[Official] The whipping boy thread

I partially blame AAU ball for the amount of leg (specifically knee) injuries that players are seeing these days.

 

I think Joel is more a product of Europe (emphasis on fundamentals) while Leonard is more a product US (emphasis on strength and athleticism). Meyers knows how to dunk. Joel knows where to be on defense.

It kind of sucks for Meyers being so young and thrown in the NBA where the focus is no longer on developing fundamentals and he never really got much training in that in AAU and only 1 yr in college.

 

Why do you say that?

 

Year round basketball for guys who's bones are still growing. Not good.

 

That's a good point. I also think that they're not strengthening the muscles in their legs enough to take some of the stress off their joints. So many guys are super skinny like Will Barton. Shaun Livingston was a twig and his knee finally just gave out.

 

What Mick is saying. Too many games. I know you can get hurt practicing but these kids should be spending more time practicing and working on footwork than playing 2-4 games a week . . . more during tournament season.


"AAU is the worst thing to happen to college basketball ever," Barkley said in 2011. "I hate AAU more than anything in the world. These kids aren’t getting good coaching. They're playing too many games and not working on their game enough."

 

But those guys are skinny all the way through.

Guys like Oden, Rose, Westbrook were all built solidly and suffered leg injuries.

 

Yeah, but Westbrook's injury was such a fluke.

[video=youtube;bH2kv0MfoSU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2kv0MfoSU[/video]

Rose on the other hand was something that could be attributed to too much stress

[video=youtube;jo1UlzDeY-o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1UlzDeY-o[/video]

 

Yeah Rose just seems injury-prone. Like Wade sort of, but much more serious.

None of those guys were solidly built on the inside, their injuries did not look that bad.

 

Luckily our team seems to be ok with needing Leonard at this point. With that said there is no reason not to wait it out a little with him. IF he puts it together even a little bit he becomes a steal for this team. I also believe he will have a good game at some point that brings a lot of people back around. He is definitely someone that the masses seem to easily go back and forth on at the drop of a dime

 

Nolan smith all over again

 

You get an F on this paper. No context on which "Bryant" you are referring to, nor a link or source other than "sports illustrate" What issue? Where can I go to examine the article further.

 

exactly!

 

I think you just keep Leonard as a long term project, but he gets table scraps for real game time. If there is a trade involving him for a proven starter, send him. But don't trade him unless it's worth it.

 

Or you could simply copy and paste the first line of his quote in to Google and find it yourself. It takes about 5 seconds. " I wasn't the strongest kid at that camp," Bryant recalled of an ABCD"

 

Bryant has great fundamentals on paper. In reality he takes too many low-percentage 2-pointers.

 

You guys can defend him all you want; but I'm seeing instinct. This kid has none of it. He's not a jermaine oneal. At least oneal looked like he had natural instinct.

Leonard looks like he's in over his head. Can't seem to get it. Always looking like a deer in head lights. This is why I think he's going to be a bust. He just doesn't have the motor or drive to want to be good. Hell, he may not even be serviceable.

 

I AM ready to give up on him. He can grow up somewhere else. I'd be willing to bet that he becomes a journeyman AT BEST. There are Americans in Europe who are much more deserving of his roster space - Kyle Hines, for example.

I have a good record on giving up early. I gave up on Sebastian Telfair in time to want to draft Chris Paul/Deron Williams.