- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
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Balls!
Good stuff here:
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/t...er-julius-randle-doug-mcdermott-marcus-smart/
"If you read anything I wrote during March Madness, there’s a good chance you know I like to compare Shabazz Napier to Kemba Walker. These comparisons were initially meant to remind people that even though Napier did pretty much everything for the 2013-14 UConn Huskies, there would never be another Kemba. After all, Kemba’s play in March 2011 made him a college basketball deity and set the standard for individual players carrying their teams to national titles. As UConn’s season developed, though, I slowly found myself buying into the “Shabazz is Kemba” parallel, and when I finally took the plunge on it, I did so for one reason: balls.
Yes, balls. Napier proved time and time again this past season that at least 40 of his 175 pounds come from the oversize titanium sack in his jock. The guy is as fearless a basketball player as you will ever find. (And to be clear, he’s the good kind of fearless. Marshall Henderson was also fearless, but in the Leeroy Jenkins, “I want to be the hero so badly that I ruin everything” way.) Like Kemba before him, Napier made so many big plays at pivotal moments that I began to wonder if he used them for sustenance. Napier’s hero-ball act for an improbable national champion put his name right up there next to Kemba’s in college basketball lore.
This is why Napier is going to be a steal in this year’s draft. Never mind that he’s undersize and doesn’t have NBA-level explosiveness. Never mind that he tends to commit some careless turnovers. That only means he won’t ever be the best player on a NBA title contender, but we already knew that. Napier has a great feel for the game on both offense and defense. He plays his ass off. Even though he’s an able scorer with deep shooting range, I think he’ll be able to impact games at the next level without even taking a shot. He’s also a walking bundle of intangibles, most notably whatever talent it is that allows him to make every shot he attempts in crunch time.
Shabazz Napier may never be an NBA All-Star. But put him on an established playoff team that needs a better point guard (like the Heat, Pacers, or Rockets) and watch him thrive. He won two national titles in his three years of postseason eligibility, and he did it despite being malnourished. Imagine how good he’ll be once he can afford more than one meal every other day."
Good stuff here:
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/t...er-julius-randle-doug-mcdermott-marcus-smart/
"If you read anything I wrote during March Madness, there’s a good chance you know I like to compare Shabazz Napier to Kemba Walker. These comparisons were initially meant to remind people that even though Napier did pretty much everything for the 2013-14 UConn Huskies, there would never be another Kemba. After all, Kemba’s play in March 2011 made him a college basketball deity and set the standard for individual players carrying their teams to national titles. As UConn’s season developed, though, I slowly found myself buying into the “Shabazz is Kemba” parallel, and when I finally took the plunge on it, I did so for one reason: balls.
Yes, balls. Napier proved time and time again this past season that at least 40 of his 175 pounds come from the oversize titanium sack in his jock. The guy is as fearless a basketball player as you will ever find. (And to be clear, he’s the good kind of fearless. Marshall Henderson was also fearless, but in the Leeroy Jenkins, “I want to be the hero so badly that I ruin everything” way.) Like Kemba before him, Napier made so many big plays at pivotal moments that I began to wonder if he used them for sustenance. Napier’s hero-ball act for an improbable national champion put his name right up there next to Kemba’s in college basketball lore.
This is why Napier is going to be a steal in this year’s draft. Never mind that he’s undersize and doesn’t have NBA-level explosiveness. Never mind that he tends to commit some careless turnovers. That only means he won’t ever be the best player on a NBA title contender, but we already knew that. Napier has a great feel for the game on both offense and defense. He plays his ass off. Even though he’s an able scorer with deep shooting range, I think he’ll be able to impact games at the next level without even taking a shot. He’s also a walking bundle of intangibles, most notably whatever talent it is that allows him to make every shot he attempts in crunch time.
Shabazz Napier may never be an NBA All-Star. But put him on an established playoff team that needs a better point guard (like the Heat, Pacers, or Rockets) and watch him thrive. He won two national titles in his three years of postseason eligibility, and he did it despite being malnourished. Imagine how good he’ll be once he can afford more than one meal every other day."
