A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

[RMJH4]

Re: A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

Coach Payton already knows how to spin things like he's a seasoned vet. 12 wins = "sky's the limit" is one way to look at it



That's a ghost pepper-level hot take from Sekou!

Yes Payton was always fond of talking, you will hear a lot from him over the storyline, he will be listened to!

Yeah what a take from Sekou!! Funny reading through old articles and blogs and seeing who got what right or wrong.

[RolePlayer]

Re: A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

Need to catch up but glad to see you're back posting

[Scuzz]

Re: A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

Pour one out for Sekou's Hang Time Blog.. nice touch

[RMJH4]

NBA Draft 2010: Recap, Picks And Full Summary.

NBA Draft 2010: Recap, Picks And Full Summary.

June 24, 2010.

The 2010 NBA Draft began Thursday night with the Washington Wizards' selection of Kentucky point guard John Wall. But many more picks were made. The first 30 selections included numerous trades, and the draft will inevitably include both steals and busts.

NEW YORK - John Wall is heading to Washington, and a record number of Kentucky teammates are following him to the NBA.

Wall went to the Wizards with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday and four more Wildcats were among the top 30 selections, making them the first school ever to put five players in the first round.

After falling short of the Final Four even with all that talent around him, Wall is ready to help Washington bounce back from a season that was embarrassing on the court and in the locker room.

"I feel like I had pressure since I became No. 1 in high school and was one of the top players," Wall said. "I always got there hungry wanting to fight hard and compete in every game, so when I step on the court I'm going to take on any challenge there."

The SEC player of the year is the first Kentucky player chosen first overall. He goes to a team still reeling from Gilbert Arenas' season-ending suspension for bringing guns into the team locker room.

The pick came shortly after a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that the Chicago Bulls had agreed to trade veteran guard Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in the draft, Kevin Seraphin, to the Wizards. Hinrich is a solid veteran defensive guard who could help with Wall's transition to the NBA.

After his name was announced to begin the draft, Wall hugged family members and donned a blue Wizards cap before climbing onto the stage to shake commissioner David Stern's hand.

Kentucky landed a second top-five pick when DeMarcus Cousins was taken by Seattle at No. 3. Then the Sonics took guard Eric Bledsoe at No. 18. The Sonics acquired the pick when they traded Terence Williams to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then Kentucky landed another player in the top 18 when the Houston Rockets chose Patrick Patterson at No. 14. Daniel Orton then went to Orlando with the 29th pick, breaking the previous record of four first-round picks from one school.

"It's a big day and they are all behind us right now and they won't stop texting and tweeting and calling me, so this will be a big day, add to that Eric is coming with me to Seattle. I can't wait." Cousins said.

The Philadelphia 76ers took national player of the year Evan Turner from Ohio State at No. 2. The notoriously tough Philadelphia fans at Madison Square Garden liked the choice, loudly cheering and chanting "Evan Turner! Evan Turner!"

"I don't have any pressure. I have a lot of demands of myself," Turner said. "If Philly expects me to be great, then we have a mutual understanding."

Derrick Favors became the second freshman taken in the first three picks when the Sacramento Kings chose the Georgia Tech forward.

The Minnesota Timberwolves then grabbed Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson, whom the Sonics also had considered. Stern seemed impressed by the Christmas-colored slacks worn by Johnson, who held up his leg to show them off.

Baylor's Ekpe Udoh also is headed to Northern California, chosen by Golden State at No. 6. Detroit kept up the run of big men by selecting Georgetown center Greg Monroe with the seventh pick, before the Los Angeles Clippers went for Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu.

Butler's Gordon Hayward went ninth to Utah, one spot before the Indiana Pacers would've faced pressure to pick the hometown star. Instead, they chose Fresno State forward Paul George before Kansas teammates Cole Aldrich (New Orleans) and Xavier Henry (Memphis) went with back-to-back picks.

Aldrich's rights were later sent to Oklahoma City along with veteran swingman Morris Peterson for the rights to the Thunder's Nos. 21 and 26 picks, which became Iowa State forward Craig Brackins and Washington guard Quincy Pondexter.

The draft hadn't even started and already the buzz was on free agency, which opens in exactly a week with LeBron James leading perhaps the deepest class ever. There were even a few chants for the league's MVP, whom the Knicks are expected to make a run at.

Moves were made with July 1 in mind, such as the Bulls' deal with Washington that opened additional salary cap space for perhaps a second top player. Toronto drafted North Carolina's Ed Davis at No. 13, a potential replacement if the Raptors lose Chris Bosh in free agency.

"I know they have big free agents coming up with Chris Bosh and people are saying he's not going to be there, but right now I'm just going to try to work hard and earn the starting job," Davis said.

There were a flurry of trades near the bottom of the first round, including a deal that sent forward Martell Webster from Portland to Minnesota for Ryan Gomes and the rights to the No. 16 pick, Luke Babbitt.

Round 1 Results:

Spoiler

Round 2 Results:

Spoiler

[RMJH4]

Supersonics Select DeMarcus Cousins in 2010 NBA Draft.

Supersonics Select DeMarcus Cousins in 2010 NBA Draft.

June 25, 2010.

The Seattle Supersonics selected Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins (3rd overall) and Eric Bledsoe (18th overall), Xavier's Jordan Crawford (27th overall) and Marshall’s Hassan Whiteside (33rd overall). Cousins, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Year, was named to the Associated Press First Team All-America and the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team.

An early entry candidate, the 6-11, 270-pound Cousins averaged 15.1 points (.558 FG%, .604 FT%), 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 23.5 minutes per game in 38 appearances while leading the Wildcats in rebounds and blocks. He was second on the team in scoring. Cousins recorded a freshman conference and school record 20 double-doubles and scored in double-figures in 31 contests. He tallied 20 or more points in four games, including a career-high 27 vs. Sam Houston State (11/19/09) and at South Carolina (1/26/10). In 21 games, Cousins recorded two or more blocks.

As a senior for LeFlore High School in Mobile, Ala., Cousins averaged 24.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.2 blocks, and 5.1 steals per game. Named a Parade All-American, Cousins was also a member of the 2009 USA Junior National Selected Team.

This is the fifth time in the last seven years and the third time in the last four years that two players from the same school were selected in the top five of the NBA Draft. In 2008, Seattle (OKC Thunder) drafted UCLA’s Russell Westbrook with the fourth overall pick and Memphis followed by selecting Kevin Love. In the previous year, Ohio State’s Greg Oden was the first overall pick by Portland and teammate Mike Conley was the fourth selection by Memphis. In 2005, North Carolina teammates Marvin Williams (Atlanta, 2nd) and Raymond Felton (Charlotte, 5th) were drafted. In 2004, Connecticut teammates Emeka Okafor (Charlotte, 2nd) and Ben Gordon (Chicago, 3rd) were selected.

“This is really an exciting day for us overall, taking DeMarcus Cousins with the third pick, his Kentucky teammate Eric Bledsoe with the 18th pick, a fantastic scorer in Jordan Crawford at 21 and Hassan Whiteside with the 31st pick,” GM Ronnie Shields said. “Sometimes it’s the long and short of it. Today was the long and long of it. I think in DeMarcus we got an exceptional talent in the frontcourt. He’s going to get us great size and skill in the post. He’s an outstanding passer, and we’re just really excited to add him to the frontcourt we have now with Brook (Lopez), Yi (Jianlian) and Kris (Humphries). I think we’ve gotten significantly bigger and longer, more talented and more skilled.

With Eric, we had him in here twice for workouts. He’s a great athlete, but still needs to learn how to play some and mature a little bit, but he shoots the ball very well. He has an incredible knack for blocking shots off the ball and he’s somebody that coach Payton is really looking forward to working with. So, all in all I think we really added some skill and length and depth to our backcourt and frontcourt."

“I think I'm going to fit in pretty good. I think I'm the perfect piece to the puzzle,” Cousins said. “I'll be a physical presence down low with Brook, bring a toughness to the team, and hopefully we'll win games. We can be the next big twin towers."

[kibaxx7]

Re: A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

DMC will do great for you, and Bledsoe was pretty good in the first 6-7 years of his career.

[RMJH4]

Re: A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

DMC will do great for you, and Bledsoe was pretty good in the first 6-7 years of his career.

Thanks kiba. Yeah I thought long and hard about the draft. So many good options in there. I could have went like for like with the Nets pick of Favors, but always enjoyed playing with DMC on 2k. Good chance to give him a better Kings free career. i thought No.3 was too high for Paul George aswell, and couldn't work out a trade that made enough sense to trade for picks 8- 10 either. Had to grab Bledsoe at 18, and hope to build him into a mini Gary Payton.

[trekfan]

Re: A New Hope: NBA2K11 and Beyond.

Wanted to catch up here, my thoughts below:



Great start with the courtroom scene — you could feel the devastation from the Seattle supporters. I like the idea of Schultz buying another NBA team and moving them to Seattle, I hate its the Nets; I feel like the Kings or Clippers are really the squads that deserved that (I’d vote Clippers first), but nonetheless the Sonics are back.

Payton as the coach? Inspired. He’s gonna bring a firm, veteran hand to the locker room and I have no doubt he’s gonna be trash talking opposing players/coaches on the sidelines (and picking up a few techs and ejections from refs for doing so, lol). Definitely a guy who’ll set a tone for a culture.

LOVE the Boogie Cousins pick. Boogie’s NBA career has been a great what-if for me — drafted by the dysfunctional Kings, traded to the barely functional Pelicans, than injured, now a journey man bouncing around the league … it’s been a tough last 6-7 years for him. I really want to see him have success, glad to see you get him.

[RMJH4]

Off Topic - FIBA Hoops!

Had a busy weekend catching up on some FIBA hoops...

Aidan Harris-Igiehon from Grand Canyon University, just transferred from Louisville.


CJ Fulton from Lafayette.



Ireland v Switzerland in Eurobasket pre qualifiers in Dublin. We are still waiting on Pat Connaughton to play for us. Got a lot of 20U guys with D1 and D2 scholarships at the moment. Irish basketball getting strronger!