T1B

The game is tonight at 8 on ESPN. At 7 the 3 point and dunk contests take place, although that is a tape delayed event that has already taken place. I've been reading some of the practice reports and here are a couple of things to look for.

- Eric Gordon tweaked his hamstring in the state championship game so he's only going at about half speed. He didn't do the dunk contest for that reason and bowed out early in the 3 point contest, which isn't typical for him as he shot 48% from 3 this year and is regarded as the best pure shooter in the game. My guess is his minutes will be limited and he won't do much.

- OJ Mayo is apparently on a mission to dominate tonight. I guess after going from the consensus #1 player to just being discussed as the #1 guy along with Gordon, Beasley and Love has pissed him off. He already has ball hog tendencies so I look for him to fire up a ton of shots tonight.

- Kevin Love was described as being pretty lethargic in practices. I've heard he doesn't always go 100% and needs to be pushed sometimes so my guess is he was loafing it for practices but when the lights are on tonight he'll man up.

- Kosta Koufos, the next tO$U big man, has been showing good range on his jumper and my guess is he'll play on the perimeter a lot to clear out the driving lanes for his teammates.

- Kyle Singler has been impressing with his defense and apparently is matching up with guys in the 1-4 postitions.


I think it's going to be a very good and competitive game.

can't wait until Kofus gets to OSU...

even if Oden leaves...they bring in some more beef with Dallas Lauderdale and if Kofus can hit that 12 to 15 ft jumper and open up some lanes DaQuean Cook will love him...if ODEN does come back can you imagine the matchup nightmares tOSU could give people

PG Conley
SG Butler
PF Kofus
C Oden
SF Hunter/Cook

wow...pretty deece...with Lighty, and a very talented crop of wingmen/sf coming in as well...

might have to tune in...

OJ Mayo good riddance glad he isn't coming to tOSU let Floyd deal with him...

Shine wrote: - Kevin Love was described as being pretty lethargic in practices. I've heard he doesn't always go 100% and needs to be pushed sometimes so my guess is he was loafing it for practices but when the lights are on tonight he'll man up.

His father, Stan Love-Marinovich, probably has him off his HGH cycles at present, sandbagging on the next round until next season.


Kyle Singler does it all. He's a machine.

Mayo is a me-first PG who I hope gets a rude awakening next year. I doubt it though since Floyd knows he is a one and done kid and just wants to get publicity for his program.

I think the West will win tonight b/c it looks like it will be 5-on-1 as Mayo wont pass the ball to anyone.

I think Kansas has a kid in the game. Some big, white kid from Minnesota. I think his name is Aldrich. Obviously all the Jayhawk faithful are very high on him.......I haven't seen him play but I wouldn't be shocked if we have another Dreiling, Ostertag, Pauley, Chenowith type on our hands!!

I have heard that Love looks bad.

The rosters...
http://nfl-gambling.aolsportsblog.com/2 ... -released/

3 Blue Devils in the game...Nolan Smith has been on ESPN/ESPN2 a couple times, he looks like a promising scorer from the 2-guard spot. They lose McRoberts to early entry into the draft but add two similar players from the West squad in Singler and King. I know Singler from up in Dins' territory...he speaks highly of him. Hopefully either guy can play the 4. They still lack a big time banger in mold of Brand, Boozer or Williams.

Shoalzie wrote:Hopefully either guy can play the 4. They still lack a big time banger in mold of Brand, Boozer or Williams.

OK, when I said "Singler does it all," I was incorrect. He don't really bang. He's 6'9" and will put the ball on the floor and leave fools looking silly, though.

Dinsdale wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:Hopefully either guy can play the 4. They still lack a big time banger in mold of Brand, Boozer or Williams.

OK, when I said "Singler does it all," I was incorrect. He don't really bang. He's 6'9" and will put the ball on the floor and leave fools looking silly, though.

You've said several times he's quite the player...that's good to know. If he can step in be as productive as McRoberts out of the chute, that'll make his departure less of an issue.

If Duke doesnt get Patterson, Zoubek will be playing 25+ minutes a game. Zoubek isnt ready for that yet.

You know, besides that intimidating Duke jersey draped over him, I was never really all that impressed with McRoberts.

Zoubek is horrible. Throw the ball into him and kiss that posession good bye. McRoberts was slightly better. Good dunker........good passer when not throwing it out of bounds or to the other team........good dribbler.........good dunker. That was about it. Maybe someone in the NBA can teach him to shoot. Here's hoping Singler is everything he's billed. As for Kevin Love, sounds like his dad's a nut and many times, the rotten apples don't fall far from the tree. If all this is true, glad Duke didn't go after him.



WWIRE WILLAMETTE WEEK CLASSIFIEDS PERSONALS


Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
ISSUE #30.36 • NEWS • COLUMN Rogue of the Week
STAN LOVE

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BY WW EDITORIAL STAFF | newsdesk at wweek dot com
[July 7th, 2004] There's just no excuse for antics of parents like Stan Love, the father of Lake Oswego basketball phenomenon Kevin Love. The senior Love has run more than a little afoul of what most people would view as acceptable behavior.

Love took issue with Lake Oswego High School coach Mark Shoff last season over the rules concerning missed practices. School regulations state that a player who misses class can't attend after-school practice. Shoff, in turn, says players who miss a practice can't start in the next game.

About three-quarters of the way through last season, Kevin Love came down with mononucleosis. Because he stayed home from school, he couldn't practice and, therefore, didn't start in the next game.

Apparently, the pain of watching his son sit on the bench for the game's first six minutes was more than Stan Love could endure. The next day, he visited the school and began pasting "Fire Shoff" stickers around the gym, according to Kerry Eggers' June 25 Tribune report.

When Shoff called the 15 year-old player into his office to inform him of his father's bizarre behavior, Eggers reports, Stan Love hired a lawyer and took out a restraining order forbidding the coach from communicating with his son, the media or recruiters. He then threatened to transfer Kevin to another school unless Shoff was fired.

When the district called his bluff, Love backed down. It looks like Kevin and Shoff will be together again next November--despite the worst efforts of the ill-named Mr. Love.


I'll defer to whatever Dins has on this...

Dinsdale wrote:You know, besides that intimidating Duke jersey draped over him, I was never really all that impressed with McRoberts.

Neither was I but I do believe he was playing out of position in college. Shine has made the same argument that he was an NBA 3 playing the 5 in college. He runs the floor and passes well for a big man but he still doesnt have much of a shot and he needs to get stronger. I think he would have been drafted in the Top 10 last year had he come out, but now I think he goes in the 18-25 range primarily on his "potential." It's a very overrated term if you ask me.

I predict McRoberts will be playing overseas in three years or less.

Patterson is UF's if Billy D stays. Write it down!

Mustang wrote:glad Duke didn't go after him.

Huh?

If my memory and sources and whatsuch are right, I think Coach K made more than one trip to Love's house. IIRC, as a junior, Love had all but verbally committed to Duke.


Stan sounds like quite the freaking psycho. While I don't claim to have any great insight into Lake Oswego hoops(even though LO High is about 5 minutes or so from where I live), I've never heard anything bad about the boy himself...just his crazy dad.


Dad might be crazy, but Son has suuuuuch mad game. Hopefully, he doesn't nosedive in college...shit happens. Especially when a kid is raised by a crazy dude.


Sidenote -- Lake Oswego is a long-suffering school (very affluent area, actually...very). They were the school that ended up with Salim Stoudamire when pretty much every Portland school hoops teams' memberships threatened to quit if they had to play with Salim...who was known as quite the asshole ("Do you know who my cousin is?").

Thoughts on the game:

Mayo will never be a PG. That guy guns like no other. He finished like 3-15 for the game and took half a dozen horrible shots.

Beasley who is going to K-State was the best player in the game. I can see why Rivals has him ranked the best player in the country.

Eric Gordon was also pretty impressive. He too has a score first mentality but at least he can hit a wide open J, unlike Mayo.

In all, the talent wasnt the same as last year's. Last year's class was special.

Dins-
I read something in Duke Basketball Report about how they stopped recuriting Love because his father might be a pain in the ass and they didn't to deal with that.

Mustang wrote:Dins-
I read something in Duke Basketball Report about how they stopped recuriting Love because his father might be a pain in the ass and they didn't to deal with that.

I'll buy that. Makes perfect sense...Coach K isn't going to take a back seat to some overbearing father...he's Coach K, for chrissake. But your account ropes things in, since I was pretty sure there had been contact with Duke.

Jsc810 wrote:Five years from now, what will be the minimum annual salary for any of those basketball players?

With the NBA's 19yo-minimum, I'm guessing one or two of those McDonalds kids will flame out in grand fashion. A couplefew will stay more than a year in school, to increase their draft stock. With the one-and-done guys, I think the first tier veterans-minuimum for a 5th year guy is somewhere around 3-3.5 million(off the top of my head). But by year 5, the "top-of-the-class" will be signing max-salary deals, which are worth about 16 mil a year(averaged out). Plus shoe deals/endorsements.


It pays to be really good at something, eh?