October 24, 2005

Thank You!

I want to thank all the loyal readers of Basketball Ramblings! Since this site started eight months ago it has grown so large that I can no longer have it hosted on Blog.com . We will be moving to HoopsAddict.com.

Thanks for making this Blog so popular!

Ryan "Real Deal" McNeill

Posted by basketballramblings at 22:35:48 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

The Raptors Are Finding Their Groove

Last week members of the Toronto media mercilessly ripped Rafael Araujo a new one. After watching the Raptors first couple of exhibition games I fail to see what all the fuss is about. Hoffa's not an All-Star caliber centre in the NBA but he's looking like he can play 20 solid minutes a game. In five preseason games Araujo has averaged 8.4 points and 4.4 boards in 18.8 minutes of playing time. Watching the Raps games against the Nets and the Celtics I've quickly become enamored with Charlie Villanueva - the kid can flat out play. When the Raps go with a big line-up he's able to play small forward and when the Raps shift Bosh over to centre he's able to slid into the power forward position. Through the Raps first five preseason games he's averaged 15.4 points, 5. board, 1.2 steals and 1 block in 31.4 minutes. Impressive stuff for a rookie who was booed on draft night. Raps fans are used to having rookie booed on draft night only to see them post impressive rookie seasons - remember Mighty Mouse? During the Raps inaugural draft the team booed Damon Stoudamire because the fans wanted Ed O'Bannon. Stoudamire got the last laugh as he went on to win rookie of the year honours for Toronto and then signed a huge contract with Portland. Joey Graham is playing some great ball for the Raptors as well (as shown by the 20 points he was able to score against the Celtics Friday night). Graham is a strong defender that is showing he can become a great sixth man for the team. Jose Calderon was a huge steal for the Raps! He looks like he could be starting for the team by the All-Star break and will form a great tandem with Mike James. Calderon's stats aren't eye-popping but watching him playing in games has been at treat. Last night the Raps lost by four to Cleveland - another close lose for the team to drop their record to 2-3 in the preseason. Head coach Sam Mitchell has stressed that preseason games don't count in his mind, but, it's been encouraging to see the team win a couple games and hang close and play competitive ball in their three losses.
Posted by basketballramblings at 17:24:26 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

October 23, 2005

Big Trouble In Gotham

I was going through Knicks stats today and a huge problem jumped out at me - Eddy Curry, the Knicks starting centre, is being out rebounded by Nate Robinson the Knicks 5'9" back-up point guard by 1.5 rebounds per game! Curry is being eased back into playing shape after missing part of training camp, but, Robinson still ranks third on the team in rebounding. Third! There's no way that a back-up point guard that's under six feet tall should be one of your team's top rebounders. Through the Knicks first four preseason games the only players with more rebounds than Robinson are Antonio Davis (7) and fellow rookie David Lee (5.8). Larry Brown must be pulling out his hair and wondering why he agreed to coach the Knicks...
Posted by basketballramblings at 15:44:35 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Baby C's

I was able to watch the Celtics play the Raptors on Raptors TV and I was impressed with a couple Celtics. Al Jefferson continues to mature but I think he's still another season away from being a big-time contributor in the League. Numerous writers have predicted a big season for Jefferson but watching him play Friday night it's clear that he's just not ready yet - physically or mentally. With that being said, I'd still take Jefferson of Rafael Araujo in a heartbeat! One of the bright sports for the Celtics was the inspired play of Mark Blount. Last season he languished and  played in slow motion at times - basically giving uninspired performances throughout the season. After signing a huge contract extension last summer many in the Celtics organization, specifically GM Danny Ainge, felt that Blount's contract was a burden the team needed to rid itself of. Watching Blount play Friday night it appears that Blount had rediscovered that fire in his belly and could be a big contributor to the Celtics season. I've only watched one of Delonte West's games as a pro, but I fail to see why the Celtics are so enamored with the young guard. To me he's an undersized shooting guard that the Celtics have tried to convert to a point guard - without much success. West only made one turnover in 30 minutes (while chipping in three dimes) but he failed to get the Celtics offense going at a quick pace. If I were a Celtics fan I would rather see Dan Dickau running the point this season. Can Celtics fans tell me why Marcus Banks doesn't get more playing time? Friday night Banks sat out due a leg injury, but even when he's healthy the only think Banks manages to pick up is splinters from riding the pine (last season Banks only played 14.1 minutes per game, a drop from the 17.1 minutes per game he saw as a rookie). He's one of the quickest players in the League and has the ability to jump start the Celtics offense. I'm puzzled as to why Doc Rivers has Banks sitting on the bench. Any Celtics fans want to help me out? Drop me an email at rmcneill@hoopsworld.com
Posted by basketballramblings at 03:28:45 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

October 22, 2005

Ndudi Ebi and the D League

Yesterday morning word started to leak on the internet that the Timberwolves were going to petition the NBA for an exemption to allow Ndudi Ebi to play in the D League this season. Ebi is entering his third year in the NBA but has only played in 19 game so far in his career. The D League is restricted to players with less than two years of experience in the NBA, but Minnesota is hoping that Ebi can slip in because his lack of experience. Wolves head coach Dwayne Casey told ESPN that, "this kid needs to play. He's a talented athlete. He needs to get a feel for the game with bodies out there and how to navigate those players." Ebi was pissed when reporters approached him for a soundbite yesterday as the Wolves hadn't talked with him yet. When reporters first asked him about playing in the D League he said, "I've been playing against NBA players since I was 15 years old. I'm a NBA player. I'm not a Developmental league player, period." Why would Ebi embrace playing in the D League? Any athlete wants to play at the highest possible level and if he's been playing with NBA calibre players since his teens than going to play in the D League this season would be seen as a slap in the face. Also, it had to be hard to swallow to hear that Minnesota is planning to send him to the D League rather than through coach Casey of Kevin McHale. A lot of Ebi's frustration stems from the fact that he only played two games last season, but in those games he showed that he can contribute if given minutes. In a game against the Spurs on April 20th, Ebi exploded for 18 points and eight boards in 28 minutes of action. In the Timberwolves previous game he chipped in 9 points, 8 boards, a steal and a block in 26 minutes. This year Minnesota looks to have a thinner roster and I'm surprised that they wouldn't want Ebi around to practice with the team and to give spot minutes to in games.

Posted by basketballramblings at 14:55:10 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

October 21, 2005

Charles Barkley Quote

Surfing the net this morning I came across a great quote by Barkley in regards to the NBA's new dress code. I've listened to players complain about the dress code and I was leaning towards their side - until I read this LA Time's article today. Barkley told the LA Times that, "young black kids dress like NBA players. Unfortunately, they don't get paid like NBA players. So when they go out in the real world, what they wear is held against them.See, these players make $10 million to $15 million a year, so nobody cares how they dress. But regular black kids go out into the real world and how they dress is held against them.If a well-dressed white kid and a black kid wearing a do-rag and throwback jersey came to me in a job interview, I'd hire the white kid. That's reality. That's the No. 1 reason I support the dress code.From the NBA perspective, they've got a product to sell. They've got to make it as attractive as possible to fans, viewers and corporate sponsors. Dr. J [Julius Erving] told me years ago that we, the players, are the caretakers of the game. I think too many players today have lost sight of that."
Posted by basketballramblings at 15:10:44 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Bucks Update

Word out of Milwaukee is that new head coach Terry Stotts hasn't decided who the team's starting five will be. I was under the impression that Andrew Bogut would be guaranteed a starting spot, but Stotts told Gery Woelfel this week that, "Going into training camp, I said I wanted to keep an open mind. I still haven't made up my mind yet who'll be starting other than, obviously, Michael.'' Redd is guaranteed the shooting guard spot, TJ Ford and Maurice Williams are battling for the starting point guard position, Bobby Simmons and Desmond Mason are in a tight battle for minutes at small forward and Joe Smith, Dan Gadzuric and Bogut are battling for starting spots at power forward and centre. Having depth is a blessing when injuries occur but finding minutes when so many talented players are healthy can turn into a headache quickly for Stotts. If the Bucks don't buy into his system or if the team doesn't get off to a strong start this season Stotts could be in for a tumultuos season...
Posted by basketballramblings at 15:07:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

October 20, 2005

Watch Out For The Hawks

Now that you've stopped laughing, check out what the Hawks are doing in the preseason. They have a decent post player in Zaza Pachulia and some great scorers in Al Harrington, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Josh Childress. Throw into the mix two impressive rookies in Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudamire and the Hawks look to be taking a couple steps forward. In the preseason Pachulia has averaged 14.3 points and 7.3 boards - numbers the Hawks would be ecstatic about if he could come close to matching those numbers during the regular season. Stoudamire dropped into the second round of the draft and I predict him having a "Gilbert Arenas" type impact on the Hawks. Stoudamire was a lethal scoring at Arizona and the Hawks can use his point guard abilities as the only other "true" point guards on the teams roster are Tyrone Lue, Tony Delk and Royal Ivey. Marvin Williams looked shaky during summer league play but he is showing more confidence in preseason games as he's dropping 9 points and 4.3 boards per contest. If the Hawks new acquisitions can play at a high level like they having during the preseason then Hawks fans are in for an entertaining season.

Posted by basketballramblings at 23:31:17 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Villan...

Villanueva continues to impress during training camp this fall. This summer I floated the idea of the Raps starting Bosh and Villan as the teams "bigs" while letting Mo Pete, Jalen Rose and a point guard run and gun. After watching the rookie play so far I'm sold on this idea. Loren Woods and Hoffa' have looked out of place on the court - again! - so it makes sense for the Raps to put their best players on the court and not worry about having a traditional centre. Last night in 37 minutes of burn Villan scored 24 points, corralled seven boards and added a steal and block - much better numbers than either Wood or Araujo could put up. I've always questioned why coaches feel compelled to have a "centre" start each game, I say throw out the best players you have and let the chips fall where they may. Obviously you can't run with five point guards  but the Raps will at least have some height in Bosh and Villan who are both close to 7 feet. I'd much rather let two athletic players like Bosh and Villan play than force minutes on Hoffa and Woods just because they are a couple of inches taller...
Posted by basketballramblings at 17:36:36 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

October 19, 2005

Warriors and Tattletales...

I've long been an advocate of Danny Fortson and have thought that he should get more playing time. This summer after Jerome James left it looked like Fortson would find himself as the Sonics starting centre come opening night. After a slow training camp due to a bad toe it looks like Forston has lost that chance. Adding salt to the wound for Forston was a report by the Seattle Times that a teammate has called Fortson "lazy.". Never one to mince words, Forston dropped two gems while talking to the Seattle Times. First, he told reporters that, ""I think somebody on this team might have girlish characteristics that need to be turned into a man. Because if we're going to win, we need warriors. We don't need girls. Girls are for the dance team." Earlier in the interview with the Times Forston said, ""If you have a problem with me, come say something. Don't go to the newspaper like some little girl. That's something my little daughter does. She's a tattletale right now and I'm trying to teach her not to be a tattletale." Brilliant!

Posted by basketballramblings at 15:08:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |