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Goo Punch

By Goo Punch
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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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unreal how far he's come, and a testament to the fact that talents like him don't need to waste a year toiling in college. it's a wonder what a year and a half of being a full-time professional basketball player can do for a kid with his size and skill set. emphasis on the word "set". allen was forced to come to college where his number one priority was (in principle) helping texas win games for one meaningless season, as opposed to spending that time training for his career and improving his skill set. the end of the one and done era can't get here fast enough. nobody was served by making him go to college, not texas, and not allen. don't get me wrong, i'm glad that he's a ut hoops alum and everything, but the end of this charade is such a welcome sight. 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Allen seems like he may already be better than Myles Turner, which is frankly very surprising to me. It's debatable because Allen is in a great situation to get a ton of run, but he is still putting up some decent numbers and some good performances with regularity. He's definitely taken the next step at the pro level, and to see how far he's come from two years ago when he was downright terrible against much of our non con schedule is amazing. 

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Catdaddyhorn

Catdaddyhorn 3444

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https://www.latimes.com/sports/nba/la-sp-nba-rockets-tucker-20190119-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

Toronto selected Tucker with the fifth pick in the second round of the 2006 draft, but he couldn’t get consistent court time. He spent most of the season with the Colorado 14ers, then a team in the development league, and was waived by the Raptors before completing his rookie season.

That launched a journey across the world.

He starred in Israel and then in the Ukraine, and then back in Israel. He played well in Greece, Italy and Germany. He won most valuable player awards and championship trophies.

“I wasn’t coming back to the NBA. I had no interest in it,” Tucker said. “I was successful there. … I had established myself to the point where I was one of the best players in Europe at the time. These were million-dollar contracts.”

Tucker was content sticking it out abroad, cementing his legacy in Europe while earning a robust paycheck. But in 2012, Phoenix’s general manager at the time, Lance Blanks, Tucker’s friend and fellow Texas Longhorn, invited him to come play for the Suns’ summer league team.

He wasn’t really interested.

Conversations with his wife, who pushed him to take one last crack at the NBA, and his agent, who saw a good fit with the Suns, persuaded him to leave the safety and stardom of Europe for the uncertainty of the NBA.

“And, it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’d ever made,” Tucker said.

In the seven seasons since returning to the NBA, Tucker has benefited from the evolution of basketball strategy. His 6-foot-6, 245-pound frame and skill set screamed “tweener” for years. With less emphasis now on positions and a greater desire for defensive versatility and shooting — particularly from the corners — Tucker was in high demand.

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Catdaddyhorn

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Unlike a lot of his peers that underwent growth spurts during their teens, spurts that allowed them to learn guard skills before growing into NBA bodies, Tucker was always huge.

“I was a forward, a center my whole life. I’ve been the same size since I was 12. They thought I was going to be 7 feet tall,” he said. “I never grew another inch.”

The big-man instincts are going to pay off now. He just had to wait, to relax, to be patient.

 

I really identified with this part of the LA Times article on PJ. In 6th grade you couldnt have told me that I wasnt going to play in the NBA and have me keep a straight face. I was 6'3" as 12 year old and certain I was destined for NBA stardom. Nevermind the fact that my immigrant parents were 5'9" and 5'4" respectively, I was at the very least going to be 6'9".  30 years and a few months later I'm still 6'3". Fucking genes and shit!!!! 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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2 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I really identified with this part of the LA Times article on PJ. In 6th grade you couldnt have told me that I wasnt going to play in the NBA and have me keep a straight face. I was 6'3" as 12 year old and certain I was destined for NBA stardom. Nevermind the fact that my immigrant parents were 5'9" and 5'4" respectively, I was at the very least going to be 6'9".  30 years and a few months later I'm still 6'3". Fucking genes and shit!!!! 

haha, yep, pretty similar for me. in 5th grade I was 5'0", by the middle of 7th grade I was 6'0" (was hell on my knees and heels- Osgood-Schlatter is a bitch). I had been basketball crazy my entire life with my dad's job, and i had always been a guard and had worked on my handles more than anything else. Think Balbay or Gottlieb. All of a sudden i was a point-forward (although that title didn't exist back then) who was having to defend these Elton Brand looking monster on defense, while also being a mismatch for the opposing team on offense. I just knew that I was going to play at Texas, no problems. Except that I haven't grown at all since then, unless you count my waistline. Our other PG at my middle school was 5'1" in 8th grade when I was 6'0". He finished HS at over 6'3" and ended up playing PG at Texas State. Didn't see that one coming in 8th grade. 

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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19019

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10 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Best thing Kirk Bohls ever wrote was when he described Sonny Alvarado thusly: he never threw an elbow he didn't intend.

Can't believe it's been more than two decades since he played. Furk.

I thought you were gonna say "can't believe it's been more than two decades since Kurt Bohsl wrote something decent."

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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1 hour ago, Nolacycling said:

I would love to know what RB was thinking when he restricted Turner's playing time. He was a fastidious coach and I'm sure he had HIS reasons.

Cue Goo  3,2,1...

I mean I've talked about this several times. First Rick was tight, then he loosened up for several years, then he lost an entire team full of weak minded players and not only got tight again, he over corrected. He went back to coaching everyone as if they would be at Texas for four years, and with a guy like Turner that was a mistake. 

That said we can look back now and see that the crucifiction of Rick Barnes for mishandling Myles Turner has been blown out of proportion. First, Turner isn't as good as everyone thought he would be. We thought this was a 20/12/2.5 five star one and done, when in reality he would have been a 3-year player had he played a decade or so earlier. In 24.3 mpg in conference play Turner averaged 9.9 pts, 6.5 reb, 2.5 blk on 21% shooting from three (2.1 3PA/gm). Turner wasn't exactly making a great case for more minutes and Rick was coaching for his job. The need to blame anyone in particular in this situation comes from personal feelings about Barnes. This situation wasn't nearly as egregious as people have made it out to be. 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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1 hour ago, Nolacycling said:

I'm not going ANTI-RB. Who played ahead of him, I'm old and my sometimerz kicks in?

Nobody was really ahead of him, that team just spread the minutes around fairly evenly. Only Isaiah Taylor was above 28.7 minutes (31.5), and only Jonathan Holmes played more minutes in the front court than Turner. The front court minutes were split like this:

Holmes- 26.1

Turner- 22.2

Lammert- 22.1

Ridley- 21.4

Ibeh- 10.6

Turner should have been playing 25-30 minutes a night and been allowed to grow through his mistakes during the non conference, and once league play rolled around he probably should have been forced to play more in the post and less on the perimeter. But that was really the final straw for our program under Rick- his reverting back to coaching everyone like they were four year players. 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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I will be seriously impressed (and thoroughly suspicious) if anyone here can name these two former Longhorns based on these single season stats from their time in college:

 

Player A: 30.7 mpg, 13.1 ppg, 7.8 reb, 3.8 oreb, 0.9 stl, 2.4 blk, .546 FG%, .487 FT%, SOS 7.96

 

Player B: 29.8 mpg, 10.5 ppg, 7.7 reb, 2.6 oreb, 0.6 stl, 2.5 blk, .560 FG%, .686 FT%, SOS 8.98

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