2012-2013 NBA Prospects thread

[Superbone]

McLemore is the same age as Shabazz.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yeah, does not sound good for the Bruins. If they'd followed basic standards during his enrollment process you'd think they would have noticed something like his date of birth.

Also cant like having a distraction a few hours before they play in the tourny. I wonder how long the reporter sat on this story, waiting for a brutal moment to drop it.

I actually don't know if they require any proof of date of birth? Far more worried about the NCAA implications for them.

Apparently the author is a Duke grad, it's widely believed Coach K reported them in the first place because they didn't pick Duke and he was mad. So my guess is the Duke grad figured there's more here than is out there, looked and found stuff, and then waited until today to release the story. Not an accident it's the day of their NCAA game of course.

Goes back to why many of us UCLA fans wanted Ben out earlier, it's a little scary to find out they let him hire Matthews just to get closer to Bazz, hired an AAU coach to get Adams and Parker, and then went ahead with taking Bazz with stuff like this out there.

I don't buy the Howland is one of the dirtiest coaches in America stuff CBS was selling this summer, but I sure do think UCLA went out on a limb letting a coach they were already on the fence with to let him have that much leeway trying to get recruiting back on track.

But Bazz is now a year older than anybody knew and that's all the NBA will care about.

 

[Phrazbit]

I certainly had to show a fair chunk of documentation when I enrolled at Arizona... but I was not a superstar athlete If UCLA was merely duped by Shabazz and his dad then it probably wont amount to much against them, but if for some reason they chose to play along with the lie... then yeah, UCLA could catch some heat.

As far as being a year older in the eyes of the NBA goes... I am not sure how much this hurts, 19-20 is not that big of a difference, it probably does rule out him having an extra inch or two to grow. If I was a GM the foolish lie and the insane parent would give me more hesitation than the extra year.

 

[Russ Smith]

I certainly had to show a fair chunk of documentation when I enrolled at Arizona... but I was not a superstar athlete If UCLA was merely duped by Shabazz and his dad then it probably wont amount to much against them, but if for some reason they chose to play along with the lie... then yeah, UCLA could catch some heat.

As far as being a year older in the eyes of the NBA goes... I am not sure how much this hurts, 19-20 is not that big of a difference, it probably does rule out him having an extra inch or two to grow. If I was a GM the foolish lie and the insane parent would give me more hesitation than the extra year.

Precedent from memphis and Derrick Rose is doesn't matter, strict liability if you had reason to think he might not be eligible, and chose to play him, it's on you even if the NCAA did clear him. UCLA and everyone else was warned long ago there were questions and he was initially ruled ineligible so if they do find stuff later, UCLA will get hit for it and rightly so.

I guess I meant I don't think UCLA would really dig into it, if they give them an official looking birth document they'd probably take it without asking. I bet they don't anymore.

My concern beyond his actual game is his body. He was overweight at the start and even with the injuries it never made sense to me how he gained that much weight that quickly. Then he per his dad dropped like 12 pounds in a week on a liquid diet or something nuts. If you look his body is getting thicker in the chest, for a kid who was supposed to be a 2 he's getting more and more like an undersized 4 in terms of body type. Now you find out he's a year older.

Just weird he'll still go high and I still think they'll eventually decide he's not as good as they thought, unless he learns to play as a team player.

But I still hope he goes off tonight.

 

[HooverDam]

Well if the Suns end up with a top 3 and the 30, they could end up w/ McLemore and Withey and fill out their roster even more with Jayhawks. Definitely gonna be watching McLemore primarily tonight, and only occasionally checking on the Suns to make sure they're losing to the T'Wolves.

Gotta lose to the T'Wolves, the 2 teams records are very similar right now.

 

[Errntknght]

Suns are doing a bang up job of losing tonight - down 28 to Wolves in early third Q

 

[elindholm]

Is it too early to start a posthumous thread for this game?

 

[BC867]

Is it too early to start a posthumous thread for this game?

Down by 28 to start the 3rd quarter, with our only Center in foul trouble, I don't think so

 

[elindholm]

Down by 28 to start the 3rd quarter, with our only Center in foul trouble, I don't think so

It's hilarious that you think that Hadaddi's foul trouble is anywhere near the top of the list of reasons that the Suns are getting blown out of the building. Your myopia for "true centers" gets more pronounced every season.

 

[HooverDam]

It's hilarious that you think that Hadaddi's foul trouble is anywhere near the top of the list of reasons that the Suns are getting blown out of the building. Your myopia for "true centers" gets more pronounced every season.

Its clear in todays NBA, to be the champion, you need a true dominant Center.

 

[BC867]

It's hilarious that you think that Hadaddi's foul trouble is anywhere near the top of the list of reasons that the Suns are getting blown out of the building. Your myopia for "true centers" gets more pronounced every season.

So much for agreeing with your post. Some people can't be pleased.

 

[BC867]

Why the Suns lost

It's hilarious that you think that Hadaddi's foul trouble is anywhere near the top of the list of reasons that the Suns are getting blown out of the building. Your myopia for "true centers" gets more pronounced every season.

Your perspective living out of state puts you at a disadvantage when trashing Suns fans in Arizona.

If you had the Arizona Republic waiting outside your door this morning, you would have seen this blurb which agreed with my point of view. This is what our local professional had to say.

It did not help that the Suns were down Marcin Gortat, Jermaine O'Neal and Jared Dudley.

It worsened matters that their remaining big men all got in early foul trouble.

That's the Arizona perspective. I wouldn't try to analyze your Lakers or Clippers problems and use words like "hilarious" and "myopia" from 360 miles away.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Your perspective living out of state puts you at a disadvantage when trashing Suns fans in Arizona.

If you had the Arizona Republic waiting outside your door this morning, you would have seen this blurb which agreed with my point of view. This is what our local professional had to say.



That's the Arizona perspective. I wouldn't try to analyze your Lakers or Clippers problems and use words like "hilarious" and "myopia" from 360 miles away.

Hmmm. I don't really know what to say here. I certainly don't feel that living in Moreno Valley keeps me from being on top of the Suns and the community they reside in. There's just too much information available between internet radio and message boards and on-line newspapers to insist that those of us living elsewhere must be ignorant of the true facts. I think Eric was wrong with his comment about Haddadi but I'm pretty sure he'd have held that same opinion even if he lived in downtown Phoenix.

Steve

 

[HooverDam]

Your perspective living out of state puts you at a disadvantage when trashing Suns fans in Arizona.

If you had the Arizona Republic waiting outside your door this morning, you would have seen this blurb which agreed with my point of view. This is what our local professional had to say.



That's the Arizona perspective. I wouldn't try to analyze your Lakers or Clippers problems and use words like "hilarious" and "myopia" from 360 miles away.

Huh I'm willing to be I live closer to US Airways Center than anyone on this board (1.8 miles), yet it wasn't my perspective. I guess Im out of sync with the "Arizona perspective".

Your endless ranting about "we need a true Center" is beyond exhausting and not in any way insightful. Yes, it would be great if the Suns could somehow land the reincarnation of Hakeem, but 'he ain't walking through that door.'

Hamed Haddadi being on the floor isn't the difference between a win and a 20 point blowout.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Huh I'm willing to be I live closer to US Airways Center than anyone on this board (1.8 miles), yet it wasn't my perspective. I guess Im out of sync with the "Arizona perspective".

Your endless ranting about "we need a true Center" is beyond exhausting and not in any way insightful. Yes, it would be great if the Suns could somehow land the reincarnation of Hakeem, but 'he ain't walking through that door.'

Hamed Haddadi being on the floor isn't the difference between a win and a 20 point blowout.

He certainly isn't but that wasn't what he said. He merely pointed out that in addition to being down 28 points we were also missing our 3rd string center. I guess just mentioning Haddadi in that post implies he's more important than he really is but again, he wasn't suggesting he'd have been the difference in a comeback.

Steve

 

[BC867]

My point, guys, is that I had an opinion about losing our 3rd string (and only remaining) Center to foul trouble, Eric shot it down with insults then, this morning, a professional writer with our local Arizona Republic substantiated the opinion I posted. Those are the facts!

I appreciate out-of-state Suns fans. But there are some details that we in the Valley, especially those who have lived here for decades, come across.

And, yes, I am a proponent of playing Centers at Center. I have no doubt that having to play Scola and Markieff for 48 minutes at Center set the tone for our being dominated from start to finish, which we were.

In all frankness, the results did not contradict that opinion. It was certainly not the only cause, but it sure was a factor.

 

[SirStefan32]

My point, guys, is that I had an opinion about losing our 3rd string (and only remaining) Center to foul trouble, Eric shot it down with insults then, this morning, a professional writer with our local Arizona Republic substantiated the opinion I posted. Those are the facts!

I appreciate out-of-state Suns fans. But there are some details that we in the Valley, especially those who have lived here for decades, come across.

And, yes, I am a proponent of playing Centers at Center. I have no doubt that having to play Scola and Markieff for 48 minutes at Center set the tone for our being dominated from start to finish, which we were.

In all frankness, the results did not contradict that opinion. It was certainly not the only cause, but it sure was a factor.

You know that I am very old-school when it comes to traditional centers, so we agree on that mostly, but your "non-local fans just don't know these things" is just silly. There is this thing called the INTERNET... even the Republic is on there.

 

[BC867]

...your "non-local fans just don't know these things" is just silly. There is this thing called the INTERNET... even the Republic is on there.

Yes, I've heard of the INTERNET. It was invented by Al Gore, wasn't it?

I don't think the small blurb I quoted was on AzCentral.com, but it was in the AzRepublic, which is why I said what I said about some things not being accessible to out-of-state fans.

C'mon, Stefan, give people some credit, willya.

Y'know, I was at the Dodgers@D'backs spring training game on St. Paddy's Day, rooting for the D'backs because they are my hometown team. We won 9-1, the "1" being a Matt Kemp HR.

But, once upon a time, my first love was the Dodgers and I follow them as well.

Between the AzRepublic and KTAR, as well as AzCentral.com, I certainly happen upon more detailed info about the D'backs here in the Valley than I do the Dodgers.

KABC Dodger broadcasts on the internet are blocked. And I would sure like to hear Vinny do his thing. When I visit my friend and his wife in Santa Barbara, they know that I require an hour of TV time during the summer to hear Vinnie. He won't be doing it much longer.

 

[elindholm]

"Center" is a skill set, not a body type. Calling Hadaddi a "true center" is like recruiting a sumo wrestler by walking into a WalMart and signing up the first fat guy you see.

Whether comments are insulting is a matter of perspective. When someone stubbornly refuses to acknowledge anyone else's point of view, that is a different kind of insult.

A "professional writer" is someone who gets paid to write. He's not an unchallengable authority. It's very easy to find situations in which "professionals" have unresolvable differences of opinion. Then the options for the rest of us are to play one set of experts off of one another, or, you know, use our own minds to assess the evidence independently.

Those are my last contributions to this discussion.

 

[BC867]

When someone stubbornly refuses to acknowledge anyone else's point of view, that is a different kind of insult.

I've refused to acknowledge anyone else's point of view? While you use terms like "stubborn", "hilarious" and "myopia" to insult others' opinions. Wow!

Yes, young man, let's move on and talk basketball.

 

[BC867]

As I watch the 1st quarter of the Nets game, here is what has gone down.

Scola, a Forward, started at Center, got into foul trouble and went to the bench. And the Suns were down by a bunch.

Haddadi, our only available Center, came into the game and the Suns rallied to take the lead. When Scola came back in, the Nets took the lead.

As the quarter progressed, the refs (as is always the case) determined that the Nets were the stronger team and rewarded them with foul calls.

There has been a clear pattern for decades that the refs use this as a guideline. The stronger team gets the calls for the first half or into the 3rd quarter, whether they are the visitor or home team.

Then the home team gets the calls the rest of the way to appease the paying crowd.

That is why I cringe when I see no Center on the floor for us. It has happened for decades and it is happening at this moment.

 

[SirStefan32]

I agree BC. I don't often disagree with Eric, but the statement that "Center is a skill set, not a body type" is not quite accurate.

 

[BC867]

I agree BC. I don't often disagree with Eric, but the statement that "Center is a skill set, not a body type" is not quite accurate.

There is nowhere else to post this and I didn't want to start a new thread.

Goran Dragic had 31 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds tonight against the Nets. His never-say-die attitude is going to be important if we can rebuild the rest of the team.

I mis-quoted earlier when I talked about his double-doubles since the All Star break. I should have said he has more double-digit assist games since the break than any other player in the NBA. 'Any other.

We struck gold bringing back Goran Dragic. With a balanced team around him in the future (Centers and Power Forwards and Wings; offense and defense; inside and outside), we could feel proud about our team. Here's hoping! And if our continued losing will start the ball rolling, let's see it happen, especially with the Dragon keeping the spark alive.

 

[SirStefan32]

There is nowhere else to post this and I didn't want to start a new thread.

Goran Dragic had 31 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds tonight against the Nets. His never-say-die attitude is going to be important if we can rebuild the rest of the team.

I mis-quoted earlier when I talked about his double-doubles since the All Star break. I should have said he has more double-digit assist games since the break than any other player in the NBA. 'Any other.

We struck gold bringing back Goran Dragic. With a balanced team around him in the future (Centers and Power Forwards and Wings; offense and defense; inside and outside), we could feel proud about our team. Here's hoping! And if our continued losing will start the ball rolling, let's see it happen, especially with the Dragon keeping the spark alive.

I really believe that if the Suns can get a shooting guard who can flat-out score, Dragic is going to explode next year. How he manages to score as much as he does, and how he gets as many assists as he does is beyond me.

 

[FArting]

Doug McDermott looks good.