfect 20-20 hindsight vision. Don't most critics?















Friday, September 01, 2006

My Big Fat Greek Upset

One thing I like about these blogs is that you can go back and edit previous entries. Yeah, I can see myself going back and switching little things around, like I actually predicted Greece winning.

It would sound something like this:

"There's no way that the United States will be able to handle shooting guard Vassilis "Cut and Paste" Spanoulis, and world renowned big man Sofoklis "Lisp" Schortsianitis. That dreaded combination will send the Americans into the bronze medal game. Count on it."

Of course, journalists (and in this case, amateur journalists) are never 100% right. In fact, if they/we are right 50% of the time, people label them/us genius'. I don't know if there was a single journalist outside of Greece who had them beating Team America. Sure, they were the European champions and that should have counted for more, but come on! There weren't any NBA players on that team. How could they compete?

I know there's going to be a ton of NBA bashing today. In fact, look no further than
Chris Sheridan, who of course boasts, "Anybody believe me now?". I'm not going to go into the blame game today, however.

An English teacher during my freshman year six years ago (not kidding) once told me that it was always more difficult to write an article praising someone than it was to dog them. I'm taking the high road. Say all you want about the Americans not having adequate time to prepare, or the fact that there's no fluidity to their offense. How about this: Greece actually outplayed the United States.

It sounds like a silly concept, but maybe the Team USA didn't lose the game as much as Greece won. I saw the game, and Greece excelled at all the intangibles. They couldn't stop Schortsianitis down low. Spanoulis made some outstanding shots under duress. As a team, Greece's zone defense completely stifled the Americans. As good as Carmelo Anthony is, and he's been really good, Greece took all of their other weapons away.

Kudos to Greece. The Americans, despite what the papers will say, did everything in their mite to win gold in Japan. It didn't happen, but given their finishes in the previous two FIBA get-togethers, they're headed in the right direction. Cut them some slack.