Players Slighty Obscured by the Dark Side of the Moon.

[Ghashta]

You know who I'm talking about. Those great players who just aren't getting enough minutes.

I'm watching the Spurs/Jazz (Hate the Jazz, always hated the Jazz) game on TV, and they have Bonner starting. I've always been a fan of Bonner, ever since his UF days. He came into the NBA, and just never saw daylight. It's wonderful to see him start. I was expecting this game to be dull with Duncan being a pussy and not playing... but instead, Bonner can finally show me if he's really worth me spreading his name around this forum.


I've always liked Ronnie Brewer, and seeing him getting his minutes is making me smile. He's proving to be a great scorer.


Anyhow... who are those guys that are getting less than 10mpg, but are worth much more?

I'm going to write Carlos Aroyyo in, just so that I could beat some Puerto Rican to it. It frustrates me how the Magic insist on starting Nelson (who only gets impressive stats because he's playing next to arguably the best center in the league) when they should be starting Aroyyo, who's a much better all around basketball player than Jameer, and who can function in the Magic's new badass offense in a much more efficient manner.

Anyhow, let us explore the NBA's obscure talent.

[The X]

Sean Marks, Gabe Pruitt, I would have & did say Jared Dudley prior to season but obviously he's proving what a good player he is, JJ Redick, I would have previously said Louise Williams, Sergio Rodriguez, Francisco Garcia, John Salmons, etc

[Ghashta]

Salmons and Garcia are showing that they're worth it, good job by those guys. Salmons' test is right now, as Martin is injured.

Williams has really impressed me this year, but he's still very inconsistent.

JJ Redick is a golden god who should be getting 48mpg. Well, maybe not... but JJ is one of the most natural shooters I've ever seen. He's got a bright future. I was actually in the arena watching the Magic the first time JJ ever got to play. (Against the Hawks). He even scored a point or two, like a badass.

[J J]

He even scored a point or two, like a badass.

How do you score like a badass?

[Ghashta]

I will not explain this age-old expression.

Please watch more American cinematography.

[J J]

So...watching American cinematography teaches me how to score 1-2 points like a badass?

[JT_55]

Badass:

1. Badass

The epitome of the American male. He radiates confidence in everything he does, whether it's ordering a drink, buying a set of wheels, or dealing with women. He's slow to anger, brutally efficient when fighting back.

Sooo....radiating confidence while scoring his 1-2 points, and very cool when doing it?

Ghashta, this is an international forum. Although I'm sure JosephSu is perfectly adept at english, there are still some others who barely understands any english at all, much less a slang like "badass". Then they'll be going "what does cinematography means?" Not pretty.

[benji]

I have a feeling JosephSu was mocking the newbie.

Who certainly deserved it.

[J J]

I have a feeling JosephSu was mocking the newbie.

Who certainly deserved it.

Spot on.

[Jing]

Because JosephSu is such a veteran.

[JT_55]

By being here about 300 times longer and making more than 44 times more posts than the other guy?

[J J]

By being here about 300 times longer and making more than 44 times more posts than the other guy?

Spot on.

[Jackal]

I have a feeling Jing was mocking JosephSu.

Who certainly deserved it.

[Ghashta]

Mocking the newbie instead of demonstrating basketball knowledge, very mature. International forum or not, I will not dumb my English down for foreigners. Maybe these so called "Forum vets" can learn a thing or two. Think of me as your own personal thesaurus.

No need to feel ashamed either, it's natural to be linguistically inferior


Anyhow... Bonner owned last night. Beautifully played game by the entire San Antonio team.

Any other names come to mind?

[Indy]

This thread is hilarious.

Stephane Lasme is an NBA player, I am 99% sure of that, and he is not currently on any NBA teams, so I'd say that he is being obscured a little bit more then slightly.

I feel like Gerald Green's demise has been greatly exaggerated as well. I feel like he could give that team some excitment and scoring if he was getting more then 9 minutes a game. Sure, he may not be the prospect everyone thought he'd be before the draft, or the steal the Celtics seemed to get. But he can score around the rim, and he can knock down 3s and he certainly shouldn't be this lost in the rotation.

Ghashta, I have to disagree with you on Arroyo. Every year he plays great in the world games for Puerto Rico and everyone says the same things about him, and every year the Magic give him a chance and he proves time and time again that he is not nearly as effective with other good players around him. When he is the man for Puerto Rico and has the ball in his hands with 100% confidence in himself he plays well. For the Magic however, he either is forced out of the flor of his game, or he tries to do too much. He is still a good spark plug off the bench for them, but his role will never be bigger no matter where he goes because he has already reached his ceiling as an NBA player.

[JT_55]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever, you misinterpreted my advice. I'm not telling you to dumb it down, if someone asks, just tell them. Simple as that, and not to tell them to do stuff that is even less understandable.

Personal thesaurus? Ashamed? Linguistically inferior? Sheesh. Don't get too cocky, now. The penultimate event we all want to happen to this forum (the last one is the whole site going down) is a pompous, arrogant poster who thinks he is "linguistically superior" and has a need to show it off. lol...don't take it personally, just having a bit of fun. I'm guessing you either are a writer/teacher or something like that or a really precocious kid.

Now, when is someone going to step up and say "Because Jing is such a veteran."?

[shadowgrin]

I have a feeling the noob is mocking the forum vets.

Because Jing is such a badass veteran.

Spot on.

[emi_b7]

Walter Herrmann, Al Thorton, Mike Conley and Rodney Carney

[Matt]

Salmons should have gotten significantly more time in Philly!

JJ Redick - lost time due to injuries meant he had to fight his way into rotation...not happpening

Carlos Arroyo - can't play defence or shoot.....Magic are much better on court with Nelson on

Sergio Rodriguez - don't see the hype in him...to me, doesn't look like he'll be more than a 10th man

[Jackal]

Flashback:

Dweeber.

[Silas]

Touche

May I mention Kyle Korver? That man needs to be playing near forty minutes a game, and Andre Iguodala needs to learn that he's not the man on the team, but that Kyle is.

Kyle is having a bad season because he's been plagued by injuries and Andre Iguodala's confidence. The guy needs a chance to play starter minutes. Why does Willie Green play more than him, seriously! It angers me so. On spot.

[Its_asdf]

Joseph, quit being such a smart ass. An all mighty powerful veteran such as yourself should know better than to deter an actually semi-decent topic in the NBA section especially when the only thing that is even active are the "official team" threads.

Anyway, I have a ton of players that I could list, but I'm tired so I'll reel off a few for now. Nothing appeals to me more in the NBA than those "diamonds in the rough" type of players.

Raptors fans might feel like Joey Graham was a bust, but I still have faith in the guy. I think he was always given the short end of the stick when it came to playing time. His rookie season was pretty typical of a rookie and was filled with ups and downs. His second year I thought he brought a lot more assertiveness, which was something he lacked (and still needs a lot more of it to be effective). He had a stretch of games where he was an adept role player, but disappeared in the playoffs and was quickly yanked by Mitchell. This year he has played pretty well when given the opportunity, but with guys like Kapono, Delfino and Moon it might be a little too late.

Another guy I'm high on is Travis Outlaw. The guy's a freak of nature athletically. They say he's as dumb as a doorknob, but I like the hustle and excitement he brings off the bench for Portland. When he's on his game, he can create his shot somewhat effectively, and is probably one of the better players at doing that for Portland. It looks like Webster/Roy are firmly entrenched in the starting role though. I'd love for him to be traded somewhere else where he can run wild and use his athleticism to his full potential.

Shawne Williams is another guy I've recently gotten my eye on. If Granger or himself learns to play the 2, I think Shawne has a chance to become one of Pacers' starters in a few years down the line (I'm not high on Dunleavy at all).

[J J]

Kyle Korver.

I believe he can light up 15-25 points every night if only he'd get the nod, more minutes and the starting job.

Korver, definitely, is a badass.

[---]

Flashback:

Dweeber.

Yep, I didn't even post when he was around and I'm still sure it's him.

Anyway, I disagree on Arroyo, he's just not that good a floor general.

I won't list guys like Ronnie Brewer, as they've come into their own recently.

Some guys off the top of my head:

Shawne Williams
Tyrus Thomas (Skiles...)
Shannon Brown
Demetris Nichols (God I'm happy the Bulls picked him up, it's a wet dream for me)
Rodney Carney (wanted him or Brewer in '06)
Glen Davis
Randy Foye (not for long)
Andray Blatche (big time, this kid is for real)
Amir Johnson (high bust potential, high reward potential)
Kyle Lowry
Thabo Sefolosha
Michael Conley
Alando Tucker
Thaddeus Young
Darius Washington Jr

Those are guys I think are much better than we think. Problem is they are young and minutes don't come easy, but I think in 5 years time we will all be wondering why Andray Blatche played behind Brendan Haywood or why Thaddeus Young was nailed to the bench.

There's guys like Brewer, Marvin Williams, LaMarcus Aldridge, etc that are now showing their worth and look on track to be stars in this league. And people had the nerve to call Marvin a bust.

[Ghashta]

I may just be a little too fazed by having a Puerto Rican boss for a summer while living in Orlando, and having the boss talk no-stop about Arroyo... but, I can see the guy's talent. He runs the fast-break extremely well, he doesn't have the best defensive vision... but he has the quickness to be a threat on the D... he just needs some coaching and playing experience. His shooting really does need to improve, but the Magic are not a team that uses the PG as a primary shooting option (...even though Jameer still manages to take a bunch of stupid shots). Arroyo always have Turk, Lewis, or Dwight to pass to. Look at Arroyo's statistics in the last 2 weeks. Lots of apg, he has great court vision.

Anyhow, I won't turn this into an Arroyo thread because, as I said, I am not Puerto Rican.

I do want to comment on some of the players you guys listed, some very interesting choices.

Tyrus Thomas is really surprising me this year. I expected him to get major minutes, but instead I see him not playing at all lately. He's an extremely talented athlete, and he has proved that he can play the game... I just don't understand why he's kept at the bench... it's like another J.J. Redick scenario... no idea why the guy isn't getting more minutes. I do believe that Noah is going to be a great player though, another guy I've been watching ever since college.

Travis Outlaw is a great player. I made sure to add him to my fantasy basketball team early on and it payed off, he's averaging great numbers right now.

Kyle Korver seemed to have something going for him last year, but then... it just stopped. Philly really should start him though... they're not really a contender this year, and trying out the young guys just seems like the natural thing to do... Andre Miller isn't going to burst out averaging 10apg, Dalembert is not playing up to his potential, and Iguadalla cannot carry the entire team on his shoulders.

I agree on all of the rookies that were mentioned, but... they are rookies, and it's not very likely that they'll get to start... especially Conley and Young who are competing with so many other players for playing time. (Young should probably be getting more minutes if he proves himself in practice now.) I might as well add Belinelli to the list of rookies who should be playing more. He could work out perfectly in Golden State's rotation.

Add Navarro to that list, while we're at it. Gasol forced the team to bring him over, and now he isn't getting any minutes, even though he obviously has superstar potential.