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

[Darrkman]

I remember reading an article in Sports Illustrated defending NBA players. Article said 2 things:

Any B or C level NBA player could probably go back to college and instantly be the best guy on the team.

Compared to college players NBA players don't look like they're trying hard BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST THAT GOOD.

Sent from my EVO Shift

 

[2 ONE 3]

AI was stupid fast...


And I seen him play when he was on his decline in Memphis and Denver.

 

[Oracle21]

wow . got damn. true skill.

 

[D-TOWN REP]

I disagree wholeheartedly with this comment. It's much, much, much easier (but not easy) to make it to the NFL than the NBA.

yep

NBA has less players and has a very small turnover rate from year to year

you see the same players forever even the bench guys

There are probably hundreds of new players on NFL rosters each year

 

[Teknique310]

I played a pick up game back in summer of 95 @ UC Berkeley . I knew some of Darnell Tank Robinsons people. My good friend at the time ,was like they running at Berkeley. I was like shiiiiiit lets go. I am one year out of high school. Never played oraganized ball. Pick up player of the year in my mind.

Get there. On the floor J.Kidd, GP, JR Rider , Lamond Murray, Tank and a couple other cats from Bears team at the time. They lathered up been running for hours. Im there fresh legs an all , thinking I can get off on some pro's . In my mind they playing around and were going to take it easy. They were going after shots like each one cost 10 grand.

Just ran the clock for 12 minutes. Got off 2 clean shots ,missed both. Took maybe 3 more ,all blocked. Had my drawls picked by Rider at least 3 or 4 times(Murray & Rider swatted all my shit). To the point where I didnt even try to dribble if the ball came to me. I was passing the rock like a hot potato. Demoralizing.

I have been a weightlifter ever since. Fuck them lanky ,fast , circus shot making muthafuckaz . LOL . Mad respect earned for cats that can play at that level.

 

[LurkMode]

yep

NBA has less players and has a very small turnover rate from year to year

you see the same players forever even the bench guys

There are probably hundreds of new players on NFL rosters each year

Not to mention practice squads, training camps, etc. I know dozens of dudes who have been in NFL training camps and lasted quite a while...I have a few former teammates and friends that actually lasted a few seasons in the NFL. When it comes to basketball: I know HS All-Americans that never sniffed the league; a 7 footer that was a 4 year D1 starter and his entire pro career was overseas and that only lasted 4 seasons;

The best player i ever personally played against - Dion Glover: complete washout.

I truly believe that making the NFL is borderline realistic (for exceptional athletes). The NBA is like winning the lottery. Those dudes are ridiculously talented. Case in point: a basketball player can be converted to TE or something, but when was the last time any one converted to a PG or PF?

 

[LurkMode]

I played a pick up game back in summer of 95 @ UC Berkeley . I knew some of Darnell Tank Robinsons people. My good friend at the time ,was like they running at Berkeley. I was like shiiiiiit lets go. I am one year out of high school. Never played oraganized ball. Pick up player of the year in my mind.

Get there. On the floor J.Kidd, GP, JR Rider , Lamond Murray, Tank and a couple other cats from Bears team at the time. They lathered up been running for hours. Im there fresh legs an all , thinking I can get off on some pro's . In my mind they playing around and were going to take it easy. They were going after shots like each one cost 10 grand.

Just ran the clock for 12 minutes. Got off 2 clean shots ,missed both. Took maybe 3 more ,all blocked. Had my drawls picked by Rider at least 3 or 4 times(Murray & Rider swatted all my shit). To the point where I didnt even try to dribble if the ball came to me. I was passing the rock like a hot potato. Demoralizing.

I have been a weightlifter ever since. Fuck them lanky ,fast , circus shot making muthafuckaz . LOL . Mad respect earned for cats that can play at that level.

this is one of my favorite threads. I've been there against some college players. Pros will make you think about ever touching a basketball again. I've been to the point where I was passing the ball as soon as I touched and God forbid you get isolated against one while you're trying to play Defense. Shit can be completely embarrassing.

 

[footloose]

if your day job was to knock down jumpers all day, im pretty sure it can be down

 

[Better]

Not to mention practice squads, training camps, etc. I know dozens of dudes who have been in NFL training camps and lasted quite a while...I have a few former teammates and friends that actually lasted a few seasons in the NFL. When it comes to basketball: I know HS All-Americans that never sniffed the league; a 7 footer that was a 4 year D1 starter and his entire pro career was overseas and that only lasted 4 seasons;

The best player i ever personally played against - Dion Glover: complete washout.

I truly believe that making the NFL is borderline realistic (for exceptional athletes). The NBA is like winning the lottery. Those dudes are ridiculously talented. Case in point: a basketball player can be converted to TE or something, but when was the last time any one converted to a PG or PF?

A dude I know balled against him in a pick up game before he went to college, and he said dude was a super-beast.

To this day, I believe the differences between these guys are mostly mental(i.e. toughness and intelligence). When I saw Taliek - UCONN all-time assist leader from NYC - in person working out and playing pick-up...

...I struggled to understand how you could be better or quicker. I would be laughed off of this site if I said Taliek Brown was as fast as Iverson in his prime, but I swear to God that nigga was moving so fast that I don't even think it would be safe or humanly possible to move any faster and play basketball with any type of control. The dude was so fast that it didn't seem human, and he could handle the ball like it was nothing.

Totally surreal experience.

 

[Better]

My uncles friend told me he played some pick-up against Kenny Anderson in 1995, and said, 'If someone told me that dude could walk on water, I could maybe wrap my mind around that shit. I used to play ball back in the day, and always got respect in the streets for the work I put in. I saw this dude fucking around on the court, hitting shit and squeezing passes that shouldn't have even been possible. God just bless some cats to the point that it ain't fair."

 

[quickflip]

The best player I ever saw in person was Josh Smith. In high school usually you dont see big dudes running down the court crossing people up bustin J's or just being that much faster than everyone. It was to the point nobody chased him and he would SLAM the fuckin ball like Shawn Kemp and we were only in 10th grade!!! the shit is truly amazing we all thought dude was gonna make it and he did.

 

[The Plutonian]

Yea I said this about Toby Bailey and them Obannon brothers. I said them ninjas are gonna go far then they all slammed smoke pellets to the ground and disappeared. Forever. The End.

 

[Crown&Coke]

I've seen these exact scenarios happen many times too. "scrub" niggas from the NBA would come home and torch the whole community in a game of pick up. This is exactly one of the reasons why I dislike that every couch potato in the US who never made it past the bench of their high school JV team thinks they can be a NBA coach and knows whats best and this and that....like shut the fuck up and just watch the game and go back to ya shitty desk job in the morning.

Man people don't realize how good these dudes are. I remember last summer I was hooping and them niggas from Baylor came in. They had everybody else in there not wanting to play anymore. Now I can dominate pretty good around regular pick up dudes but the speed at which these guys came in playing had me wanting to pass out after one game.

I went from scoring 5-6 points in the pickup games to barely getting 1 or 2 with them niggas on the court. ​

 

[tuckdog]

AI was stupid fast...


And I seen him play when he was on his decline in Memphis and Denver.

You should've seen him when he was 16.

 

[xfactor]

You mean like Bevo Francis

I know back in 2001 Dajuan Wagner and Cedrick Hensley scored 100 on the same night.

Funny you mention "pro material" because none of those guys made it to the league except for Wagner. Did Cedrick Hensley even go D-1?

I remember Denham Brown and the entire U-Conn Huskies team well from the '04 NCAA tourney. I don't think he made a bucket in the game but the team won anyway

Man, that gotta be bullshit.

How can a dude who can drop 110 points not be the fucking man ANYWHERE? I've seen a dude drop 50 in a game, and he was ridiculously nice with it. Of course, he wasn't pro material...

...but scoring 100 points or more suggests you just have a fucking supernatural knack for scoring. I just don't see how it's possible dude couldn't excel at the highest level. Shit, I don't ever recall hearing about MJ, Kobe, 'Bron, D Wade, etc, etc, etc ever scoring 100 points.

 

[incogneg]

DAMN

At 6'8" too? Man that's why I tell all these young black boys to hit their books

 

[Maxxam]

DAMN

At 6'8" too? Man that's why I tell all these young black boys to hit their books

 

[gamersfuel]

only read the first post but yeh, them niggaz is that good for the most part. You could take a 6ft11 PF that shoots 35% outside of 15 ft and take him to your local rec for shootaround and that nigga will hit 10 straight 17 footers. its no different than college to NFL

 

[Better]

only read the first post but yeh, them niggaz is that good for the most part. You could take a 6ft11 PF that shoots 35% outside of 15 ft and take him to your local rec for shootaround and that nigga will hit 10 straight 17 footers. its no different than college to NFL

Joe Wolf fits your descriptions...


...and I saw that "scrub" ass dude look like a superhero during pick-up.

 

[SWATLANTA]

I learned my lesson about those NBA cats talent a long time ago (around 1995). I was at Run and Shoot on court 1. I was young (about 20), 6'4" and 200lbs, dunking with ease, jump shot like water (or so I thought lol). Then Hawks pg Mookie Blaylock hit the court ...That nigga took me on the block (yes the block) and literally punished me !! Needless to say my squad was wiped off the court in no time and all the niggas I was running with were giving me dirty looks because I was guarding him...I won't even talk about how Travis Best had me on skates and raining jumpers on cats...lizard looking mufucka

 

[KoolJay]

thats funny...I went a celtics game last year wit my girl and all she sayin to me was why dont they put the white guy in.....STORY



during warmups we watched as Brian Scalabrine hit jumper after jumper after halfcourt shot etc.. IT WAS KINDA AMAZING DUDE LOOKED LIKE A WHITE JORDAN OUT THERE DURING WARMUPS. During the game???

not so much

He is the 1st dude I think of. I saw him warming up when they played the wizards, he couldn't miss. Got in the game and couldn't hit the side of a barn....

 

[LurkMode]

I learned my lesson about those NBA cats talent a long time ago (around 1995). I was at Run and Shoot on court 1. I was young (about 20), 6'4" and 200lbs, dunking with ease, jump shot like water (or so I thought lol). Then Hawks pg Mookie Blaylock hit the court ...That nigga took me on the block (yes the block) and literally punished me !! Needless to say my squad was wiped off the court in no time and all the niggas I was running with were giving me dirty looks because I was guarding him...I won't even talk about how Travis Best had me on skates and raining jumpers on cats...lizard looking mufucka

Run N Shoot could have you feeling like a champ one day and completely humbled the next.

 

[philly33]

I agree with you, dude wasn't able to live the dream but he still made a living and reached his goal of being in the NBA. He's gonna be set for life, all his hard work paid off. my whole point was just that it's not promised. Most people don't win the genetic lotto like lebron and shaq.




It happens all the time , in fact more often than not that's what happens. Even if you end up being one of those freaks of nature it's still not promised. Another story when I was in high school there was this dude named evan burns. you can look him up he was like a national top 5 player coming out of high school. Best player in LA the whole nine even thought about jumping str8 to the NBA. He was the first player I ever saw get head level with the rim on a dunk. He went to fairfax high in LA their rival is westchester. Westchester's team was led by trevor ariza and fairfax had evan burns. Evan Burns used to serve , he was always CLEARLY the best player on the court. He was just one of those perfect storm natural talents. He never passed the SAT though and everyone used to talk about how he was a pothead too. He played one year at san diego state and killed , i think he got drafted in the second round in like 04. Couldn't get it together and last I heard he was working at a park in inglewood. Meanwhile people are talking about trevor ariza as a possible 6th man of the year. It's a crap shoot you could have all the talent in the world and still not make it, but to even be good enough to get in the door you gotta sacrifice a bunch.

That's a name I thought I never would see again, I went to this camp when I was in high school, some real players were there, rashad mccants, kelenna Azibuke, hakim Warrick and the first day Evan Burns broke the rim, he was out there doing nba jam, I was in awe then he disappeared, I remember coming home and looking for this guy to be big time, never happened

 

[philly33]

I think another thing about the NBA is how bad to you really want it. Practice is hard, workouts are hard, conditioning is hard, they weed out the people that don't have that makeup. It is different than any other basketball workout ever. Think about this as a warm up, run a full court sprint then hit a three, do it 10 times in a row and don't stop until your done . People want the money, but98% of people don't wanna do that and those coaches can see it in two seconds. Every guy you see that can ball, may not want to go through that without the guarantee of making it, or quitting your job and being broke for a chance. It's funny how people talk about wanting to make it, but aren't willing to do it. And like someone else said, it's a club, once your in and don't ruffle any feathers, u can play for a while. How many times does the 13th guy get in, rarely, but if you work, a coach makes a call to another coach, we don't have room for him, but let him stay there, he works won't get it any trouble, and the guys in my locker room like him (see Brian cardinal) and when you are on the end of the bench but you think you deserve more and are unhappy, you're gone (see Mateen Cleaves or Paul McPherson)

 

[philly33]

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

I remember this, I went to a school and we played PC and a friend of mine grew up w Gomes, coach was jerkin him and he was trying to redshirt em, which my coaches couldn't figure out bc it didn't make sense, and then dude gor hurt and he didn't look back, coaches have their agendas though, they use players like fantasy and could care less about anything else

 

[unknownsoldier]

The best player I ever saw in person was Josh Smith. In high school usually you dont see big dudes running down the court crossing people up bustin J's or just being that much faster than everyone. It was to the point nobody chased him and he would SLAM the fuckin ball like Shawn Kemp and we were only in 10th grade!!! the shit is truly amazing we all thought dude was gonna make it and he did.

I've watched dude hoop # Fonde in Houston over the summer. Hella big, hella athletic for his size, but took too many 3s. I understand not wanting to get loose though...too many wannabes might take you out.

Andre Emmett from Texas Tech

He won tournament MVP, dude was the most amazing player I've ever seen live. I don't remember him being that cold when I watched him in high school. Makes you wonder why he didn't stick in MEM.

You mean like Bevo Francis

I know back in 2001 Dajuan Wagner and Cedrick Hensley scored 100 on the same night.

Funny you mention "pro material" because none of those guys made it to the league except for Wagner. Did Cedrick Hensley even go D-1?

Yeah, he went D-1...he went to UH to play for Ray McCallum Sr. He was good, ridiculous hoops, decent J, but that 100 raised expectations too high when it was against a scrub ass team.

 

[TNazT]

Great thread...

 

[cbeezy]

Ain't nothin funnier than a person thinkin they can do somethin because they see it being done so easily on tv......and then you put their ass out on the court, field, etc and they get to see how real that shit is.

Think about all the man hours an athlete puts into his craft. Morning: weights and shooting, film session in between (a couple of times a week), Evening: practice and hard ass stretching!

Please understand when I say this......THIS SHIT IS A JOB!! (and man i can't wait for it to be over in a few weeks!!!)

and the NBA cats are fortunate.....but those guys playing high level European Basketball have it made as well. Those cats that play in Barcelona, CSKA Moscow so on and so forth are making more money than they would have made in the NBA this season (that's usually why they take those deals) and they simply want to play so they go where they are wanted.

Also, it's a better strategy to come to Europe, play on a high level, win and play well while winning, now your stock has risen to make a NBA squad (and you're still making very good money during the entire process)

It has its drawbacks because you're in a foreign country and you don't speak the language but all in all it's not that bad........especially if you're single.

 

[DreDee]

WE talking about practice!?

 

[philly33]

Ain't nothin funnier than a person thinkin they can do somethin because they see it being done so easily on tv......and then you put their ass out on the court, field, etc and they get to see how real that shit is.

Think about all the man hours an athlete puts into his craft. Morning: weights and shooting, film session in between (a couple of times a week), Evening: practice and hard ass stretching!

Please understand when I say this......THIS SHIT IS A JOB!! (and man i can't wait for it to be over in a few weeks!!!)

and the NBA cats are fortunate.....but those guys playing high level European Basketball have it made as well. Those cats that play in Barcelona, CSKA Moscow so on and so forth are making more money than they would have made in the NBA this season (that's usually why they take those deals) and they simply want to play so they go where they are wanted.

Also, it's a better strategy to come to Europe, play on a high level, win and play well while winning, now your stock has risen to make a NBA squad (and you're still making very good money during the entire process)

It has its drawbacks because you're in a foreign country and you don't speak the language but all in all it's not that bad........especially if you're single.

Great point and the funny thing is when those guys are making 500- 1 mil Euros to play tax free w apartment and car paid for and being the biggest thing in your european city, it doesn't make sense to come home for the NBA minimum and no guarantee of sticking around

 

[BDR]

I remember when I was playing at bball city bout 12 or so years ago and Derrick Coleman was playing pickup ball with us... Niggas had no chance against him... especially the doofy tall nigga on my team... Coleman sitting there crossin ninjas over pulling jump shots and passing like him Nash

 

[BLACKLOOP]

Shit I remember playing against a kid who played in that 6 overtime game b/w uconn nd Syracuse the other day n I gotta say I couldn't stick the kid..I wonder what would've happened if I was actually playing against a NBA player

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

 

[cbeezy]

Great point and the funny thing is when those guys are making 500- 1 mil Euros to play tax free w apartment and car paid for and being the biggest thing in your european city, it doesn't make sense to come home for the NBA minimum and no guarantee of sticking around

yes sir.......everyone's dream is to play in the nba if you are a basketball player. it is everything a person dreams it would be.......but cats over here are getting PAID! Get to travel all over Europe and get a lot of love and respect the same way guys in the league do.

like my pops said........"you got to go where you're wanted"

 

[BigATLslim]

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

Yeah, sports writers are the guys that did not have enough raw talent to make it. They they judge, I mean, "observe". Sh!t get's sickening.

Man, and he DOESN'T start.

I'm sure some of you have seen this, but it's still amazing...

Yeah, that Thunder Dan sh!t is crazy.

My uncles friend told me he played some pick-up against Kenny Anderson in 1995, and said, 'If someone told me that dude could walk on water, I could maybe wrap my mind around that shit. I used to play ball back in the day, and always got respect in the streets for the work I put in. I saw this dude fucking around on the court, hitting shit and squeezing passes that shouldn't have even been possible. God just bless some cats to the point that it ain't fair."

I believe every word. I am from GA and Kenny Smith was a basketball GOD!

I think another thing about the NBA is how bad to you really want it. Practice is hard, workouts are hard, conditioning is hard, they weed out the people that don't have that makeup. It is different than any other basketball workout ever. Think about this as a warm up, run a full court sprint then hit a three, do it 10 times in a row and don't stop until your done . People want the money, but98% of people don't wanna do that and those coaches can see it in two seconds. Every guy you see that can ball, may not want to go through that without the guarantee of making it, or quitting your job and being broke for a chance. It's funny how people talk about wanting to make it, but aren't willing to do it. And like someone else said, it's a club, once your in and don't ruffle any feathers, u can play for a while. How many times does the 13th guy get in, rarely, but if you work, a coach makes a call to another coach, we don't have room for him, but let him stay there, he works won't get it any trouble, and the guys in my locker room like him (see Brian cardinal) and when you are on the end of the bench but you think you deserve more and are unhappy, you're gone (see Mateen Cleaves or Paul McPherson)

Yeah, I had to be honest with myself. I had raw raw ability, coachable skills but...no heart. I just have to keep it real. I probably would not have gone pro, but D1, sure.

Out of high school I was 6'5" 189. You could move me around pretty easily. Hell, just by the end of my freshman year in college I was 6'6" 222.

However, you have to eat, drink, and sleep whatever it is you want to do and honestly when it came to track, football, and basketball I just wanted to have fun. I wasn't hungry like a Kobe or a Jordan.

I always hated that about myself, but that's just the breaks on my personality.

 

[philly33]

Yeah, sports writers are the guys that did not have enough raw talent to make it. They they judge, I mean, "observe". Sh!t get's sickening.

Man, and he DOESN'T start.

Yeah, that Thunder Dan sh!t is crazy.

I believe every word. I am from GA and Kenny Smith was a basketball GOD!


Yeah, I had to be honest with myself. I had raw raw ability, coachable skills but...no heart. I just have to keep it real. I probably would not have gone pro, but D1, sure.

Out of high school I was 6'5" 189. You could move me around pretty easily. Hell, just by the end of my freshman year in college I was 6'6" 222.

However, you have to eat, drink, and sleep whatever it is you want to do and honestly when it came to track, football, and basketball I just wanted to have fun. I wasn't hungry like a Kobe or a Jordan.

I always hated that about myself, but that's just the breaks on my personality.

It's funny I played d 1 ball, mid level, but even some of those guys didn't want it bad enough others were good but worked themselves to get that scholarship, it takes elite talent then the elite mentality that's why it so rare because more people than you think have one or the other, but to have them together makes Lebron Lebron and those And 1 mix tape dudes stuck where there at