12/21/24
October 23, 2003
Mr. Nice Guy.: There is no rest for Antawn Jamison. The newcomer is about to be ass-deep in a vicious fight, his first imbroglio since being traded from the Golden State Warriors to Dallas a few months ago. Until now, the man has been polite and gregarious, eager to help everyone he meets, always flashing an enormous smile. For nearly two weeks, I tried to get Jamison's guard down, to make him snarl or at least curl his lip in defiance, to show some sort of emotion that wasn't sugary. He remained affable; I remained frustrated. I mean, a professional athlete posing as a nice guy? Come on. We've seen this story before, and we know how it ends--on a depraved, vapid TV show like Inside Edition or, worse, in a courtroom, and almost always with the player crying and begging the world to forgive the transgression the rest of us never saw coming. A very well written piece on Antawn Jamison in the local alt-weekly.
posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 10:39 AM - 7 comments
It depends, Mike. I knew some guys that by virtue of being tall (and some of the first to enter puberty) that could touch the rim in 6th grade, and they weren't exceptional athletes. And sixth grade (at least in my school) could be as old as 13 without being held back.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:04 PM on October 23, 2003
The writer is harsh on Shawn Bradley: "Fortson is going to have to contribute, if only to keep Nellie from playing Bradley too much (and by that I mean playing him at all)." Great article.
posted by dusted at 01:10 PM on October 23, 2003
The Observer has been very harsh on both Bradley and LaFrentz for the past few years (and with their contracts, rightfully so). I loved it in the article where he gets Bradley a slam in the video game and taunts Walker with "You got slammed on by Bradley!!!". I would've loved to have witnessed that.
posted by Ufez Jones at 01:16 PM on October 23, 2003
Quick impression of a Shawn Bradley block: *Ball hits Bradley in back of the head - Bradley slowly turns toward direction of ball flight and swings arm in blocking motion - Sighing heavily, official scorekeeper awards Bradley a block.* Sure - dunking that early for these guys isn't uncommon (for THESE guys). I've seen Vinsanity footage of seventh grade jams that are really good.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:17 PM on October 23, 2003
He'll have to excel where other imports like Juwan Howard and Raef LaFrentz have failed--in the post, rebounding and doing the dirty work. He'll be a hard-worker, but it won't be in the post, rebounding and doing the dirty work. His defense isn't strong (good fit in Dallas, tho ;-), and as a "3" he's more of a 2.5 than a 3.5, if you know what I mean (he likes the outside floater more than the paint). But he is a great guy and I wish him luck. Good for him to get out of GS. Media liked him but thought he was overpaid and that cost Warriors a chance to re-sign Arenas. So instead of the continued improvement with the same cast and a promising new coach, owner & Chief Idiot Cohan decided to scrap it all and start over. Sucks. I was almost getting interested. (side note about Cohan. He's married to a family friend of mine, and aacheson and I put him & wife on our wedding guest list 6 years ago. Fucker never RSVP'd or sent token gift. Tickets to a game would've been easy...they were HOORRIBBLE in '97.) psst..lilnemo: Ufez beat you to a great NBA story :-)
posted by msacheson at 05:48 PM on October 23, 2003
Damnit!
posted by lilnemo at 11:30 AM on October 24, 2003
Jamison has been working on that dream for a long while. He could dunk a basketball on a regulation goal by the fifth or sixth grade. This doesn't ring true. Fifth or sixth grade? Unless Jamison got held back he would only be 10 or 11 years old.