Wait until you see the lists for Philly and NY. What a joke.
Maybe they're not considering the suburbs as part of the city - though they don't say that. And with all due repsect to our brothers to the south - a definite hoops hotbed in Houston - they ain't touchin' what the metroplex has churned out in the last decade.
Want names from the last ten years? C Bosh, Deron Williams, Anthony Randolph, Kenyon Martin, CJ Miles, Quinton Ross, Darrell Arthur, Sean Williams, hell - throw a Sasser brother in there for all I care. That's with no research - I'm probably forgetting a badass.
(12:41 AM edit - I forgot two badasses, I was so mad lotto picks Acie Law and LaMarcus Aldridge slipped my mind)
By comparison, NY is starting Smush Parker, Sebastian Telfair and Julius frickin' Hodge? I'm not joking. And the other two dudes (Ben Gordon and Chuck Villanueva) ain't on the Olympic team like Bosh and Williams.
What a load of crap! You suck ESPN. I'm surprised Bristol didn't make the Top 8.
Why do I let garbage like this get under my skin? Infuriating. Straight disrecpect.
"F" 'em. F' The whole east coast. F' everyone. I'm fittin' to torch the internet!
I was woken up by a phone call from our homie Dallas - a good baller who eventually got a scholarship to UTEP before ending up on that Oklahoma City championship team that Eric Manuel was on.
He said Len Bias had died.
I told him it wasn't funny and then ripped him for being up so early on a summer morning. Then I went back to bed. Our other homie Sido was crashed out on the floor and he wasn't buying it either.
By the end of that day I was pondering cocaine for the first time.
I kinda love and hate the NBA Draft Lottery. By not guaranteeing the No. 1 pick to the worst team, it helps dissuade teams from intentionally tanking at the end of the season to improve their draft spot.
Yet it seems weird that the Bulls, who a year ago were the Hornets of the East (a compliment I never thought I'd write), get to jump up and grab Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose. (Surely it'll be the former, right?)
You could question the Knicks getting Ewing, the Rockets getting Yao, the Blazers getting Oden, etc. The ultimate example, of course, is when The Admiral got hurt for the Spurs, which meant they s-u-c-k-e-d that year, and that put them in the lottery. With very little chance to nab the top pick, they got it anyway and landed Tim Duncan. Boston got bumped to third and got Chauncey Billups. Yeah, he's a stud now, but the Celtics squandered him into spare-dom.
And, with the second pick, the 76ers got this guy.
This is about the time each year when I really start focusing in on the NBA draft.
Chad Ford does his annual "who should go #1" routine here.
For the record, I'd go with D Rose regardless of whoever else I had on my roster.
I'd also still take Oden over Durant 1000 times out of 1000.
But I like dominant post and point guard play.
I'm just stupid that way.
If Beasley does go #1 in the upcoming draft, it'll be an amazing piece of cinematic roundball synergy as he's also one of the ballers featured in MCA's new flick Gunnin' For That #1 Spot - which hits the theaters the day after the draft.
This flick sounds really choice as three potential lottery picks are featured - The aforementioned Beasley, Kevin Love and Jerryd Bayless.
"I have had a great experience here at The University of Texas," Augustin said. "All I can say is 'thank you' to my teammates, coaching staff and fans that have supported us during my two years at Texas. I have matured a lot as a person, both on and off the court. I have dreamed of playing in the NBA since I was a little boy, and I am ready to start living this dream."
DJ has not hired an agent yet so maybe he's just testing the waters, which is very unlikely. He will surely be one of the first PG's selected in the draft after two impressive seasons. Texas junior AJ Abrams will also gauge his draft status by putting his name into the draft with no agent.
Here's one for the roundball jonzers: Adam "MCA" Yauch has made a basketball documentary called Gunnin' For That #1 Spot. The films zooms in on 24 of the top high school players (now in college) as they hoop it up at Harlem's legendary Rucker Park in 2006. Featured ballers include UCLA's Kevin Love, Arizona's Jerryd Bayless and K-State's Michael Beasley. I'm optimistic; Spot will be released by the new Oscilloscope Pictures, a company started by my boy David Fenkel. Fenkel used to be at Think Films, and he knows from hoops. Spot will hit theaters this summer. Lace 'em up. And peep the press release below.
He eats Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast, and Twizzlers and Honey Buns for dinner. That's why his stomach hurts. We tell Derrick the whole year, 'Stop eating so many Gummy Bears and Sour Straws.' But he can't. ... Nobody eats Gummy Bears more than him.
My first thought is "Holy crap! How good will this dude be when a pro dietician teaches him how to properly take care of the basketball super vessel he's been blessed with?"
If you're not a big college basketball head, the NCAA tournament usually serves as a cram session for folks to familiarize themsleves with NBA prospects.
This weekend's Final Four is especially interesting in that there are a lot of potential first rounders playing in high-pressure situations.
His preview of the weekend matchups can be found here.
Notice I said "still" in regards to Ford's credentials. You might be thinking that he should have his draft card pulled indefinitely for touting Pavel as a sure-thing top-fiver. This of course is the year after he ripped every team up and down for passing on Maciej Lampe in the first round.
But we all have our misses. Especially if we think that every Euro with a touch is the next Dirk as opposed to the next good dude up at 24 Hour Fitness. But I digress...
One the best college hoops teams in the nation, the #2 Memphis Tigers, rolled through Dallas last night in a 72-55 win over the SMU Mustangs. This was an end of the season type affair with much of the conference standings already in place, but it still gave fans a chance to see one of the nation's top-flight tourney teams. Coached by John Calipari, the Memphis Tigers hold down a 29-1 record, with the only loss being to Tennessee in one of the best games of the season. Memphis also features the phenom freshman point guard Derrick Rose who will be laced up in The League soon via somebody's lottery pick. This team will surely be seeded at #1 in the NCAA tournament.
Conference USA may not be the Mecca of bball land but Moody Coliseum had a packed stadium with that concert buzz feeling to it (complete with SMU students playing Guitar Hero III in front of Moody before the game). Much respect to the SMU fans who showed up to support the team on Senior Night. The game itself wasn't as glamorous as the initial buildup but the Mustangs made a game out of it and were within a fighting chance at times. Memphis however has relentless defense and too many weapons that are a nightmare for any team in any conference. They have a mix of bigmen who can bang and rebound, including Joey Dorsey who looks much bigger in person. Chris Douglas-Roberts aka CDR is a 1st Team All-American candidate with a silky sweet face-up jumper. If you haven't watched alot of Memphis games please don't sleep on CDR - kid has a nice mix of scoring moves.
The Derrick Rose Experience is must watch television. Rose is so amazingly quick with the ball that he can get to any spot on the floor with speed and effortless skill. His jumper appears to keep improving and the lightning quickness makes him almost impossible to guard which leads to several "oooh" and "ahhh" highlights. The freshman point guard definitely appears to be as good as advertised which will be sweet love to some lucky NBA GM. Ironically enough, the last time I was at Moody to watch hoops I saw another future NBA star point guard named Deron Williams. Good times.
The Wizard at work (HBO/Richard Clarkson, Sports Illustrated)
Today the DVD gods deliver the fine HBO doc The UCLA Dynasty. An engaging portrait of the Bruin hoops machine and its architect, John "Wizard of Westwood" Wooden, the film reminds us how cheap the D-Word has become in recent years.
No. 22 Texas A&M (20-5) at No. 7 Texas (21-4) 8pm CST on ESPN
The Texas Longhorns will be out for revenge tonight in the second showdown of the season versus bitter rival Texas A&M. In the first meeting, the Aggies crushed the Longhorns with a near flawless first half combined with awful brick-city shooting from Texas (9-30 FG’s. ouch!). The game was basically over in the first half and despite a 2nd half run, the Longhorns could never recover. Texas got blasted.
I expect tonight’s game to be much closer, despite the fact that Texas guards DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams have recently struggled for a stretch of games. Damion James has stepped up his play, and his aggressiveness will be needed to compete with the Aggie bigs (Bryan Davis & DeAndre Jordan). A&M has ramped their game up by winning 5 of their last 6 games. Texas is holding down a 5 game win streak including a huge win over #2 ranked Kansas on the road. Should be a good'un!
Side note: You can even scope this sequel in theaters. No updates on if tailgating and beer bongs are allowed.
Big game on the college slate tonight in Big 12 land aka Big Tweezy. The #10 Texas Longhorns take a trip to Aggie land to face off with rivals #23 Texas A&M. This is the first throw down of the season for the conference rivals, since a Texas double OT win from last season. A game that only featured some Player of the Year cat named Kevin Durant and Dallas born Acie Law IV (who has buried some killer shots vs. Texas in the past).
The Longhorns (16-3, 3-1), led by superstar point guard DJ Augustin & AJ Abrams, will hope to continue a 3 game win streak after demolishing Texas Tech last week. Augustin (20ppg, 5.9 assts) is the real deal Holyfield and will definitely be suited up in the League soon. The Aggies previously lost three straight games (incl. this nutso FIVE OT donut) until their win over Oklahoma State this past Saturday. This should be a lovely game for the college hoops lovers, with a lil extra mustard since it’s on national TV. (ESPN2, 8PM CST)
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