Curry will be good but not "dominant" as you say. And I'm not yet sold on Billups having an all star season next year. First of all, he needs to stay healthy which has been a problem for him. He's obviously capable of exploding for 30-40 ppoints when you need him to a few times but Im not sure he can do it on ANY given night and I really dont think he can just average 20-25 points for a whole season. You have to be a VERY special player to do that at his size
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "olskoolFunktitude":</div><div class="quote_post">Curry will be good but not "dominant" as you say. And I'm not yet sold on Billups having an all star season next year. First of all, he needs to stay healthy which has been a problem for him. He's obviously capable of exploding for 30-40 ppoints when you need him to a few times but Im not sure he can do it on ANY given night and I really dont think he can just average 20-25 points for a whole season. You have to be a VERY special player to do that at his size</div> about billups, he's might end up like bibby, in that having an awesome post season then a decent season after it.
billups to his credit is already pretty decent. Hes a consistant solid point guard whos good for a big scoring game every now and then. i dont think hes gonna get that much better
Tayshaun Prince-Solid player, should get more minutes instead of that horrible Curry LeBron- yeah i know it wont be breakout, but as soon as i heard he schooled Michael Finley he will be great. Eddy Curry- So athletic, still getting used to the NBA, should do well Tyson Chandler- Stong, athletic, and beside Eddy Curry, some help from Jwill Juan Dixon- an amazing shooter, can send Stackhouse to SF, and he can play SG. Too valuable of a player, should get quality minutes.
Prince is playing to his potenial...he isn't playing over his head..he will be a 10+ per game player next year i would think..depends who we draft
Chandler will be real good..he finished the season strong last year..and averaged like 17 and 11...with 3 blocks how can people say something every year about him when he hasn't been in the league that long? him and curry are going to be a powerful duo inside for years to come
prince reminds me of marcus camby, they are too fragle......expect a injury plaged carrer for "the prince"
u cant say prince is fragile b/c he hasnt been injured yet, maybe he never will get seriously injured u never know
Prince is nothing like camby..prince is a 6'7 SF...camby was a power forward..prince isn't <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">expect a injury plaged carrer for "the prince"</div> expect injury plaged career for richard jefferson too then..
i would expect injurys from kittles not rj, he has shown troughout his basketball life hes durable but kittles almost had to retire im not talking about height from camby and prince its just the body type, if he plays guys like pierce or matrix with stong body's he cant take it
He did fine when facing mcgrady..who is a bigger and stronger player than pierce and marion..and he is a SF!! big difference...forwards get injuried more than guys like prince...because prince isn't the kind of guy who will bang and gets rebounds inside
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "olskoolFunktitude":</div><div class="quote_post">Prince and RJef both look soft. I dont think either of them will have very long or durable careers</div> so i guess tayshaun made a game winning shot off luck huh? He drew contact but the refs didn't call it....
This was an article on the FRONT PAGE of The Wall Street Journal! If you don't think Mateen Cleaves will be next year's most improved player then read some of this! May 16, 2003 - The Wall Street Journal PAGE ONE Staying Ready Even When The Team Doesn't Need You Mateen Cleaves, College Hero, Sits Out NBA Playoffs, Unneeded by Sacramento By STEFAN FATSIS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Inside Arco Arena, heavy-metal music was thumping and fans were screaming. Mateen Cleaves of the Sacramento Kings, soaked in sweat, was hoisting shot after shot. Three-pointers from the corners. Jumpers off a screen. Spinning, driving layups. "That's the thing with him," said Al Biancani, the team's strength and conditioning coach, watching from courtside. "He won't stop." So what was Mr. Cleaves's tally in the big National Basketball Association playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks last weekend? Zero points scored. Zero minutes played. All his shots took place during a solo workout before the game. In any other profession, Mr. Cleaves, who is 25 years old, would be recognized as one of the very best. A high-school and college champion, he signed a three-year, $4.1 million contract when he joined the NBA in 2000 as a first-round draft pick. But in sports, sometimes making the big leagues entitles you to a strange career of watching from the sidelines. Now in his third NBA season, Mr. Cleaves was left off of the Kings' playoff roster. Before last night's sixth game of the Western Conference semifinals here, the 6-foot-2 point guard planned his usual ritual: shoot baskets, shower, then sit on a towel on the baseline floor because there's no room for him on the bench. "Practice is the game for me," he says. In simply making it to the NBA, Mr. Cleaves beat long odds: 540,000 basketball players at U.S. high schools, 16,000 at NCAA colleges and universities. There are 400-plus players in the NBA. Only about 60 new players reach the league each season. Mr. Cleaves was a star athlete from grade school on in his native Flint, Mich. He earned all-state honors in high school in basketball and as a quarterback in football. When he led Flint Northern to the state basketball championship, Mr. Cleaves was credited with lifting the spirits of the depressed auto town. "Everything Mateen tried he won at," says his mother, Frances. On a scholarship to Michigan State, Mr. Cleaves twice was voted Big Ten conference player of the year. He guided the Spartans to the NCAA Final Four in 1999 as a junior. In his senior year, the team won the national title for the first time since 1979, when Magic Johnson played there. Mr. Cleaves spoke at a victory rally of about 25,000 fans. "He truly was the Pied Piper," says Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo. Three months later, the Izzos named their baby Steven Mateen Izzo. "Everyone loved him." Life got even better. The Detroit Pistons chose Mr. Cleaves with the 14th pick in the 2000 draft. He bought his mother a house. In his first year, he played 16 minutes per game, on average, and was selected for the NBA's rookie All Star Game. "I thought everything was cool," he says. The Pistons liked Mr. Cleaves's toughness and leadership skills, but felt he had a lousy shot and wouldn't develop into the scoring point guard they wanted. He averaged just 5.4 points per game. "Mateen wasn't a guy who was going to create a lot of offense for himself, score a lot of points," says Scott Perry, the Pistons' director of player personnel. After the season, Detroit traded him to Sacramento for a shooter, Jon Barry. Mr. Cleaves heard the news on the radio, on his birthday. "It hurt to get traded," he says. "I grew up quick." The Kings were a terrible fit. They already had two top flight point guards, Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson. Mr. Cleaves spent most of the 2001-02 season on the injured reserve list with foot injuries, and played in just 32 of Sacramento's 82 regular season games. Last summer, Mr. Cleaves caught a break: The Kings traded him to the woebegone Cleveland Cavaliers. But when the Cavaliers X-rayed Mr. Cleaves's feet and found a stress fracture, the deal was off. Mr. Cleaves had surgery, but even after a full recovery, the Kings kept him on the injured list, a common practice in the NBA. His stats declined even more: He averaged just 4.6 minutes and 1.3 points in 12 games. By nature positive and gregarious, Mr. Cleaves also has perspective. He grew up amid guns and gangs in Flint. A brother and a cousin were shot and killed there. His mother worked 23 years on General Motors Corp. assembly lines. "There are people who work their whole lives and don't make a million dollars," he says. "They give that to us in a year." Though he isn't on the playoff roster, Mr. Cleaves watches hours of game tapes. In practice, he has willingly played the role of opposing point guard. "I've been Steve Nash, Gary Payton, John Stockton," Mr. Cleaves says, listing three top players at his position. With the Kings practicing just twice since the playoffs began a month ago, Mr. Cleaves lives an isolated athletic existence. Last Sunday, the day after a double overtime loss to Dallas, Mr. Cleaves awoke around noon, donned a Michigan State basketball uniform and drove his white Mercedes S500 to the Kings' practice facility about a mile from the small, two bedroom house he is renting. Only a trainer and a Kings assistant coach were there when Mr. Cleaves arrived. He lifted weights -- working on his chest and shoulders -- and made plans with teammate Vlade Divac to go out after that night's game to Tunel 21, a club Mr. Divac owns. Then a Caesar salad lunch, a nap and back to the arena for the game. "The NBA can be a lonely life, man," says Mr. Cleaves, who is single. Mr. Cleaves says he "went wild" in the gym this season, rehabbing his foot, then improving his conditioning. Bothered by his reputation as a poor shooter, he worked on the rotation, arc and accuracy of his ball. "I just shoot till my arms get tired," he says. Some days, Mr. Cleaves says, he shoots more than 1,000 baskets. Kings coaches praise his perseverance, given that he hasn't been needed by the team. "Very easily he could have folded up his tent and done nothing," says Mr. Biancani, the strength coach. Maintaining a work ethic "is hard for the average person," says Kings assistant coach Pete Carril. "It's not hard for him." Off the court, Mr. Cleaves admits it hasn't been easy -- practicing, sitting at home, traveling with the team without the competitive release of actual games. "It's like you're working for nothing sometimes," he says. Equally trying for Mr. Cleaves is the role of sidelines cheerleader. Since only active players can dress in team garb during games, Mr. Cleaves last weekend sported a green Michigan State warm up suit one night. He energetically high fived teammates at timeouts, and sometimes offered advice. He is sincere, he says, but "it ain't something I want to get used to." Mr. Cleaves wants to experience the same thrill he had playing at Michigan State. His house is decorated with Spartans memorabilia: framed basketball cards, a photo with President Bill Clinton. Mr. Cleaves says he thinks about those days "all the time." He pops a tape of Michigan State's championship game victory into his VCR and fast forwards to the final minutes. On his giant TV screen, he is wearing an impossibly huge smile and hugging Coach Izzo. "That's it right there. That's what you live for," Mr. Cleaves says, staring at the TV and ignoring his ringing cellphone. On July 1, Mr. Cleaves will be a free agent. The Kings won't re sign him. Another team is likely to give him a chance. Despite his experience so far, Mr. Cleaves doesn't believe the NBA is too good for him. "Naw, hell no," he says. "I'm going to stay ready. I'm not going to crack. I'm going to stay ready, stay ready, stay ready."
Mateen is the only kings player i like..he works so hard gives everything....he was so good over here in college...shame he never plays now in the NBA
If anyone doesn't think after reading the article above that he is above the level of the regular bench warmer, then you are in for a big suprise when someone gives him a starting or first-backup role next season. It must burn him up inside thinking of how good he is, yet he stays benching behind Bobby Jackson and Mike Bibby.
