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7th March, 2006 - 4:14 pm
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| Current Features |
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SCOOP DU JOUR: Tinsley, J.O., NLCS, Leinart and NHL!
The Pacers could deal Jamaal Tinsley on Monday, Jermaine O’Neal continues to gel with Raptors, the Phils and Dodgers will battle, Matt Leinart is competitive, and the NHL season begins.
STANDING 10: Top 10 Careers Of Players Picked 4th
We are getting into the heavy-hitters, with each remaining list littered with first-ballot Hall of Famers and multi-time All-Stars. Believe it or not, though, I’d venture to say that the last few lists were a great deal stronger than this one.
LOCKER TALK: Players Thrilled About Move To Oklahoma City
The Supersonics franchise is ecstatic about their impending move to Oklahoma City, and why shouldn’t they be? Buster Gunning, a Seattle native, recently took a trip through “The Big Friendly” (it is really called that) and can whole-heartedly agree with the players' excitement.
MOCK DRAFT: 2008 NBA Mock Draft, Version 13.0 (Draft Day Edition)
Weeks and months of waiting has finally come to an end, and Draft day is officially here.
PLAYER RANKINGS: Ranking The Best Players Of The 2008 Playoffs
Which players have played the best through the Conference Finals?
TEAM RANKINGS: The RealGM.com Final NBA Team Rankings For 2007-08
Which teams were statistically the best in 2007-08? Which teams improved the most from 2006-07? Some of the answers may surprise you.
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By Kyle Bradley
CP3 Sparks Hornets’ Season and Provides Building Block for the Future
Some athletes just have “it.” Some athletes have something inside of them that can’t be measured in any workout or pre-draft camp, something that can’t be explained.
Before the 2005 NBA draft, the front office of the Atlanta Hawks fell in love with the athleticism and potential of former UNC Tarheel Marvin Williams. Seemingly the only problem for the Hawks was the depth at Williams’ natural position, Small Forward. In the end the Hawks decided to overlook an obvious need at Point Guard, which happened to be the deepest position in the draft, and picked the 6’8” Williams with the second overall selection. The New Orleans Hornets made Chris Paul the second Point Guard taken (behind Utah’s Deron Williams), as well as the fourth overall player selected in the draft.
Hindsight is 20/20 and with almost two-thirds of the season finished, it is easy to look at Chris Paul run away with the Rookie of the Year award and pat the Hornets on the back for a selection they should never have had the chance to make. Paul has led the Hornets into playoff contention with a 31-27 season, a drastic improvement, considering the Hornets managed just 18 wins in the previous season. After trading away the only legitimate player on the roster before the season, Jamal Magloire, and benching last year’s first round pick J.R. Smith, it would be easy to assume that the Hornets would be struggling through the season scouting potential lottery picks for next year. Chris Paul had other plans.
The signs were everywhere that Chris Paul was something special, even before he stepped onto the court for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Only a few days after his grandfather was murdered, Paul decided to play in honor of his life. As his grandfather was murdered at the age of 63, after Paul scored the 63rd point in his next game he intentionally air-balled the following free throw and took himself out of the game.
It is impossible to determinel whether or not Atlanta would be in playoff contention due to the addition of a true point guard like Paul, but sometimes a team must take a step back and look past the numbers during the draft in order to find “it.”
Performance of the Week
A recap of this week would be impossible with the omission of the Phoenix Suns . The Suns enjoyed a 4-0 record on the week, finishing in style with a comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks , who entered the contest tied with San Antonio for the league’s 2nd best record. Contributions have been coming from all angles this week for the Suns, including an impressive triple-double for Boris Diaw against the Mavericks, 20 points in 20 minutes in Tim Thomas’ first action for his new team, and the typical consistency from Steve Nash and Shawn Marion. Mike D’Antoni deserves serious consideration for Coach of the Year after losing MVP candidate Amare Stoudemire for the majority of the season, the recent loss of Kurt Thomas for 6-8 weeks with a foot injury, not to mention the off-season addition of Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson. The Suns enter this week red-hot, winners of their last ten contests.
Statline of the Week
Allen Iverson
47 pts 12 ast 11-12 FT
Despite his recent snub from the initial list for the future of Team USA, Iverson continues to put up huge numbers, out-dueling Gilbert Arenas’ 33 points in a 119-113 win over the Washington Wizards . Iverson’s performance is even more impressive in that he managed to rack up 12 dimes during his scoring spree.
Comeback of the Week
Tim Thomas actually earned part of his salary for this season; the only problem being that he is putting up big numbers for the Phoenix Suns while the Bulls continue to pay his $14M salary for this season. It just doesn’t seem fair that the hottest team in the league was able to sign such a talent for the veteran minimum of $290K. On the court Thomas impressed going 5-8 from behind the arc on the way to a 20 point performance in his first action since being sent home by the Bulls earlier in the year.
Looking Ahead
Monday 3-6 8:00 PM EST
Phoenix Suns @ New Orleans/OK City Hornets
Intriguing match-up at Point Guard between last year’s MVP Steve Nash, and this year’s sure choice for Rookie of the Year Chris Paul. Big test for the Hornets, as the Suns may have too much firepower and balance for the Hornets to handle.
Let’s hear it…Comments/Questions/Suggestions email: Kyle.R.Bradley@Wheaton.edu |
