whitesoxfan99

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 1, 2008 -> 01:28 PM) Deron Williams was a mediocre shooting during his time with the Illini. And as a freshman his outside game was bad enough that it was actually a liability at times. I know this post will be Illini heavy but Luther Head is another guy who as a freshman was a mediocre shooter at best and he has become a great 3 pt shooter. There are tons of guards who weren't great shooters at 19 that become very good or even great outside shooters. Rose has great form on his jump shot and he is not near as bad from the outside as some people make him out to be. I'd actually be pretty surprised if Rose does not become a very good outside shooter.

Lakers benefit from a extremely generous no call.

Brandon McGee dismissed from IU. Indiana could be in big trouble with the APR if a lot of these guys being dismissed were not in good academic standing when they left.

QUOTE (Felix @ May 22, 2008 -> 12:28 PM) That's a real shame about Maddux being #17 here. He's the best pitcher of our generation, definitely should be higher. I completely forgot about him because I associate him with the Braves even though I included other guys who did most of their best work elsewhere. If I would have thought harder about my list I definitely would have included him and he would have been high on my list.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 20, 2008 -> 07:34 PM) Ok, I fane ignorance because I never expected the Bulls to pick this high, so I havent "scouted" the top 3 guys. Is Rose a true Point Guard or can he play Shooting guard? That might alter who I want. I think Kirk and Rose can co-exist if Rose can play the 2. but I dont think Rose and Gordon can if Rose played 1. Rose is a pure PG and a phenomenal one at that. He is a better prospect then Paul or Williams coming out of college and it would not be surprising at all if he surpassed those two.

Carlos Boozer sucks

QUOTE (Brian @ May 15, 2008 -> 07:22 PM) Interesting. For one year, not bad until Dillard and crew get worked in and a fall back plan if Bone doesn't come through. Wish CLo would get some big guys. He wouldn't be eligible this year though. You would be tying up a scholarship for 2 years for Freeman to play 1.

And awesome homer officiating gives the Lakers two buckets on obvious push offs by Pau Gasol late.

Carlos Boozer seriously sucks. Single handedly losing this game for the Jazz. Absolutely pathetic defense on Odom, he is a turnover machine, and he can't finish around the hoop.

QUOTE (JuiceCruz16 @ May 14, 2008 -> 01:29 PM) Rivals updated 2009 rankings have come out. The two names that have been raved about this summer both have jumped up. John Wall has moved to #1 overall. John Henson has leaped to #5 overall. Both have wowed them this summer. I'm thrilled to see Henson dominate, but the Wear twins actually fell to 54/55 respectivley, while Dex. Strickland stayed solid at #16 for the Tarheel commits. Illinois is represented by Paul at #49, Richardson at #57, Bertrand at #77, and Griffey at #123. Before Illinois fans get worried about Griffey's ranking, he is not concentrating on AAU ball this summer and his AAU team is freaking terrible even when he does play. This isn't a Semrau situation.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ May 7, 2008 -> 10:44 AM) Well, that's strange. Setting picks you mean? Hope he wasn't out there shooting 3s... I saw him once. He's slow...not very mobile. Kinda soft. But he is 7 foot. He was supposed to be a 2009 recruit so maybe he'll be redshirted so he can develop some more. I had similar feelings. He is absolutely huge, but he seemed stiff and is not a good athlete. Despite his size he likely will never be much of a shot blocker. I've heard his post game is developing but that he is still very mechanical on the blocks. But NW badly needs size and Rowley is about 7 ft 290 and he does have potential so he is a good pickup for them.

And to think I thought our offense would be strong and that Danks, Floyd, and Contreras would likely be a weakness (knock on wood). Hopefully the latter three continue to prove me wrong and the bats can get something going. Floyd has been terrific thus far, hope he keeps it up.

Outstanding performance by Atlanta today

QUOTE (fathom @ May 3, 2008 -> 09:14 PM) Would you say that Gavin Floyd is a fluke then? His career ERA is worse than Dempster's as a starter. And BTW, I mentioned the teams that Owings has faced because I knew you'd bring up who Dempster faced. Gavin Floyd isn't a 31 year old pitcher with a long history of sucking. And he very well could be a fluke. Dempster had one season out of 6 (including his rookie year where he made 11 starts) as a starter with an ERA under 4.7. He was good in 2000 posting a 3.66 ERA but that was 8 years ago and he has basically sucked since then. 3 of his 6 seasons as a starter his ERA was over 5. The evidence weighs heavily that Dempster's start is a fluke.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ May 3, 2008 -> 12:50 PM) Hmm, was that more on Pablo? That was completely on Pablo

Freeman is leaving Iowa. That doesn't make any sense to me because he is going to be a senior. There isn't a major program in the country that is going to want to tie up a scholarship for two years for him to play one for them. So he basically is leaving Iowa to sit out a year, and then play for just one year at another program that likely will not be in a major conference.

I think Caron Butler should have been allowed to take more steps on his game winner tonight. That dribbling thing is for losers.

Atlanta and Boston is getting heated...Stern does not look happy

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 25, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) I thought so too. I really enjoyed the episode.

Not happy with tonight's episode.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Apr 22, 2008 -> 12:28 PM) I don't want to jinx the Jazz, but this series is done. As far as T-Mac, no clue. I heard last year and this year are the only two years he's had home court advantage in the playoffs. The Jazz beat them last year playing against Yao Ming who was dominate in the series. This year the Jazz are better than last year and are playing the Rockets without Yao. Even though the Rockets had homecourt advantage I think most people predicted the Jazz to win the series anyways. I know there are a lot of ifs and stuff in the season, but the Jazz started off 16-16 and ended 53-29, they would've been the number 1 seed had they not gotten into a slump in December. They could've also been the number 1 seed had they not lost to Minnesota twice on the road, and New York on the road this year so it goes both ways. The only year where T-Mac has been a favorite to advance out of the 1st round was last year. He didn't shoot the ball well in that series but still averaged 25/6/7. The year Orlando blew the 3-1 lead against Detroit, Detroit clearly was the better team and T-Mac's supporting case freaking sucked and he was great in that series. . Really his supporting cast was terrible the whole time he was in Orlando. They lost in 7 against a superior Mavericks team a couple of years ago. So really I would say the only year you can really fault him at all would be last year against Utah and even then I think Utah is the better team. This year they just don't have a chance without Yao. The fact that they won as many games as they did shows what type of player he is.

Spurs v. Phoenix has been just a fantastic game. Duncan just hit a 3 pt shot to tie the game with 3 seconds left in OT

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 15, 2008 -> 12:33 AM) Time in college won't help this problem though. Amateur basketball is all about height, wingspan, athletic ability, and AAU ball right now, none of which is condusive to fundementals. The days of fundemental basketball are gone and not coming back. Now, as for the question at hand, the system now blows. To have a one year age limit maks a mockery of the "student athlete" and education system, even more than football does (and football makes a joke of it despite you having to stay at least THREE years). The rule should be you have to stay at least 2 years, at least that is of some relevance in terms of time frame. As for the age limit, I'm not sure. You can say you are denying kids employment and all that, but the NFL gets away with it, and that's besides the point that lots of jobs require college education/experience before you can get them. If you put a gun to my head though, I'd say there should be no age limit because if somebody thinks the kid is good enough, he should be allowed to play. Not to mention the fact that this system isn't about protecting the kids like the NBA claims, it's about money and having a better product and f*** it if some kids get hurt. A major difference between the NBA and the NFL is that a high school football player simply cannot compete with NFL athletes. However we have seen plenty of examples of high school basketball players who are solid players right away and a couple instances of guys being stars right off the bat. ANd honestly I wouldn't care if the NFL did get rid of their rule because there isn't a chance in hell NFL teams would draft guys out of high school. Roster spots are too valuable and the draft is already unpredictable enough. If there is an age rule the NBA should adopt baseball's rule that you let guys go pro out of HS and then if they do go to college make it 2 years (3 is just too long for basketball players). This way the Dwight Howard's and LeBron's do not have to waste their time in college but at the same time you likely keep some more guys in school.

Edit: Damn, someone beat me to it

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 14, 2008 -> 03:04 PM) That would be chaos, there is no way the could quantify the Lebrons and Kobes. Some kids totally dominate high school and it doesnt translate to the pro game because they havent had quality competition (cough eddy curry cough). Eddy Curry's problem is his work ethic, not his high school competition.