OT: Thabeet sent to D-League

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jlprk said:
The one that you gave.
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How is that an example of political correctness? I've never heard harvesting humans for organs termed "politically correct."
 
You're a linear literal reader. Your list of Oden's body parts was rather short of imagination.
 
jlprk said:
You're a linear literal reader. Your list of Oden's body parts was rather short of imagination.
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That isn't what "politically correct" means. But I do agree I gave a pretty conventional list of parts that could be replaced.
 
Minstrel said:
That isn't what "politically correct" means. But I do agree I gave a pretty conventional list of parts that could be replaced.
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Replacing his earlobes might make him more attractive to Masaai warrior princesses - but it really means nothing on the basketball court, unless they play the WNBA equivalent of the Serengeti Buffalos.
 
Sending Thabeet to the D-League is just stupid. That's a bunch of gunning midgets down there. He won't get any representative action - he'll be taller than everyone else and just swarmed every time he gets the ball - which probably won't be much. And it'll probably hurt his confidence even more.

Thabeet is obviously a "late bloomer". It took him a long time to be any use in college, but he got there. He's an otherworldly shot-blocker (leads the league in bpm - and that doesn't mean he likes house music) but little else. However, that's a valuable skill, and it means that he's also got pretty good +/-. The weird thing is that Memphis took him when they already had a good center, who has actually been blocking shots at a pretty good rate.

I'd trade Webster for Thabeet in a second. Centers take a long time to find their feet (look at Joel, Kaman, Haywood and Bogut for example) and he's probably slower than most. But he's going to be a very good defender, and that's worth a lot.
 
Good commentary on D-League Digest (via TrueHoop):

The Grizzlies picked Thabeet when they did knowing full well that he would not be an immediate home run. He entered the league with significant questions about his strength, lateral quickness, offensive post game and ability to stay out of foul trouble. At 7-foot-3, he had great size and had already shown at UConn how his length and shot-blocking instincts could make him an impact presence at the defensive end. But none of that made it any less clear that his game left plenty of room for nuance.

It should not come as a shock that Thabeet hasn’t set the world on fire in his first NBA season, and his getting sent to the D is not some sort of dishonorable discharge. The D-League offers exactly what Thabeet and many young NBA players laboring at the end of their teams’ rotations could use: a chance to get consistent run and fine-tune his game.

One needs to look no further than Bobcats center Alexis Ajinca to see a viable parallel for Thabeet: Another wiry man in the middle, Ajinca went to Maine earlier this season with a reputation for soft play on the interior. Over the course of half a season, he went from routinely settling for 18-footers to posting up with confidence, drop-stepping for dunks and adding a hook shot. Unfortunately, Ajinca’s story isn’t complete as he has been sidelined with an injury since late January and hasn’t returned to Charlotte yet. But while I can’t guarantee success when he returns to the next level, watching his progression through two months in the D-League this season left no question that Ajinca is a much better player than he was in November. Thabeet comes in with more raw ability, a higher ceiling and greater expectations, and I see no reason consistent minutes and daily work with the coaching staff can’t help augment his all-around game the way those benefits helped Ajinca.
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As I said, I think the D-League is much less useful for big men than guards and swingmen, but I agree with the rest.
 
His NBDL debut:

18 min.
8 pts
2 rebs
1 blk
1 ast.

thabeet_650_100227.jpg
 
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That was fast. The Blazers already sent him to the D-League!
 
lulz
 
I still think my knee transplant idea would have worked for Oden.
 
Fez Hammersticks said:
Some funny quotes from Woj's twitter:
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Besides those two quotes, a new one is that an anonymous assistant coach called him the laziest player in the NBA. Maybe Przybilla's fierceness will influence him. (I doubt it. Nothing else has.)
 
jlprk said:
Besides those two quotes, a new one is that an anonymous assistant coach called him the laziest player in the NBA. Maybe Przybilla's fierceness will influence him. (I doubt it. Nothing else has.)
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Would that be the shit though? He comes out and becomes what everyone expected him to in Portland?
 
magnifier661 said:
Would that be the shit though? He comes out and becomes what everyone expected him to in Portland?
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Most everyone expected him to become a bust ... I'd say the chances of him living up to that billing are quite good
 
I was planning on going to a Stampede game on Friday to see The Antoine Walker Show. (Check out this article on Walker. Shit is ridiculous and sad. One day you're a high roller gambling next to Michael Jordan, and the next you have no car and you're sharing a $900 apartment with a fellow D-League scrub.)

Anyway, seeing Thabeet will add a little interest to the evening. Maybe Thabeet can learn a little from the life example of Walker.
 
mook said:
I was planning on going to a Stampede game on Friday to see The Antoine Walker Show. (Check out this article on Walker. Shit is ridiculous and sad. One day you're a high roller gambling next to Michael Jordan, and the next you have no car and you're sharing a $900 apartment with a fellow D-League scrub.)

Anyway, seeing Thabeet will add a little interest to the evening. Maybe Thabeet can learn a little from the life example of Walker.
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I remembered reading some article regarding professional Football and Basketball players. Something like 70% of the players are bankrupt by the time they stop playing. Hoops family in full effect? Maybe you can take the thug out of the ghetto, but can't take the ghetto out of the thug? I don't know...

But I do remember one article regarding some high prospect football player. It was years ago, so I don't know the entire story. He wanted to leave college early to go into the pros. His mom made him sign some contract that gives her 1/2 the money to use to invest. Well he got hurt in like 3 or 4 years and couldn't play again and blew all his money. Low and behold momma had earned 20 mil extra from the investments. Gotta love momma!
 
mook said:
I was planning on going to a Stampede game on Friday to see The Antoine Walker Show. (Check out this article on Walker. Shit is ridiculous and sad. One day you're a high roller gambling next to Michael Jordan, and the next you have no car and you're sharing a $900 apartment with a fellow D-League scrub.)
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Some quotes from the article:

"There is a large box of Cheez-Its on the floor and bagged-up cartons of Kentucky Fried Chicken in the corner. Boxes of Corn Pops and Cap'n Crunch line the top of the refrigerator."

Cause.

"This year, he is a good 40 pounds above his playing weight. He is impossible to miss on the court, with his wide hips, ample rear end and sloped stomach. Within 60 seconds Walker began grabbing his shorts, forcing his breath out in great gusts. By the middle of the second quarter he looked as if he'd run a marathon."

Effect.

Seriously, I've seen Walker play on TV a couple times in the past year, and I'd say he's more like a good 60 pounds over his playing weight (probably over 300 lb.). If he's serious about making a comeback, he really should lay off the Cheez-Its, fast food and sugary cereals.

"TRIVIA QUESTION: Entering this season, how many players in NBA history had won an NCAA title, an NBA title and earned more than $90 million as a pro?

Answer: Two. One is Michael Jordan. The other is Antoine Walker."

"At 34, Walker should have been in the final years of his NBA prime. Sure, he'd fallen on hard times, declaring personal bankruptcy in May 2010 after blowing the $110 million he made as a player (as well as the unspecified millions he landed in endorsements) due to a lavish lifestyle, a series of disastrous real estate deals, sizeable gambling losses and well-intentioned largesse—at one point he reportedly had between 30 and 70 friends and family members on his payroll."

Antoine Walker is one of my all time least favorite NBA players, but it's still hard not to find a little sympathy for his current situation. To have earned and pissed away over $110 million is just mind boggling. He has no one to blame but himself, of course, but at 34 and $770,000 in debt, earning $25,000 a year, how is he going to support himself for the rest of his life? He'll probably end up on welfare. Oh well, at least he paid a buttload of taxes on his previous earnings to offset the welfare and social security checks he'll eventually be getting.

BNM
 
When the D-League (officially NBDL where the D stands for "development") was originally formed, there were very tight restrictions on eligibility. There was a 25-year age limit and players could only be sent down during the first two years of their rookie contracts. That's obviously changed. It's now a league that showcases 34-year old, 300 lb., bankrupt, has-beens. I think that has corrupted it's intended purpose of developing young players who have been drafted, or used up their college eligibility. If the purpose is no longer for developing young talent, they should change the name of the league.

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
When the D-League (officially NBDL where the D stands for "development") was originally formed, there were very tight restrictions on eligibility. There was a 25-year age limit and players could only be sent down during the first two years of their rookie contracts. That's obviously changed. It's now a league that showcases 34-year old, 300 lb., bankrupt, has-beens. I think that has corrupted it's intended purpose of developing young players who have been drafted, or used up their college eligibility. If the purpose is no longer for developing young talent, they should change the name of the league.
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It can still serve that developmental purpose while allowing older players to participate. What better way for a youngster to learn the tricks of the trade (of the level they want to get to) than to go up against savvy old vets?
 
handiman said:
It can still serve that developmental purpose while allowing older players to participate. What better way for a youngster to learn the tricks of the trade (of the level they want to get to) than to go up against savvy old vets?
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My complaint is that the so-called savvy old vets are eating up PT that these younger guys need. That's the reason they get sent down to the D-League in the first place - to get some significant playing time. If they are just going to sit on the bench behind a 300 lb. Antoine Walker, I'd rather they just stay in the NBA and sit on the bench behind guys who are actually good. According to the article, the Idaho Stampede feature Walker on their promotional materials. People come to their games expecting to see the former NBA all-star. So, he gets more PT than his play warrants; PT that could be better spent on developing a younger player.

BNM
 
I imagine having a few washed up stars in the D-League helps its financial viability a ton, so it ain't all bad having them hog minutes.
 
I would think that making younger players witness how low someone like Antoine walker had gotten would benefit them greatly.
 
The article, and some posters here, naively assume that 1) Walker is totally out of money, and that 2) he really believes that he might make a comeback.

1) He has some shielded assets. Duh.
2) The judge threatened to jail him for not being able to repay Vegas the million, but judges usually refrain if you make an effort to earn money in your usual field of work. So until either the legal case dies, or basketball won't employ him because he gets too old, he's playing minor league ball.

It's not because he really expects to make an NBA comeback, you silly little twerps.

mook said:
I was planning on going to a Stampede game on Friday to see The Antoine Walker Show...Anyway, seeing Thabeet will add a little interest to the evening. Maybe Thabeet can learn a little from the life example of Walker.
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Bumping a 2-year-old thread was a joke. But there's a good chance that Thabeet, the laziest player in the NBA, will be sent down by Friday...
 
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