AboveLegit

What happens if we get John Wall? We can't have two ball dominant guards in the backcourt together..

Probably the twitter if you guys update it with backlinks to threads.

You know you're a great player when you're placed on an OTR banner.

He has the tools to be an all star, but let's all remember how inconsistent he was the past few years. I'm impressed, but I'm not going to go ahead of myself. I want to see him play like this for another year.

Yeah Blatche and JeVale played great. Nick Young hit an incredible shot.

I'm not making a big deal out of it, but I'm strongly against this. and lmao at anyone who thinks Dallas aren't contenders. Good joke.

We didn't get anything, just a few flurries.

AR- 4 Smitty- 0 Smitty's flow wasn't as great, it seemed like he tried too hard to place words into his lyrics, and it disrupted the flow. Big upset here. :o

He's been doing it for 12 years he said. This is the most ridiculous rule I have ever seen implemented. Not only that, but they JUST decided to do this. He did it every game when he was in DC, he did it in LA and in Miami, but as soon as he plays for a contender, the league finally notices it. Just goes to show how much the NBA favors the contenders, and how much they frown upon the middle of the pack teams. I don't know but its fishy all of a sudden the guy is traded to Dallas and it's a major concern now. That really bothers me. Everybody has their own quirks/vices. So what if Caron Butler likes to chew on straws during games?

I think this decision is part of a bigger decision (that has yet to be announced) to force the overhaul of the AAU system in basketball. Right now, the AAU system in high school aged kids is incredibly corrupt, owned and sponsored by corporations, and coached by great players dads that want big paychecks for their kids, no matter the cost to the development of the kids. High Schools are much better at regulating their students and coaches because coaches are accountable to the school. Stern and Miles are meeting more about the ways they can curb the influence of AAU by encouraging kids to do well both academically and with their skills in high school in order to get into a good college. NBA scouts spend too much time scouting AAU, where they can talk to coaches and sponsors, while college coaches spend more time in high schools, where they can legally talk to coaches and the NBA has to be more hands off. And in case you haven't been watching the NBA for the last 10 years (the years of the high school phenom), the quality of Basketball, as a whole, (there are exceptions) has gone significantly down. It used to be, that 3 or 4 year college players came into the league ready to immediately contribute. Everyone drafted in the first round had two or three years of college experience and was immediately able to contribute at the Pro level (not everyone, but a lot more players than today). Now, if you're a 4 year player, its because you weren't good enough to earn a big paycheck. No matter how you add things up, you cannot discount the lack of basic fundamentals and skill in the league. 25 years ago, most teams had 2 or more VERY skilled big men that had multiple post moves, good passing skills, and great footwork for rebounding and defense. Effective, quality Point Guards were abundant and most teams were able to find very good ones in the league. Now, while there is an abundance of physically talented 7'0 footers that have come into the league recently, only a select few have developed into good players. Back when Hakeem, Patrick Ewing, Shaq, Duncan, Kareem, and guys like that came into the NBA, they had 2, 3 or 4 years of college development (and no AAU experience) that allowed them to immediately dominate in the NBA. Look at guys like Andrew Bynum, Kwame Brown, Dwight Howard for examples of what their missing. Except for Howard, the other two had to ride the bench a lot for their first 2 seasons. They came into the league behind a steep learning curve and IMO their development is not what it could have been if they had gone to college first. We're getting excited about Bynum (after 3 seasons) just now starting to average 13 and 10 as a center. I would conjecture that if he went to college for those 3 years, played in the NCAA tournament a couple of times, started 35 games a year playing 32 minutes with a development coach (versus a matchup/strategy coach like Phil), he might have been ready to average 16 and 10 as a rookie center, like great centers of the 80's and early 90's used to do when coming into the league. Who knows how much better Bynum might be, and now he is already showing wear and tear of playing too many games too young (he's gone down to injury in 2 out of his first 3 seasons). I even think that some of Howards deficiencies (he has some) might be better, putting him at a closer to Shaq in his prime level, versus where he is right now. Dwight may never become what O'Neal was, and he had every tool needed to be that good. It will be better for the NBA to have "complete" players ready to play. now we draft lottery picks and say, "well, so and so can shoot well from the perimeter and has good vision, we'll have to teach him defense and ball skills, but we can add that to his limited game later". Before, players wouldn't even be considered lottery picks if they could do everything they need to (at least in a limited way) from day one. I'm sick of seeing "potential" as the number one reason that someone gets drafted. I would rather have ready made, complete players available in the draft. This just simply has not been the case since the influx of early entry players began. Again, there are exceptions, but there are more examples of failed talent because of direct jumps than otherwise.

Blatche with 16 points at the half, 10 in the second quarter! Al Thornton is playing well. We came back to take a 2 point lead. Nick Young had a pretty sick dunk on Haddadi.

Only expecting 6+ inches in my area. Hopefully it's enough to get out of school!

Almost every Wizards fan had that mentality last year, and it didn't do us any good. We just have bad luck, I don't expect anything higher than the 5th pick.

Nice, thanks again B. EDIT: While trying to find more data, I found this interesting piece: http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116032&page=2 Apparently, Kobe's game winners include any shot made in the final minute, while Jordan's only count those made in the final 24 seconds and Jordan's numbers don't include game winning free throws. It's an old topic on IH, but still pretty informative. Not sure if any of the information is credible or not, but it does keep you guessing.

Oh alright, thanks RD.

Someone told me Kobe passed Jordan for most all time game winners, anyone care to clear this up for me?

Well, this means more time for Al Thornton, so I'm not too pissed off. I highly doubt we pick up his contract now, unless it's reconstructed to a smaller deal.

Talent + More Touches= Big Numbers That's exactly what's happening with Blatche right now. We're playing in a much more free paced offense now, we're getting on the break more, and Blatche is really our best scoring option (it could be Mike Miller, but he loves to pass). Surprisingly, Dray hasn't been taking bad shots. He's becoming much more mature, and is showcasing his post moves when he gets positioning on his man. I believe the most underrated part of his game is his ability to facilitate an offense, he's not as good as Odom, but he's damn close if you ask me. I had that gut feeling he would break out this year, I predicted it at the beginning of the year, but prior to this past 2 weeks, he hadn't shown us much. He's more confident now, he always had the opportunity to score even when Jamison was our main guy, but he just thought too much when he get the ball in his hands. Now he's making more wise decisions, and is understanding his role in the offense, and that's to score.

Great win for us, Blatche is really improving his game.

Ok, Josh has a sprained left knee, and will not return. Ugh.

Huh?

....and Josh Howard goes down with a knee injury. No information on how severe it is, he just went back to the locker room. wow the injury bug will never leave us.

If you're looking to watch a movie with amazing effects (and really just a new movie experience), go see Avatar. If you're looking for an actual story line that toys with your mind, watch Shutter Island.

Good Fellas The Departed Taxi Driver Shutter Island Raging Bull That's my list, personally. It's worth every penny.

Good news for us. I don't want him in a DC uniform at all.