Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:15 pm
Sit wrote:Ben Gordon was traded a long time ago... to the Miami Heat in a really shit deal at the start of this association. Chicago has not done anything to make their roster better unfortunately. And they always choose the shitty generic rookies.If they picked an NLSCer... maybe things would be different lol
Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:27 am
Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:40 am
Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:57 pm
Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:44 pm
Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:57 am
Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:03 am
Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:53 pm
Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:38 am
Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:52 am
Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:06 pm
Andrew Watson is a West Virginia alum, currently in his second season with the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. After a recent game, NBA.com was able to chat with the New Zealand national team captain and 6’3” SG affectionately called, by fans, ‘The X’.
NBA.com: You played at the World Championships in Greece last Summer. You were co-captain for the Tall Blacks (New Zealand). How was that?
Watson: The tournament was good. We made the most of our draw and made it to the quarter finals, which is a great result. We wanted to get into the semis like how Pero (Cameron) and Kirk (Penney) did in 2003 but I can’t say that we’re not happy with the result.
NBA.com: You were co-captains with Mark Moore (of the Charlotte Bobcats). What is he like?
Watson: I haven’t known Moore very long, we probably only met when we first made the national side. One interesting fact is that we went to rival high schools.
NBA.com: Did you ever play against him?
Watson: No, there’s a couple of years between us.
NBA.com: And you’re both in your second year in the NBA. We know you have an interesting story about the time in between your college senior year and your NBA rookie season. Can you tell us?
Watson: I lost all desire to play when I finished at West Virginia and just wanted a normal life. I regret that sometimes but don’t at the same time. The time I spent as an accountant really made me realise what I love in life the most. I have a passion for basketball and the idea of just playing for a team and missing the sport lured me back. So after I got married, I decided to take a gamble and apply for the Draft.
NBA.com: How long did it take to get your game back?
Watson: With my shooting, it was pretty quick. I had to work on my fitness and other fundamentals a lot harder. Probably was one year of training by myself and then a few more months of training with my alma mater.
(Watson spent hours training at West Virginia with the team prior to entering the 2009 NBA Draft)
NBA.com: You actually played against Sacramento’s Moses Chara. He was a freshman then?
Watson: I remember him pretty well. When I first saw him, he was just so skinny and you wouldn’t have thought he was anything special. We had heard about him because there was a lot of hype surrounding him. He’s got an ego on him so you can’t really miss him.
One of the first things I noticed was that he had a much more refined jump shot than I did. I’d compare him to a Larry Bird. He was and still is one of the best players I have ever played against.
NBA.com: Do you find it funny how you were both rookies at the same time in the NBA?
Watson: Yes because I thought he would skip the rest of his college after his freshman year. He was so good that he could have gone to the NBA straight from high school – there were no restrictions back then. The fact he stayed at Duke for all four years put him higher in my books.
NBA.com: What’s it like to play with Carmelo (Anthony) and Chauncey (Billups)?
Watson: Melo has helped a lot with my game. He’s shown me a few moves and just good ways to help myself be a better player. I don’t move around on the court exceptionally well but Melo has taught me some of the tricks of the trade to keep up with other players.
Playing with Chauncey is a blessing because he’s a championship winning point guard. Before I played with him, I did not rate him that highly but my experiences with him have shown me that he is a top five point guard in this league. He’s right up there with Chris (Paul), (Allen) Iverson, and Jason Kidd.
NBA.com: And how do you think the Nuggets will do this season?
Watson: We’re going to win it all. (Laughs) No seriously – we are.
Pirc Injured
The Washington Wizards are on top of the East with a 10-4 record but it has been unfortunate for Klemen Pirc; he has been injured for most of his team’s winning run. The newly promoted starting PG is out with a broken hand and could be out for another 3 weeks.
“Things aren’t looking good,” the Slovenian stated, “I’m pretty disappointed because I had a quiet rookie season last year and I wanted to prove that I can play.”
Read More…
Martti Must Much Improved
The Memphis Grizzlies are surprisingly leading the Western Conference with a 13-5 record and Head Coach Gary Payton has heaped praise on second year PF Martti Must. The former Tar Heel is averaging 18.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, and 4.8 apg. Those stats are significant jumps from his rookie season averages of 12.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, and 3.5 apg.
“I’m a much more focussed and consistent player,” the undersized 6’8” forward says, “Everyone said I was too slow to play NBA basketball but I have worked very hard on my fundamentals. The Summer workouts I did really paid off.”
Read More…
Byron Brock Struggling For Minutes
Byron Brock was content with life in the Big Apple but an off-season trade sent him from the New York Knicks to the Philadelphia 76ers. Brock was drafted last season by the Knicks and the team was excited about the prospect of the 7 footer to lead the team into the future.
Brock had a promising rookie season in which he started every game at centre for the side. Although the team struggled and finished the wrong end of the table, things were looking good. However, Brock was surprisingly dealt to Philadelphia where he now battles veteran Samuel Dalambert for minutes and a starting spot.
“It’s been a bit of an adjustment,” Brock says, “Maybe the starting spot will open up. Sam is a good player and I’m learning from him.”
Read More…
Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:11 pm
puttincomputers wrote:nice pic! and nice writeup.![]()
giving my testimony would be a better description than preaching.
hova- wrote:Looks like a quite good rookie season. I seem to post the perfect backup numbers. I would love to know my shooting %. Keep up your stuff, still following dude !
ratrac wrote:Second in points, first in rebounds and assists, not bad.
kaiser_kobe wrote:nice recap...my stats are not bad, considering im just a backup for Hedo, right?
homicide1550 wrote:Sit, how about posting the stats of the 2nd year NLSC ballers... Please...
thierryhenry50 wrote:Ben Gordon teamed up with Wade at Florida? Nice
Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:23 pm
Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:04 pm
Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:43 pm
Mark. wrote:Holy crap im stepping up a bit now, 19ppg aint bad.
Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:12 am
Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:31 am
Sit wrote:X, I wrote it up wrong. Was meant to say you wanted to get to Semis but u only made it to the quarters.Also wanted to know about your opinion of Moses Chara. You seem to hold some respect for him.
Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:54 pm
Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:27 pm
Martti Must 18.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.6 bpg, 18 GP, 18 GS
Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:59 pm
Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:14 pm
Sit wrote:Mark, Andrew, Martti are all doing good... although Andrew could be averaging 20 ppg but he's on a terrible shooting slump... shooting around .350 from the field and close to .300 from behind the arc...
Klemen Pirc got it tough... after finally getting that starting PG spot, he gets injured. Bad luck.
Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:13 pm
Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:25 pm
Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:59 pm
Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:04 am