Sweet and Lovely

Please excuse the lack of updates lately. I'll resume with some scattered thoughts about the Raptors, and one of my favourite non-players, Adam Morrison.

Joey Graham or Jamario Moon?

I'd be lying if I said this conundrum was chock full of potential success for the Toronto Raptors. It's nothing like the Ford/Calderon debates. It's a debate between two marginal NBA players, neither of whom will average over 10 points per contest this season.

And yet the Raptors are faced with a dire situation at Small Forward, even Shooting Guard for that matter. Jamario Moon came out of left-field last season. Between his shot blocking capabilities and dunks he became a fan favourite. No other player contested for that starting spot, and Moon hustled his way into the rotation.

So what would any professional athlete in a contract year do after surprising fans and management in his rookie campaign? Come into camp out of shape, of course!

For all the great things Moon did last season, he seems to be a poor man's Keon Clark. And Keon Clark could be a homeless crack addict right now. Moon's game is just too limited. He tends to fall in love with the outside shot (otherwise known as Vince Carter Syndrome) when his strengths lie in length and athleticism. The guy drives Sam Mitchell nuts.

Joey Graham, on the other hand, hasn't had any opportunity to showcase his abilities. In fact, I've rarely seen him play on television. The trouble with Graham, from what I've gleaned from those games and some commentary, is that you get one or the other: Good Joey or Bad Joey.

But I can't help but feel Graham needs a fair shake, whether it's 20 minutes per game or a starting position and slightly more burn. A lack of consistency often comes down to confidence, and it's difficult to gain any when you're planted on the bench. There must be a reason the Raptors have held onto him as long as they have. Graham is not a step down from Moon. As athletes, both are great, but Graham brings a definite physicality which the Raptors could use on perimeter defense, possibly their weakest area last season.

Yet as much as I think Graham should get his chance to play, Colangelo needs to make a definite move towards strengthening a weak backcourt and front-line.


Shortly after a post I made about Adam Morrison and JJ Redick between a week and two weeks ago, the online hoops world had a few things to say about Morrison. Most of the news revolved around his future, or lack thereof, with the Charlotte Bobcats. I mentioned his terrible efficiency, yet another writer went a step further in announcing that Morrison, during his rookie season, was the least efficient player in the NBA who received considerable playing time (over 25 minutes per game or thereabouts).

The Bobcats recently extended his and Sean May's contracts, yet talks have swirled around Morrison being shopped around. A DNP-Coach's Decision certainly doesn't help his cause for a future in Charlotte.

Would Morrison be a decent pick-up, or even a steal? Like I mentioned before, I can't help but think his career is over. The NBA is too athletic. His forty-year-old man legs only got slower with knee surgery. Outside of picking him up off waivers I can't see any reason why a sane NBA GM would take a chance on him. Then again, most of them are idiots.

Self Portrait w/ Electric Brain

Due to time constraints, here is another edition of things to be excited about in the coming NBA season, in typical loose fashion.

-The play of Monta Ellis. Imagine signing a huge contract (enough money to support yourself, a large extended family, and two ex-wives) and then promptly losing the faith of your organization at the hands of a Mo-ped accident. Athletes and motorcycles don't mix. Ask Jay Williams. A Mo-ped seems like a logical move towards less danger and excitement, but alas Ellis couldn't handle to feminine curves of Bay Area roads. Will the injuries sustained to Ellis's ankle impede one of the NBA's quickest guards? Between Jay Williams and Ellis I could have a nervous breakdown if another promising guard goes down on a two-wheeler.

-The Raps starting small forward spot. Kapono? Moon? God forbid it goes to Joey Graham. Easily the weakest area of the Raptors attack.

-David Lee! In a move which indicates that the Knicks organization has a serious lack of mentally retarded individuals this season, David Lee will get some more burn in New York. Which must excite the Knicks faithful as Lee is about the only player they liked in the Isiah-era. Here is the prediction: Lee will be voted into the All-Star Game by the Eastern Conference coaches. You heard it here first.

-The Artest experiment. There's no way Yao and McGrady will let Ron-Ron get out of line. In fact, I expect some workman-like production from Artest and great returns. Only Yao and McGrady (who is 30 going on 37) will never hold up for an entire season for the Rockets to make serious noise.

-Celtics Boot Camp. I love what they're doing in Boston, which is essentially running a regular season six-month boot camp for NBA delinquents, with KG as the principal. Would Darius Miles have the audacity to tell off someone in the Blazers organization, let's say Brandon Roy? Sure would. How about Kevin Garnett, the scariest man in the league? Nope. Whether Miles actually puts together some semblance of a career is another matter, but I love this approach. After winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy the Celtics feel they can mesh anyone into their system. Same reason why they drafted J.R. Giddens.

-Anything Trailblazers-related. Between Roy, Aldridge, Oden, and the insurgency of Rudy Fernandez and (fingers-crossed) Sergio Rodriguez they'll easily be the most dangerous, and fan-favourite, young team in the NBA. Let's all pray they keep their health together. Or else the Blazers will be like a more tragic, fun version of the Rockets.

Year of Judgment

History very well could peg Adam Morrison as another mis-step in the post-basketball management career of Michael Jordan and little else. Only three years ago Morrison and Redick slugged it out for the nation's scoring title and captivated a national audience. It seems like that happened more than ten years ago.

Since being drafted I've had few opportunities to watch them on television. To start, the Bobcats aren't exactly in high demand for those outside of North Carolina. (Or in North Carolina from the looks of it.) But more importantly, the play of both guys was mediocre. Redick rode the bench when I believed he had a legitimate shot at competing for a starting position in a weak Magic backcourt. Morrison's season was less mediocre than Redick's though fraught with inconsistency and absolute stinkers with respect to field-goal percentage and overall efficiency. Watching Morrison, on the couple occasions I managed to, revealed a one-dimensional player: Morrison could only jack up shots. And they missed.

Which brings us to Year Three for JJ and Morrison. Early reports out of Orlando indicate that Redick should see a little more action this season. Morrison looks destined for worse. On a highly athletic (though terrible) Bobcats team, I simply can not find a spot for a one-dimensional player coming off a down season after tearing his ACL.

(And apparently Morrison's hair is longer. Like waist-length ponytail. And more facial hair. What's with these wholesome-looking white dudes in the League who go nuts overnight? Case example: Robert Swift. His career has been packed with injuries, so what did he do with all that free, rehabbing time? Got a bunch of tattoos and grew a huge ponytail. What possesses these white NBA players to go all Cherokee Parks? CP is the white man's trailblazer for freedom of expression.)

How much of the Redick/Morrison thing was a fabrication of the white sports media (which is really, really white)? As a collective entity did they project their want of white sports heroes in collegiate basketball in the form of JJ and Adam? Granted, both players put up big numbers in big programs, but the media certainly elevated them to levels of Bird-esque grandeur. NBA scouting services went so far as to call Morrison the next Bird.

Isiah Thomas famously remarked that Larry Bird was a fabrication of the white media. I'm not sure how the media fabricates three Championships, but hey.

Were Isiah Thomas to ask the same of Redick and Morrison, you'd have a difficult time arguing against him considering the perspective we now have, their professional output in tow. Their respective games just don't translate to the NBA-level. A part of me wishes for both of them to find some modicum of success, which, realistically speaking, means earning 'role player' status. Redick in particular has something to offer. His shot is still textbook. During the two or three times I've seen him make late entries into a game, he never failed to work hard for his shot and nail a couple threes.

With Morrison coming off surgery I don't see a bright future for him. At least not in Charlotte. The Second Coming of Larry Bird he is not. Ultimately, his legend was the greater of fabrications. And I think that's what history will ascertain from his career.

Banana Question

A quote from Amir Johnson's Wikipedia page:

"Amir has a brother that he dont know about and his brother plays basketball at Penn State and his name is David Jackson."

(Quick Amir, check your Wikipedia page! Your brother has been revealed! Ungrammatically!)

The Wiki editors let an abominable opening paragraph reach the interweb. Regardless, one of the NBA's most efficient, albeit unused, players will begin the pre-season as a starting power forward.

The Pistons, despite multiple years of uninspiring play in crunch-time, look like a dangerous team.

The biggest issue with the Pistons has always been motivation, namely that they believe they can turn it on whenever it counts (ie. the playoffs). But they can't turn it on whenever they want. If first-year coach Michael Curry can get through to them - and new coaches can always light a fire under their player's asses - they'll be fantastic.

Amir Johnson will finally get some burn. I believe him and Stuckey will tally up many MIP votes. Maxiell is still a fantastic piece off the bench. The only drawback is age. It won't be a major issue this season, but the window is quickly closing for one of the most successful core groups of players of the 2000s. When you look up and down that Pistons roster, they're still menacing. And they have more talent to unleash.

Just don't let Kwame Brown see the court.

Down with James White

James White's athleticism has been on my radar for a while.

During my adolescence, I went to a school where all kids were required to own laptops. When developing this program, the school mistakenly thought the technology-infused academic environment would enhance our academic abilities. Most students ended up playing Quake III or Mario World on a SNES emulator during class. When a teacher walked by someone playing a game, a flurry of hand movement would occur and the game exited safely from the student's screen. Eventually the teachers were wise to these spasmodic actions when their entering our vicinity. My thing was basketball videos. Scouring shitty websites looking for anything basketball related.

(My buddy Tumelo and I used to watch Rucker Park highlights during Canadian History class. Our teacher often showed up to class twenty minutes late. Some girl in the class thought our oohing and ahhing came from watching porn.)

For the first half of high school, I went really big into University of North Carolina basketball. I think a UNC basketball website was my home page. I was up on all their recruits and everything, one of whom was Jawad Williams. Williams participated in a McDonald's All-American dunk contest. David Lee edge out James White in the finals. Lee was pretty creative, but White was an all-out athletic freak. Some videos were posted on the internet and White became a teenage hardcourt myth. Here was a high school kid converting free throw line dunks with more flair than any man who converted the same dunk in the League's version of the contest (Jordan, Dr. J, Brent Barry [obviously]).

Things didn't work out with the University of Florida (where Lee played his ball) and he ended up with the Cincinnati Bobcats for the remainder of his collegiate career. He hasn't held down a permanent NBA gig. Which doesn't matter because his potential move to China spells certain fame for one of basketball's greatest athletes (link via HoopsHype).

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, basketball is built on the spectacular. The greatest moments from most NBA games are when a player defies the conventions and framework of typical NBA basketball and complete a play which challenges the viewers notions of basketball's limits. And this is why James White will succeed in a global market.

White possesses athletic abilities few NBA players, if any, can replicate in the most competitive professional sports league in the world. Against professional competition in China White will dominate and find an ideal venue for his dunking abilitity.

Basketball is rapidly expanding. China's enthusiasm for American players during the 08 Olympics is all the evidence you need. Kobe Bryant's popularity compares favourably with Yao Ming's. And in a sport built on the spectacular, James White could enter a fruitful career in a flourishing global economy.

Oakley Cafe

When you speak of unrealized potential in the NBA, former player Keon Clark has to come to mind. As a player he defied any sort of categorical classification with regard to position. He weighed next to nothing. He liked drugs. He left us with too few highlights from a heavily blemished career.

Regardless

"Move, trick. Get out the way."

Some things which excite me before the coming 2008-09 NBA season:

-Nathan Jawai's health. Did Colangelo pick up a Mike Sweetney character here? Is his blood-type Dr. Pepper? This guy is a year younger than I am, is a professional athlete, and has cardiac problems. Jawai might have Eddy Curry-syndrome.

-Jose Calderon getting full burn in Toronto. Is Calderon more effective as a spark plug off the bench? Can he progress from last year's breakout season?

-Greg Oden. Part of me feels like he'll be his generation's Bill Walton. Which could bury a promising TrailBlazers franchise.

-Darius Miles, namely how long it'll take before he starts sweating red wine in practice.

-Clippers fans. Expect some big names to fill up the courtside seats at atrocious Clippers home guys while they support their new best friend, Baron.

-Like any year, the shitty teams. I can't wait for the Jefferson-Love-Miller era in Minnesota or the Gay-Mayo era in Memphis. Wow, Gay-Mayo. That's great.

-Denver Nuggets. I fully don't expect them to make the Western Conference playoffs, but with Camby out of town, an already dismal defense gets even worse. What's the over/under on how many times they give up 135+ points? I think a 9.5 makes things interesting.