The NBA draft lottery is Tuesday and the Wizards have a good shot at one of the top 2 picks. Most draft experts have Blake Griffin , 6-10 sophomore power forward, from Oklahoma and Ricky Rubio, 6-4 point guard, from Spain as the top two prospects.
The Wizards would love to get Griffin, but if they don’t land the #1 pick, how would you feel about a backcourt of Ricky Rubio and Gilbert Arenas? Can they co-exist or would you rather the Wizards draft another player, such as Hasheem Thabeet, Jordan Hill , or James Harden?
You may have heard that TNT has added H-O-R-S-E…. I mean G-E-I-C-O to its All-Star programming lineup that will air live during TNT’s two-hour Inside the NBA from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on Sat., Feb. 14.
Participants for the event have yet to be announced but may I suggest Gilbert Arenas for consideration.
Some reasons for his nomination:
Gilbert is a former All-Star and a fan favorite. Who wants to see a no name 12th man playing?
Gilbert may be too injured to play in a game but he’s not too injured to be able to shoot
The Wizards need some representation during the All-Star weekend
And finally, he can make crazy one-handed shots:
and between the leg trampoline dunks:
If you got any other valid reasons, feel free to leave a comment!
Gilbert Arenas has his fingerprints all over Free Darko’s new book, so it only seems fitting that a site that focuses on Gilbert Arenas should focus on the parts where his influence is felt the most in the book. Previously, we took a look at the foreword and now we’re going to focus on MONGA.
At the end of the book, Free Darko focuses on the “Myth of the Next.” Throughout the history of the NBA, players have been labeled as the reincarnations of great players that have come before them. Of course, Michael Jordan is the player that’s drawn the most comparison. Everyone from Kobe Bryant to Harold Miner has been labeled as the “Next Michael Jordan” with varying results.
The thing is, no comparison is ever and more times than not they create a standard that can never be lived up to which inevitably leads to disappointment. Still, the comparisons continue to be used because it’s easier than writing a scouting report.
In the Myth of Next section, several players who have served as the model for future players have been examined as well as the players who had to follow in their shadow. When it comes to Gilbert Arenas, five players were identified as players who fit the Myth of the Next Gilbert Arenas (MONGA) mold.
The first and most obvious player to fit the mold would be Monta Ellis, who like Gilbert was drafted in the second round by the Warriors and ended up winning the Most Improved Player of the Year Award in his second year. FD also identifies Luther Head, Troy Bell, C.J. Miles, and Lou Williams as players who have been stuck with the MONGA tag and it’s hard to disagree with any of those choices. Certainly, not all of those players have lived up to that hype, but the comparison was used with all of them at different times leading up to the draft.
Since it doesn’t look like these comparisons will end any time soon, we might as well take a look at the next crop of players that will get the MONGA tag.
Jerryd Bayless – Like Monta Ellis, he’s the easy pick. When you’re a combo guard coming out of the University of Arizona wearing #0, the comparisons are hard to ignore. However, with a Summer League MVP under his belt and some nasty highlights to call his own, it doesn’t look like it will be long until he creates his own myth:
Jeff Teague – I mentioned him a few days ago but with his team currently at #1 in the nation, it seems like a good team to bring him up again. Aside from wearing 0 like Arenas, Teague also possesses blazing speed, a strong crossover, a penchant for getting his hand on the ball (2.1 steals per game) and he’s shooting over 52% from 3 point land. He’s currently 13th on NBADraft.net’s 2009 mock draft. Plus, the kid can get up:
Lester Hudson – Playing at Tennessee-Martin, Hudson doesn’t get the same kind of pub that a guy like Jeff Teague gets, but once you see his numbers, they’re hard to ignore. The 6-3 guard is currently averaging 27.4 points per game on 46% shooting and 34% from downtown, 7.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.7 steals per game. Right now, it looks like he’ll be a second round pick, if he’s drafted at all, but he’s certainly someone worth keeping an eye on in the future.
It’s a tricky situation because you can’t just grab just anyone to fill his spot because Barkley is such a big part of what makes Inside the NBA such an entertaining show for NBA fans and non-NBA fans alike. The perfect candidate to fill-in has to do a lot of things well that most people can’t do.
Have a good sense of humor.
Not be afraid to say something controversial.
Have the respect that comes with being an All-Star multiple times.
Be available for the next few weeks while Charles figures things out.
Note: A day late on this, but Happy Belated 27th Birthday Gilbert!
As I’m sure you’ve heard many times here and elsewhere, Gilbert Arenas penned (or more likely, dictated) the foreword for Free Darko’s new book. A foreword is defined as a “a short introductory statement in a published work, as a book, esp. when written by someone other than the author.” Typically, the best forewords are able to do that and establish some credibility for the author and the thoughts that follow. It might be short, but writing a good foreword isn’t as easy as it might seem.
To start off his foreword, Gilbert talks about the player that made him “fall in love with the game”, Penny Hardaway.
If you’re too young to remember what Penny was like on the court during his prime, you can get a good idea by watching this (YouTube is awesome isn’t it?). But as Gilbert explains, he didn’t become a fan of Penny just because of his highlights, his style played a huge role as well: The shoes, the commercials, the armbands, the hair, and of course his style of play.
I’ve always felt that the basketball is the most artistic sport around. The court is a 94 foot canvas that we all paint differently. Like any work of art, some of it is influenced by previous works (think of all the times you’ve tried to copy Jordan’s fadeaway, Kareem’s sky hook, or LeBron’s crab dribble) and some of it is original and unique to ourselves. Furthermore, like any work of art, basketball style is open to interpretation and evaluation by all. Each of us have different tastes that either attract or repel us from different players. Some art evokes almost universally positive reaction (Chris Paul), some art evokes almost universally negative reaction (Antoine Walker) and there’s some art that draws lots of reaction both positive and negative (Kobe Bryant).
Chances are, if you’re reading this site it’s because there’s something about Gilbert’s style that you find appealing. Whether it’s his blazing open court speed, his fearlessness when it comes to taking the final shot, his goofiness or something else, there’s something that about Gilbert’s game that you can’t help but admire, like a great piece of art.
Well, you get the idea.
As Gilbert explains in the foreword, we’re all attracted to different players because of their style. As you go on to read the book, you realize that it’s all about the great players of the NBA and how their styles make the game so fun to watch. By lending his name to the foreword and getting people acquainted with this idea, Gilbert meets both of the requirements of a good foreword and sets the table for the rest of the book.
