I Have A New-Found Respect For NBA Players. God Damn!

[glen107wood]

who the fuck 1 starred this post.

http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=328350

 

[malaki]

I agree with the idea that NBA players are skilled as a mofo but don't get it twisted Kenny Smith was an above average player in the league.

 

[NER0]

I Played With A Dude In High School That Was Abt 6ft10 Or So And At The Time Could Handle The Rock, Shoot Threes With Accuracy Basically Do All The Thing Ur Fav Nba Starting Player Could Do. To Make A Long Story Short The Mofo Got In The Nba Air Balling Free Throws, Got His Tooth Knocked Out I Think By Shaq And Pretty Much Looks Like Shit For The Rest Of His Career.so Like Someone Said Earlier Confidence And Level Of Competetion Mean Alot!

 

[OnSlaught]

I do agree with a lot of what you guys are saying about the average cat going against the dude you view as the "untalented bum" riding the pine, but you all are leaving out a very integral part of sports, nonetheless life....POLITICS!!

A lot of dudes have talent up the ass, skills that would make you think that you were playing against Ray Allen and Tracy McGrady, and natural physical ability that is up to par with Kobe, but for whatever reason they don't get time because someone else was already promised the starting spot, regardless if they are better than that dude.

Prime example: Ryan Gomes... Coach Welsh up at Providence College had him as a red shirt for his freshmen year and would have probably been red shirted his sophomore year had it not been for the cat starting at power forward getting injured. Ryan has always been nice, with the same abilities he has now, just worked to perfect it to the level it is at now.

Just imagine, dude would have never made it into the starting lineup had it not been for a fuck up on someone else's part... that's how sports and life work...

Now for the other knuckleheads with all that damn talent but with a fucked up mindset, I can't speak for them...

Trust me though, this is how it works.

 

[Kryptonite 23]

Its all in the way you practice during your shoot around, most players work on mechanics so they can get a good feel for the ball during warm ups, I used to however, work on my quick release and try to push my range as well as my speed of my release.
Some of my practice shots used to look crazy as hell 'cause most of the time I would practice coming off of the pick spotiing grabing and shooting, all in one motion from the 3 point range.
It never made much sense to me practicing on a shot that 9 times out of 10 you would never be that open and have that much time to shoot in a real game.
I, instead, tried to simulate game speed conditions, and pushed the envelope to shoot faster and faster. People who never saw me play would accuse me of not looking when I shot, just throwing shit up, but it was something that I worked hard and long at to master. I say that to say, that I feel that many players,even the ones in the pro go about shoot around the wrong way, what is the point of looking nice when no one is sticking you and can't hit for shit with a hand in your face. Sorry to say but that way of playing is ass backwards!
The speed of the game is what throws off most players shots, if you fuck up their rhythm most of them can't shoot, so if a player looks nice in practice but can't hit shit during the game, they better work on ways to speed up their setting up and release point during the shot.

I need to start practing this myself
I'll be draining shots left and right shooting around
but when I jump in a pick-up game nothings dropping

 

[StillMatic]

Some players cannot play for certain coaches or in certain systems and some can adapt to any situation. There are people that I personally have played in games with and against that were good and well known in my area but some of them couldn't hack the pros. ( Bo Kimble, Lari Ketner & Alvin Williams.) I personally have trouble with slowed down offenses. I like run and gun fast paced basketball.

 

[cosmologics]

There are a lot of dudes who can hit shots all day that are not even close to NBA talent. It's whether you can do it in the game which is a totally different story.

The benchwarmers are very good. You'd hope so, because they're profession is basketball. That's all they do. It's not like dudes that don't get in the games can't do nothing

Sometimes you're also a defense liability...... JJ Redick // Gerald Green // Young kid in Philly who was hs player of the year........ Great offensive player who gives up too much on defense. You can score but can you defend. Also something that hurts players is that they are undersized for their natural positions......Luke walton 2 small for a three and too slow for a 2. Eddie House... 2 small for a 2 guard and no ball handle skills for pg.......

I think there are more scrubs at taller heights.... they get a pass at times. If youre a SG you better be able to score plain and simple. Especially give the guard friendly rules......All starting SG/SF should avg 20+......

 

[HAR125LEM]

Damn.

Did the cat that started this thread mention JOE WOLF????

I saw that Dude play with The Portland TrailBlazers around '92 - '93.
He was sadly considered a "joke" even among the Blazers mostly White fans.
Which was too bad. Because I always felt that he had promise.
Dude was 13th draft pick in the late 80s (forgot which year).
He looked real good in practice during the pre-games I went to.
But always came off the bench.

Anyone remember the name of that White cat that was with the Houston Rockets during the early 90s? Wasn't it Chilcut or something like that? I know Matt Bullard was there too. Both were clutch guys.

 

[Nobody]

Its all in the way you practice during your shoot around, most players work on mechanics so they can get a good feel for the ball during warm ups, I used to however, work on my quick release and try to push my range as well as my speed of my release.
Some of my practice shots used to look crazy as hell 'cause most of the time I would practice coming off of the pick spotiing grabing and shooting, all in one motion from the 3 point range.
It never made much sense to me practicing on a shot that 9 times out of 10 you would never be that open and have that much time to shoot in a real game.
I, instead, tried to simulate game speed conditions, and pushed the envelope to shoot faster and faster. People who never saw me play would accuse me of not looking when I shot, just throwing shit up, but it was something that I worked hard and long at to master. I say that to say, that I feel that many players,even the ones in the pro go about shoot around the wrong way, what is the point of looking nice when no one is sticking you and can't hit for shit with a hand in your face. Sorry to say but that way of playing is ass backwards!
The speed of the game is what throws off most players shots, if you fuck up their rhythm most of them can't shoot, so if a player looks nice in practice but can't hit shit during the game, they better work on ways to speed up their setting up and release point during the shot.

When are you playing? Wednesday or Thursday night?

 

[DolphinBoy]

I do agree with a lot of what you guys are saying about the average cat going against the dude you view as the "untalented bum" riding the pine, but you all are leaving out a very integral part of sports, nonetheless life....POLITICS!!

A lot of dudes have talent up the ass, skills that would make you think that you were playing against Ray Allen and Tracy McGrady, and natural physical ability that is up to par with Kobe, but for whatever reason they don't get time because someone else was already promised the starting spot, regardless if they are better than that dude.

Prime example: Ryan Gomes... Coach Welsh up at Providence College had him as a red shirt for his freshmen year and would have probably been red shirted his sophomore year had it not been for the cat starting at power forward getting injured. Ryan has always been nice, with the same abilities he has now, just worked to perfect it to the level it is at now.

Just imagine, dude would have never made it into the starting lineup had it not been for a fuck up on someone else's part... that's how sports and life work...

Now for the other knuckleheads with all that damn talent but with a fucked up mindset, I can't speak for them...

Trust me though, this is how it works.

nigga wtf are u talkin about, you can only redshirt a player for one season
so how the hell would he have "probably been redshirted his sophomore season"
not only that but he didn't even fucking redshirt in his career
so what in the world are you talking about?
i swear to god bgol has the collection of some of the dumbest niggas on the planet

 

[OnSlaught]

nigga wtf are u talkin about, you can only redshirt a player for one season
so how the hell would he have "probably been redshirted his sophomore season"
not only that but he didn't even fucking redshirt in his career
so what in the world are you talking about?
i swear to god bgol has the collection of some of the dumbest niggas on the planet

Dumb ass muthafucka, I went to school with his ass and know him personally, LIKE I SAID, if it wasn't for the injury, he WOULD have been redshirted... I swear ILLITERATE BASTARDS LIKE YOURSELF CAN'T READ FOR SHIT. You can also medical and academic redshirt, and I've known plenty of cats that have done that shit just so they can have an extra year to play ball.

Get your head up out your ass Dolphin boy, you fuckin' porpoise...

 

[Enigma]

word dudes don't understand how good pro athletes really are. they play against other pros so it's an even playing level.

I remember when i was in 9th grade i went to basketball camp. there was this dude who played at USC. He wasn't a starter , dude barely even got on the floor during the tourney. He was like 6'11". He doesn't play in the league now nor in the NBDL , basically he didn't make it. I swear to god dude hit like 15 threes in a row from all different spots around the arc missed one and did it again.

another story...

... my cousin went to high school with tobey bailey. (People who watched college basketball in the 90's should know that name) He said tobey used to never go out in high school. LIKE NEVER , he said all tobey would do was work on his game, day and night. my cousin used to drive by tobey's house friday nights on the way to a party. he would see tobey practicing , then he would drive by his house again on the way back from the party and tobey would STILL be out there hooping. When it was all said and done tobey bailey played like 2 years on the suns. He played overseas for a number of years but fact of the matter is that in order to make it you have to be really really REALLY good. Being really really good don't cut it.

I was just talking about Tobey Bailey the other night. That dude should have RUN from UCLA after his sophmore year, dude was a beast that year and at least a lottery pick that year. Instead he stuck around UCLA another year and was a late draft pick...

 

[malaki]

I was just talking about Tobey Bailey the other night. That dude should have RUN from UCLA after his sophmore year, dude was a beast that year and at least a lottery pick that year. Instead he stuck around UCLA another year and was a late draft pick...

didn't he blow out his knee?

anyway i heard he plays overseas. he always got that championship tape though

 

[BRUCE LEROY]

word dudes don't understand how good pro athletes really are. they play against other pros so it's an even playing level.

I remember when i was in 9th grade i went to basketball camp. there was this dude who played at USC. He wasn't a starter , dude barely even got on the floor during the tourney. He was like 6'11". He doesn't play in the league now nor in the NBDL , basically he didn't make it. I swear to god dude hit like 15 threes in a row from all different spots around the arc missed one and did it again.

another story...

... my cousin went to high school with tobey bailey. (People who watched college basketball in the 90's should know that name) He said tobey used to never go out in high school. LIKE NEVER , he said all tobey would do was work on his game, day and night. my cousin used to drive by tobey's house friday nights on the way to a party. he would see tobey practicing , then he would drive by his house again on the way back from the party and tobey would STILL be out there hooping. When it was all said and done tobey bailey played like 2 years on the suns. He played overseas for a number of years but fact of the matter is that in order to make it you have to be really really REALLY good. Being really really good don't cut it.

I followed his college career..winning the NCAA Championship as freshman. I would've bought his stock 'cause I just knew he was gonna be an NBA. Goes to show you takes hell of talent and work ethic to play professionally.

 

[DolphinBoy]

Dumb ass muthafucka, I went to school with his ass and know him personally, LIKE I SAID, if it wasn't for the injury, he WOULD have been redshirted... I swear ILLITERATE BASTARDS LIKE YOURSELF CAN'T READ FOR SHIT. You can also medical and academic redshirt, and I've known plenty of cats that have done that shit just so they can have an extra year to play ball.

Get your head up out your ass Dolphin boy, you fuckin' porpoise...

God damn you're dumb. Did you not even read what you posted? You said that he was a redshirt freshman (which wasn't true) and that he was going to redshirt as a sophomore (which isn't possible if you already redshirt).
Don't try to explain shit to me bitch. I redshirted my freshman year of college ball I know how the shit goes. Fuckboy

 

[OnSlaught]

God damn you're dumb. Did you not even read what you posted? You said that he was a redshirt freshman (which wasn't true) and that he was going to redshirt as a sophomore (which isn't possible if you already redshirt).
Don't try to explain shit to me bitch. I redshirted my freshman year of college ball I know how the shit goes. Fuckboy

Do you not understand the fucking concept that a coach can do whatever the fuck he wants to with your status as a player if they have good enough reason to do so. You redshirted because your ass was weak, the coach in Ryan's case was trying to save his eligibility bitch so he could use him at his disposal.

I swear, just because your ignorant ass got benched your freshman year because you didn't meet your potential, doesn't give your ass authority to tell me about a situation I knew about personally. He was going to be redshirted that year if Garnett Thompson didn't get injured.

SO SHUT THE FUCK UP...

 

[roscoep]

Growing up in LA, I have memories of a few people you might know.

I went to a high school game against Tyson Chandler/Tayshaun Prince. Prince, didnt play that game, but I remember he looked exactly the same. But Tyson Chandler... Dude scored like 70 points, and no joke, at least 35 points were 3's, he was shooting 3's like crazy, and pretty much doing whatever he wanted, dunking, 360's, everything, on our home court!

I remember seeing Jordan Farmar once, but he wasnt anything special, I wish I would have seen Gilbert Arenas, who a few of my boys remember seeing, and he was supposedly on Chandlers level.

But the main dude I remember is Matt Cassel from the Pats. I went to high school with him, and had him for a class or two. Homeboy was 15-16, and looked like he was 30, must have been 6'2 and 250lbs at 16. Anyway, our high school had a top-3 program in CA, and I think we won state championship every year we had Matt. He was a beast. So to see him go from high school superstar, to USC benchwarmer behind Carson Palmer/Leinhart, to Pats backup, was a disappointment, until now. Dude is balling and im proud of him.

I gotta say 70% of these pro athletes are stricly at the top because of genetics. Cassel's dad was an Olympian or someshit (dont remember) and both of his brothers are in the MLB. Genetics + mad dedication + luck (Brady going down) gets you the superstar status.

 

[ChosenAkaTheOne]

Gained my respect at OSU. Played pick up against Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn... Lets just say neither nigga missed a shot the entire 2 hours they were on the court and if they did miss, i wasn't paying attention. Frustrated I went indoors and Darby (Diehard OSU fans remember Scoonie's back up.) Was on the court making it rain 3s, but averaged 3 pts a game over his career. Penn and Darby were 5'9 at the most.... amazing, showed me what a nigga wit game actually looks like

 

[OnSlaught]

Gained my respect at OSU. Played pick up against Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn... Lets just say neither nigga missed a shot the entire 2 hours they were on the court and if they did miss, i wasn't paying attention. Frustrated I went indoors and Darby (Diehard OSU fans remember Scoonie's back up.) Was on the court making it rain 3s, but averaged 3 pts a game over his career. Penn and Darby were 5'9 at the most.... amazing, showed me what a nigga wit game actually looks like

I remeber when Redd and Penn played at OSU, Redd had some of the smoothest handles I'd ever seen on a shooting guard other than Ray Allen. Dude reminded me back then of a heavier Ray Allen... no surprise he's doing what he does in the league.

 

[Kazoo]

just think to make it has a Professional athelete you have to be
not just the Best in your neighborhood ,not just the Best in your City ,Not just the best in your State ,not just the Best in your Country ,But One of the Best in the WORLD


and the Greats are at a level above that

 

[DolphinBoy]

Do you not understand the fucking concept that a coach can do whatever the fuck he wants to with your status as a player if they have good enough reason to do so. You redshirted because your ass was weak, the coach in Ryan's case was trying to save his eligibility bitch so he could use him at his disposal.

I swear, just because your ignorant ass got benched your freshman year because you didn't meet your potential, doesn't give your ass authority to tell me about a situation I knew about personally. He was going to be redshirted that year if Garnett Thompson didn't get injured.

SO SHUT THE FUCK UP...

damn you're dumb and emotional
just like a bitch
you little feminine bitch
i was redshirted b/c of an injury you fuckface
the coach can do whatever he wants with your status as a player?
no the fuck he can't
you can't redshirt a player twice unless its a medical hardship (which you know), and even then you have to have proof that the player sustained a legit injury and they would have had to play a certain portion of the season or shit isn't goin to happen
shut cho non playin ass up nigga
i bet you were ridin the hell outta Ryan Gomes from the sideline
nigga probably made signs and shit

 

[DolphinBoy]

Gained my respect at OSU. Played pick up against Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn... Lets just say neither nigga missed a shot the entire 2 hours they were on the court and if they did miss, i wasn't paying attention. Frustrated I went indoors and Darby (Diehard OSU fans remember Scoonie's back up.) Was on the court making it rain 3s, but averaged 3 pts a game over his career. Penn and Darby were 5'9 at the most.... amazing, showed me what a nigga wit game actually looks like

Scoonie Penn
that nigga was sick wit it
I thought he was gonna tear it up in the league

 

[OnSlaught]

damn you're dumb and emotional
just like a bitch
you little feminine bitch
i was redshirted b/c of an injury you fuckface
the coach can do whatever he wants with your status as a player?
no the fuck he can't
you can't redshirt a player twice unless its a medical hardship (which you know), and even then you have to have proof that the player sustained a legit injury and they would have had to play a certain portion of the season or shit isn't goin to happen
shut cho non playin ass up nigga
i bet you were ridin the hell outta Ryan Gomes from the sideline
nigga probably made signs and shit

Look bitch, Ryan wasn't gettin' playin' time that season, that's why he was going to get redshirted for the season, FOR THE FUCKING UMPTH TEENTH TIME... Dude got injured. Ryan got to play. Nigga I seen coach's have players fake physicals both to play when they were actually injured and to not play so they could redshirt and have a more solid season while saving that player for next year.

It's like trying to explain chess to a nigga that only knows how to play checkers... dumb muthafuckas will never get the transition

I was a walk-on bitch, ended up leaving PC and transferred, so don't come at me with that non-playin' shit faggot. Next time you decide to write something address it in a different way and you'll get a different response muthafucka. I'm not the one who decided to critique someone else's response to thread because his emotional, pussy-bleeding period bitch ass had flashbacks to when he got injured and his fuckin' career was flushed down the toilet.

Get your life right and just comment on a thread rather than comin' at a nigga sideways bitch

 

[easlib1]

I have mad respect for "most" pro-athletes games. But being good in warm-ups and practice..
Seeing a dude hit jumpers during warmups is just like watching a skills challenge...thats it!


Is like watching the 100meter relay on the track. Sure the top 10 fastest men in the world are fast...no denying it. But lets see if they can run a 9.75 doing KICKOFF RETURNS during an actual game

skill sets are diffent for football and track. nfl is about plays, patterns, and contact. track is about starts, positioning and timing. few can transition from one to the other and be great.

 

[Criptonite187]

I need to start practing this myself
I'll be draining shots left and right shooting around
but when I jump in a pick-up game nothings dropping

kryptonite 23 huh? fuckin loser

 

[OnSlaught]

kryptonite 23 huh? fuckin loser

 

[SpiritualPorn]

i always tell people, bench riders in the NBA were the superstars of their highschool or college days.

the NBA is just that damn tough.

This is one of the better threads I have seen in a while.

This is the reason I really don't like a lot of sports writers and sportscasters. Athletes work harder at their craft than most of us work at anything. Yet these writers, just to get noticed, will call them "soft", losersconfused, and whatever other adjective they can come up with just to sell papers.

Very good thread again.

Now I hope we all can get off of Kwame Browns case

 

[SNYC]

u kno wats more shocking than professional basketball players knocking down wide open jumpers in practice


professional basketball players missing fuckin free throws... i never understood that shit... i dont care what position u play, theres no explanation for sum1 touching a basketball everyday since they were toddlers n cant sink a fuckin uncontested shot from 10 feet 3 out of 4 times at least

 

[Resto Druid]

I'm sure you cats know Kenny 'The Jet' Smith from TNT, and formerly of the Houston Rockets.

Kenny was never a super-star, but he played in the NBA. As of today, that shit says a lot to me. It's not that I thought guys could actually make it and be straight garbage, but...

Well, a friend of mine gave me a video he recorded back in 1998 of Kenny Smith, God Shamgod(Cat from NY, that played for Providence, with the slick handles), and Joe Wolf, formerly of the Orlando Magic. These dudes were working out, right? Now, peep ... Shamgod was always known for having a broke jumper, and Joe Wolf's GAME was broke(At least on the pro-level) and Kenny Smith could always dial it in from long distance, but...

On this video, I see God Shammgod knocking down jumpers like they were lay-ups. Sure, it was a work-out, but this dude would knock down 15, miss on or two, hit another 15, miss one or two, knock own another 15. I'm like, what in the fuck am I seeing? I've never seen that kind of shooting in my life.

Joe Wolf? This big gawky White boy was firing away from deep like it was breathing. I mean jumper after jumper after motherfucking jumper. I'm wondering how did that dude suck in the NBA, at all.

If you think this is nothing because it's not in a game, then get a ball, go outside, and try to knock down fifteen 15-foot jumpers in a row.

But, that's not even the best of it...

Kenny Smith. Kenny Fucking Smith...

This is my fucking word...

...The Jet knocked down 20 three's. Missed one. Knocked down TWENTY-FIVE!! Missed two. Knocked down like 11. Missed one. Knocked down 24....

You get my point.

They played this game where you started at the top of the key, and you could only use two dribbles. All three of those guys were draining jumpers like it was nothing...

I thought to myself, 'None of these guys were superstars, and they're hitting shots like it's throwing a rock into a ocean. The NBA must be a motherfucker. GOD-DAMN! HOW GOOD WAS JORDAN, REALLY ... IF THESE DUDES LOOK LIKE JORDAN RIGHT NOW?!?!"

To any of you cats that tried to make it pro, and never made it, I understand completely now. These dudes are FAR better than people give them credit for.

I love stories like this. There was anecdote on the NBA Inside Hoops forums, of a one armed, injured Jeff McInnis playing some kind of pickup game against some And 1 streetballer. I heard he was toying with him and not taking him series, but then he decided to start playing him and Jeff McInnis literally ripped the fancy dribbling And 1 baller like 3 straight times up the court or something.

 

[8SD8-retired_member]

Scoonie Penn
that nigga was sick wit it
I thought he was gonna tear it up in the league

Did this dude say Scoonie???

 

[UNSEEN]

Did this dude say Scoonie???

MICHAEL REDD BEAT HIM TO IT..BUT I THOUGHT SCOONIE WUZ BETTER/HYPED UP IN COLLEGE..BUT YA BOY M. REDD IZ THE ONE IN THE LEAGUE..WHOA...

 

[Kryptonite 23]

kryptonite 23 huh? fuckin loser

My name's spelled cooler than yours !!!

 

[8SD8-retired_member]

A dude that went to my high school had his confidence taken from him by Shaq during a pick-up game. He was always a bully down-low, and was WATER from about 15-feet out...

...but he went up against Shaq, and later said, "Man, fuck basketball. As big of a nigga as I am, I ran into Shaq and had the wind knocked out of me. That nigga didn't move. We tried to hold on to that nigga tight and he carried us with him to the rim to bam that bitch in."

Dude was never the same after that, lol.

 

[TheyCallMeBe]

The worst player in the league is better than 99.9% of the people on the planet...

 

[BrownTurd]

That dude must have had NO confidence in his jumper...

...because just working out, dude looked like Reggie Miller.

Well, they did say the mental aspect of the game is very important.

99% of all NBA players could nail uncontested jump shots all day long. They great shooters can do it accurately while in motion.