OGRat

Love the trunk monkey. Where can I get one?

Is he a restricted FA or what?

Maybe Boston couldn't offer enough playing time for Batista? _______ From www.boston.com- September 19, 2007 Batista update By Marc Spears, Globe Staff The agent for Atlanta Hawks free forward-center Esteban Batista said late tonight that his client has declined an offer to sign with the Celtics. Agent Marc Cornstien said this afternoon that the Celtics, Charlotte, Phoenix and Indiana had made contract offers to the 6-foot-10, 270-pounder. While Cornstien said via text message Wednesday night that Batista had turned down Boston, he didn't say why and wouldn't say where his client was leaning now. "Boston could be a good fit, but there are teams expressing more serious interest," Cornstien said. The Uruguay native played sparingly for Atlanta last season, but averaged a tournament-best 12.4 rebounds and 20.8 points during the recent FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas. Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge couldn't be reached for comment, but the inquiry on Batista gives the impression that his club is interested in bringing another big man to camp. The Celtics are currently expected to bring 15 players to camp. Posted By: mspears | Time: 10:25:39 PM

From Riley: Quote: Worthy will be remembered for his breathtaking athletic skills -- the blinding speed, the smooth, effortless glides to the hoop, the one-handed tomahawk jams. And he will be recalled as the ultimate clutch player -- his career postseason field goal percentage of .544 ranks among the top 10 on the NBA's all-time playoff list. "I don't think there has been or will be a better small forward than James, and I don't think people appreciated that," said his coach, Pat Riley, to the Los Angeles Daily News upon Worthy's retirement. "He was always such a quiet guy. But when he was in his prime, I can guarantee you, there wasn't anybody who could touch him."

"James Worthy was one of the top 10 -- top five -- players in playoff history," Johnson stated at the news conference in which Worthy announced his retirement. Worthy's career summary

Dude, are you for real????? Let's just end this thread.

The point I would make about Worthy is that he was a gamer. When they needed scoring either he or Kareem was isolated with the ball in hand. I do not see Marvin having the mindset to be that player as long as he has someone to defer to. I do not expect much from him in the starting line-up with JJ, Smoove or any other dominant player. I support him dominating from the bench. I hope I am wrong and that it's a Woodson offensive role definition issue.

That's just putting window dressing on a pig. Dress it up how ever you want, it still stinks.

yeah, but he gives up 30 pts too.

Anybody watching this soap opera unfold? Biatches and Hos and Racism!!! Oh my!!!! Man is this going to leave a black eye for the Knicks organization. I could see Isaiah losing his job over this even if they win the trial. The stuff coming out is just damaging marketing wise.

Which one on the list are you saying is it?

Why does it have to be either basketball or take classes? He should be able to do both. I just did not like what he had to say about his b-ball activities. He made it sound like they were not a high enough priority. Like a coach had to remind him to do more. The excuses he offered did not help the impression his words created.

I believe that a player needs to be well rounded to have a successful life. Do you know if Smoove has been taking college classes somewhere? I hope he too is thinking beyond the game. While college is not necessary, it helps.

Funny how we chew on a few statements in an article and think we know everything going on. I am sure a lot was not mentioned in the article. I am not thinking Mavin abandoned b-ball for his education this Summer, but I am dissapointed that his statements do not reflect a clear understanding of the holes in his game. He probably did things all Summer to improve his game, but his statements do not reflect the same type of focus Smoove used in his approach. Maybe he wanted to give his body time to recoop. Maybe he did things not mentioned in the article. Maybe weight-training was the plan for the first part of the season. Maybe he thinks that all he needs to be a dominant player is to let his hand heal completely. I won't judge the approach until I see him play, but I hope that he did more than he conveyed in his statements. I hope that, in whatever he was thinking and planning, he factored in that this year he has to "show up" and play up to the potential he was drafted on.

Can't help but wonder if race plays a role in him not being more heralded.

Being too young to have seen Bob Petit in action, I found this write up kind of interesting. I never knew that much about him except that the Hawks had retired his jersey/number. Thought someone else might appreciate it too. Quote: Bob Pettit: A Forgotten Star Jul 27th, 2007 by Greg Violin While, basketball fans of today are marveling over the next 14 year old phenoms, they forget about a forgotten star from the past. Bob Pettit had humble beginnings after being cut from the varsity basketball team at Baton Rouge High School during both his Freshman and Sophomore year. However, during his senior year he led his team to its first state championship in more than 20 years. This would be the start of a Hall of Fame basketball career. Bob Pettit took his basketball game to Louisiana State University after high school. In his Sophomore year (Freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity team in those years), Pettit led the SEC in scoring at 25.5 points per game. He also pulled down 13.1 rebounds per game and was named to the All-SEC team. The following season he averaged 24.9 points per game and 13.9 rebounds. Most importantly however, Pettit led LSU to their first Final Four. For his heroics, he was named to the All-SEC and All-American teams. In his last year at LSU, he averaged 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds per game and led LSU to an SEC Championship and took home honors of being selected to the All-SEC and All-American team again. In 1954, Pettit’s number 50 was retired by LSU. He became the first athlete from the school to receive this distinction. The Milwaukee Hawks selected Bob Pettit in the first round of the 1954 NBA draft. Pettit would start his NBA career just as he finished his college career by winning Rookie of the Year honors after putting up 20.4 points and grabbing 13.8 rebounds per game. In his second season, he led the league in both scoring at 25.7 points per game and rebounding at 16.2 rebounds per game. He was also named the MVP of the All-Star game and MVP of the regular NBA season. During the 1957-58, Pettit and the Hawks stopped the Celtics championship streak and took home the title. In Game 6 of the series he scored a then-playoff record of 50 points in the game. The 1958-59 season would win Pettit another regular season MVP award and another scoring crown with a 29.2 points per game average (which was a NBA record at the time). Pettit pulled down 20.3 rebounds per game the following season and became one of only five players to ever average over 20 rebounds per game. Outdoing himself the next season he put up a career high of 31.1 points per game. When Pettit retired in 1965, he became the first NBA player to score over 20,000 points and his 12,849 rebounds were second most ever at the time. Pettit was an All-Star in every year he played (11 times) and was honored on the All-NBA First Team 10 times. He also averaged at least 20 points per game and at least 12 rebounds per game in each of his 11 NBA seasons. In 1971, Pettit was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1996 was named one of the 50 Greatest Players ever in the NBA. While today’s fans rave about great power forwards like Tim Duncan and Karl Malone, they fail to even mention arguably the greatest, Bob Pettit.

Noticed on Insidehoops that both Ivey and Batista are listed as restricted free agents. Assuming that the Hawks made qualifying offers to them both, does this mean that both could be on the team is they choose to accept those offers? Anybody know how much was offered to them? If they accept we will have- PG: AJ, Lue, Speedy, Law and Ivie? PF/C: Lo, Horford, Shelden, Batista, Solomon, Smoove, Zaza?

Happy B-day. Many more returns.

I agree that they are contenders as long as the big 3 are healthy. With 3 Allstars all they really need are role players and bench scoring. The key will be how Doc orchestrates it all. Pierce has been sharing the ball with scrubs so I don't foresee him having a problem sharing the ball with Allen or Garnett. Garnett and Allen have always shared the ball, getting 3 or 4 assists per game. Now that I think of it all 3 of them have avg around 4 apg so I don't see the chemistry concerns. I'd expect the assists to go up for each of them. Also, if Tony Allen comes back healthy, he and house can provide scoring off the bench. I don't know what Pollard can do anymore, but Perkins is a good defensive presence in the middle. Glen Davis may also be able to contribute.

Thanks for the post .

Having blown an Achilles, I know that he can be back after 6 months. I was active after 3 months, but it took rehab over the next 3 months to build the strength back up in my leg.

LJ was the man. Grandmama was the woman. Could you find the Dominique one that was mentioned? I don't remember it.

I don't think either of those guys can make their team mates better or keep them happy with ball distribution. The latter will be key to keeping both DH and RL. I do agree that Arroyo is better than Nelson though.

Injuries are a part of the long season. This is one of the reasons I am actually glad JJ will not be playing for the US this Summer. Despite that, we are better able to absorb injuries this year.

I agree with you there. I am a big KG fan. I just don't expect Detroit, Miami, and NJ to be out of the top 8. I believe that Cleveland will have to do something to improve before the season begins. Lebron can't be happy. Orlando lacks PG play. Philly? They are questionable but I give them a chance because of good pg play. Then there is the Hawks. This season's success is going to be on Woodson to integrate all the talent and draw up plays to take advantage of our strengths. Running offense. Drive and kick with Speedy and Joe. Shelden playing C. Players taking the right shots (smoove will should not be shooting 3's). Defining our go to players.