YouTube Tuesdays: Penetrating thoughts . . .

The best guards are the ones who can go where they want to go with the ball, despite what the other team is throwing at them. Essentially, the best guards can penetrate through the heart of the defense in order to better threaten for a score (or easy scoring opportunity for a teammate). Of course, not all guards/wing players are built the same. Though, you do have your archetypes . . .

The Blur: These guys have existed in the NBA since the Cenozoic era. They are short in stature, keep their dribble low, and rely upon blinding speed to get from Point A to Point B. Examples of this include Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Michael Adams, Muggsy Bogues and Avery Johnson. Modern incarnations may be a little bit taller (like the actually 6’0 Chris Paul), or a little bit stronger (like Nate Robinson). These guys all have amazing handles and often go deep into the lane and score amongst the trees. Probably the best examples of this type of player would be Isiah Thomas or Allen Iverson.
Mr.Quick first step: These players rely less upon their top speed, and more on their quick trigger muscles. They utilize a series of triple threat moves (ball fakes, jab steps, etc), or nothing at all, to unnerve their defender. With a drop of a hat (or more often, with the batting of an eyelid) these players explode into decisive motion while their defender fails to react. Another, obvious, component of having a quick first step is having a long stride. Taller guards who have both quickness and length display this form of penetration beautifully. Naturally, Michael Jordan possessed both attributes and mastered the quick first step. Behold! Today some of the best at this were guys who grew up and emulated Jordan’s move in their individual periods of basketball development: Vince Carter (think Toronto version), Tracy McGrady (think Orlando version) and yes, Kobe Bryant.
The Pure Athlete: These guys aren’t top speed demons like Chris Paul, nor do they have all that it takes to be Quick first step artists . . . but they do possess some combination of the two, have ridiculous length and hops. It’s not that they have all the tools needed to get into the lane at any cost, but more of what they can do when they are in the lane that counts. Dr.J fits the bill here, same with guys like Dominique Wilkins and today’s versions: Andre Iguodala, Ronnie Brewer and Jason Richardson. After reviewing these types of players on YouTube I’ve come to the decision that everyone should watch this Top 10 video featuring just Scottie Pippen highlights … not just because he proves my point, but because of the crazy music in the background.
The Guy with all the Moves: Obviously at some stage, players can fit into more than one of these categories. Yes, a young Vince Carter had a great first step, but let’s not forget that he was among the top 5 most athletic players in the history of the sport as well; so a player like Vince could easily be placed in the quick step *or* pure athlete category. This is not what I mean when I say “guy with all the moves” though; while Vince is nice here, he’s not a true acrobat who drives the lane like an elusive running back: juking, spinning, side-stepping, hesitating his way to the goal line. Some NBA players have mastered this form of penetration which allows them to use practiced talent and a learned skill to take them where others rely on purely physical abilities to go. Guys with all the moves do have to have speed, quickness and athletic ability as well, but these players string together a sequence of moves almost effortlessly – the only physical force these guys rely upon is momentum. (Like these kids in Russia displaying some of their parcour prowess: this video gets crazy at the 2:19 mark – watch at least 60 seconds of this video from that mark onwards, watch longer if you want to see this kid free run away from a dog in some guy’s private property.) Additionally, these players have the over-all best handles in the game that allows them to use their Running back/Parcour movement skills while still holding onto the ball. Guys with all the moves eventually get from Point A to Point B, even if it takes a Point C, D and E to get there first. You may be familiar with their go-to move . . . the Crossover. Examples of guys who have all the moves include Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, “Pistol” Pete Maravich, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and Ball Don’t Lie’s Bedlam ‘09 Tournament winner: Deron Williams.

While this post was mostly to categorize the different types of ways guards get into the lane, I kind of wanted to touch on how bigger guys get there (and the chance to post a few more links to videos).

The Freight Train: For the majority of these guard type movement skills, strength is an afterthought. Pure Athletes and some guys with all the moves do need strength to finish the plays they start. But they are a far cry for how forwards and centers start, follow through, and finish plays with strength. Some of these hulks take the concept of momentum to a whole new level as they plow through the lane, dispassionately going through anyone in their way. Not only are these guys big, but they are all also great at running the floor – regardless of their size. We’ve all seen that Charles Barkley clip where he has a full head of steam and goes coast to coast for a two hander where his momentum swings him around the entire basket support system. (1:56 in this 10 minute video) This is a prime example of the Freight Train. Other players we can easily include in this category are Karl Malone, Amaré Stoudemire and, of course, LeBron James.

The Black Tornado (only one player ever): Someone like Vince, Jordan, T-Mac or Wade may defy the laws of gravity. That’s nice. They are able to bend the rules of the natural world to pull off extraordinary moves. Other guys are forces of nature altogether. You don’t need to bend any rules when you make the rules. Shaquille O’Neal took pity on our world, and self-banned this move which he called “The Black Tornado” – a move that he himself agreed was “illegal.” Take cover below!

It is only natural that players of different sizes, speeds, talents and ability would evolve different ways of getting into the lane. Penetration is usually the initiation of good things on offense, as players create advantageous passing angles, draw in defenders, or just plan dunk it on people themselves. Take notice of this, and enjoy these categories as you watch the upcoming season!

EDIT: I completely forgot this category:

The guy who does not look pretty dribbling, but makes amazing passes: Sometimes God gives you seemingly conflicting gifts. For one, you could be 6’9 and a great passer. Unfortunately for you, you are so tall that in order for you to dribble the ball effectively, yet not actually leave it wide open to get stolen from you, you have a really ugly dribble. Not every big guy who dribbles does it poorly, Lamar Odom has a very nice looking dribble and has a great handle with the ball. Magic Johnson also had a great handle on the ball, but he really had to pound the heck out of the ball to make sure it got back up to him fast enough that the guys who defended him (big time steals guys like Isiah Thomas, Alvin Robertson, Mo Cheeks, John Stockton, etc) did not pick his pocket each time down the floor. It was far from the prettiest dribble in the half-court set. The modern player who immediately comes to mind when I think of guys who pass well, but don’t look like they can dribble at all is Andrei Kirilenko. This is a guy who has played point guard internationally and in the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs – yet Jazz fans cringe whenever he drives to the basket. We don’t trust his dribbling skills at all – yet he does some really amazing things with the ball on occasion (not unlike Magic) with passes: through defenders legs (can’t find the vid of him doing this to Bosh); behind the back passes; no look passes (0:26); over the shoulder on a fast break (0:43); spinning through the lane (2:11); on the run in traffic with no eye-contact with any of your teammates passes; passes through his OWN legs; and so forth. Very good passer, and very creative player – he just looks like he’s murdering a goose when he dribbles. (really, the video to the left is a mixtape which starts out with him dribbling off his foot, and his goose killing continues at the 0:20 mark!)

NBA Stars Back in the Day . . .

I got this from over here, and props to them for finding it. It's kind of entertaining to see some of the 'personality' of these stars stay consistent from way back then: for example Alonzo Mourning looks like he wants to fight, Kobe is smug because he's popular, and Magic is a smiling fool. I do agree with the author of that post that I am stealing this from (ethanator1088) that Larry Bird looks like he was born during the depression according to this picture. Anyway . . . enjoy the video.

Here's the full list of kids pics:
Allen Iverson Kevin Garnett Emanuel Ginobili Baron Davis Emeka Okafor Shaquille O'Neal Pau Gasol Dennis Rodman Devin Harris Shawn Kemp (looks like LeBron's dad . . . I'm just saying) Yao Ming Tony Parker Kobe Bryant Larry Johnson Vince Carter Tim Duncan Charles Barkley Mike Bibby Alonzo Mourning
Andrei Kirilenko Dwyane Wade John Stockton Kenyon Martin Magic Johnson Anfernee Hardaway Scottie Pippen Sebastian Telfair (with cousin Stephon) Reggie Miller	Dirk Nowitzki Larry Bird Karl Malone Pete Maravich Grant Hill Dominique Wilkins Steve Francis Jason Williams Paul Pierce Patrick Ewing (looking to be sponsored) Michael Jordan

Fun stuff . . . the song is kind of down-tempo though, so if you like Sarah McLachlan then you'll like this. (and really, who doesn't own a few of her albums already . . .)

Adrian Dantley -- better late than never

No doubt by now we've all heard the good news -- that Adrian Dantley is now, finally, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. In one of the great mysteries of the cosmos, he has been overlooked for this honor for quite a long time. In respect for that abnormality I am posting this article about it a few days late (in solidarity of him being in the Hall a few years late). Either that, or I've been busy lately. Anyway, it's pretty ridiculous that AD "was a finalist six times before finally getting at least 18 votes from the 24-member Honors Committee," (Steven Luhm, via the Salt Lake Tribune, 2008). It's ridiculous, but after looking over how generally insane people are with how they vote on sports, it's not far fetched. But just so everyone is up to speed on what he accomplished in his career, let's review:

* Career averages of 24.3 ppg (54.0 fg%, 8.7 FTA/Game, 81.8 ft%), 5.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, and 1.0 spg * "Glory years" between 1979-1980 season and 1985-1986 season where he averaged 28.0 ppg, 30.7 ppg, 30.3 ppg, 30.7 ppg, 30.6 ppg, 26.6 ppg and 29.8 ppg in consecutive seasons * Scored over 23,100 points in his career (23rd best all time) * Career average of 24.3 ppg (17th best all time) * Top 5 in PPG 5 different times: #3 (1979-1980), #1 (1980-1981), #3 (1981-1982), #1 (1983-1984), #2 (1985-1986) * Career average of 54.0 fg% (20th best all time) * Career True Shooting percentage of 61.7% (4th best all time) * Made 6832 free throws (6th best all time) out of 8351 takes (11th best all time) in his career * Career Offensive Rating of 119.3 (8th best all time) * NBA Rookie of the year in 1976-1977 * 6 time NBA All Star (1979-1980, 1980-1981, 1981-1982, 1983-1984, 1984-1985 and 1985-1986) * All-NBA 2nd team (1980-1981, 1983-1984) * 1976 Olympic Men's Basketball Gold Medal * NCAA AP All-American 1st team (1974-1975, 1975-1976)

Photograph: Deseret Morning News Archives

So, if you didn't already know, he was a beast. He was "The Man" for those Utah Jazz teams and bridged the gap between those early, pathetic New Orleans Jazz teams and the Stockton and Malone powerhouse Utah Jazz teams of the late 80's and beyond. More than any of his stats, Adrian Dantley brought the wins. Who was The Man on the first Utah Jazz team to win the Midwest Division title? Dantley was. [since then the Jazz have been among the leaders in Midwest and Northwest Division titles] Who was The Man on the first Utah Jazz team to make the playoffs? Dantley was. Who was The Man on the first Utah Jazz team to win a playoff series? Yeah, that's right . . . Adrian Dantley. [Pistol Pete didn't do any of those things] In his later years he did take some time to mentor younger players (this is a 3:48 minute video of his career, btw) like Karl Malone and Joe Dumars, and teach them about, among other things, hard work and discipline. For all his NBA greatness, he was under-appreciated as a player -- and his career has been overlooked for quite some time.

Back in college he was destroying people -- and averaged 28.6 ppg and 10.2 rpg in 1974-1975, and in his last season of NCAA ball he averaged 30.4 ppg and 10.1 rpg. He was named National Player of the Year in 1975-1976. He was a huge part of their program, yet when he was informed that he would finally be making the hall the news hardly caused any ripple at all back there. (In fact, they actually picked up on a news report from the Deseret Morning News for their information. Isn't he an alumni member? Don't they even care for their own?)

After being The Man on a Gold Medal winning team in the Olympics he was the NBA Rookie of the year for the Buffalo Braves. The majority of his best playing days were with the Utah Jazz -- but even they seem to share part of the blame for over looking Dantley. (A crime that not only the Hall of Fame board selection committee is guilty of...)

"It's long, long, long overdue. It's an absolute disgrace that he's had to wait this long. It's terrible. I just think it's a disgrace that it didn't happen long before," said Tom Nissalke, who was Jazz coach when then-general manager Frank Layden traded Spencer Haywood to Los Angeles for Dantley in September 1979, just a few months after the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City and before they played their first game in the old Salt Palace. (T. Nissalke, via the Deseret Morning News, 2008)

Frank Layden adds that "It's long overdue and well-deserved," (Desert Morning News, 2008) but is quick to admit that part of the reason could be because Dantley's number was not even retired by the Jazz up until two years ago. (Probably should have been the 2nd or 3rd retired Jersey, but ended up being the 8th -- and most recent -- retiree in Jazz franchise history) How's that for being overlooked?

Though the Utah contingent of Layden and Nissalke are equally quick to point out that even if Adrian never played a single game in the NBA, that he should have been in the Hall of Fame because of his ridiculously outstanding High School, Collegiate and Olympic career -- and that his status of his jersey being retired is a highly invalid reason for not voting him into the Hall of Fame earlier. (btw, his High School record is 52-7) That said, he was an invaluable part of the Utah Jazz franchise, and we are all glad that he did play in the NBA.

"He carried us, he was the franchise," recalled Mark Eaton. "He was the guy you could count on for 30 [points] every night -- the one bona fide All-Star we had." (Mark Eaton via The Salt Lake Tribune, 2008)

Eaton would know, because Dantley scored enough for the both of them in the early part of Mark's career. AD was much more than just a scorer for the Jazz. The Jazz franchise had just moved to Utah -- and were still in financial trouble. (Which is why they traded their draft rights to Dominique Wilkins to Atlanta for cash back in 1981) They even played an entire season without a location name on their jerseys because there were fears that they would quickly have to move to another city mid-season! Adrian's winning ways helped to build a fanbase in Utah -- and if it wasn't for him, perhaps the Jazz would have been playing in Oklahoma City all these years? Who knows . . . What we do know, is that Adrian Dantley is finally a member of the storied Basketball Hall of Fame.

Photographed by Scott Cunningham for NBAE/Getty Images

To that I say that: It's better late than never.

Photographed by Nathaniel S. Butler for NBAE/Getty Images

Flashback Friday: All-Star Game Introduction Rap

This has already made the rounds quite a bit, but well, it's been a long week with few postings . . . maybe next week will be better . . .

It's from the 1988-1989 All-Star Game that was played in Houston. (Karl Malone was the MVP of this game . . .)

The NBA's next target: India. Why India? Why not?

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Anything is possible? Photo courtesy of Adidas . . . and yes, that's Kevin Garnett in Agra, India

I first heard about this story from a Tom Ziller blog @ the Fanhouse. It's taken me some time to really get my feelings about this subject, obviously so as this story is over a month old now. Really, how conflicted should I be -- my favorite sport to watch on TV is basketball, and I used to live in India and complain about the lack of NBA coverage there. (You can imagine me getting to the hospital late some mornings because I was waiting on ESPN's Java based monster to update the score of some meaningless Jazz/Sonics regular season game back in 2002 -- gotta love that +10:30 time difference)

David Stern has recently been talking up international basketball because of the Olympics. The NBA/China link is quite established, and plans for establishing a basketball league in that nation currently exist. "[Though] Stern said the [NBA] does not see China as an entry point to Asia. India could be next on the NBA's radar. Stern said NBA officials have met in Beijing with Indian authorities, and the league stages its first Basketball Without Borders events in India this summer. "We think that [India] is a very promising market." (Andrew Bagnato, AP sports writer via. CBC Sports) Getting involved in China seems like a slam dunk with their large population, potential economic force and active NBA players (Yao and Yi).

There are no major Indian basketball players knocking on the door to the NBA like Yao Ming (and others before him) did a few seasons ago. This appears to be a major obstacle for the provincialistic keepers of basketball, if not for the nation of India itself. When people talk about basketball on the international level, no one really even talks about FIBA Asia -- let alone a country that is getting beat down by Quatar and Kazakhstan by a combined 80 points. I guess the point that most detractors have is that a nation that does not display great skills at something may not be a big fan of it. Essentially, if India doesn't produce great basketball players, how will basketball ever be popular there? If I wanted to be smarmy, for a rebuttal I'd suggest that the United States of America seems to be in love with democracy, even if we currently don't really have one. (we live in a republic, deal with it) But let's not go there . . .

For all of India's historical records in the sport (last place in the 1980 Olympics; btw, Andrei Kirilenko's father-in-law / Masha's dad was on the USSR team in 1980 -- Andrei Lopatov); and apparent disinterest (if you're not playing Cricket, you better get your ass a book and study) -- the Indian subcontinent has one big thing going for it: Potential.

Like the risk/reward system of drafting an unproven high school kid, and how it used to challenge GM's (back when you could draft high school kids on the premise that they could become like a Kobe, KG, or LeBron), the NBA is basically drafting India based on potential. The first, and only really bankable potential that India has right now is the economic potential.

"[India] is the twelfth largest economy in the world, with a GDP of around $1 trillion (2008). It recorded a GDP growth rate of 9.1% for the fiscal year 2007-2008 which makes it the second fastest big emerging economy, after China, in the world." (Wikipedia, 2008)

India has one of the higher natural increase growth rates in the world, and already consists of one sixth of the entire population of the world: China's population is 1.3 billion, India's is 1.1 billion (CIA, 2008). India is on the rise, and there is a lot of money to be made there. Many Multi-national corporations (of which the NBA definitely can be classified as) have been going to India in the last few years -- you see McDonald's and Subway franchises there, Target retail superstores have come to India, and many more such companies have landed, or are planning on doing so in the near future. Adidas opened up stores there and sent Kevin Garnett to India in 2006-2007 to drum up hype.

KG in Delhi: the landing, the announcement, and the spectacle of the Big Ticket as he does everything from signs autographs to watching some Desi pick up ball in a gym. Click to see Agra (Taj Mahal), and Bangalore. Essentially, Adidas made some money.

"Expanding to the world's second most populous market hardly seems loony. After all, no American sports league has exported its brand better than the NBA, which sells more than $750 million in merchandise overseas annually. Its games are broadcast in 215 countries. And India offers a growing, tech-savvy economy with a billion potential consumers -- 60% of whom are below age 30 -- who could sop up NBA merchandise and follow their favorite players on NBA.com." (Sean Gregory for Time Magazine, 2006)

According to the CIA World Factbook entry on India, there are over 233.62 million cell phones in use there (5th in the world), and over 60 million Internet users (5th in the world). There are 562 TV broadcasting stations as well. That is a lot of potential exposure that the NBA could be getting -- and that exposure almost always results in someone making money. (Which TV exec wouldn't want to make an exclusive TV deal for a potential 1 billion viewers?) Money is reason enough, especially in a nation that proves to be so important in the future (not just as a big market, but as the largest democracy by population in the world, and as a possible pro-Western society that is neither Islamic, nor Socialist -- unlike the other big nations in FIBA Asia). India also has other reasons to be lucrative for David Stern and the rest of the head office boys at the NBA.

As far as control of the globe is concerned, the NBA and FIBA are in a fight against FIFA, and the rest of those soccer/futbol playing nations. Some nations are able to be both basketball and soccer hotbeds (like Brazil, Argentina and so forth) -- but the NBA and FIBA really need to establish themselves in those nations that are still clearly undecided in the FIBA/FIFA war. India is one of those nations. Like the United States (with the love of football and baseball being huge) and Canada (with hockey), India is a place where basketball will have a hard time being number one. (Thanks to Cricket)

India has just recently started a cricket league (actually two, in some crazy, mixed up NBA/ABA issue that deals with cricket, instead of basketball, and a lot more legal action) -- and the popularity of that sport is only getting bigger. A few months ago I was eavesdropping on a conversation two Indian immigrants were having in line at the DMV here in Detroit. They were checking their Indian Premier League cricket scores on their cell phones and talking about it.

"Marketers got a glimpse of the potential of professional sports' in India earlier this year with the debut of the Indian Premier League, a flashy cricket [regular season and playoffs] that brought the sport's biggest international stars together with big advertisers, big crowds -- and big money." (Sam Dolnick, AP via The Nashua Telegraph, 2008)

FIBA/The NBA wants part of this pie, before an internal soccer league gets set up and popular in India. Part of the directed goals so far seem to actually revolve around making it easier for Indian cell phone users to check NBA scores from their devices -- which is so ironic when put in context with my DMV story:

"The NBA is talking to Time Warner about producing hoops-related programming on [Time Warner's children's channel on Indian airwaves] and to ESPN Star Sports . . .  about increasing the league's presence on the network's Indian sports channels. The NBA is also in discussions with Nokia about supplying league content on Indian mobile phones." (Sean Gregory for Time Magazine, 2006)

Still, India has more to offer the NBA head offices besides money and market shares. India is a very stratified nation. As far as stratified societies go, India is among the best in the world at it. While most people consider India to be one of the poorest nations in the world, 4 of the Top 10 wealthiest billionaires are Indian. That said, India has an emerging and important middle class. (Who do you think is watching all of that TV and using all those cell phones?) This middle class is seeking an identity.

The richest of the rich, highest class (nouveau caste, really) of modern Indian appear to be a much different phenotype than the rest of India. They are the ones who you see on Indian TV or in Indian movies that are nearly the personification of modern day idols and Gods on earth -- in India. The tallest, fairest, most un-Indian (yet distinctly Indian) Indian people around.

Aishwarya Rai was Miss World back in 1994, and owns it now	Bipasha Basu (a Bengali Beyonce) and boyfriend	Rani Mukherjee is a product of very selective breeding	. . . as is Hrithik Roshan	Diya Mirza is another  example of India's upper class "diversity"

Any of these Indians looks like someone who works in IT, a 7/11 or in your local ER? Nope. But out of a population of over a billion, you are bound to get enough people who look and live like they do. The richest people in India have the most advantages . . . and love to appear beyond that of the common rabble. Hence, they are clearly the market the NBA is after. After all, the NBA is already "seeking endorsements from Bollywood stars," (Sam Dolnick, AP via The Nashua Telegraph, 2008) of which the six above clearly are. Additionally, Indian films have been using subtle propaganda to establish basketball as something new, hip and elite: Parampara (1993) was the first time I saw basketball in Bollywood -- where the guys playing basketball used a soccer ball; Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) uses basketball (with an actual ball, this time) as a story driven device; and Koi ... Mil Gaya (2003) has a "a nerdy hero [who gets] Jordaneqsue abilities." (Sean Gregory for Time Magazine, 2006)

"Basketball is most popular among cosmopolitan Indians, for whom the game carries a whiff of Western sophistication. America's ultimate gritty playground game has, in India, largely become a game for the children of the elite. "My students, they go to U.S., Europe, and there they have so much of a basketball culture," said Deepak Shukla, who coaches a basketball team at an exclusive New Delhi school. "They have Shaquille O'Neal shoes they get from [America] . . . my students are from (wealthy) families . . . [eventually] only the poor people will play cricket." "(Sam Dolnick, AP via The Nashua Telegraph, 2008)

While the poorer people can divert themselves with playing cricket, the Middle class wants to elevate themselves as well -- why not with the highest flying game on the planet? David Stern is cautiously optimistic:

"With [India's] middle class and some focus on the world's games, basketball is starting to get a little interest and a little traction . . . so we have to be respectful and realize it's going to be small steps up." (David Stern, as reported by Sean Gregory for Time Magazine, 2006)

Naturally, if David Stern is interested -- it's in the obvious best interest for the league. As such, this past summer before the 2008-2009 season they did have their first Basketball Without Borders trip -- among those who participated were Rony Turiaf, Kyle Korver, Linton Johnson, Pat Garrity and former players Dominique Wilkins and Sam Perkins.

New Delhi: The group poses after being greeted	Agra: Kyle Kover said that it was "like 150 degrees [outside]" (NBA.com, 2008)
New Delhi: Pat Garrity talks to campers	New Delhi: Sam Perkins asks where he can get that really good Buddha from
New Delhi: Rony Turiaf plays Karem with kids	New Delhi: Dominique Wilkins teaches a drill

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Dominique Wilkins and Kyle Korver (who is called one of the greatest to ever play, and smiles accordingly) are interviewed on CNN's Indian station (CNN-IBN). 'Nique likes the discipline the kids show, Kover suggests that you can still be good at basketball when you're short -- look at Iverson.

Basketball requires a lot more infrastructure than India currently affords their most rural areas. Additionally, when I last lived in India (2002) even the most exclusive sporting clubs and health spas were not a lock to have a basketball courts. Basketball without Borders programs increase awareness (and also do other things, these guys talked about everything from Zone defense to Aids prevention), and training of younger players. I fully expect the NBA to send players back in the following summers. It seems like the perfect sport to grow roots in India's growing middle class, if not also in their upper class as well.

New Delhi: Linton Johnson plays with his haar on.

So it is realistic to say that in the next 20 years, with proper time and development, India could be pretty okay at basketball -- and maybe have a much stronger international presence on the courts. Furthermore, the NBA in India makes a lot of fiscal sense. Will there be an NBA player who is Indian? Probably one day, as countless kids of Indian origin play basketball all over the world -- be they a street ball player from Australia, or any number of the countless Indian undergrad students in the USA and Canada who play daily. It's not outside the realm of possibility to see someone from India be NBA ready at some stage -- but it make take a genetic freak like a 7'5 player to first do it. And really . . .

Don't you want to see this guy in the Turban as an assistant coach for some team? He could even color coordinate his turban to if it was a road or a home game! P.S. I'm not making fun of you Punjabi Sikh guys at all, just *THIS* Punjabi Sikh guy.

Flashback Friday: David Benoit

For most Jazz fans David Benoit is/was/will always be remembered as a pariah. I grew up watching Jazz put out front lines of Malone and Bailey, and then Malone and Corbin . . . when Malone and Benoit came around I had seen plenty of Jazz sets that ran Stockton, Eaton, two inside scoring forwards and a shooting guard (e.g. Griffith, or Jeff Malone).

David Benoit was a hard dunking small forward who was long and athletic. Unfortunately for him, his game half translated to how the NBA game was changing. Back in the 80s and very early 90s you could get away with being a small forward with no outside shot. Things were changing in the mid 90s, where everyone from Pippen to Grant Hill to Dan Majerle became more proficient on the outside. Even the fabled Dominique Wilkins had to start making threes in those days. David Benoit was part of that dying breed of non-proficient outside shooting small forwards. Had he come into the league in the 70s he would have probably hung around for longer than he did in the 90s.It behooves me to recount his career arc, but according to the Unofficial David Benoit site, after being undrafted at the end of his collegiate career he went on to play in Malaga, Spain and won the ACB (the name of the league, Raul Lopez fans may be familiar with it) Rookie of the year. After that he signed with the Jazz and played hard.

He quickly impressed the Jazz brass and became our starting small forward.

Benoit doin' that thing he do.	YouTube video "I Love This Game: Are You Ready to Fly (NBA commercial)" [0:30] uploaded by onceuponatimeinnba

Benoit's best years playing for the Jazz included being part of the 1993 All-Star Weekend Dunk contest (which took play in Salt Lake City); finishing that 1992-1993 season strong by averaging 12.7 ppg and 6.5 rpg; and in 1994-1995 he had his best year leading the Jazz in 3 pointers made (in the playoffs) and averaging 10.4 ppg (48.7%/33.0%/84.1%) and 5.2 rpg. It's important to note that his three point shooting was particularly impressive for him (and up to that point, any Utah Jazz forward).

Unfortunately for him, the team, and the fans, his strong regular season outside shooting did not carry over to the post season. The Jazz were ousted in 5 games (back then the 1st round of the playoffs was best of 5, kids) by the eventual champions, the Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler led Houston Rockets. In the decisive 5th game the Rockets won 95 - 91 to on the Delta Center floor. Hakeem and Clyde, like they had for most of the series, did all the scoring for the Rockets. Hakeem had 33 and Clyde with 31, with no one else scoring more than 8. On the Jazz side Karl Malone had a mighty 35, Jeff Hornacek knocked down 4 threes on his way to 19 and Stockton chipped in with 12 points. What about David?

Well, David Benoit was a key element to this game. The Rockets were aware of his shaky shooting from deep, and left him open during a decisive sequence of the 2nd half when the Rockets were climbing back and eventually took the lead. David finished with 8 points, but shot quite poorly (3 for 9), and went 2 for 8 from deep. For a point of reference, Karl Malone went 1 for 2 from deep in that game. David shot the ball 6 more times from three than Karl did, and only made 1 more three than he did. It's easy to point to this as empirical evidence that Benoit *cost* the Jazz that game, and that series -- but there are always other factors at play. His NBA career was all downhill from there.

Italy	Rocky Mountain Review, Utah, 2000	Benoit is huge in Japan	His last jersey

Benoit's other notable blips on my selective memory radar include that one time that one of John Stockton's kids broke his arm trying to 'dunk it like Benoit' on a kiddie hoop; and of having a poor season ending exit interview with Jazz Brass one season -- which lead to him parlaying his trade in New Jersey (and later Orlando as a part of an astonishing trade that surrounded Yinka Dare for Rony Seikaly). During his career he played all over the world: Spain (Mayoral Marists in Malaga); Italy (Roseto Sharks); Israel (Maccabi Tel-Aviv); he came back to the Jazz for that 2000-2001 season for a bit; China (Shanghai Sharks alongside Yao Ming); and in Japan (Hitachi Sunrockers, Saitama Broncos). He played till he was 38 years old and was still an integral part of his teams -- especially in leagues where he could thrive as an inside player; never having become a serious outside threat. Today he remains a coach (in some capacity) with the Broncos. (or at least he did, back in 2007-2008)

Not-so-Jazzy nicknames . . .

Nicknames are all but dead in today's NBA . . . occasionally you'll get something good and simple like "Flash" for Dwyane Wade; or something that's a slight play off of a popular culture, like "The Matrix" for Shawn Marion. Unfortunately, the vast majority of nicknames are copy-cat nomenclature based off of the 'hip and cool' names that developed in the EARLY 90's, like C-Webb (Chris Webber) or J-Kidd (Jason Kidd). Some people notice that names like D-Will and Dwight-How are kind of -- well, uninspiring. For example, some individuals are trying to call Howard the Centaur (as he is reportedly half man and half beast), but that has not stuck at all outside of one website. Do you remember names like The Round Mound of Rebound, or Magic, or The Human Highlight Reel (or Film depending on which source you cite)? I remember names like that, and other names too: like Dr.J, or Pistol, or even something apt like the Microwave. Let's look at some of the current Jazz player nicknames, and then let's try to find something better, shall we?

First the Starters:

Deron Williams, PG, #8 "D-Will"	D-Will is his current nickname; others include Kingpin and D-Nasty (though I've never heard of those); additionally Hot Rod Hundley tried to call him "Slick Willy" for a while. I don't like it. It sounds like a sex thing. Horny is okay, because it's a condition, Slick Willy is an organ. Too risque for my tastes. Let's get away from the "W" for a rhyme, and rhyme on the D. I'd be more than happy with calling him The Dominator. (Hey, Dominic Hasek wouldn't mind...) His game is a series of moves which display not just dominance, but also straight up ownership of his opponents. (Look at the head-to-head with Chris Paul) He can kill teams with threes, or passes, or just flat out beating him man with his ball handling skills and dunking on the other teams center. (Right Chris and Tyson?) Additionally, no less than Larry H. Miller (you know this guy) said on the radio that his personality is such that he does not take pleasure in winning something unless there is some risk involved. He's not happy winning for the sake of winning, he is happy only by beating someone. For Deron to truly win someone has to lose. He is The Dominator.
Ronnie Brewer, SG, #9 "Brewdog"	Ronnie B is so junior high. Would we still call him something like this if we didn't have Price on the team? According to Jazzbots.com (?) he is Batman. (???) Mahalo.com (? part deux) suggests that his nickname is not Batman, but "Brewdog". Both of those names are more creative than "Ronnie B", so they get points. Unfortunately, both of those names still are pretty dumb. (No offense intended Ronnie Brewer, if indeed your nickname is Brewdog and you approve of it) It's still a name that is more than anything, a product of his name (Brewer). Would Antoine Carr have a cool nickname if his was Carrdog? No. He is the Big Dawg. (The O.G., not Glenn Robinson). I rest my case. His game is high flying and he has serious hang time. Let's call him Air Arkansas, or possibly Razorback Airlines or something a bit more creative than Mrs. Ward's 3rd grade class. If we can't remove ourselves from his name, then how about "Air Brewer" (in that Jordanesque type of way)?
Andrei Kirilenko, SF, #47 "AK-47"	Yeah, his home town is the same place where they manufacture those Russian guns, and those are his initials, and his player number -- and I guess his 38% 3pt shooting last season is pretty indicative of marksmanship . . . this nickname is creative enough for me to not mess with, especially since he's had it since he was a rookie over 7 years ago. It's pretty much untouchable right now, not unlike his contract. This guy is a weapon, he is AK-47.
Carlos Boozer, PF, #5 "C-Booz"	C-Booz. Really, this is a horrible nickname. Like: 'See spot run.' See Booz. Dumb name. Apparently he was called 'Los back in High school. We should probably aspire to name him after something wild and dangerous, not unlike that Grizzly bear tattoo on his arm . . . hmmm . . . what's wild and dangerous, and possible indigenous to where he developed a lot of his game? Hmmmm, I must be missing something obvious here . . . Alternative could involve him being a "Bruiser"; but I take a look at the fact that he was born in Aschaffenburg, (West) Germany, and thus, pronounce his surname like "Boots-zehrr" on occasion. Apparently his alternative nickname is "Booze" . . . which is a great name, imagine the levels of creativity needed to take off the last letter of someone's surname! All these years we've looked for a nickname for John Stockton, and it's been right there all this time! "Malone gets the pass from Stockto, and shoots it off the glass!" - Hot Rod
Mehmet Okur, C, #13 "Memo"	Memo. This name is also going to be hard for people to break away from as it's easy. His website url is even memo13.com, so I guess that's pretty much a wrap. Bolerjack calls him the Moneyman on occasion. I'd prefer to call him The Janissary. What is a Janissary? They were powerful Turkish (Ottoman) infantry soldiers who adopted quickly to firearms, including hand cannons and muskets. They hit the long bomb, basically, back in the mid 1300's. Mehmet is Turkish, Janissaries are Turkish -- both had funky costumes and facial hair. It seems like a good match. The only other thing is his sponsorship of some Turkish fruit juice product tie-in . . . the video (like that 5 Shaq's vs. 5 Shaq's commercial from way back when) is great. I don't think anyone wants to call him the Juice man or anything like that . . . Boler is all over the "Moneyshot" already. Let's not involve other fluids. The chances of any of these names sticking is slim, though some of these guys deserve better than a sophomoric play on their names.

Come back later this week for (better) bench nicknames!