Michael Jordan gently discusses an issue with the ref

By Marcus Shockley

If you haven’t heard about Mike Rice, the head coach of Rutgers men’s basketball team and his abuse of his players during practice, you can catch up with the video below. Needless to say, Mike Rice should be fired – under no circumstances is this acceptable behavior for anyone, child or adult. I would go so far as to say that the fact that the Athletic Director didn’t fire Rice immediately should be concern about the AD as well.

But one issue that this raises is that many sports pundits have taken to the idea that in order to be great in sports, either as a player or a coach, you have to be a megalomaniac, completely absorbed in your own desires and focused only on yourself, to the point of complete disregard for anyone else in any capacity.

The popular icon of this is Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, who also became one of the biggest egos of all time; it has become commonplace to refer to any dysfunctional or abusive behavior as ‘what is required’ in order to be legendary. Several players are said to have this ‘winning’ attitude: Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods and Serena Williams have all been described in such terms.

But it’s not true.

There is a common phrase used in the field of statistics whenever a theory is introduced based on only a few variables: “Correlation does not imply causation”. To put this in plain English, just because you have a couple of examples of something occurring does not make it true for all cases, or even true in general.

There are some things that hold true; fierce competitiveness, focus and a strong discipline are all factors of every legendary player. Many pro players are stunted emotionally because as they’ve worked like mad at their sport, outside of sports they are handed many things for most of their life.

But there are plenty of examples of players who won – a lot – and weren’t crushing people with their ego along the way.

Jackie Robinson, the focus of a new movie about how he broke the color barrier in baseball, was such an example. Think Robinson wasn’t as great as Kobe? Consider that Jackie Robinson was so good that he forced racist business owners to completely change their beliefs; forced their hand because they would rather go against hundreds of years of cultural and societal taboos rather than pass on his talent.

But even today there are tons of examples of superstar athletes who aren’t preening egomaniacs – Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Roger Federer and Kelly Slater all have lengthy careers – all would be HOF or the equivalent in their sport – and none have the supposed burning self-love that is claimed to be a prerequisite to greatness.

Let us not forget how many jerks we run into, in all walks of life, every single day. People cut each other off in traffic; push ahead of each other in line at grocery stores; steal office supplies; start rumors about each other; cheat on their spouses. The vast majority of those people behave like jackasses a lot, some of them to the point of ruining their marriages and careers. Their behavior certainly doesn’t make them legendary.

The simple truth is this: if someone is a legendary player and behaves like a jackass, they are just a jerk who is also good at their sport. They are not great because they are a jerk. If being a jackass made people great, our world would be teeming with amazingly talented people on every street corner.

Go ahead an nod along, you know I’m right. There are plenty of untalented knuckleheads in the world.

So, let’s call it what it is when people have dysfunctional, anti-social behavior instead of dressing it up and dismissing it as a quality. Kobe Bryant is a great player, but he’s also a jackass. Michael Jordan was the greatest player, and he is also a jackass. Let’s not confuse the two.

And Mike Rice? Yeah, well, there’s really no question what he is.

–

Marcus Shockley is the founder of BasketballElite.com and a member of the US Basketball Writers Association. You can follow Marcus on Twitter right this second.

Blake Griffin stops Deron Williams attempt to dunk on the Clippers with a block that could be the best of all time.

Dude Perfect has made a name for themselves – from YouTube to ESPN – for being the trick shot masters. Today they hit up Team USA to find out if they have some world class trick shots of their own.

Click the image above to download the official flyer!

Comparing the Success of College Seniors to International Players drafted in 2nd round since 2000

Juan Carlos Navarro sits atop the list of good international NBA draft picks.

By James Blackburn

Notes About How This List Was Created

• Good pro means they played for 5 years or more in NBA and/or played/contributed significantly
• For draft years 2010-2011, I left off some Int’l and some seniors because there has not been enough time to evaluate them.
• A bad international player means he hasn’t played in NBA yet at all or hasn’t contributed, same with college senior. Or they played for a year or two, then they were out.
• 4-year guy means senior- no matter if they were a 4 or 5 year guy
• Some of my personal opinion is factored in as well about weather they are a good or bad pick- but my opinion is based mostly on the players stats, upside (if they are current pick- last 2 years), and how long played in NBA, if at all.

Results
Total Good Senior Picks: 51
Total Good International Picks: 17 (4 years of 1 good player picked and 3 years of 0 picks)
Total Bad Senior Picks: 82
Total Bad International Picks: 66

Out of all the picks that were graded (all were not, some players were considered a wash/even/not really good or bad), there were 133 college seniors drafted since 2000 in 2nd round that were graded by myself. 61% of these seniors picked were considered bad picks (may of not stayed long in league, if at all, or didn’t really contribute), leaving 39% of seniors drafted graded as a good pick. 83 international players were evaluated that were drafted in 2nd round of NBA draft since 2000. 79% of these players were considered bad picks, 21% were considered good.

There doesn’t seem to be much of a change with any group after 2005, which was the last year HS players could be drafted. Overall, the results give a slight edge to drafting college seniors over international players, with 39% having success over just 21% of players coming from Europe and overseas. But there are also more college seniors drafted 133 to just 83, so there is less room for error for international players. I will say this though, international players seem to be either star or bust (never even reaching the NBA/or America in that case), and very few in betweens, though there are a few. As with college seniors there seems to be more that fall into that middle category (neither star nor complete bust).

Last observation is that the best 2nd round senior picked in my opinion in last 10 years is probably a tie between Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, based on their years played in the NBA and their contributions on teams, including playoff teams. The best international player picked in my opinion was Luis Scola and Marc Gasol, who are both better players then the college seniors picked. Scola and Gasol are on the verge of being All-Star guys and are both major contributors for their respective teams. Its no accident or coincidence that Scola was a Spurs draft pick.

2000

Good Senior Picks (5)
1. Jake Voskuhl
2. Eddie House
3. Eduardo Najera
4. Brian Cardinal
5. Jason Hart

Good International Picks (1)
1. Marko Jaric

Bad Senior Picks (10)
2. Dan Langhi
3. AJ Guyton
4. Lavor Postell
5. Hanno Mottola
6. Chris Carrawell
7. Dan McClintock
8. Chris Porter
9. Sconnie Penn
10. Pete Micheal
11. Jaquay Walls

Bad International Picks (4)
1. Soumaila Samake
2. Olumide Oyedeji
3. Josip Sesar
4. Igor Rakocevic

2001

Good Senior Picks (4)
1. Brian Scalabrine
2. Loren Woods
3. Earl Watson
4. Jarron Collins

Good International Picks (0)

Bad Senior Picks (9)
5. Jeff Trepagnier
6. Damone Brown
7. Ken Johnson
8. Sean Lampley
9. Eric Chenowith
10. Ruben Boumtje Boumtje
11. Andre Hutson
12. Bryan Bracey
13. Alvin Jones

Bad International Picks (2)
1. Antonis Fotsis
2. Robertas Javtokas Lietuvos Rytas

2002

Good Senior Picks (6)
1. Dan Gadzuric
2. Matt Barnes
3. Lonny Baxter
4. Flip Murray
5. Darius Songaila
6. Rasual Butler

Good International Picks (2)
1. Juan Carlos Navarro
2. Luis Scola (Spurs Pick)

Bad Senior Picks (7)
1. Steve Logan
2. Robert Archibald
3. Vincent Yarbrough
4. Chris Owens
5. Jason Jennings
6. Tamar Slay
7. Corsley Edwards

Bad International Picks (5)
1. Milos Vujanic
2. Peter Fehse
3. Mario Kasun
4. Federico Kammerichs
5. Mladen Sekularac

2003

Good Senior Picks (8)
1. Jason Kapono
2. Luke Walton
3. Steve Blake
4. James Jones
5. Matt Bonner
6. Keith Bogans
7. Willie Green
8. Kyle Korver

Good International Picks (1)
1. Zaza Pachulia

Bad Senior Picks (4)
1. Travis Hansen
2. Derrick Zimmerman
3. Tommy Smith
4. Brandon Hunter

Bad International Picks (10)
1. Maciej Lampe
2. Sofoklis Schortsanitis
3. Szymon Szewczyk
4. Slavko Vranes
5. Sani Becirovic
6. Malick Badiane
7. Paccelis Morlende
8. Remon Van de Hare
9. Nedzad Sinanovic
10. Andreas Glyniadakis

2004

Good Senior Picks (2)
1. Royal Ivey
2. Chris Duhon

Good International Picks (1)
1. Anderson Varejão

Bad Senior Picks (13)
2. Jackson Vroman
3. Lionel Chalmers
4. Antonio Burks
5. Ricky Minard
6. Denard Robinson (Bobcats pick)
7. David Young
8. Justin Reed
9. Romain Sato- bad pick from Spurs- very surpising
10. Rickey Paulding
11. Luis Flores
12. Marcus Douhit
13. Blake Stepp
14. Rashad Wright

Bad International Picks (8)
1. Peter Ramos
2. Albert Miralles
3. Sergey Lishchuk
4. Ha Seung-Jin
5. Viktor Sanikidze
6. Vassilis Spanoulis
7. Christian Drejer
8. Sergei Karaulov-another bad Spurs pick

2005

Good Senior Picks (3)
1. Daniel Ewing
2. Ronny Turiaf
3. Ryan Gomes

Good International Picks (3)
1. Ersan Ilyasova
2. Roko Ukic
3. Marcin Gortat

Bad Senior Picks (4)
1. Robert Whaley
2. Orien Greene
3. Dijon Thompson
4. Lawrence Roberts

Bad International Picks (7)
1. Mickaël Gelabale
2. Erazem Lorbek
3. Uros Slokar
4. M. Andriuskevicius
5. Mile Ilic
6. Axel Hervelle
7. Cenk Akyol

2006

Good Senior Picks (3)
1. Steve Novak
2. Craig Smith
3. Ryan Hollins

Good International Picks(0)

Bad Senior Picks (6)
1. James White
2. Paul Davis
3. Bobby Jones
4. Denham Brown
5. Dee Brown
6. Hassan Adams

Bad International Picks (8)
1. Marcus Vinicius
2. Lior Eliyahu
3. V. Veremeenko
4. Yotam Halperin
5. Eden Bavic
6. Ejike Ugboaja
7. L. Mavrokefalidis
8. Damir Markota

2007

Good senior Picks (2)
1. Carl Landry
2. Aaron Gray

Good International Picks (2)
1. Kyrylo Fesenko
2. Marc Gasol

Bad Senior Picks (7)
1. Chris Richard
2. Derrick Byars
3. Adam Haluska
4. Reyshawn Terry
5. Stephane Lasme
6. Jared Jordan
7. Herbert Hill

Bad International Picks (6)
1. Stanko Barac
2. Renaldas Seibutis
3. Brad Newley
4. Sammy Mejia
5. Giorgos Printezis
6. Milovan Rakovic

2008

Good Senior Picks (3)
1. Sonny Weems
2. James Gist (Spurs Pick)
3. Joe Crawford

Good International Picks (4)
1. Nikola Pekovic
2. Omer Asik
3. Goran Dragic (Spurs pick)
4. Semih Erden

Bad Senior Picks (10)
1. Kyle Weaver
2. Sean Singletary
3. Patrick Ewing JR
4. Malik Hairston
5. Devon Hardin
6. Shan Foster
7. Darnell Jackson
8. Maarty Leunen
9. Sasha Kaun
10. Deron Williams

Bad International Picks (2)
1. Ante Tomic
2. Tadija Dragicevic

2009

Good Senior Picks (8)
1. Jeff Pendergraph
2. Dante Cunningham
3. Sam Young
4. Jon Brockman
5. Marcus Thorton
6. Danny Green
7. AJ Price
8. Lester Hudson

Good International Picks (2)
1. Jonas Jerebko
2. Nick Calathes- went to HS in USA

Bad Senior Picks (4)
1. Goran Suton
2. Jack McClinton
3. Robert Vaden
4. Robert Dozier

Bad International Picks (4)
1. Sergio Llull
2. Sergii Gladyr
3. Nando De Colo
4. Emir Preldzic

2010

Good Senior Picks (6)
1. Dexter Pitman
2. Andy Rautins
3. Landry Fields
4. Magnum Rolle
5. Luke Harangody
6. Jeremy Evans

Good International Picks (1)
1. Pape Sy

Bad Senior Picks (5)
1. Jarvis Varnado
2. Jerome Jordan
3. Stanley Robinson
4. Ryan Reid
5. Dwayne Collins

Bad International Picks (3)
1. Tibor Pleiss
2. Nemanja Bjelica
3. Paulo Prestes

2011

Good Senior Picks (1)
1. Chandler Parsons

Good International Picks (0)

Bad Senior Picks (3)
1. Justin Harper
2. Jon Diebler
3. Vernon Macklin

Bad International Picks (7)
1. Bojan Bogdanovic
2. Davis Bertans
3. Milan Macvan
4. Chukwudiebere Maduabum
5. Tanguy Ngombo
6. Adam Hanga
7. Ater Majok

Cameron Moore, a 6’10″ forward who just completed his college career at UAB, talks with Basketball Elite at the 2012 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. We scouted Moore earlier in the year in our sleeper report series.

In today’s conversation, Moore talks about his potential draft status, as well as what he will do if the NBA draft overlooks him.

Henry Sims, a 6’11″ PF/C who just finished up his senior season at Georgetown, worked to show he might be an NBA prospect at the Portsmouth Invitational this year. We caught up with Henry to get his thoughts on his draft prospects and what he’s working on to try and get to that pro level.

Photo Source:The Daily Press

By James Blackburn

Game 1: Portsmouth Sports Club vs. Norfolk Sports Club
Portsmouth Sports Club wins 88-76
Box Score

Scouting Reports

Henry Sims (Georgetown, 6’10”, C)

Looked comfortable and calm on the FT line-soft touch. Has the ability to step out and hit the 18’ midrange shot. Good size and good timing when blocking shots. Struggled this game early on but showed good footwork and post moves including a running hook and a good slide dribble, but struggled to score because of lack of quickness and athleticism-factors that will hurt his draft stock. Played better in the second half. Will be safe fire first round pick-a player of his size and skills will find a place to contribute.

Erving Walker (Florida, 5’8”, G)

Very good on ball defender. Does a good job of feeding the ball to the post. Lightning quick with and with out the ball. Keeps his dribble alive and uses picks-solid passer who always has his eyes up. TO prone. Showed the ability to get to the painted area where he can finish with a floater. Walker is an interesting case as far as his NBA stock goes. His PG skills are still a work in progress and not yet NBA-ready in my opinion. His size is an issue. He is a good 3 point shooter and very quick in the open court. He finished up a terrific 4-year career at Florida by being named to the SEC All-Conference team. I wouldn’t be surprised if a team took a chance on him late in the second round because of the value the NBA places on guards that can get to the rim. If he doesn’t get drafted, I see him as a good fit with a D-League team.

Braydon Hobbs (Bellarmine, 6’5”, G)

Division II player of the year. Pretty good lateral quickness and on ball defender. Contests shots. Communicates on the floor and is unselfish. Will be a solid overseas player, but does not have the physical tools or skills necessary to play the NBA level.

Agustus Gilchrist (South Florida, 6’10”, F)

Very athletic-active on the offensive boards. Did a good job of contesting perimeter shots. Finishes with dunks-capable of finishing with contact. Very solid and strong upper body. Body and athleticism are NBA ready but he is still a bit raw offensively. Has a hitch in his shot where he hesitates on the way up but is surprisingly accurate at least from the FT line. May earn a few individual workouts with teams with a solid showing, but that is where his NBA timeline will most likely end.

Kyle O’Quinn (Norfolk State, 6’10”, F)

Surprisingly the most impressive player on the floor early on. Great rebounder on both ends-secures board and chins it. Solid frame that is NBA ready. Good shot blocker both in the paint and on the perimeter. Impressive and underrated passer-hits cutters and throws good outlets to start the break. Uses strength to push players off black and keeps players from establishing deep position on him. Struggles to defend quicker players past 15’- does contests and block shots but stays too tall and doesn’t get low and move feet laterally. Showed the ability to put the ball on the floor for a couple of dribbles and kick to open man. Efficient around rim with either hand including a high hook shot that is very reliable- showed an array of post moves throughout games- always kept defenders guessing. Strong finisher-a big athlete who plays extremely hard and runs the floor. Plays hard in stretches but then because of lack of great conditioning will get beat down floor a couple of possessions in a row to rest- shouldn’t be a big deal at next level, as he will most likely come off bench to provide brief sparks. Has the ability to play the PF position at the next level. Showed the ability to reverse pivot and hit the 12’ jumper with a hand in face. Good FT shooter- soft hands- caught a rocket pass from Erving Walker on the break, gathered himself and finished with a 2 hand strong dunk. Playing with a lot of confidence in this game- he really impressed me in all facets this game. In my opinion, he is definitely worthy of a training camp invite and possibly a roster spot at the next level.

Mitchell Watt (Buffalo, 6’10”, F)

All over the floor today. Excellent shot blocker and rebounder. Has the ability to score in a variety of ways. Can finish above the rim with authority. Was the MAC Player of the Year this year after an impressive senior year.

Game 2: Cherry Bekaert & Holland vs. K & D Rounds Landscaping

Cherry Bekaert & Holland wins 85-73
Box Score

Scouting Reports

Greg Mangano (Yale, 6’10”, F)

Good Pick and Pop player- a 6’10” guy who can hit the 3 is attractive to NBA teams. Good rotation and arc on perimeter shot- can hit the 3 with consistency- quick release for big man. More of a perimeter guy then a banger inside- shied away from contact on both ends. Needs to do a better job securing rebounds- allowed guards to take ball away from him several times. Would like to see him be more of a rebounding threat and scorer inside. Good outside shooter- but settles for it instead of going inside- did not see any post moves from him today. Will like to see a more consistent game from start to finish next game.
Did a Sleeper Report on him earlier in the year when Yale played Wake Forest.

Darryl Bryant (West Virginia, 6’2”, G)

Out of control and loses balance easily. Showed the ability to split the defenders in P/R situations and get to rim and finish over defenders. Tough player. Needs to improve his shooting ability.

Jordan Taylor (Wisconsin, 6’1”, G)

Poised. Plays the game under control. Struggled offensively early on to get it going. Zack Rosen from Penn did a terrific job defending him- Jordan struggled to get to the rim and when he did he had a hard time finishing. Lack of speed and size was evident- will limit his pro chances. Good footwork coming off screens for shots. Looked tired from ball pressure late in first half. Really forced some shots when he felt it was his time to shoot. Came out in the second half looking more comfortable offensively knocking down a pull up jumper and a floater in traffic. This up-tempo game does not suite him, as he likes a slow-down game- he looked tired and winded. Will gets some individual workouts, but he is most likely headed overseas to play. More of an undersized 2 then a playmaking PG. His inability to get to the paint and break man down off dribble will hurt his NBA chances.

Cameron Moore (UAB, 6’10”, F)

Agile and fluid. His length really makes him a solid versatile defender. He collected several steals and was active throughout. A bit tentative offensively. Runs the floor- long stride. Needs to improve ball handling, especially his left hand. Needs to add about 15-20 lbs of muscle to bang with PF at the NBA level- has a frame that should allow this to happen. Can finish above the rim- highlight dunker. Low release but solid form on jump shot. Good body control in air. Disappears for stretches.
Did a Sleeper Report on him earlier in the year when UAB played Southern Miss.

Zack Rosen (Penn, 6’1”, G)

Excellent on ball defender- quick hands and does a great job pressuring the ball from end line to end line. Had a couple of on-ball blocks as well- good considering size. In the opponents shirt defensively- best on ball defense seen today. Lefty who sees the floor and will hit the open guy. Floor general and vocal leader- was not afraid to tell teammates where to be- extension of coach on the floor- gathered guys together at FT line during dead ball situations. Didn’t look for own offense much- was mainly concerned with getting team in sets and starting the offense. Did show a nice head fake and ability to shoot over taller defenders. Accurate and reliable set shooter. Not as explosive going to his right- when he went right went back to his left for scoring move. Has a future as a coach after an overseas career. Reminds me a bit of Jaycee Carroll who played for Utah State and for the Boston Celtics Summer League team a couple of years ago.

UPDATE: Sorry! The 2011 Basketball Elite Fantasy League has been locked in! Watch for the updates and thanks to all who are participating!

It’s time to get serious.

This year, we are celebrating the return of the NBA by sponsoring the Basketball Elite NBA Fantasy League. Several Basketball Elite scouts are writers have already jumped in and are working on their pre-draft workouts. I heard one scout may have flown Tracy McGrady into town to work him out, but that could be just a rumor. Just kidding! No one is drafting McGrady.

So, what separates a ho-hum, run-of-the-mill league from the awesomeness that is the Basketball Elite league?

Fabulous Prizes!

Such as…

- Mad respect! (you know it’s about time)

Or, crushing self-doubt if you lose.

But wait! Sure, it’s enough to just get the respect of the rest of the league. But what about the world? The Basketball Elite Fantasy League will get periodic coverage on BasketballElite.com, including who’s leading the league, who’s making the playoffs and who’s team eventually takes it all.

- 2011-12 Basketball Elite NBA Fantasy League trophy

     This is a real trophy, not some cyber digital creation. You can hang out with this trophy. Take photos of it for pasting on the Facebook.

Photo: WCWFC/Flikr
Note: Not the actual trophy

Please note that while winning the trophy is cool, if you do win, some other players may try to tell you that stats are more important than trophies. You should ignore those people and tell them Robert Horry should be in the Hall of Fame. Then send them pictures of your trophy and ask if you can see theirs. Victory is sweet!

- A one-year subscription to either Dime or SLAM magazine (your choice)

Sure, if you win it all this year, you might be saying, “why would I need to read these? I know it all already. Did you even look at my trophy?” However, maybe you are more of the Tim Duncan-type champion, who wins graciously.

- Getting Into ‘The Clubhouse’

You love basketball. We love basketball. We also know lots of people who like basketball. You know what the most awesome thing in the world is for a basketball fan? Talking basketball! The Basketball Elite NBA Fantasy League is being run through Yahoo! Sports, and we will have an active community of friendly competition, between hard core basketball fans.

The Catch!

So right about now, you’re probably saying, “okay, yeah, this is great and I’d love to bring my sick GM skills to this party, but how much is it gonna cost me?”

That’s the best part – the Basketball Elite NBA Fantasy League is free to play. There is a catch though – we are only accepting a limited number of teams. So you have to join in early and be ready for the online draft.

This is on a first-come, first-served basis, so here’s how it works. Go to the form below and sign up. Do it now!

To get started, enter your name and email in the form below. You’ll get a confirmation email.

UPDATE: Sorry! The 2011 Basketball Elite Fantasy League has been locked in! Watch for the updates and thanks to all who are participating!