Why we Hatin on Whitey?
Why is there always the white guy backlash in the sport of basketball? I would think more people would cheer for the white guy. Why is every white guy unathletic and the next Larry Bird, John Stockton, or Pete Maravich? What have Adam Morrison and JJ Redick done specifically to so many peoples that makes them unlikeable and everyone able to predict their imminent demise in the NBA? Why are we so pessamisitic when it comes to white guys, and these two specifically? You know what really kills me, is so much of this white man backlash comes from just that, the damned white man.
Well to answer some of my questions, two people way smarter than me have already written an article describing why we associate a white player with other former white players. In order to get some more information I suggest you check out the Page 2 Article Chuck Klosterman (A Fucking Genius & perhaps the best writer of his generation) wrote in conjunction with Malcolm Gladwell (author of Blink & The Tipping Point) called "White like Larry." You may need to be an ESPN insider in order to read the article.
But basically it shoots down the myth that Morrison and Bird are akin to one another, that most people simply say that because they are asimilar looking white guys. There are vast differences bewtween Bird and Morrison. First of all coming out of college Bird was clearly a better player, more complete all around. Bird was an hellacious rebounder, a killer on the boards. As well, Bird was perhaps one of the 2 or 3 bets passers of his generation, and defnesively he was stronger than Morrison especially being able to guard people inside. Now I know everyone is going to also tell me how much better of a shooter Larry Bird was, but to me there is not that much of a difference. Birds shooting has been mostly romatancized over time and become that of legend rather than factual. Although that legend grows from the fact that he made shots when they counted the most in crunch time and then of course there is the legendary first ever 3 pt shooting competition. Now again I am not trying to say Morrison is a better shooter, but to jsut blurt out and say Bird is a much better shooter can sound a little pretentious, especially after comparing the numbers:
Bird- FG% .496 3pt% .376 FT% .886
Morrison- FG% .503 3pt% .368 FT% .766
I know you will all say it is impossible to compare those numbers because it is college versus the NBA, but right now that is all we have to go on, so we must compare those if we want to have a sense of their similarties or differences.
I think you can compare Bird and Morrison, but I do not think they are exactly similar. I like to try and compare players who are still in the league. Morrison reminds me a lot of Richard Hamilton. He has some questions marks coming out of college, though overall he seems like a complete player. Morrison works tirelessly on the offensive end, much like Hamilton. They both can score in a variety of ways; off the dribble, going oall the way top the hoop, with the standstill look off of a screen. Some people were just born to put the ball in the basket and I have always thought Hamilton was one of those people, and it seems to me Morrison is the same way. I am not saying he is going to be a star, but I know he will be able to score ont he next level.
As for JJ Redick, after his recent drunk driving arrest, the list of people who like him is down to about 10 people in the entire country. It seems to me that Redick had to answer all of these same questions when he was enetering college as well. They said that he was justa shooter, that he couldn't put the ball on the floor. He was not big enough to shoot over people and was not strong enough to get himself open. Listen, the guy can flat out shoot the basketball, and I don't care how good you are from deep, if you score 27 ppg you are doing more than just making jumpshots and free throws. He made three 3 pointers a game, and 6 free throws per game. That is a total of 15 points, which means he is making an average of six 2 pt field goals per game. So his game is more than just standing outside bombing away three pointers. The guy is a talented offensive ball player, and if you can shoot it there is always a place for you in the league. Just ask guys like Kyle Korver, Damon Jones, Mike Miller, Matt Carroll, Rasual Butler and James Jones. All of those guys can stand out there and bomb it, and when on the right team it seems to work perfectly. And the one team that seems to really like Redick is the Houston Rockets, which to me would seem like a great fit. You have Yao in the middle and McGrady able to penetrate opffensively, just tell Redick to ge his ass in the corner and have his hands ready.
Again, I am not sayin either one of these guys is going to be superstars. But I just don't understand why so many people creat so many negative arguments against them. Both of these guys are highly skilled offensive ball players, and like I said there is always a need for that int he league. I honestly think they are both going to have solid careers, Redick about a 12-15 per game scorer and I think Morrison could end his career at about 18-20 a game and has the chance to be an exceptional offensive weapon, I just hope his health is able to hold up, that is his biggest qwuestion mark, his longevity.
Yes we will be returning with a draft diary, I believe I may even be at a draft party. So expect the "Upside Potential" counter to be back in
Well to answer some of my questions, two people way smarter than me have already written an article describing why we associate a white player with other former white players. In order to get some more information I suggest you check out the Page 2 Article Chuck Klosterman (A Fucking Genius & perhaps the best writer of his generation) wrote in conjunction with Malcolm Gladwell (author of Blink & The Tipping Point) called "White like Larry." You may need to be an ESPN insider in order to read the article.
But basically it shoots down the myth that Morrison and Bird are akin to one another, that most people simply say that because they are asimilar looking white guys. There are vast differences bewtween Bird and Morrison. First of all coming out of college Bird was clearly a better player, more complete all around. Bird was an hellacious rebounder, a killer on the boards. As well, Bird was perhaps one of the 2 or 3 bets passers of his generation, and defnesively he was stronger than Morrison especially being able to guard people inside. Now I know everyone is going to also tell me how much better of a shooter Larry Bird was, but to me there is not that much of a difference. Birds shooting has been mostly romatancized over time and become that of legend rather than factual. Although that legend grows from the fact that he made shots when they counted the most in crunch time and then of course there is the legendary first ever 3 pt shooting competition. Now again I am not trying to say Morrison is a better shooter, but to jsut blurt out and say Bird is a much better shooter can sound a little pretentious, especially after comparing the numbers:
Bird- FG% .496 3pt% .376 FT% .886
Morrison- FG% .503 3pt% .368 FT% .766
I know you will all say it is impossible to compare those numbers because it is college versus the NBA, but right now that is all we have to go on, so we must compare those if we want to have a sense of their similarties or differences.
I think you can compare Bird and Morrison, but I do not think they are exactly similar. I like to try and compare players who are still in the league. Morrison reminds me a lot of Richard Hamilton. He has some questions marks coming out of college, though overall he seems like a complete player. Morrison works tirelessly on the offensive end, much like Hamilton. They both can score in a variety of ways; off the dribble, going oall the way top the hoop, with the standstill look off of a screen. Some people were just born to put the ball in the basket and I have always thought Hamilton was one of those people, and it seems to me Morrison is the same way. I am not saying he is going to be a star, but I know he will be able to score ont he next level.
As for JJ Redick, after his recent drunk driving arrest, the list of people who like him is down to about 10 people in the entire country. It seems to me that Redick had to answer all of these same questions when he was enetering college as well. They said that he was justa shooter, that he couldn't put the ball on the floor. He was not big enough to shoot over people and was not strong enough to get himself open. Listen, the guy can flat out shoot the basketball, and I don't care how good you are from deep, if you score 27 ppg you are doing more than just making jumpshots and free throws. He made three 3 pointers a game, and 6 free throws per game. That is a total of 15 points, which means he is making an average of six 2 pt field goals per game. So his game is more than just standing outside bombing away three pointers. The guy is a talented offensive ball player, and if you can shoot it there is always a place for you in the league. Just ask guys like Kyle Korver, Damon Jones, Mike Miller, Matt Carroll, Rasual Butler and James Jones. All of those guys can stand out there and bomb it, and when on the right team it seems to work perfectly. And the one team that seems to really like Redick is the Houston Rockets, which to me would seem like a great fit. You have Yao in the middle and McGrady able to penetrate opffensively, just tell Redick to ge his ass in the corner and have his hands ready.
Again, I am not sayin either one of these guys is going to be superstars. But I just don't understand why so many people creat so many negative arguments against them. Both of these guys are highly skilled offensive ball players, and like I said there is always a need for that int he league. I honestly think they are both going to have solid careers, Redick about a 12-15 per game scorer and I think Morrison could end his career at about 18-20 a game and has the chance to be an exceptional offensive weapon, I just hope his health is able to hold up, that is his biggest qwuestion mark, his longevity.
Yes we will be returning with a draft diary, I believe I may even be at a draft party. So expect the "Upside Potential" counter to be back in
1 Comments:
Did you ever see Reddick play? He stands around the arc and waits for the post to get doubled, then gets the pass and shoots. He never really impressed me. He doesn't create offense and isn't very strong defensivly. As for others not liking him, it's because he's a white kid from Duke. Hasn't their lax team taught us anything? All white males at Duke are rich spoiled brats.
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