NBA Discussion 2

[Moinllieon]

heard jason kidd wants to play with k.g

i think that's possible if the nets want to clear there salary cap. sprewell and cassell will be written off the payroll after this season.

possible trade?

Only if the Nets don't mind being viewed for the next 5 years as a salary dump where old has-beens go to clear salary cap for ambitious teams.

[bliss]

Those Bill Walton comments in the re-draft are awesome. I can't decide who has whackier commentary, Walton or Barkley. Anyone else wonder if Walton ever listens to himself when he says one of his famous Waltonisms. Here's some I found on the web:

"Why even have a rulebook?"

“Eric Piatkowski makes perhaps the greatest defensive play in Clipper history!”

"John Stockton is one of the true marvels, not just of basketball, or in America, but in the history of Western Civilization!"

“Tracy McGrady is doing things we’ve never seen from anybody – from any planet!”

“Patrick Ewing used to be much better in every aspect of the game.”

“Tonight the Spurs look to extend their lead to 3-0 over the Lakers. This time, however, they will have to do it on the Lakers’ home court. Duncan and Shaq have been magnificent for both teams, but so far the edge has gone to San Antonio. However, the real story line that awaits us tonight in Los Angeles is whether or not Kobe Bryant will actually throw a pass!”

“This crucial game five brings to mind two great movies. The first is Gladiator, in which Maximus attempts to rally his troops to come together. They learn that the only way to win is to fight as one. The other is Traffic, in which we learn that the greatest battle of all is that which is fought within one’s own mind.”

[jay_z]

Cosigned. I don't hate Yao, I'm telling it the way I see it. He's not as good as many people believe he is.

Yao is a good player with potential to become very very very very good. I don't see him reaching his potential.

1) Dude is soft. Not even Yao fanatics can argue against that
2) Most likely end up being a career 30 mpg player. Need more than that from a elite/dominant/franchise big man...especially in the playoffs.
3) Have I mentioned he's soft yet?

i agree that you don't hate yao, but you highly dislike him for something he can't control. you want to bring him down because the media constantly talk about him, consider him a very good player now, and will be the best center after shaq retires. it's ok to disagree. but, blame the media and not him because the media always hype players up.

why you call him soft? because
1. he doesn't try to bull over his defenders and dunk over them?

yao doesn't have a power game at the moment, but how many nba players have that besides shaq? tim duncan? cwebb? KG? none of those guys have a power game. only TD is more aggressive than yao while cwebb and kg are not.

2. he shoots instead trying to dunk?
3. he likes to shoot the fall-away shots; thus, not agressive?

the guy can improve on the two things because he is 24. the important thing is that he wants to be better and has improved since he's 16.

i have seen him played 40+ minutes and even 50-minutes games before without a problem. what make you think he can't do that in the playoffs with fewer games and most teams slow down and play more half-court game?

[spooks]

i agree that you don't hate yao, but you highly dislike him for something he can't control. you want to bring him down because the media constantly talk about him, consider him a very good player now, and will be the best center after shaq retires. it's ok to disagree. but, blame the media and not him because the media always hype players up.

Yay!! best centre when Shaq retires. Good for him everyone out there is garbage right now. It's not something I'd brag about.

why you call him soft? because
1. he doesn't try to bull over his defenders and dunk over them?

Yup, he's 7'6 and 300+ pounds. Doesn't know how to use it to his advantage. Gets bullied by smaller players. S-O-F-T

]yao doesn't have a power game at the moment, but how many nba players have that besides shaq? tim duncan? cwebb? KG? none of those guys have a power game. only TD is more aggressive than yao while cwebb and kg are not.

KG relies on speed/athleticism, CWebb was reliant on his speed/athleticism (up until this injury). Yao is neither quick or athletic he's big and bulky. He's built to back people down.

KG not agressive? Who the crap are you watching?

Yao is 7'6 and 300+ pounds, why are smaller players pushing him around? S-O-F-T

2. he shoots instead trying to dunk?

Yes dunking > shooting fadeaway over a smaller player.

You rip T-Mac for taking too many jumpers and not driving to the basket. Same thing applies here, why settle for a lesser % shot. Yao can outmuscle 80-90% of the chumps guarding him out there.

7'6 300+ lbs shying away from contact? S-O-F-T

3. he likes to shoot the fall-away shots; thus, not agressive?

See above. Dunking is a higher % shot and it draws fouls

the guy can improve on the two things because he is 24. the important thing is that he wants to be better and has improved since he's 16.

Have you been following him since 16?

Its arguable how much Yao has improved over his 2 1/2 years. His numbers have increased. Is that because he's a much better player than 2 years ago? or is that because he's been given a bigger role every year he's been in the league.

Dan Dickau was a scrub but even he can put up good numbers given enough mins and touches. Dickau hasn't improved much during his career.

I'm not saying Yao isn't a good player but how much has he improved since he joined the league? It's been a pretty slow learning curve...

Still has stamina problems, rebounding hasn't improved, not a great defender.

i have seen him played 40+ minutes and even 50-minutes games before without a problem. what make you think he can't do that in the playoffs with fewer games and most teams slow down and play more half-court game?

Great you've seen him play alot of mins. You can probably count them on your hands. Until he's putting down 35-40 mins consistently doesnt mean much to me.

Fact: Yao is a career 30 mpg player. 30 mins just isn't enough.

[Moinllieon]

Yay!! best centre when Shaq retires. Good for him everyone out there is garbage right now. It's not something I'd brag about.

Though for all intensive purposes, Duncan is a center. He just happens to have another 7 footer by his side.

Have you been following him since 16?

Its arguable how much Yao has improved over his 2 1/2 years. His numbers have increased. Is that because he's a much better player than 2 years ago? or is that because he's been given a bigger role every year he's been in the league.

It's quite obvious that Yao has improved MUCH better than when he first started. It's obvious for anyone who remembers his first game or that bet that Barkley made about how Yao won't even score 20 in a game his rookie year (which, judging from Yao's condition at the start, was a pretty plausible idea). Now a days he averages 20 a game.

In fact, the first few months of this season has really been the only time throughout his career where Yao's improvement seemed to have stagnated. Presently, it looks like it's showing signs of resuming its progress. As I've always said, give it time.

[spooks]

Though for all intensive purposes, Duncan is a center. He just happens to have another 7 footer by his side.

If we're considering Duncan a C, there's no contest. Yao will never be the best C at any point in his career. Heck if Yao get anywhere near Duncan's level I'd be very suprised.

In fact, the first few months of this season has really been the only time throughout his career where Yao's improvement seemed to have stagnated. Presently, it looks like it's showing signs of resuming its progress. As I've always said, give it time.

He's shown us slow progress and stagnation since last year. Is it too much to ask that I expect a player with this much hype to show visible improvements?

About his little streak of success all I have to say is. It's about damn time.

Few games doesn't balance the fact he's been crap for most of the season. Career high in TOs and fouls, career low in apg.

[Hapo21]

Cut the crep, just watch the play-offs and look who'll win, besides the spurs the rockets got a great chance to get in the finals with this crappy 7,6 Chinese. Would they've without him?

[Moinllieon]

If we're considering Duncan a C, there's no contest. Yao will never be the best C at any point in his career. Heck if Yao get anywhere near Duncan's level I'd be very suprised.

Considering Duncan's level consists of being basically the MVP of the NBA for seasons in a row and 2 championships in 5 years... You aren't going out on a limb on that one.

He's shown us slow progress and stagnation since last year. Is it too much to ask that I expect a player with this much hype to show visible improvements?

What does hype have to do with what kind of player you or anybody else think Yao is? I wasn't even talking about hype, why bring it up? NBA's hype machine has irked me for years now so everything you are hearing from me is just stuff off the top of my considerably limited mind. So I'm giving you my honest opinion. Yao's rookie year was just promise and very little substance, last year he improved in almost every aspect of his game (and you can't deny that). And his fault, so far as I can tell, has been not immediately showing improvements at the beginning of this season, unlike last season. Add this to comparisons to Amare (who has been helped greatly by having a much better set of teammates than Yao) and suddenly people are talking as if Yao is a flop or something when in fact he's the 2nd best player in his draft class and people still forget that it's only his 3rd year in the league.

Though, of course, I have to make the disclaimer that I never expected Yao to be a dominant player to begin with.

About his little streak of success all I have to say is. It's about damn time.

Few games doesn't balance the fact he's been crap for most of the season. Career high in TOs and fouls, career low in apg.

Better late than never. If this "little streak" (which, by the way, has been a month long now) continues into something solid, then who gives a toss how long it took.

BTW, career high in turnovers by 0.2 a game? That means he's giving away about 1 more turnover every 5 games. My my we are stringy.

[spooks]

last year he improved in almost every aspect of his game (and you can't deny that).

Improve every aspect of his game? Yup. Even Kwame Brown has shown improvement from year to year.

I'm not trying to bash Yao but with his talent + coachable attitude + work ethic + good coaching his learning curve should not be this slow. No one is denying Yao is supertalented, I'm dissappointed at his slow progression (and often what seems like regression during parts of the season)

BTW, career high in turnovers by 0.2 a game? That means he's giving away about 1 more turnover every 5 games. My my we are stringy.

The point is he turns it over too often for the amount of mins he plays.

0.2 increase is still an increase. So there. nyaaaah I win.

Cut the crep, just watch the play-offs and look who'll win, besides the spurs the rockets got a great chance to get in the finals with this crappy 7,6 Chinese. Would they've without him?

Suns look like legit final contenders. Mavs and Queens can give the Rockets trouble in a 7 game series.

Yao's not crappy he gets too much love from the media and from people with limited basketball knowledge. That's all.

[Vicious]

Improve every aspect of his game? Yup. Even Kwame Brown has shown improvement from year to year.

I'm not trying to bash Yao but with his talent + coachable attitude + work ethic + good coaching his learning curve should not be this slow. No one is denying Yao is supertalented, I'm dissappointed at his slow progression (and often what seems like regression during parts of the season)



The point is he turns it over too often for the amount of mins he plays.

0.2 increase is still an increase. So there. nyaaaah I win.

no, you didn't win at all, now you just make me wonder about all of your stats if you think a 0.2 increase is significant. what's next? his three point percentage is down by 50% since his rookie year!

Yao really isn't that soft for a 7'6 300+lbs guy. There's been no player who's 7'5 or above who had ever been really physical, comparing yao to bradley Yao is much more physical.

[spooks]

no, you didn't win at all, now you just make me wonder about all of your stats if you think a 0.2 increase is significant. what's next? his three point percentage is down by 50% since his rookie year!

Relax I was joking. It's so pro-Yao around here. Relax people, not every asian in the world has to like Yao or talk highly about him.

Does he not turn the ball over too much for the amount of time he plays? He does. There's also his pathetic assist numbers...

Yao really isn't that soft for a 7'6 300+lbs guy. There's been no player who's 7'5 or above who had ever been really physical, comparing yao to bradley Yao is much more physical.

Yao is soft. He often gets pushed around by guys smaller than him. I've said it in an earlier post, Yao should outmuscle 80% of the chumps guarding him out there. If he's not soft. Why?

Whether you want to admit it or not, best thing going for Yao is his size. He's not using his greatness strength to his advantage often enough.

[Vicious]

Relax I was joking. It's so pro-Yao around here. Relax people, not every asian in the world has to like Yao or talk highly about him.

Does he not turn the ball over too much for the amount of time he plays? He does. There's also his pathetic assist numbers...




Yao is soft. He often gets pushed around by guys smaller than him. I've said it in an earlier post, Yao should outmuscle 80% of the chumps guarding him out there. If he's not soft. Why?

Whether you want to admit it or not, best thing going for Yao is his size. He's not using his greatness strength to his advantage often enough.

i'm not a Yao fan, honestly i haven't watched enough games to comment on him but from what i've seen i dont even know if he's deserving for an allstar spot.

That said though i've seen him do strong moves to the basket that i've never seen from bradley, georghe Muresan, mark eaton or manute bol. And those have never been able to push players either. Not even Rik Smits did, and i thought Smits was pretty strong for 7'3. Yao's best asset is his size true but it doesn't mean it'll give him the advantage in ALL aspects. One, he'll never be able to outrun Allen Iverson, he'll be luckily to chase down a 6'9 forward. Two, people guarding him will always have the leverage advantage against him, they might be 40-50 pounds less than him but they're pushing 5-6" below him. It's hard to push shorter people around. Consider Ben Wallace who's 6'9 and only 240, he's outmuscled by Yao but Wallace has such an advantage when he's pushing Yao on his stomach level.

[Moinllieon]

i'm not a Yao fan, honestly i haven't watched enough games to comment on him but from what i've seen i dont even know if he's deserving for an allstar spot.

That said though i've seen him do strong moves to the basket that i've never seen from bradley, georghe Muresan, mark eaton or manute bol. And those have never been able to push players either. Not even Rik Smits did, and i thought Smits was pretty strong for 7'3. Yao's best asset is his size true but it doesn't mean it'll give him the advantage in ALL aspects. One, he'll never be able to outrun Allen Iverson, he'll be luckily to chase down a 6'9 forward. Two, people guarding him will always have the leverage advantage against him, they might be 40-50 pounds less than him but they're pushing 5-6" below him. It's hard to push shorter people around. Consider Ben Wallace who's 6'9 and only 240, he's outmuscled by Yao but Wallace has such an advantage when he's pushing Yao on his stomach level.

Vicious has a point here. I never thought of it before, but if you remember in football (the American one) people usually talk about size along with leverage as in sometimes it doesn't matter if the opposition is bigger, as long as you have a lower center of gravity and gets leverage, you can push him around. Might be something worth thinking about.

[jay_z]

Yay!! best centre when Shaq retires. Good for him everyone out there is garbage right now. It's not something I'd brag about.

some many so called experts predicted him to be the biggest bust since sam bowie. so, yes he should pat himself on the back for not disappointing the 1 billion chinese people who root for him.

Yup, he's 7'6 and 300+ pounds. Doesn't know how to use it to his advantage. Gets bullied by smaller players. S-O-F-T

there are only a couple centers in the league who can bully him while a few centers use their quickness to stop the ball from coming in to him. in addition, it doesn't help his teammates take a long time to get him the ball. you can't expect the guy to hold his position for more than 5 seconds? even shaq gets pushed outside of the paint. but, the difference with shaq is his teammates will give him the ball again.

how many players have a good post-up games?

KG relies on speed/athleticism, CWebb was reliant on his speed/athleticism (up until this injury). Yao is neither quick or athletic he's big and bulky. He's built to back people down.

KG not agressive? Who the crap are you watching?

yes, kg is not aggressive. the only time he played like superstar is last year against the kings. even seen a "superstar" pass up some many shot opportunities at the end of the game?

his biggest assest is not his speed nor athleticism; it's his length. he could easily score by posting up and taking one dribble in the lane and shoots over anybody. but, instead he takes 17-footer or even 3-pointer when he's not a great shooter. worse, his favorite move is facing his defender and trying to go by. but he can't so he picks up his dribble and spins and puts up a tough shot.

cwebb is worse because he's stronger than most PFs. plus, he has a great jump hook. however, he prefers to out outside and plays point guard. he enjoys the "best passing big men" title than an nba title.

Have you been following him since 16?

Its arguable how much Yao has improved over his 2 1/2 years. His numbers have increased. Is that because he's a much better player than 2 years ago? or is that because he's been given a bigger role every year he's been in the league.

I'm not saying Yao isn't a good player but how much has he improved since he joined the league? It's been a pretty slow learning curve...

Still has stamina problems, rebounding hasn't improved, not a great defender.

no, i didn't start following him at 16. but, i read and looked up his stats. his numbers improved every year.

bigger roles? i don't think so. i don't need to look up his stats for this year to know that his attempts are not much more than last year. his post-up opportunies are actually down from last year. the reason he hasn't shown much improvement is because jvg doesn't know how to use him.

why ask your center to set screens outside of the 3-point territory and not inside?
why not give him more shot attempts when he's shooting over 50%?

[spooks]

Enough about Yao all this talk about him bores me. He's a good player lets just leave it at that. It's all-star weekend, screw Yao and the Houston bandwagon.

I will comment on a few of your points though jay_z.

1) Shaq doesn't get pushed out of the paint. He leaves because of the 3 second rule. Usually when Shaq establishes position he keeps it.

2) I can tell you don't watch KG much.

Oh ya. Dunk prediction. Josh Smith is gonna win it.

[Brian0032]

Did you guys just watch that dunk contest? Josh Smith's dunks were just flat out sick. So was JR Smith's first dunk. I liked what Amare Stoudemire did with Steve Nash also, but in the end I think Josh Smith deserved it and the finals should have been Josh Smith and JR Smith. Anways, great stuff.

[c13:4567]

Did you guys just watch that dunk contest? Josh Smith's dunks were just flat out sick. So was JR Smith's first dunk. I liked what Amare Stoudemire did with Steve Nash also, but in the end I think Josh Smith deserved it and the finals should have been Josh Smith and JR Smith. Anways, great stuff.

way cool dunks and

chris andersen should never be allowed to enter a basketball dunk contest again in his lifetime.

Yao has problems when teams front him. But that's also a result of not having a very perimeter player that is adept at giving him a good entry pass, as a good entry pass over the fronting player would leave the post-up player with a simple lay-up (watch what happens when people front Spurs or Heat and see what happens with a good entry pass). Even so, Yao could make the job of the entry passer easier by putting his elbow in the back of the fronting player and push him away as the entry pass comes in one side or another. So, as with everything, there's no single reason why Yao has problems with fronting defensive players, and there's no single solution either.

sorry this is late, but i can't agree more with you. i have seen 70%-80% of the rockets games this season. the fronting issue was one of the problems when they were struggling early , starting this season something like 6-11.

but since then jvg had said he used the pick and roll strategy (mainly yao setting for tmac) to counter it and it is evident on the court.

as such, until yao improves his lateral movement and overall agility significantly, or they get some capable players to force feed yao entry passes in the low post, the p'n'r is a good option.

so far, jon barry is the only decent passer for yao, followed by tmac.

[c13:4567]

Those Bill Walton comments in the re-draft are awesome. I can't decide who has whackier commentary, Walton or Barkley. Anyone else wonder if Walton ever listens to himself when he says one of his famous Waltonisms. Here's some I found on the web:...

heh...

nice walton quotes. he is something else, isn't he? wonder what's he smoking? but i can tolerate him cuz he has occasional insight among the crazy hyperbole, Dickie V on the other hand....

he lost all credibility with me even back when i was a dukie.

If you enjoyed part 1, here is Part 2. i liked how skewered kobe, cuban and walker




The NBA Re-Draft Part 2
Mike Tirico: Welcome back to the NBA Re-Draft here on you world wide leader. Dick Vitale has been electroshocked and promises not to get too graphic about what he wants Coach K to do on his bald head. So I think we can move on.

Bill Walton: Ramble on rose...ramble on baby....if there is something better out there than a continuation of a re-draft at this time in this world, then I haven’t seen it - is this great or what? How lucky are we? What a day!

Mike Tirico: Thank you Bill. I am once again joined by, sigh, Tim Hardaway, Bill Walton, Stephen A. Smith, Dick Vitale, and Craig Sager.

Dick Vitale: Welcome back baby! This is the best re-draft in America baby! Hey, Sages, look at that outfit baby - I gotta tell you, I wish I could dress like that! I was talking to Wojo down before the game and I told him, "OHHH!!! Wojo!! I wish I had your looks baby! You must get any woman in America baby!" Wojo baby!! Wo-joooooo!

Mike Tirico: Before what game? There is no game. This is a redraft.

Bill Walton: Michael, it’s the game of life. And on this day, in this arena, with this air, and with those butterflies over there cheering our every move, we are all winners of this game.

SAS: WO....JO

Mike Tirico: That’s all?

SAS: I’ve made my point.

Tim Hardaway: I think it was a little early to draft Wojo.

Mike Tirico: What?!? Okay, let’s get everyone caught up. It’s the first and surely last NBA Re-Draft. David Stern has made all players available. The order of drafting was picked at random by Stern, though amazingly all the big market teams ended up in the top half of the draft. If you are just joining us, Lakers President/GM Kobe Bryant picked himself first, then denied it, then made a bunch of condescending remarks.

The Knicks followed by bringing Lebron to NY to the commissioner’s delight. The NY crowd reacted by chanting "Fire Layden!".

Then new/old Bulls GM Jerry Krause stunned everyone by drafting someone from Jr High School, and then Michael Jordan’s illegitimate 5 year old child after obtaining the 4th pick from the Clippers for Eric Piatkowski. No confirmation to the rumor that Elgin Baylor is running around the Garden looking for his nose after Joe Dumars played the "got your nose" trick on him.

Finally the Celtics gave us some normalcy by picking Dwayne Wade and ensuring we will all get to hear about how much Boston and NY hate each other all winter too.

Mel Kiper Jr: Let’s take a look at my "best available" board right now. I really like a defensive back out of Georgia with plenty of upside by the name of...

Mike Tirico: No way - get the hell out of here. Okay, next up Philadelphia. Lots of Philly fans here. Doing the picking for the Sixers will be, um, Jesus?

Jesus: With the 6th pick, the Philadelphia 76ers select God Shammgod, Providence College.

Sixers Fans: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Jesus sucks!!!

Jesus: Got you! Just wanted to see if you guys would even boo Jesus. Okay, for real, the Sixers select Tim Duncan.

Mike Tirico: Solid pick by Jesus for the Sixers. Let’s go down to Craig Sager with Tim Duncan, who from what we hear is incredibly upset and emotional about the prospect of leaving the Spurs. Sages?

Craig Sager: Tim, you have spent your whole career in San Antonio and I can see you are shaken up here and have something to say.

Tim Duncan: Yes. I look forward to contributing in Philadelphia best I can.

Craig Sager: Wow, explosive stuff.

Mike Tirico: So a rare display of emotion from Tim Duncan. Dickie V, you saw Tim Duncan play twice a year in college, whenever Wake was at Duke or hosted Duke. What are your thoughts?

Dick Vitale: This is an outstanding pick! By the way, I love Philadelphia baby! Home of Rocky! What a story that was baby! Young coach takes over private school hoops program, builds them to magnificent heights while still maintaining the standard of class and integrity. When you talk about class and you talk about integrity, you have to just flat out admire how Coach K can keep Duke at the level they are at - as the pre-eminent college basketball program in America baby! Anyway, let’s get back to Tim Duncan, another guy who spent 4 years in college like Trajan Langdon and now is reaping the rewards. I would have loved to have played in the ACC for 4 years! Are you kidding me baby?! Sixteen games against Duke and Carolina?! Wow baby...WOOOOW!!

Mike Tirico: Wow is right. Next up are the Dallas Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban is at the podium.

Mark Cuban: For the Dallas Mavericks pick, I am opening up the competition to all NBA players. Each week, I will put them through a different task where they can show me why they should be the 1st redraft pick of the Mavs. I will vote off one player each week until we are left with one true survivor who will win the coveted....

David Stern: (whispering to Cuban) Make a pick now or I will have you killed.

Mark Cuban: Cancelled again. Okay, we select Amare Stoudemire.

A shocked and stoned out of his mind Damon Stoudemire begins walking up to shake Cuban’s hand before being sent back to his seat dejectedly.

Mike Tirico: A good pick by the Mavs - right now we have some breaking news I have just been handed to read. "ESPN’s Marc Stein, ESPN the Magazine’s Ric Bucher, and ESPN Insider Chris Ford are reporting that Kobe Bryant has had the name of his team changed to the Los Angeles Vanessas."

Bill Walton: That is HORRIBLE! The Lakers represent the subtle dance that we call hoops heaven, played at its highest level, a level I long to reach each night - that’s where the dance becomes a wonderful blur of movement and of athleticism, and THAT is what Laker fans have been lucky enough to see all these years. The sun is not shining on Los Angeles today friends.

Dick Vitale: You are absolutely correct partner. Now, I don’t know who these Lakers are that you speak of, but when you have something at its highest level you have to talk about Duke. Now I know people get on me for always talking about Duke, but I ask you partner, what’s wrong with admiring a program of class, that wins with absolute class!? What’s wrong with that baby?! Look at the Crazies baby! The Cameron Crazies are going crazy!!! This is the toughest place to play in America baby!!

Mike Tirico: So, that is all the analysis we have of the Lakers changing their name to Kobe’s wife’s name?

Tim Hardaway: Well, I think we may, you know, be overlooking that now all the lakes in Los Angeles have nothing to honor them. Know what I’m sayin?

Mike Tirico: As usual, no we do not. We asked Kobe about the move, but he said that he had nothing to do with it, he just plays for the team. Shocking. Next up is the Atlanta Hawks who traded their 4 season ticket holders to move up. This is sure to go poorly. The Hawks have 2004-2005 leading score Antoine Walker announcing the pick. Instead of at the podium, Antoine has decided to try to shout his pick into the mic from 10 feet further away. Teammates offered to take his shout and then simply say it into the mic, but Antoine says he would rather try a long-range pick himself than pass off the pick to a teammate.

And, his long range try was no good. As usual he keeps trying, but we will just tell you instead that the Hawks have taken Tracy McGrady. Ric Bucher, Marc Stein, and Chad Ford are already reporting that McGrady said he will not play for the Hawks and is demanding a trade.

Tim Hardaway: Even I wouldn’t play for the Hawks. Them things dangerous, with those beaks and claws, and they always squawkin at you, know what I’m sayin?

Bill Walton: The hawk is one of the most beautiful birds on the planet, there is nothing quite like watching it soar majestically through the air. Oh, to be a hawk.

Mike Tirico: Is this really happening? Anyway, next up is Cleveland. Not too much drama here, they have already told Carlos Boozer they would pick him here. Brad Daugherty hobbles to the podium with official word.

Dick Vitale: This pick is going to get a Super10 baby!! A Super 10 on my BDI - the Bald Dome Index baby!! Because I’m bald!! Rub my head baby!! Somebody rub my...

Brad Daugherty: With the 9th pick, Cleveland selects Kevin Garnett. Go f— yourself Boozer.

The Garden erupts again.

Mike Tirico: Oh my! Dickie V, you seem to be hyperventilating. Your thoughts?

Dick Vitale: Are you kidding me baby??? Are you kidding meeeee!!! A young man serves the game of basketball with honor and class, and then this is the thanks he gets?! I told Coach K once how much he bent over backwards to get these Alaska kids in school like Boozer and Langdon. Those kids are what makes the college game so special! Then I just told him to bend over baby!! What a view baby!! That’s why I’ll take the Dookies over anyone in Americaaaa!!

He still looks good, Coach K, doesn’t he?! I ask him, I say "Michael, how do you look so good baby!?! Your wife is a very lucky lady!" I wish I still looked that good, but I’m too old now baby!! I’m not a pretty picture!! America doesn’t want to see me baby!!

Stephen A. Smith: You are prunier than Shane Battier’s head.

Dick Vitale: Shane Battier, now you are talking about somebody special! One of those special individuals - hey, he should be president baby!! How about that? Shane Battier should be president!! Look how he takes that charge! Boom! Oh, college basketball, nothing like it in America baby!

Mike Tirico: We are waiting for the next pick, but meanwhile we are getting some disturbing news from below. Sages?

Craig Sager: Yes, my suit is now purple, but the real news down here is very disturbing indeed. They had an NBA promotions group tossing Redraft t-shirts into the crowd like they do at many arenas during timeouts. Apparently one of the t-shirts hit Ron Artest and he is now pummeling the girl that threw it.

Mike Tirico: Oh my, what a dark day for the league. Maybe we better take a break.

Bill Walton: Throw ‘er down big fella!!

[Brian0032]

heh...

nice walton quotes. he is something else, isn't he? wonder what's he smoking? but i can tolerate him cuz he has occasional insight among the crazy hyperbole, Dickie V on the other hand....

he lost all credibility with me even back when i was a dukie.

If you enjoyed part 1, here is Part 2. i liked how skewered kobe, cuban and walker

Personally I hate Bill Walton and can't tolerate him. I can tolerate dickie v though.
And you're a Dukie.... ?






j/p

[jay_z]

2) I can tell you don't watch KG much.

i've watched enough of him to know that he's overrated and won't be as good as duncan even though he has the talent to be best player in the nba. if you don't have a tremendous go-to move that you can depend on when your team needs 3 or 4 consecutive baskets, you can't be called "superstar."