Amare Stoudemire
i disagree on the dwight howard maximizing his talent. yea he is athletic and yea he plays good D but he doesnt always go hard. Just last week Yao ming and david lee destroyed howard. now i can understand yao but cmon david lee? no way david lee should be puttin up 26 and 14 an dwight. and another thing is he EVER goin 2 develop a post game? are the magic goin 2 ever be able 2 go 2 him in the post in late game situations? he's got plenty work 2 do
i agree for the most part, he shouldnt get dominated like he does, i think part of that is he wants to stay out of foul trouble. He does need a post game. More of my point was based on him leading the league in blocks and rebounds. that is maximizing his size and athleticism. amare should be right there with him. i agree that d howard needs to maximize his post game and 1 on 1 defense. but i think he has the right attitude to maximize his game.
Many guys are what could be considered waste, but many are prolly feed up with all the BS of coaches, systems, etc. People can only take so much, and they'll just go through the motions. Sure, they're getting payed millions and of coarse they could be better, but sports aren't everything.
The other big change from recent years is the addition of Darren Collison, who came to Dallas in a trade that sent backup center Ian Mahinmi to the Indiana Pacers. Collison may not be a crafty Hall of Famer like his predecessor Jason Kidd, but he does bring an up-tempo style of play that may remind Mavs fans of the last point guard to take them to the NBA Finals. Collison has Devin Harris’ quickness, but also brings a career 37% three-point average that Harris never added to his arsenal.
“I can’t tell you how much of a chip I have on my shoulder,” said Darren Collison, who was discarded first by New Orleans and then by Indiana despite playing well in both places. “I can’t wait to play, to play the first game, and I have a lot to prove to myself about who I am as a player. Me and O.J. were talking about that yesterday, about how much of a chip we do have on our shoulders. I just want to play. It’s nice talking to the fans and talking to the media, but I have a lot to prove right now.”
Raptors team president and general manager Bryan Colangelo feels the club will be more competitive than any time in recent memory and also says it has been tough to stay patient within the team’s blueprint and not make splashier moves being so close to getting over the hump.
Uncertainty currently plagues the Sacramento Kings. There’s no telling when they’re going to put an end to their playoff drought, which dates back to 2007, but it doesn’t look like it will be this season. There’s also no telling where their home will be whenever they do manage to finish the year in the Western Conference’s top eight. All signs point to a move from Sacramento, but nothing official has been agreed to yet. The only thing that is certain at this point is that the Kings will be in Sacramento this season as they look to improve on their 22-44 campaign from 2011-12.
With DeMarcus Cousins, Thomas Robinson, and Jason Thompson the Kings have a talented interior trio that they have to play through. By working inside and then out it will make the perimeter players’ lives easier since the defense will eventually have to collapse on the bigs. They ranked sixth in the league last year in points per game, but could stand to improve on that if they utilize their big men properly. As a team, the Kings did a nice job of taking care of the basketball, forcing more turnovers than they committed last season. That should continue this year with the addition of Aaron Brooks and the growth of Isaiah Thomas.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban later joked that for the first time in years he didn’t cringe when he watched his team’s starting center shooting jumpers on the practice court. Kaman’s ability to do a number of things with the basketball will certainly make the Mavs harder to defend.
“I can’t tell you how much of a chip I have on my shoulder,” said Darren Collison, who was discarded first by New Orleans and then by Indiana despite playing well in both places. “I can’t wait to play, to play the first game, and I have a lot to prove to myself about who I am as a player. Me and O.J. were talking about that yesterday, about how much of a chip we do have on our shoulders. I just want to play. It’s nice talking to the fans and talking to the media, but I have a lot to prove right now.”
In seven seasons with the Wizards, Blatche averaged 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He showed steady improvement over his first five years, ultimately averaging 16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in his best season, 2010-11. There were some setbacks both on the court and in the locker room last season, when Blatche managed just 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds and started just half of his games after being a fulltime starter the year before. Blatche told HOOPSWORLD it was just time for him to leave, that the situation in Washington had become so bad that a mutual agreement to part company was the only way to go.
“We had a chance to jump in there but he wasn’t the right fit for our team given the circumstances and the pieces that needed to go in and out,” Colangelo said. “His contract with one year of permanency and one year where he could opt out was too much risk given that we were unloading several current and future assets.”e2e2q12
But Colangelo didn’t rule out the team actively seeking trade offers for Calderon with Lowry now in the fold. Calderon, a low turnover guard, is in the last year of a contract which will pay him $10.6 million in 2013 – a deal which could bring tremendous value near the trade deadline.421421421
The Raptors finished 23-43 last season but significantly increased their win percentage over their 2011 edition. The team enters the 202-13 season as a sleeper pick to make the postseason boosted by the addition of veterans Lowry and Fields and rookies Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross.421421
Let’s be clear, Tyreke Evans, the former Rookie of the Year, has game. But, the problem plaguing Evans isn’t about overall talent or ability. Evans hasn’t been able to find his niche at the pro level as the Sacramento Kings have tried to utilize him at point guard, shooting guard and small forward without finding the right fit.
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Not surprisingly, Evans’ future with the organization has come into the question and he’s been the subject of an assortment of trade rumors over the past season. Evans could potentially be a free agent next summer, but the Kings could choose to lock him up to a multiyear deal before letting the guard hit the open market.erq
“I don’t think it’s something on the front burner at this point,“ Petrie told Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “Going forward salary cap-wise, we have a lot of flexibility. There are no real concerns about our ability to pay going forward because of our future numbers. The most important thing in the big picture is that Tyreke takes his game to another level. The reward for that is ultimately what’s greater in a lot of respects.”fsd2121
“Eventually something would happen,” Evans said. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can to get us rolling this year. I’ve been working on my game. I got a lot to prove. The most important thing is I’m a lot better than I was last year. I’ve been receiving a lot of criticism about not being healthy and not playing like I did my rookie year. I just want to come back this year and show people I’m still here and that I haven’t lost a step.3243232
“He’s been a lot more focused this summer,” Petrie said. “Part of it is maturing as a player. You kind of forget that he is only 22 years old. He’s definitely put in more work and concentration in trying to improve parts of his game. He wants to be thought of as one of the best players in the league.”y53463
Williams, the No. 22 overall pick of the 2010 draft, has been oft-injured since entering the league. The guard missed his entire rookie season recuperating from knee surgery on both knees. Last season Williams appeared in only 24 games before being forced to shut it down due to a shoulder injury which also required surgery.e213212311221
Everyone credits David Lee for playing so well in Mike D'Antoni's system. This is true. And while Amare played great averaging about 26 and 9, it just seems he should have done so much more. I mean 9 rebounds, david lee is getting what 11 or 12 a game. not to mention david lee is getting 16 a game on dunks and layups because he has no face up game. Stoudemire on the other hand has a mid range game, is bigger, stronger, and more athletic than lee(not hating on lee but amare, and dhoward are in a league of their own athletically with their size and strength and lebron too) my point is i am tired of all the wasted talent in the league. maybe not wasted but most guys don't maximize their talent like a d wade, lebron, or kobe. other guys that are maximizing thier talent are cp3, d howard, deron williams. but there are guys who i wanted more from like vince carter, andre iguodala, and rasheed wallace. who to you are guys that have maximized their potential, or on their way to doing it? and who are guys that have not or you are still waiting for?