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NBA Loud - by Arnold

The 2008 NBA Draft

July 1st 2008 03:49
I’d like to post about the previously finished NBA Draft. A lot of trades were completed/proposed making this years draft exciting and noteworthy. In this first post I will be going through the top five picks and thereafter with updates and all you need to know up to the minute stats and transactions.

Let’s get this post draft analysis going with the first overall pick for the Chicago Bulls DERRICK ROSE. Rose out of Memphis has a solid NBA body and can take the punishment as a player in the paint. He will mold himself into whatever type of player his team needs him to be as evident by the video below. He is one of the most ready-type players to enter the league. A truly solid addition to any team, kind of makes me think of the miss of Jay Williams. In which whom the Bulls took as the savior type PG years ago before he had his motorcycle accident stifling his promising career. With this pick Chicago puts themselves back into contention for a playoff spot in the East.


Derrick Rose #1 NBA Pick 2008
This video shows how Rose can affect the game as he will become a solid NBA-PG.




# 2
Michael Beasley #2 NBA Pick 2008
Undoubtedly the Miami Heat selected MICHAEL BEASLEY out of Kansas State. This PF needs no introduction to basketball fans as his huge wingspan makes up for any negativity about his height at the four spot. One of the perfect teams for Beasley to go to, I think his character issues would only become apparent if he were to have to battle with a solid proven veteran for his starting spot. He will be going in battling Udonis Haslem who has seen his stock drop as he needs to create more of his own offence. The heat I am sure are not finished in tweaking their team for the 08/09 season. Marion though will alleviate any concerns of the rookie being overmatched down-low as he is almost like an extra PF out there sometimes with his rebounding efforts and hustle in trying to make the right plays.





# 3
OJ Mayo #3 NBA Pick 2008
Minnesota at the third spot went with OJ MAYO, who I have seen and been hearing about for a good number of years. Mayo will be a solid two as at 6’4” 200lbs he is limited in selected positions, but this guy is just a born scorer and if he ends up in Grizz-town, look for him to team up with Rudy Gay as Mike Miller was moved with Memphis making the choice to let him go after he admittedly carried the Grizzlies last season at times. In return Minnesota looks to get #5 Kevin Love. I am in love with this deal as the T-Wolves send Antoine Walker also to MEM. Minnesota gets the scoring they desperately need and character guys, to build around. I know what fans may be thinking and no this isn’t the second coming of Wally World, Mike Miller is a gamer playing all three spots from 1-3 for the Grizz and did whatever was asked, as he became a versatile and proven scorer, unlike streaky Szczerbiak.





# 4
Russell Westbrook #4 NBA Pick 2008
Russell Westbrook a surprise at number four as the top three had virtually been decided weeks beforehand. Westbrook though an unexpected pick is an explosive guard that will do well in this league especially when Seattle gets all the parts and can continuously run up and down with Durant and Green. The Sonics clearly want a guard that can break down the D and get up and down the court at breakneck speeds. They have found that guy with Westbrook. People want to compare him to NBA champion Rajon Rondo and maybe Monta Ellis, he is long and skinny and extremely athletic, time will tell if he can make the right passes for a long career with Durant by his side.




# 5
Kevin Love #5 NBA Pick 2008
Care of NBADraft.net
Memphis picks Kevin Love at the number five spot and in turn will be sending him to Minnesota in the deal outlined in the third pick paragraph. Love is solid, not an athlete like the Grizz love at the four spot, but the T-Wolves just need ballers in which Kevin is for sure. Down-low he will be helped by Al Jefferson for sure on defense. Also he will have a great passer in Mike Miller to get the ball to him in good spots. I like Kevin Love on a solid team a rebuilding team he may flourish or sink as he’ll need to create his own offence and may struggle with the speed of the NBA at first.
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Loving a sport which is dominated by young, black males, it’s easy to get caught up in lazy stereotypes in what transpires in the NBA by the wider public. No, other professional sporting league in America comes under intense scrutiny as basketball. Whenever something negative happens to a player, the whole league is tarred with the same brush. Being a long time NBA observer it gets frustrating dealing with the euphemisms and assumptions that are made about the players and the Association in general.

Then players like, Jamaal Tinsley of the Indiana Pacers, get themselves in trouble and once
Jamaal Tinsley.
Jamaal Tinsley is proof that sometimes keeping it real can go wrong. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
again places the lifestyles of players, and their acquaintances under the microscope.

We should begin with the stark reality that the Pacers point guard is extremely lucky to be alive after being targeted by gunmen with an automatic weapon over the weekend in front of an Indianapolis hotel. He should count his blessings, and according to news reports he has.

“The man upstairs, he gave me another opportunity to see another day. When athletes step out, anything can happen…” (AP, 2007)

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first off-court incident involving, Tinsley, previously being involved in a bar room brawl. Jamaal was also present when former teammate, Stephen ‘Action’ Jackson started firing shots into the air outside a strip club a few years ago. Trouble seems to find, Tinsley.

Perhaps the latest incident might knock some sense into the Pacer guard because he was extremely close to calling it a day on this earth, with the only victim being the team’s equipment manager who was hit in the elbows.

Tinsley met with coach Jim O’Brien and president Larry Bird to discuss the latest incident, but the team didn’t feel punishment was warranted in this instance because the player wasn’t to blame in instigating the shooting.

Indiana have been struggling to cope with their image since that infamous brawl a few years ago, which still continues to be a blight on the franchise: “Of course, you worry about your fans and the community and how people look at you,” Tinsley said. “I made a stupid mistake, again.

“I'm very disappointed that it happened, with me. It was supposed to be fun. That's all I wanted to do is have fun.” (AP, 2007)

In the latest incident, Tinsley and his entourage, traveling in a Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Dodge Charger, all owned by the Pacer, rolled to a club where a group of men were giving him a hard time for his wheels and salary.

Upon leaving the venue, the group was followed, and instead of going to a police station, or home, Jamaal’s group instead stopped at a hotel car park where the vehicles tailing them started opening fire with their automatic weapons.

After the shooting, James Tinsley, who is the brother of Jamaal, followed the car with his crew and started firing shots towards the original perpetrators.

This case just illustrates that fame and fortune doesn’t protect athletes from the possibility of violence.
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