This is a very one-sided take on Boozer. He has both good and bad qualities in terms of his approach to the game. On the one hand, he is an unbelievably hard worker who is a gym fanatic, trains like hell to make himself better, and went from a 2nd round pick to several time All-Star largely through his work ethic and desire. I've also never seen a game where Boozer wasn't trying. On the other hand, he tends to milk injuries, displaying a lack of toughness, is not as concerned with team success so much as personal accolades, and spends more time working on his offense than his defense, even though it's the latter that is sorely lacking. So you take the good with the bad. Nowadays, people view things in an extremely black-and-white way, but with Boozer, he is a mixed bag.
It's one sided because the quote is skewed towards one point of view, the title of the "article," that Boozer just doesn't get it. That's not something someone who is dedicated to winning would say(could you imagine Rose saying that? Me neither). Only someone delusional would think that regular season standings are the only thing that matters(yo). Or that he played a good game that day. By that logic the Spurs should just stop playing all together, since they have the best seed in the West. Everyone agrees his defense is shit, so when he's only scoring three points, what exactly does he bring to the table? 1.9 assists per game(his season average, can't remember offhand what his playoff assist averages are) isn't cutting it. I'm not saying he's completely worthless, but if Chicago is going to take that next step, they need to get someone to play that position that has his head on straight.
In other news, I'm insanely pissed that I have Legislative Drafting homework to do, and thus will miss the Lakers-OKC matchup. That game is going to be awesome(not that 76ers-Celtics isn't, I'm just looking forward to the West game more for some reason).
You can ABSOLUTELY win a championship with Boozer as your starting power forward, provided his play doesn't regress in the next few seasons as he ages. This idea that everyone on a championship team needs to be this super-competitive, unselfish, team-first player is a bunch of bullshit, and very rarely, if ever borne out in practice. Boozer is a workout fiend, keeps his body in great shape, and tries in every game, even if he is not killing himself or putting the needs of the team above his personal stats. And he is still a very good player. Trading him would be stupid. With the years remaining on Boozer's deal, its amount, and his creeping age, it wouldn't have much value.
Firstoff, I don't see him not regressing as he ages(as most players do). His offensive stats(we both seem to agree that his defense sucks, so I'm not going to bother with it) have gone down since he left Utah: -2 PPG per season, -1 to 2 RPG per season, etc. You could argue that he'll have a comeback year(I've seen weirder), but I think that's unlikely. And no, everyone on a championship team does not have to be super-competitive, team-first etc., but you do need to be consistent. Boozer has essentially the same problem Bynum has in that regard(which is odd since I've never considered Boozer to be lazy). Only Bynum has WAY more of an upside than Boozer does at this point in their careers. Trading him wouldn't be stupid if they could pull off anything close to value, although it is extremely unlikely given the years, money etc. The value would be difficult. But dumber things have happened, and there is more than one complete moron of a GM out there(like Khan, for example). But like I said, extremely unlikely. I just said trade the douche because that quote is the exact OPPOSITE of what I want to hear days after my title-contending team gets eliminated.
I don't think she's missed a game in a long ass time. Wow, hello 76ers. Thanks for making the east the least bit exciting.
Was that game as awesome as me-occasionally-checking-the-score-on-my-phone implied it was? Since I got my HW done during that game, I can watch the Lakers-OKC game now. It's kicking ass so far.
It was awesome in the last quarter as the 76ers had God guiding their baskets in. They were throwing the ball in the general vicinity of the rim and that shit was going in.
Boozer and Bynum are absolutely nothing alike. Boozer is generally well-liked by his teammates, doesn't openly defy his coach, and is a harder worker. He also tries in every game I've ever seen him in. (A few hundred so far) Meanwhile, Bynum has a tendency to take certain games off, or noticeably ease up. You're just exaggerating and throwing together random comparisons to make a bigger deal out of the quote than it deserves. Who the fuck cares what Boozer said? He was trying in that last game against Philadelphia, but had a bad game because Philly is one of the 4 or 5 best defensive teams in the league and is awesome at shutting down forwards. Judge a player by his performances, not his goddamn quotes. Anyways, enough about a team that has already been eliminated from the playoffs... The Thunder are beating up on the Lakers, as expected. I've been especially impressed by their defense and their clever plan of drawing Gasol and Bynum further outside of the paint than they would like to be.
Um...I was judging him by his performance. That was my whole fucking point. You think I'd give a shit if he said he played a good game AND he scored 18-25 points? And let's not pretend he didn't do this same shit last playoffs. And I only made the inconsistency comparison with Bynum/Boozer. I didn't say they were in any other way alike(if fact I specifically said Boozer wasn't lazy, which Bynum certainly has "spurts" of). But you're right, we're arguing for the sake of arguing, and neither of us is going to give. Hence, to the game: Anyhoo... How this for insane: the Thunder are winning by thirty something, and(as of five minutes ago) had taken two LESS shots than the Lakers(54 shots to 56). Edit: End of 3rd, Lakers 61, Thunder 62. And its field goals, I misread. Still, winning by 30. Wow.
Is it just me or has Fisher been playing better than he has most of the season tonight? Everytime I look at the screen he's intercepting/passing/doing something.
I don't see why he wouldn't last. I can't imagine management looking at the series and thinking "Clearly we lost because Mike Brown is a fuckup. We should have had that one, easy." If he'd lost in round one, maybe.
I remember reading somewhere(can't find the link at the moment) that Magic Johnson said that the higher-ups in Lakerland were discussing letting him go if they didn't at least get to the Conference Finals. Personally, I don't think they should. Who else are they going to get? Sure, it might be free agency for coaches this offseason but I think he's done a decent job overall. Edit: I see the Lakers are throwing temper-tantrums again.
I stopped watching the game halfway though the second quarter. My friends all texted the same thing "Obviously the OKC ran out of lube. This shit is going to get ugly."
Did I miss the discussion of Lebron's 3rd MVP? Or was that in a separate dedicated thread? Told you the Lakers sucked. Looks like Bosh is out for the entire Pacers series, if not more. Personally, I would hold him out til the finals.
OK, but can the Spurs? And more interesting, can the Thunder guard the Spurs? Regular season results look pretty good for San Antonio: 108-96 for OKC, 106-97 for SAS, 114-105 for SAS. Especially since San Antonio didn't start playing their best ball until February or later, and OKC's win was without Ginobili.
With Bosh out, there is still a 0.00% chance of the Pacers pulling a ridiculous upset? I don't know mayne, I don't know. Lakers are going to get abused. It is not even funny. OKC just ran them ragged with speed and accuracy.