Leaving it Thus
You know what, I just saw McGrady's press conference. I don't really feel much like talking about this game. T-Mac, keep your head up; this blog will resume the Warriors orgy tomorrow.
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 5/06/2007 12:20:00 AM
24 comments
24 Comments:
That is some sad shit.
The worst thing is, one of my favourite players in AK-47 icing my favourite team with two clutch FTs, for a team that doesn't care about him. Just miserable ironies all round.
i've changed the post. i hope no one was too attached to that nun.
db:
All he had to do was take his head out of his ass and play some defense. He got all freaked out becasue he wasn't the best player anymore. But Utah (or any team) can use what he can do, he's just got to do it.
Orgies are so freedarko.
Somebody's got to take away his bedsheets and shoelaces, just for tonight.
Great choice on the video clip.
Carlos Boozer has to be one of my least favorite NBA players, and I'm really not quite sure why. Someone help me pin it down. I think it's a personality thing.
hold on, i've scraped myself up off the floor and started typing.
brendo--were you talking about t-mac or me?
B-
Both, but when one aknowledges it openly, that means they're really just looking for attention- so, Tracy.
-b
re: Boozer hate. There are currently two definitions of getting "Boozered." One is in reference to what happened to the blind old man Boozer stabbed in the back when he ditched the Cavs. The other is when JRich punked Boozer by bouncing a ball off his head and draining a 3 during the 03 Rookie Sophmore game. Speaking of which, does any have a youtube of that?
Re: Boozer - his home is Miami, he went to Duke, if he wasn't playing basketball he said he'd "probably be doing something in real estate." His game is one of the most wantonly stat-driven in the L.
What's to like?
Anon 3:12: Here you go.
boozer was friends with prince until prince redecorated one of his houses. i think that counts as a positive for boozer. and he uses his left-hand better than his right in the post.
his departure from cleveland isn't anything to hate him over. if you go to your boss and you're like "i'd like a raise," and your boss is like, "we really appreciate the work you do but can you wait a year for that raise?" and then some other company is like "we'll pay you millions of dollars now, " what are you going to do?
but he did go to duke and didn't leave early which makes him hard to like.
T-Mac, keep your head up
How? How can he come back next year and do this again? The saddest moment in that press conference is when he starts trying to answer the question about the Rockets possibly needing another playmaker and you see the realization pass over his face: that new person can't just be another complementary role player. He (McGrady) isn't good enough to lead a team alongside the best center in the league (who just embarrassed by a man 9 inches shorter, but leave that be). You can see him understanding that he is in his prime; he will never be better than he is right now; he will never win a championship. He might be an important player on a championship team, but that's not the same.
I'll make an analogy to myself:
I'm a writer. If it were suddenly proven inarguably that nothing I write has any real power, that it's maybe a touch better than mediocre but not much, I don't know how I'd go on writing--or conducting my life for that matter. But I'm lucky. It's not actually possible to prove that. Most of us are that way. We will never have our most cherished skills exposed as inadequate. It's a very deep fear, and I don't know how a person can come back from having it realized.
will people please stop underestimating the jazz? okay, so a healthy t-mac is a top five in the league player, and yao is the best center in the world. utah?
boozer: legit all-star
okur: all-star this year, went bananas in the 4th
ak-47: we all know him
williams: possibly better than any of them
that's not mcgrady being exposed--it's the jazz being revealed for being that good.
B-
If McGrady was as good as he thought, it wouldn't matter how good the Jazz were. In his secret heart I think McGrady believed he was MJ-level if he could only stay healthy, and if that's the case your opponent doesn't count. If that were the case, he could have beaten the Jazz of Stockton, Malone, and Hornacek.
In other words, I at least wasn't trying to say anything at all about the Jazz.
I should add, too, that I think McGrady had a great game. He carried them back in the fourth quarter. Objectively speaking, he did all he physically could. That's exactly why the blow is so hard.
right, and i see that it's not a knock on mcgrady. mcgrady's not a fickle player--he's one whose dominance isn't the direct result of a monster will. it just kind of happens, which sucks because he can't really call it up on will. and you're right: if he were like jordan (or kobe), he would have been able to win that game. not necessarily by beating three defenders on every play, or finding the open man better. . he just would have been able to make it turn out the right way.
oh, and notice i'm saying "not like jordan" not "on jordan's level."
Boozer is from Alaska, his pops tied his right hand behind his back when he was young to develop the south paw. He was somewhat of a black sheep at Duke, has battled back from injury, is tatted up supremely and let's out a primal yell after particularly strong finishes. Barkley once called him "amphibeous" meaning ambi-. As for the Cleveland thing, I'm glad Gund was blind because a handicap is the only way to find sympathy for billionaire owners. Moreover, decidedly non-FD told him that he was nothing more than a role player, there to crash the boards and provide energy, and didn't need any plays drawn up for him. I wish I had the courage to sign a $40 million contract when $80 mil. was on the table, but I don't. Do you? Hate Booze at your own peril.
P.S.=Paul Silas. Here's the J-Rich head bounce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ha9STYNNXo
Funny how Boozer doesn't even flinch. On a tangent Okur for J-Rich works in the trade checker and would elevate both teams. Can you imagine Okur casting 3s in Nellie Ball?
I blame the Rockets demise on Jeff Van Gundy. He doomed the team with his inability to get the most out of Bonzi- even if it meant Machiavellian whispers of false promises in Bonzi’s ear of a big payday at the end of the. JVG coaches in the rigid Greg Popovich mould. While I understand that NBA players are grown-ass men and should act like it, isn’t a coach charged with the responsibility of getting the best out of his players abilities. Let us not forget it is JVG who initiated the fall from all-star grace to bench scrub of Stevie Franchise (The same Steve Francis that is Baron Davis' destitute kindred spirit in skill, athletic ability and questionable point guard judgment, yet remains in hoops hell awaiting a Don Nelson-like messiah to save him).
Look at what Nelson squeezed out of a flawed roster by analyzing and accepting the personalities and talents on his roster and getting the most out of their potential and personalities. If you cant get any floor burn on a Don Nelson team- chances are high that you are simply not that talented or athletic (Dunleavy?). Look at Phil Jackson and the kind of game he gets out of players like Kwame Brown? On potential alone, Bonzi is far and away the Rockets third best player, look no further than his one-man wrecking rampage on the Spurs last year. I am not saying that it is easy to get a head-case to perform, however coaches like players are graded by results and should be answerable for underachievement- hey they are compensated handsomely for their services! The only thing that can mitigate having not having a coach that maximizes player’s talents is a blue-chip floor leader like JKidd or Nash.
Again i feel like we didn't watch the same game.
i blame tracy for this loss, again.
compared to how he usually plays, his 4th quarter was very bad. he was very anxious the whole time, and there was a spell of few minutes in the middle of it, when yao went to bench, when he took 4 or 5 jumpers and missed them all. that was it.
i do like him though. and feel terrible.
Another (late) vote that Bonzi could have made a difference in this series. He's just one of those guys who doesn't give a shit about the regular season but who understands the playoffs and just brings it.
He would have bee a partial answer to T's rightful question about where more points would come from. He would have lifted T-Mac's load a little. And he likely would have tracked down at least one of those rebounds that Utah came up with at the end of the game.
That Stan & Co. couldn't figure out how to keep Bonzi happy until the playoffs and then insert him to the team's benefit was a significant failure.
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