My boy Texas T-Roc is about to drop by, but before he does I wanted to contribute a few nuggets on Georgia State's recruiting.
First, Antonio Odom will not be coming to State, it turns out. Charlie couldn't say why, but that's the word.
Second, in the same conversation, it was absolutely confirmed that Ron Larris, Odom's JUCO teammate, will be coming to State. Charlie knows absolutely nothing about the kid, but from what I've found online, I'm convinced the kid is at least decent.
Third, I noticed a kid in a white-t shooting opposite the team today as they were practicing and coach Cheeks was talking with him. I watched for a few moments, physically he looked impressive - 6'2''-ish and stout with broad shoulders - but I must say, for looking like a shooting guard, he went only 1-of-4 from range and 2-of-5 overall when I was looking on. (He did appear to have a great handle on the ball.)
Coach Cheeks said his name was "Duke," a JUCO player and a recruit. I asked Charlie
about him, and I got little information again - the kid's name was "Duke," he was indeed 6'2'' and hails from the Alabama Community College Conference, where he was the MVP this past year.
After a bit of research I found little else. His name is Reaynundo "Duke" Sturdivant, he is the reigning MVP, he's a sophomore and apparently he was dominant in high school, averaging 22 points, 9 rebounds (as a 6'2'' guard) and 6 assists.
He seems like he must be somewhat talented, but Charlie brought up a good point. For a reigning MVP to available this late in the recruiting game, there must be some baggage; "Can he spell C-A-T?"
T-Roc just arrived. Holla!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Brett Farve - He Might Be The Best Ever, But He's Starting To Annoy The Hell Out Of Me
This Farve situation is ridiculous. I have a feeling he wants to be traded, thinking he has only one or two years left and the Packers don't have the talent to win one more Super Bowl, and I don't blame him for feeling that way. Over the past two seasons, the Packers, who aren't short of cash, let all three of Favre's starting interior lineman walk to take more money elsewhere.
So Packers, do us all a favor and trade Farve, or if Farve is really pondering retirement, just do that. Somebody do something. But, either way ...
Farves on his way out soon. The Packers need a quarterback for the future (and according to scouts, Aaron Rodgers isn't ready for that role, and may never be).
ESPN draft whore Mel Kiper, who possesses one of the sleaziest hair-dos imaginable, has the Packers drafting AJ Hawk, a middle linebacker from The Ohio State University with the fifth pick. His latest mock draft's top-five goes;
1. Houston Texans - Reggis Bush, RB, USC
2. N.O. Saints - Mario Williams, DE, NCST
3. Tenn. Titans - Matt Leinart, QB, USC
4. New York Jets - D'Brickashaw Fergeson, T, Virg.
5. G.B. Packers - AJ Hawk, MLB, Ohio St
... news flash, Vince Young is missing from that board. The Vince Young who single-handedly defeated the unstoppable jugernaut that was USC. The amazing athlete and leader Vince Young who won Texas' first Red-River Shootout in seemingly hundreds of years. The Vince Young who might be the best player in this entire draft class.
Packers, please mix it up and draft Young over Hawk. You'd be fools not to draft Young when you'll need a quarterback sooner or later. He possesses ridiculous talent, similar to one Michael Vick (see, blur of a quarterback that ended Green Bay's streak of playoff wins at Lambeau).
I'm cranky and tired. If the Packers pass on Young, they'll be forced to watch him dominate the entire NFL for 10 years. Have fun with that.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Inside Information
If you’re a Georgia State basketball fan, it’s about impossible to find information on your team's recruiting on the web. No need to worry, just make The Sports Rant your new home for all things Georgia State Basketball.
I’ve read a few things online in recent weeks about Georgia State recruiting and went seeking confirmation (by harassing anyone inside the Georgia State Sports Arena I can) for what I had read; those readings being, 1) Delano Howard, the spark plug point guard from South Gwinnett High School, may not actually make it to Geoorgia State's campus, and 2) the Panthers have signed two JUCO guards, Antonio Odom and Ron Larris, sophomores from Kilgore Community College (read the article on the Kilgore boys).
First, I found out from a source close to the Howard family that Georgia State’s point guard of the future will not be coming to Atlanta, for he will not be able to qualify academically. Instead of ripping the kid for struggling in school (as I know nothing about his personal life and still hope he can find his way to the concrete campus), I will comment on the academic standards of Georgia State, which certainly have improved greatly since the introduction of the HOPE program years ago. While researching basketball recruiting, I stumbled upon an article on law schools. Georgia State's is currently marked in the second-tier (in the top 100, tied at 97th) in the latest rankings, ahead of many prestigious programs, one being Marquette, and apparently they're not happy about it (read it here). I’m pretty certain it’s not as easy as it used to be to get accepted into State.
Second, a source familiar with the situation believes Larris will be a Panther next year. From my (limited) research, Larris (5’10’’ 180 lbs.) appears to be a decent shooter, hence averaging 80 percent from the charity stripe, but is not a scorer. From some game logs and notes on his high school team, he seems to possess leadership qualities and his greatest strength may be facilitating an offense – he led his high school team to a 12-0 start his senior year, the best opening run in school history, breaking a record from 1922. Also, he was the class 4-AAAA State Player of the Year runner up in Florida in 2003-2004 and was ranked the fifth best point guard in the state.
Odom’s signing was announced in November, in a press release by Charlie Taylor, the human sports almanac for Georgia State Athletics, also announcing the signing of two other JUCO guards (read it here).
That’s all for now. But my rant on the NBA and upcoming NFL draft is coming soon. (One more thing, the Braves thwarted the Mets again today, only days after the fickle New York media passed us off as dead. Count home run number eight for Andruw Jones and note that Timmy Hudson was dealing today.)
I’ve read a few things online in recent weeks about Georgia State recruiting and went seeking confirmation (by harassing anyone inside the Georgia State Sports Arena I can) for what I had read; those readings being, 1) Delano Howard, the spark plug point guard from South Gwinnett High School, may not actually make it to Geoorgia State's campus, and 2) the Panthers have signed two JUCO guards, Antonio Odom and Ron Larris, sophomores from Kilgore Community College (read the article on the Kilgore boys).
First, I found out from a source close to the Howard family that Georgia State’s point guard of the future will not be coming to Atlanta, for he will not be able to qualify academically. Instead of ripping the kid for struggling in school (as I know nothing about his personal life and still hope he can find his way to the concrete campus), I will comment on the academic standards of Georgia State, which certainly have improved greatly since the introduction of the HOPE program years ago. While researching basketball recruiting, I stumbled upon an article on law schools. Georgia State's is currently marked in the second-tier (in the top 100, tied at 97th) in the latest rankings, ahead of many prestigious programs, one being Marquette, and apparently they're not happy about it (read it here). I’m pretty certain it’s not as easy as it used to be to get accepted into State.
Second, a source familiar with the situation believes Larris will be a Panther next year. From my (limited) research, Larris (5’10’’ 180 lbs.) appears to be a decent shooter, hence averaging 80 percent from the charity stripe, but is not a scorer. From some game logs and notes on his high school team, he seems to possess leadership qualities and his greatest strength may be facilitating an offense – he led his high school team to a 12-0 start his senior year, the best opening run in school history, breaking a record from 1922. Also, he was the class 4-AAAA State Player of the Year runner up in Florida in 2003-2004 and was ranked the fifth best point guard in the state.
Odom’s signing was announced in November, in a press release by Charlie Taylor, the human sports almanac for Georgia State Athletics, also announcing the signing of two other JUCO guards (read it here).
That’s all for now. But my rant on the NBA and upcoming NFL draft is coming soon. (One more thing, the Braves thwarted the Mets again today, only days after the fickle New York media passed us off as dead. Count home run number eight for Andruw Jones and note that Timmy Hudson was dealing today.)
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The First Rant
Kyle Davies is embarrassing Carlos Delgado by painting the corners as the Braves lead the Mets, 5-1, yet I find myself repeatedly flipping back to the final Hawks home game of the year. (They’re losing 52-53 to the Miami Heat’s third line, if anyone actually cares besides myself.)
Why, you might ask? Because I love basketball, and while I would say I prefer the gridiron or diamond to hardwood, I think I want nothing more than for the Hawks to become a legitimate title contender.
I would love for the Thrashers to make the playoffs. I would dance in the streets if the Braves won another title, much like I would riot like a caveman (and I’d have to imagine a caveman could riot well) if the Falcons posted consecutive winning seasons and won a Super Bowl.
(Ah, snap. Andruw Jones just smashed his second long ball of the game and seventh of the year. Bravos 7, Mets 1.)
All that said, Philips Arena would be the crunkest place in Georgia if the Hawks were competitive, and I want to be there when it is.
And the good news is the team isn’t that far off.
With the Hawks' current core of players you can create a lineup featuring incredible talent, speed and strength at shooting guard, small forward and power forward with Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Al Harrington respectively. From there you’re only missing two starting positions, albeit the two most important in the NBA, and most important at any level of basketball – the point guard and center. The rest of the Hawks players would make for a more than serviceable bench and Zaza Pachulia would be a potential sixth-man-of-the-year candidate if he was relegated to the role of backup.
BUT, point guard wouldn’t be a current need, and I firmly believe the Hawks would be in the playoffs this year, had Billy Knight and his cronies made the correct draft choice last year.
Recently I was reading Bill Simmons’ column on ESPN.com and the subject was NBA MVP candidates. Towards the end he listed the eight most deserving players and Chris Paul, the rookie point guard phenom for the Hornets, was listed at seven. (Read Simmons's column here)
Paul, the lightning-quick game-changer that should have been a Hawk, is actually in the MVP discussion.
Simmons’ summed up my feelings adequately with his final lines on Paul; “And yes, that screaming is the sound of everyone from Atlanta. Just give them a few seconds.”
Would the Hawks have made the playoffs with Paul? Most certainly.
The Hawks struggled their way to 25 wins playing one-on-one nearly every possession; Paul, who is averaging almost eight assists a game, would surely have made the offensive game easier for everyone around him. (Can you imagine the jaw-dropping alley-opps to Josh Smith?)
The Hawks are only a single tier below the lower-seeded Eastern Conference playoff teams that backed their way in (see the Milwaukee Bucks). The Hawks, with Paul, would easily have been better than Bogut's Bucks.
But we can’t dwell on the past can we? We can, and will, because I don’t feel like discussing the Hawks draft prospects at the moment. So, in the mean time, dwell on what could have been with Paul.
Although, I will say this on the draft currently, if the Hawks draft a small forward in this draft, I’m going to buy a Bobcats jersey.
Update at 12:18 AM:
The Braves defeated the Mets, 7-1, after a complete game, three hitter by 22-year-old Kyle Davies. In his first career complete game, the right-handed hurler stifled Mets hitters and struck out a frustrated Carlos Delgado three times in four at bats.
The Hawks defeated the Heat - more correctly a squad of third-string wannabes rocking Heat jerseys - by a score of 103-101 after Tyronn Lue hit a trey to win the game with 8 seconds remaining.
But the most intersting Atlanta sports moment of the night, on ESPN's NBA Fastbreak's "3-Ds-of-the-Year" segment there was a reel of ten or more Josh Smith highlights in a row with the Hawks logo glowing in the background. They showed the Hawks' youthful star throwing down jams from every angle and swiftly swating balls left and right. The notable part, two years ago such a segment would have featured no Hawks highlights. Josh Smith is an incredible talent.
Why, you might ask? Because I love basketball, and while I would say I prefer the gridiron or diamond to hardwood, I think I want nothing more than for the Hawks to become a legitimate title contender.
I would love for the Thrashers to make the playoffs. I would dance in the streets if the Braves won another title, much like I would riot like a caveman (and I’d have to imagine a caveman could riot well) if the Falcons posted consecutive winning seasons and won a Super Bowl.
(Ah, snap. Andruw Jones just smashed his second long ball of the game and seventh of the year. Bravos 7, Mets 1.)
All that said, Philips Arena would be the crunkest place in Georgia if the Hawks were competitive, and I want to be there when it is.
And the good news is the team isn’t that far off.
With the Hawks' current core of players you can create a lineup featuring incredible talent, speed and strength at shooting guard, small forward and power forward with Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Al Harrington respectively. From there you’re only missing two starting positions, albeit the two most important in the NBA, and most important at any level of basketball – the point guard and center. The rest of the Hawks players would make for a more than serviceable bench and Zaza Pachulia would be a potential sixth-man-of-the-year candidate if he was relegated to the role of backup.
BUT, point guard wouldn’t be a current need, and I firmly believe the Hawks would be in the playoffs this year, had Billy Knight and his cronies made the correct draft choice last year.
Recently I was reading Bill Simmons’ column on ESPN.com and the subject was NBA MVP candidates. Towards the end he listed the eight most deserving players and Chris Paul, the rookie point guard phenom for the Hornets, was listed at seven. (Read Simmons's column here)
Paul, the lightning-quick game-changer that should have been a Hawk, is actually in the MVP discussion.
Simmons’ summed up my feelings adequately with his final lines on Paul; “And yes, that screaming is the sound of everyone from Atlanta. Just give them a few seconds.”
Would the Hawks have made the playoffs with Paul? Most certainly.
The Hawks struggled their way to 25 wins playing one-on-one nearly every possession; Paul, who is averaging almost eight assists a game, would surely have made the offensive game easier for everyone around him. (Can you imagine the jaw-dropping alley-opps to Josh Smith?)
The Hawks are only a single tier below the lower-seeded Eastern Conference playoff teams that backed their way in (see the Milwaukee Bucks). The Hawks, with Paul, would easily have been better than Bogut's Bucks.
But we can’t dwell on the past can we? We can, and will, because I don’t feel like discussing the Hawks draft prospects at the moment. So, in the mean time, dwell on what could have been with Paul.
Although, I will say this on the draft currently, if the Hawks draft a small forward in this draft, I’m going to buy a Bobcats jersey.
Update at 12:18 AM:
The Braves defeated the Mets, 7-1, after a complete game, three hitter by 22-year-old Kyle Davies. In his first career complete game, the right-handed hurler stifled Mets hitters and struck out a frustrated Carlos Delgado three times in four at bats.
The Hawks defeated the Heat - more correctly a squad of third-string wannabes rocking Heat jerseys - by a score of 103-101 after Tyronn Lue hit a trey to win the game with 8 seconds remaining.
But the most intersting Atlanta sports moment of the night, on ESPN's NBA Fastbreak's "3-Ds-of-the-Year" segment there was a reel of ten or more Josh Smith highlights in a row with the Hawks logo glowing in the background. They showed the Hawks' youthful star throwing down jams from every angle and swiftly swating balls left and right. The notable part, two years ago such a segment would have featured no Hawks highlights. Josh Smith is an incredible talent.
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