Jermaine O'Neal To New York (Made up crap by Sam Smith)

[Riot]

I love Jermaine O'Neal and I really do hope he stays in Indiana. Even though he technically started his career in Portland, it actually didn't begin until he was traded to the Pacers. It would be very sad to me if he left simply because he is the face of the franchise now that Reggie Miller is gone. He's an amazing player on both ends of the floor. If it wasn't for the injuries and suspensions, we could be talking about him being one of the best players in the game. I'm a big supporter of Jermaine because he reminds me a lot of Kevin Garnett.

As for Sam Smith, he makes up more shit than anyone in the press. I don't know many Kevin Garnett rumors he has thrown out over the past few years but I can tell you it would be atleast a 3 digit number. The guy has no sources at all. His trade rumors come from him playing with the realgm trade checker all day. Nothing Sam Smith says is legit in my eyes.

Will Jermaine be traded? I don't know, Indy would have a better indiction on that than me or anyone here.

[maes]

Every All-Star is rumored to go to LA or NY. Amare, Yao Ming, Gilbert, etc.. Remember how sure everyone was that Artest was going to NY?

I just mentally filter any rumor involving LA/NY, they're all bs.

[Sauru]

oneal is still too good to go to new york, they gotta give him another 4-5 years, then when he is on the decline the knicks can get him for like 8 draft picks or something and isiah will say how the future is now or some other crap.

[TSquared]

lol..damn Sauru..im laughing my ass off...u make one of the best jokes around here in my opinion...anyways..back on track..

if he goes to LA.. its gonna be a better ball club..better than the shaq-kobe tandem..as JO can do what shaq does..but he is a lot quicker and a lot better...

[Riot]

Jermaine O'Neal is good, but he ain't no Shaq.

[---]

Thats a huge call. Jermaine is a very good player but no where near the level of Shaq during his time with Kobe.

Shaq averaged 27.0PPG, 11.8RPG and 2.5BPG during his years playing with Kobe (96/97-05/06), and was the man on those 3 championship teams.

Quicker, maybe, but Shaq was a quick center himself and Jermaine is a power forward. Jermaine may be better right now, but a Kobe-JO tandem couldn't touch the Shaq-Kobe tandem that won those 3 championships.

[magius]

interesting read concering jermaine and prep to pro players:
http://realgm.com/src_goaltending/120/2 ... asketball/

[Andrew]

Interesting read but it's not necessarily a completely fair assessment. Ultimately, success in any team sport depends on an entire team effort and while the superstars generally received most of the blame (or the credit) for their team's fortunes they can't be held solely responisble...even if they come out and say it's all on them before a playoff series as T-Mac did.

The Pacers' woes could be attributed to a trade that backfired and Rick Carlisle's coaching as much as it could be put down to Jermaine O'Neal's lack of a college career. Kevin Garnett's Timberwolves aren't the same team that took the Lakers to six games in the 2004 Western Conference Finals and Kobe Bryant's Lakers aren't as strong as the squads that produced a threepeat from 2000-2002 and Finals appearance in 2004 either. Tracy McGrady and his Rockets yielded the most disappointing result given their chances of advancing but they were beaten by a formidable foe (and Western Conference Finalist) in the Utah Jazz.

At the end of the day, the success of a team comes down to more than whether or not their star player(s) played college ball. The Miami Heat's core is made up of players who all attended college with Shaq and Wade playing three and two years of college ball respectively, yet they were swept in the first round. Denver's duo of AI and Melo both played college ball and Melo was even an integral member of an NCAA championship squad, yet they lost four straight games to be eliminated after winning game one on the road. On the other side of the coin, Dirk Nowitzki's Mavericks had a string of second round and Conference Finals appearances before coming within two wins of an NBA championship last year despite never gaining NCAA experience.

[magius]

after a little thought, i think to some extent i see where the writer was heading, though i don't completely agree.

it seems that, in general, prep to pro players have certain characteristics common to each other, but hard to put your finger on. I don't know if its just a stereotype acting on my mind, but its almost like a more chaotic side to their nature, a measure of streetball mentality. And with that chaos comes a little more flair at times, and creativity. It seems, watching prep to pro players, that they are a little more 'wild.' at the same time they seem to have more 'potential' or innate talent. perhaps this is simply the case that only the more creative players are even considered to be drafted out of high school. often i find myself pulling my hair watching prep to pro players when they have a mental lapse or commit a low percentage play. don't get me wrong, college players commit these too, but it seems like the majority of prep to pro players fall to said tendency, opposed to a minority of college players.

in relation, college pros seem to be more capable of playing within a system; content to a role. fundementals and the such. They feel a little more tame, and seem to create the high percentage play on both ends more often. i can't imagine a player like shane battier coming straight from high school.

then again you always need at least one of those wild card type players on your team....