ZoomSlowik

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 11:41 PM) WVU is another team that can go down quickly or make it to the final four imo. They did manage to make it to the elite 8 and take louisville to ot(maybe double?) in that game just by shooting the hell out of the ball. If they get hot they just don't miss, and Mike Gansey is just unbelievable imo. Pitt shut them completely down tonight but we'll see the matchups come march. The problem is that they were a deeper team last year. Salley and Fisher were solid players that gave them other scoring options and at least some post presence. Gansey and Pittsnoggle also had their coming out parties, which made them a lot better. Right now they only have two real scorers and no size. If you could limit the open 3's they probably aren't going to beat anyone good. Gansey and Pittsnoggle are their only guys that can really be counted on (and are also the only guys that could consistently hit 3's with a hand in their face), which will really hurt them in the tournament. If one of them fails to reach double figures, they're in real trouble against a lot of teams.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:45 PM) What's the problem with trading them if you're getting proven major league talent in return? Neither Young or Gio were gonna help us this year. With Thome and Vazquez, we got a legitimate shot at winning another title. I don't see a problem with Kenny's philosiphy. Freddy was inconsistent? And Kenny doesn't make the deal if he didn't think he could lock Freddy up long term. Which he was able to do. Thome is somewhat of a risk, but everything points to him being healthy in 06. Think Kenny even considers the deal if he had doubts? Vazquez has been inconsistent the last year and a half. But the talent is undeniable. You don't think Ozzie and Coop will make a difference? My problem is that if you keep giving up stud youngsters for guys with some question marks something is eventually going to go horribly wrong. The guys you get aren't always going to make a major impact, just like the prospects aren't always going to pan out. Wells and Ritchie ended up being less than stellar acquisitions, and we were fortunate that none of the guys we gave up did anything major. With the exception of dealing Sosa for Bell, none of our guys that we dealt have become major players, at least as long as I can remember. Other teams have had much more bad luck on that front than we have, and if things really go wrong you can cost yourself 6 cheap years for a high productive player, something everyone needs. What if we had slipped up and dealt Thomas, Buehrle, Lee (we did eventually, but he got us a lot more value when we did deal him), Jenks, or B-Mac? People on this board would be going nuts. Many of us didn't like the deals when we made them, imagine if some of the youngsters actually did something. Freddy was inconsistent before he got here. The last few years before he came here he was not very good at all. Even now he isn't a world beater. Thome is still a pretty big risk given his health last year and his salary. Vazquez is another talented guy, but if he sucks he'll cost us a lot of money and we're not going to sign Contreras because of it. It's still possible that things can go wrong. It's working right now, but that's no guarantee it will work in the future. I'm not saying we shouldn't trade any prospects for anyone, I just liked it better when I was fairly sure that the guys we were dealing weren't going to do anything of note. The guys we're acquiring also look fairly good right now, but I and others might not necessarily like some guys that we get in the future.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 11:10 PM) Pitt holds off WVU with just unbelievable d. Gansey and Pittsnogle could do nothing at all tonight. Very impressive. EDIT: By the way, Pittsnogle was 0-12 from the field and had 0 points. I hope this shuts up the West Virginia in the Final Four talk for a while. They'll have trouble with athletic teams that can play at least some defense, especially if they have some size to go with it. It would not surprise me at all if they didn't make the Sweet 16. They still have a few very tough games left, so I expect them to drop from the 2-3 seed range that people seem to be suggesting right now to the 5-6 range. I don't see them beating UConn or Georgetown, and although it's at home another game against Pitt doesn't help. It wouldn't really surprise me if they were the first real team that Louisville beats either.

Things are starting to fill up a bit. I've got 70 players committed to play. However, I have 8 different leagues right now, which means I need 96 to fill them. Spots are starting to get a little shorter for the moment, so anyone that hasn't signed up that wants a spot should speak now (especially for returning players that want to be back in their old league), or you might end up waiting for a while to get in a league. It's not an issue quite yet, but if I don't get responses soon I'll start filling those spots. Anyone who is interested in a second league that hasn't already told me so should also let me know. There should be spots available, since I might need people to fill spots in this first round of league formation, and definitely in the future for some of the late-comers. Also, If you're up for rotisserie scoring and haven't told me so yet, let me know. I need about 5 more players for that format. Right now I'm planning to have everything ready to go on Monday. At that time I'll setup threads for all of the leagues so you guys can talk things over, with the commissioners sorting things out (I still need at least 1 more commish by the way). I will setup new leagues as necessary, with this thread being used to discuss that and set them up.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 11:04 PM) Sorry, I've never felt making the playoffs in the NBA is really that great of an accomplishment. For recent Bulls teams it is and I'll give him some credit for that, but a 1st round exit and right back to mediocrity isn't really leading a team somewhere IMO. Hinrich was the right pick at that slot though and I'm not going to argue otherwise. That's definitely true. When more than half of the teams in the league make the playoffs, a first round out isn't all that impressive.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:50 PM) I'd take him over Kaman. And you would expect the 7th player picked to be ranked between 5-7 among those players, no? You'd think so, but historically it's not really the case. I saw something on success rate a while ago, and I think the success rate for like the 24th pick was as high as it is for the 4th pick (or something like that, don't remember the exact numbers).

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:48 PM) No. We already have the same player named ben gordon. You beat me to it!

QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:47 PM) Gettiing back on topic somewhat, do you guys think we should draft J.J. Reddick this summer? Um, no. We don't need a less athletic version of Ben Gordon, most of us are pretty upset with the one we have.

QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:46 PM) He plays defense and LeBron doesn't. If LeBron was halway decent on defense, then I'd take him over Kirk. Are you high? Lebron is exponentially better and is one of the best players in the league. What don't you like, the 30 points per game, the 7 rebounds, the 6.5 assists, or the 48.4 FG%? Good lord.

I'm sorry, there is no way to make a logical argument for Hinrich over Lebron. None whatsoever.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:20 PM) Yes, 3 of them were dealt. But what did we get back in return? A guy, who when healthy, is a sure bet to belt 40+ hr's and knock in over 100 runs. We got another guy who's a supremely talented, innings eater who would basically be at worst the 3rd starter for over half the teams in baseball, yet he's our 5th starter. I've always said, unless you have a no doubt about it like guy, somebody like a Mark Prior, A-rod or Felix Hernandez, all prospects are fair game as long as you're getting back PROVEN major league talent. I'm not arguing that we didn't get crap back for them, or that they were bad deals, I'm just kind of worried that he's seemingly shifting towards trading our top prospects more. B-Mac is about the only guy that I always thought was pretty safe, and obviously he was planning on keeping Anderson around. This was also the first time that I really thought that we were trading high-ceiling guys like Young and Gio (I guess Wells was too). If he keeps that up eventually he's going to get burned, especially since the guys we're getting have some question marks (Freddy was inconsistent and a pending FA, Thome is old and got hurt a lot last year, and Vazquez hasn't been all that great of late). I guess I shouldn't worry about it right now, since the only really good guys we still have are already on the pro team.

Notice that 3 of those 10 were dealth this off-season. I hope he's not starting to get too obsessed with winning now and starting to deal real talent that develops.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 09:52 PM) What makes you expect a bad game from McBride? Just curious because he has been playing pretty solid. OSU has enough athletic guards that they should be able to cover him a bit better to prevent the wide open 3's that he needs to thrive. OSU typically seems to have a lot more trouble with big guys that pound them inside. The 3-point shot hasn't really been a factor for the other team in any of their close games except Indiana early in the year (I guess Harris was pretty good tonight, but Horton was off, and Harris is better at creating his own shot and hitting the really deep 3's).

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 09:46 PM) The Sonics actually have been playing well and are at or over .500. I would have liked to seen Paul in the big game though as well. I would've removed Parker for him since they're both PG's. Actually, Seattle is 19-30. You got to leave Parker on there, that guy has been huge. With Ginobili missing time and Duncan banged up, he's been keeping San Antonio near the top of the league. He averaging about 20 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds, which is definitely all-star material.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 09:42 PM) Which they always do. I will say I agree though, OSU is the better team. I don't mean just very good defense, I mean phenomenal. If they hold OSU to 65 or less, that's pretty darned good. I think to have a chance, they've got to hold OSU under 60 (or shoot very well, as I said earlier). I expect McBride and Augustine to have a rough game, meaning Dee and/or Randle is going to have to play very well (or I suppose Smith, but he usually doesn't get enough time to make a really big impact).

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 09:19 PM) Big, big game this Sunday. The winner takes a big step up in the conference race. I've seen both teams a few teams, and I definitely think OSU is a better team. They're deeper, more athletic, have more diverse scoring, and have more quality shooters. Their one major weakness is the lack of depth inside, but Illinois doesn't really have the personel to take advantage of that. I think Illinois is going to need a big shooting night to win at OSU, or play some phenomenal defense.

I really don't think there should have been 4 Pistons on the East squad. I have no real problem with Billups and Rip, and I guess Ben Wallace should go since they need big guys, but Rasheed was too much. I'd rather have seen Dwight Howard if they absolutely needed another big guy. I have a bigger problem with Arenas getting snubbed than Redd. It's hard to argue against Carter and Pierce though. If I had to drop a guard it'd be Rip, but he's pretty good in his own right. Chris Paul definitely should have gone. That kid is a stud, and he is the main reason that the Hornets are overacheiving so much. I'd have dropped Ray Allen. He's pretty good, but his team is struggling way too much.

Apparently I wasn't the only one that realized that Michigan was done once Harris went out. They have some good players, but they just didn't have enough tonight. They were already without Abram (Is he out for the year? I know it's been a while.) and Smith. Harris was just too much. They're a very tough team when all of those guys are there, but Michigan is screwed if Harris is out for a while. OSU played a hell of a game on offense. They were ridiculously hot and Michigan has a brutal defense (When was the last time someone allowed 60% shooting in back to back games? How about 60% from behind the arc in back to back games?). Normally I hate it when teams shoot that well, but I can live with this one. OSU played great in the second half, using the 3-point threat to get a lot of easy shots in the second half. The way Michigan was playing in the first half they probably should have been up 10, but the way OSU played in the second half it might not have mattered. It was even more impressive considering that Dials was in foul trouble. I like both of these teams, but I just don't know what to think of either of them. Neither really has a whole lot of impressive wins.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 04:09 PM) Umm....MSU hasn't played at Indiana yet, and we have a perfect home record in the Big Ten. My bad, it was OSU. Thought that was what I typed, but apparently not.

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 04:16 PM) He got very unlucky in many aspects. Coming out in the year he did is one, another is having the pistons draft him... they were just too star studded for him to get any sort of substantial playing time, and larry brown helps no one. Agreed on all points. I don't think he's really gotten a fair shot yet. If he went to a team where he had a shot to play he'd be a different player. I get the impression that he kicks some ass in practice but doesn't really get a chance in games. It'll be interesting to see if another team makes a monster contract offer when he becomes a restricted FA based on his potential.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 03:49 PM) Yeah maybe so, I knew Wojo looked really excited on the bench after that gesture. :-) Good one.

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 03:36 PM) http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/Draft/ http://www.nbadraft.net/ http://www.hoopshype.com/draft.htm http://probasketball.about.com/od/nbadraft...mockdraft_a.htm http://www.draftexpress.com/ http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=55 Draft express is probally your best bet at this point... they have the most information up out of those. Wow, Draft express really seems to be gushing over Aldridge. I don't think they said one negative thing. I don't know how you could say that he is that polished offensively watching him at Texas. I've watched them a couple of times, and I think he took maybe two hook shots and two jumpers. They make him sound like a cross between Kareem and Olajuwon on offense. He's got more talent than most big men that enter the draft, but he isn't THAT good yet. Edit- Nevermind, didn't click on weaknesses. Still, I don't think he's as polished as they make him sound.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 03:54 PM) Just based on draft position and such... Andrea Bargnani=Darko? It's really hard to get a good feel for the foreigners. A lot of the NBA GM's don't seem to know what they are getting with those guys. It sounds about right though. He listed at 7'0", but only weighs about 225. He's more of the typical jump-shooting Euro without a whole lot of post presence. The Darko comparison might work, although most scouts said that Darko was the most polish guy from over there in some time.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 03:06 PM) I'll be the first to admit that I've only seen two Texas games, and not completely, but Aldridge hasn't really stood out. His numbers aren't eye-popping either. How's his upside? Who can he be compared to? Where's a good place to see some scouting stuff on him? He's probably not going to stand out too much just watching Texas games because their two guards aren't exactly the greatest playmakers. Also, Tucker seems to get more touches and opportunities (I guess that makes sense since he is an upperclassmen and is pretty effective, but it doesn't make that much sense given Aldridge's talent). You don't get to see him posting up too much, most of his points are dunks or lay ins either in transition or on put backs. He does get the occasional turn around jumper in the post, but it's hard to say how effective he is with it because he doesn't seem to get the ball as much as he should. I thought his numbers are pretty impressive. He's averaging about 16 points and 9 rebounds, with a 61% field goal percentage. He also averages 1.7 steals and 1.9 blocks. He could be averaging more points, but he only gets about 10 shots per game. I know this probably isn't fair to either player, but the best comparison is probably Amare Stoudemire (the draft tracker on ESPN insider says Chris Bosh, another fairly good comparison at the same point in their development). They're roughly the same size, they're both very atheltic, they both get most of their points on dunks, and neither is the greatest on the ball defender. The one major difference I see right now is Amare has a pretty effective jump hook, which Aldridge doesn't seem to have a go to post move. Stoudemire also seems to be a bit more aggressive offensively, as Aldridge doesn't seem to get the ball as much as he should. As for comparing him to Bosh, I think Chris is a much better jump shooter. With a little more polish he could be a star in the NBA. His upside is through the roof because of his athleticism, although unless he adds around 20 pounds he's better suited to play PF. He's listed at 6'10" 240 right now, which is actually pretty good when compared to most big men that are coming into the league. He could probably come in right now and average about 8 boards and be a pretty good help defender, averaging somewhere between 1 and 2 blocks per game. His offensive output would largely depend on where he went. In an up-tempo offense, he'd probably average between 10 and 14 points per game as a rookie. In a slower style, it'd probably be more like 8-12 depending on how much he gets the ball. I can't really help you on getting more info, I'm not too big on reading everyone's detailed scouting reports before the draft. I typically rely on what I've seen and whatever I can get off ESPN (Insider content is a lot more helpful).

I can't believe that the thread has gone this long without mentioning 2PAC. Yes, he some thug style stuff that talks about how hard he is, how much money he has, and how many women he has sex with, but he's also got some of the more "friendly" rap. He's certainly one of if not the best writer out there (well, he's not "out there" anymore, but you know what I mean), and he has a lot of emotion in his music. Most of his stuff that was released post-death is pretty weak, but his greatest hits and his older stuff is solid. I definitely agree with some of the stuff that has been posted. Mos Def and Taleb Kweli have some good stuff, as do Nas, Common, and Big Pun. As for some of the better gangsta style stuff, I'm a fan of Biggie, Mobb Deep and Dr. Dre, and pre-Great Depression DMX. 50 Cent also has his moments, but I think that might be influenced by those that produce his albums. I think Eminem's older stuff is good too, but that has tailed off significantly.