Tuesday, January 13, 2009

RV's Joint


Rollin' up some NBA thoughts and comments so you can smoke'em- Sponsored by Josh Howard.

Where do i start? Let me begin with a SLAM Fantasy League summary since we are reaching the halfway point of the season... Here's the current standings:

Mykal
Jukai
Tad
B Long
RV
Mrs. B Long
Teddy
Hursty
Eboy
DP

It definitely looks different than the first few weeks. The Longs are slippin', I'm coming on up, Jukai and Mykal are becoming consistent leaders, while Teddy and Hursty are stuck, but improving slowly. Eboy took the Miami plunge while DP appears to have missed the plane since day uno and all the flights have been booked since...

I know not everyone likes "fantasy" basketball, seems like a child's game or what fans who can't play do, right? Well that's far from the truth. Although luck does play a big part of the game, the top players always show a knowledge of the game. You have to know who's a keeper in the REAL league and who's not. Who's gonna break out and who's going to become the Robin to a new Batman. My biggest mistake was forgetting the suns were slowing it down this year. As a result, Nash is definitely not racking up the 3 point shots and assists like he once did. However, I took Kevin Martin early int he draft because i believed he'd become a 30ppg scorer with Artest and Bibby gone for a complete season. Unfortunately he's been hurt, but just came back and in his last 6 games (he's only been back for 8) he's scored 45, 36, 29, 28,21, and 30 pts. Niiice. Haven't seen him play much, but he's getting to the line A LOT. not 9 or 10 times a game, i'm talkin 13, 14, 15, even 17 times. I'll be the first to start the Tmac for Martin rumors, make it happen Morey...

The Magic hit TWENTY THREE threes tonight...unbelieveable. They have done a great job of building that team. Shooters all over the floor in Jameer, Lee, Hedo, Rashard and Reddick. A nice compliment to the limited offensive game of Superman, who rebounds very well so they can get away with starting Hedo at the 4. Houston needs to do the same thing, keep a true 4 next to Yao though, but positions 1 through 3 need to be shooters.

Speaking of Houston, their drama continues. David Aldridge is reporting Yao Ming wants T-Pain out, as in traded. Of course that's difficult to do given his condition. Yao refuted the report in tonight post game interview though, but even if true, he wouldn't admit to it. I missed the gamer tonight, but it looks like it was a good one. Kobe always kills Houston. Battier always hits a potential game winning shot that always leaves too much time on the clock. Wafer has impressed and like Hursty pointed out, i'll try to do a story on this guy soon. Rafer. Rafer. RAFER. RAFER!!!! You know how fans always say "I could have hit that shot", or, "I could have played better tonigh", well i KNOW I can shoot better in an NBA game than Rafer can. No way i shoot 36% getting open looks from Yao, Tracy, and Ron. His last 11 games? Get your barf bags ready: 5-14, 6-15, 1-7, 1-5, 4-13, 4-13 (yes, back to back), 3-7, 2-8, 3-10, 3-13, 1-10.....Skip to my Lou blah blah blah, as far as I'm concerned his whole playground legacy means shit if this guy can't consistently hit jumpers as a guard. i know players are entitle to off days. i know not everyone is a Mark Price or a John Stockton, but even the average shooting points make an effort to come back strong from bad shooting nights. Rafer doesn't. He comes back strong from WEEKS of bad shooting. He's not even a consistent 36% shooter, he shoots very high for 2 or 3 games, then shoots like 20 or 25% for 6 or 7 games. 36% is a bit better than 3 of 9 shooting...but i'd take that every single night from Rafer. Better than his 3 of 15 and 1 of 10 nights. You'd think a guy who shoots THAT bad would consider not shooting as much and driving the ball in more often. Oh shit, he's actually shooting 35%. Just great..

Drew Gooden is quitely putting up doubles doubles in chi-town....

Barbosa is getting his groove back (just added him to my team this weekend)...

All the commenters should post their job position just for the hell of it, i'm currently unemployed after a LONG break after college graduation....

The Rockets NEED to acquire either JJ Reddick or Spencer Hawes....

Francisco Garcia needs a starting spot somewhere...

Delonte West is underrated...

Every night the Grizz play i check out the boxscore and look for "Francis"....yeah yeah, make fun of me for believin' the guy still have game left, but i do. Just wait. He won't be Stevie Frachise, but he'll get 15, 5, and 5 again if he's given a consistent minutes somewhere.

Gerald Green, please go back home to Houston and open up a business with all the cash you've made. You're wasting our time.

Had the Snack Wrap Mac yet? Its good. I've never been a Whopper type of guy, that Big Mac sauce is addictive. Don't start with that In n Out shit cus I've never seen one in my life. I'm thinking they don't even exist...Hursty, what local burger places do you have over there? Food from American restaurants never tastes the same in other countries....

So i just applied for my passport...$170 bucks to rush it over..it's amazing what little you get for that much nowadays, a little blue book with your picture or shoes. I'm going to Mexico to see a sick relative, but I'm planning on looking into the local pro leagues over there. I know the competition isn't great, but there's usually a lot of American players and with more Latinos making a name for themselves in the NBA and overseas, the sport is becoming more popular in Latin countries. Did anyone know Mark Jackson (TNT) was half Dominican? Anyway, maybe I can catch a local game, maybe even a practice. Before they only way any Mexicans became good players was by going out of the country to play, but I think they're doing a better job at growing these guys at home. I'll have to research their league schedules later...

Just ran into the American Basketball Association website while looking for the Mexican League....some of the nicknames: Gwizzlies, All Pro Show, Internationalz...they actually have A LOT of teams....Looking through the Rosters of the local team, 2 guys from my High School are on the team... Anyone know how much these guys make? I see the same names on multiple teams, some teams have 7 guys, others 15 or 16. I guess you run where you can....check out some of the team rules for the Cleveland Rockers:

If for some reason you miss a game you will be fined the equivalent of one week salary.
If you are Late for a game or bus departure time, the fine will be $50. The bus will only wait 15 minutes.

All players will be fined $25-$200 for each practice missed.
If you are late for practice, the fine will be $10 for the first 10 minutes and $25 there after.


This is exactly why NBA contracts should not be guaranteed, they should have to be more responsible and face the consequences of not actually working just like many of us do......Can you imagine how much money NBA players would be giving back if they gave back one week of pay for each missed game?

I found a "Cedric Ceballos" listed under the Roster for the Maywood Buzz from Cali....no bio or pic, so I'm not sure if its Blindfold Ceballos, but it's not exactly a common name...

Now i ran into a link to Slamball, http://www.slamball.net/ checkout some of their top plays, incase you never heard of this, it's basically basketball with trampolines and lot of hitting. A video game coming to life in some ways. Some of the coaches include John Starks and Rocket Ismail....

that's all for tonight, discuss!

14 comments:

Moose said...

Yeah, RV, thanks for this; nice notes. Slamball is frickin amazing. You'll see me up there in a few years haha. I wish. Anyways, as for my employment . . . of course, unemployed. I work in life at the moment. Homework. Everyone remember to check Hursty's post under this, it hasn't been seen yet.

Justin Walsh said...

also, a player in slamball is Myree Bowden, one of the short PG cats from a NCAA dunk contest a few years back from the University of Pacific. He also won a bunch of streetball dunk contests and played overseas for a while. Slamball is very fun to watch

Hursty said...

Slamball is sick. I remember watching highlight videos back in 2003/4 just as it was becoming known on Opera etc. My first video was from CNN or something (probs wrong but eh.)
RV- American foods we got: KFC (did you know the Colonel was a member of the KKK?), Maccas, subway, everything I spose. We have hungry jacks etc.
Y'all ever heard of Oporto or red Rooster? Get that into ya!
food in aus tastes very, very different to that in the USA. Good point.

I went to Hawaii (getting access to America if you're a tourist is difficult- this was in 05/6 holidays btw...maybe its not as strict with visas/permits anymore) and had KFC and was like wtf? Is there something wrong with the chips...I always figured chips were, well CHIPS damn it! Maccas nuggets also tasted like shite. Everything was more bitter- like it had some resin sauce poored on it. Or weird smelling salts.

Sorry to hear about you're sick family member. I lost a grandma not too long ago and that still hurts like hell-R.I.P.

Orlando made 23! 3 pointers....an NBA record. Werr.

Do I count as employed if I work for free? I am going to be doing the website work for the Sydney Spirit (local NBL team in SYD). Possibly the women's team too (which I'm happy about cos theres a girl on that team who is hotter than Mr. Walsh's sister ((peep facebook pics of Justin for those who have it)) so I'ma do that over the next year and hopefully after I finish school. I've also been invited to do notes/reports for the Manly ABA team (level under NBL).
I'm in my final year of HS (thank God) so I gotta knuckle down for that over the next nine months...then I'm gonna be right back up like Viagra :)

Oh, and if you can't tell, apart from me writing long reports/comment posts I also love to use *(* in my posts :) :)

PEACE!


RV (again) You really, really need to chime in more. I understand youre busy and all but that piece/update thing was very, very funny. high Quality work.

Oh (I forgot whether you wrote it down or not) but D-Miles had 13 in the Grizz loss.

Hursty said...

hold up. We NEED to acquire JJ or Hawes?? Please explain RV.

KWAPT said...

D-Miles: 1 more game 'til PAYDAY. Paul Allen probably carries that kind of cash in his glove compartment anyway.

KWAPT said...

I just can't get with Slamball. I honestly think it's average athletes on trampolines. Just my opinion. It's kind of like Arena football and XFL. You just can't really grasp it or get into it. (unless you have a mullett)

B. Long said...

Me and my mullet love Slamball. The Longs will be back on top. We forgot to set our roster a couple of times. Not no mores.

Anonymous said...

Hursty, i've been hoping the Magic would grow tired of JJ and trade him and that Houston would get him, but know JJ's finally "getting it" and being part of the rotation in Orlando. The guy can shoot and Houston needs shooters, that's all there is too it. Not just 3 points either, but he can shoot from closer in. Any team with a post guy that demands as much attn as a Howard or Yao NEEDS shooters. Houston's only true shooters are Barry, Wafer, Head and Brooks. Barry is strictly a set shooter so he's limited, and Luther is very close to set shooter as well. Reddick shoots up high and at the high point of his jump, so he'd get up the shots Head and Barry don't take due to the defender being too close. Obviously there's other shooters like him, but i though JJ would work, wouldn't cost Houston a lot, but yet would contribte significantly. Hawes is a 7 foot, shot blocking, 3 point shooting, and rebounding center. He does it all. He'd be a perfect back up for Yao and would play well next to him at the 4 spot as well. He'd be very versatile in that he's big enough to play inside effectively but can step out when Yao needs more space and would still remain a threat. I'm not sure how much he'd be worth, but it may be difficult for Sacramento to let him go.

KWAPT said...

Guys: very cool 1st promo/teaser for the new 2009 Air Jordan here:

jameyburke.blogspot.com

Justin Walsh said...

hey guys, I got a new piece up on SLAM, I need you guys at the Bachi to show it some love!

http://slamonline.com/online/media/slam-tv/2009/01/video-doing-no-favors/

Hursty said...

Well that makes sense RV. But, just so we're clear- JJ is white- and therefore limited severely in his ability to do anything else and you can only have 3 white guys on a roster. Barry, Adelman and Yao screw that idea up haha. JJ is also slooowww on the dribble, and he's not very athletic either. And can't defend. I like the idea of Spencer more actually.

I'd rather have Ben Gordon, but his contract would have to be massive...BG=Head. almost.

Anonymous said...

Hursty, I'd expect JJ to have a similar role to Novak's, but we all know Novak was severely limited on D and he couldn't do anything on offense but spot up and shoot. Reddick ain't a defender, but he's able to spot up, fake and take a dribble, and even drive at times. By the way, no love for the picture?? Tmac is a lonely fellow these days, he needs all the friends he can get..

Hursty said...

I noticed Mr. Ping Ping RV...didn't know that was T-Mac though haha. I figured you just added it because of your fantasy name though lol.

Can we just trade Luther and give a bigger contract to Luis and Chuck? Since landry has re-signed already?

Anonymous said...

Whoa!!! Slamball!!! I missed watching that over here... :D

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