Ricky’s gonna get his. Now who’s with him?We were watching NBA TV yesterday when all of a sudden they broke into a “special presentation” and went out to a press conference set-up in Minnesota. Since we hadn’t heard any T’wolves-related news at that point, we had no idea what was about to happen — at least one of the Dime crew wondered if Kevin McHale was about to be fired. Turns out it was just the press conference to formally introduce Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff and Sebastian Telfair … We know it’s nit-picking, but McHale seemed to be stumbling all over himself the entire time. He started off struggling to get through his explanation for why Kevin Garnett was traded in the first place and then he actually had to look down the panel to identify Gomes and Bassy … The Wolves roster is already over the limit with 16 guys. It’s up in the air who’s gonna make the team (we can see Chris Richard getting cut), not to mention who’s gonna make up the starting five. Jefferson at the four and Mark Blount at the five is almost a lock (although a healthy Ratliff could challenge Blount for his spot), but then it gets complicated. You could go Randy Foye-Ricky Buckets-Corey Brewer as the PG-SG-SF. Or maybe Foye-Green-Davis. Or Telfair-Foye-Gomes. There’s a lot of ways to go, and don’t forget you still have to find minutes for Rashad McCants, Juwan Howard, Craig Smith and Trenton Hassell … Speaking of Green, while his suit was on-point, no one asked him anything for the longest; he was all dressed up with nothing to talk about. At one point it looked like G-Money had actually nodded off. When he finally did get to answer a question, Gerald said he’d been working on his mid-range game this summer. McHale jumped in: “And your ball-handling, right?” … The strangest quote of the day came from Randy Wittman. Talking about Ratliff, Wittman said Theo “gives us something we’ve never had here before — that ability to block shots.” Someone remind Coach Wittman that KG was pretty good at swatting guys. And you all did have Eddie Griffin for a minute … The new Wolves also unveiled their new jerseys. Bassy took #3, which coincidentally (or not) was Big Cousin Steph’s number in Minnesota, and Green took #15. With KG taking Green’s #5 in Boston, did Gerald ever give a thought to asking for #21? … Jermaine O’Neal and his people are in damage-control mode now. After saying he’d welcome trades to the Lakers or Nets over the weekend, J.O.’s stance now is that he didn’t demand or even necessarily ask for a trade. “I don’t think me saying I’d like to go with those teams is me saying I want to be traded,” he told the Associated Press. We could believe that, but when Jermaine threw the “If something doesn’t work out, I’m opting out of my contract” comment on top of the trade talk, well, it sure sounded like he was pushing for something to happen … If you can’t wait until Rick Fox’s “Playmakers”-ish TV show comes out, you can catch him on “Ugly Betty” this fall. Rick’s gonna be playing a bodyguard on a couple of episodes. The person his character is supposed to protect? His real-life ex, Vanessa Williams. Thanks to “Entertainment Tonight” for that info, but we can’t forgive ET for referring to Rick as a “former NBA hunk” … The final Team Young’un roster that will scrimmage Team USA: Andre Iguodala, Jeff Green, David Lee, Al Jefferson, Aaron Brooks, Devin Harris, Jason Kapono, Channing Frye, LaMarcus Aldridge and Monta Ellis. They’re obviously gonna get cracked, but what immediately stands out to us is the point guard situation. Brooks is the only true PG, and while he’s good, he’s a rookie who was largely a disappointment in college up until his senior year. Seeing as Devin Harris isn’t a true PG and Monta even less so — are these really the best young American point guards we have who aren’t already on Team USA? You wonder if Ray Felton, Jameer Nelson, T.J. Ford and Mo Williams were asked but declined … Got a question for Ron Artest? Let us know right here or right here … We’re out like NBA hunks …
August 8th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Dennis Lu says:
every passing season it seems its less likely Gerald Green will ever make the leap. A couple of GMs surely saved their jobs by not taking Green just because he was projected #3 overall at the time.
“And your ball-handling, right?” This whole thing seems so goofy.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:44 am
Steffen Herder says:
Green doesn’t need ballhandling, he’s gonna fly over the court
www.squidoo.com/GeraldGreen
August 8th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Celts Fan says:
I love Gerald, but you guys are right. He’s got a ton of talent, but no basketball IQ whatsoever, and no real handle. He’s a real nice piece, and should be a starter for the long time, but the “Next T-Mac” talk should be amended to “Next Maggette.” I wish him nothing but the best though. Despite him not (yet) living up to expectations and reports he had “bad body language” at the summer league (everyone gets frustrated when they’re not living up to their own expectations against guys he feels he’s better than) he gets a bad wrap. I’ve been to most home games of his career, and I’ve seen a guy that’s typically the first guy off the bench giving high 5s at timeouts, has been open to coaching, and seems like someone everyone on the team likes. While he probably won’t put it together to hit superstar levels (though it’s still only going to be his 3rd year out of HS, so it’s entirely possibly he can) he’ll be a nice player in the NBA for a while. He’s infinitely better than Darius Miles already (not saying much, but still…)
August 8th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Tweedtser says:
Dennis, Gerald two seasons in the league and came up directly from high school. How many years did T-Mac, JOneal, and even Darius Miles take before they made significant progress, nevermind a “leap?”
Yeesh…
August 8th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Celts Fan says:
T-Mac took about 3, Kobe took 2 (albeit w/ Shaq) but they both made serious strides, which Gerald’s yet to do. I hope he puts it together and think he will to some extent, but his lack of a handle, much moreso than low basketball IQ (which he can figure out eventually), will probably be the biggest reason he’s more of a shooter than can dunk instead of a Kobe/T-Mac type that just runs shit…
August 8th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Tom from Cleveland says:
Quote from Telfair.
“and now I’ve taken myself out of New York City and moved to Vegas so I can concentrate on basketball.”
Only Sebastian could think a move to Vegas would help him concentrate on basketball.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:19 am
bliz289 says:
are you guys really judging Gerald Green already? c’mon, kid barley got any tick. and when he did he showed glimpses of really being able to play. at least reserve judgement until he gets to show what he can do.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Bron42 says:
just because it took kobe and tmac 3-2 years doesnt mean much for green. Cuz theres also been tons of other guys who flamed out without even making any progress after comin out of high school. Travis outlaw, Ndu Ebi anyone??
On top of that, tmac was pretty nice from the get go and was just overshadowed by vince playin the same position, not to mention camby and a young damon stoudimire on aq expansion team. Watch some old raptors highlights of tmac swattin shots and dunkin on cornell davis of the bulls from the foul line almost. Plus look at guys like the heats Doreel Wright who was “the next tmac” for like a day and hasnt done anything on a team thats crying out for someone under the age of 30 to hit a bucket not named wade. Just cuz green is athletic doesnt mean he’ll even be a starter at this point if he cant put it all together. At this point all you can say is he’ll be a tall nate robinson..give you an occasional highlight, then go drink some water and sit down when the game really counts. If gerald does flop it wouldnt really suprise anyone cuz TONS of athletic wings couldnt put it together, harold miner anyone? not to mention tall athletic wings out of high school,darius miles, johnathan hargett. At this point timberwolves fans should just hope he turns into gerald wallace at least if not more.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Austin Burton says:
Did you hear McHale’s quote in the press conferece? Something like, “At 22, 23 years old, either you know how to play or you don’t. It’s not gonna all of a sudden when you’re 30.” He was talking about Jefferson at the time, but it sounds like in his mind he’s not giving Gerald much leeway either.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Celts Fan says:
agreed about Gerald (and my post was about how it took those guys 2-3 years to become studs, but made strides along the way, which Gerald hasn’t) but the difference w/ Gerald and the Travis Outlaws and Darius Miles of the world is that Gerald can shoot the ball, while those guys’ range extends all the way out to a dunk. Like I said, I was leading the charge of “Next T-Mac” a few years ago and those expectations need to be lowered, but he’ll definitely be a good player in this league, it’s just the expectations of how good need to be lowered when you realize he really has no handle, but I’d gladly take a 6′8″ 2/3 that’s extremely athletic and can shoot. Now if he could only find a coach that would realize that running back screens and throwing lobs to him might actually be a good plan…
August 8th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Celts Fan says:
he doesn’t look like he’ll ever be a true star, but a solid starter and 2nd or 3rd option is still a very reasonable expectation
August 8th, 2007 at 10:42 am
brolic27 says:
Is it just me or does Ricky Buckets look just like Young Buck?
August 8th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Matthew says:
The only thing you forgot to say in this article is:
“The T-Wolves suck and we hate them”
August 8th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Saku 39 says:
Bron42,
I think you meant to say Jonathan Bender and not Jonathan Hargett.
Hargett was like 5′10″ and played at WVU for a year before getting kicked off the team if I remember.
Also, Nate is better than just the occassional highlight.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Coop says:
McHale really is a joker. “and your ball handling”. Christ, this man’s in charge of a multi-million pound franchise! What’s the world coming to?
August 8th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Shwin says:
Miller time in Bean Town? Reggie trying to win a championship would just be another great storyline for the Celts upcoming season!
August 8th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Celts Fan says:
It really would and I’d kill to have him. Considering we need bench scoring in the worst way, that’d be a good fit, especially backing up Ray Allen, so there’s good consistency at the 2, having an all-time great shooter that plays no D. I like the Jackie Manuel, Eddie House, and Scot Pollard moves infinitely more if we do, in fact get Miller…
August 8th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Bron42 says:
Nah actually I meant Jonathan Hargett, but now that you mention it you can throw bender into that convo (although he was more derailed by injury). I knew Jon in high school back when everyone was on the eddie griffin, daruis miles, omar cook, erik barkley era and i brought him up because everyone jumped on his hype based completely on his dunkin ability and ignored the rest of his game until he flared out. and no, nate robinson is not more that a few highlights. He kills in summer league and then is too erratic durin the season to stay on the court. He has his one or two “omg he shouldnt be able to dp that, hes too lil” moments but other then that hes not much. and dont gimme the “he has some good games” speech cuz if its not consistent then it doesnt matter. any idiot can get hot once in a while and put up buckets.
as for rick fox..glad to see hes steppin out and takin a risk with this role. what, were there no more “retired basketball player” parts out there so he needed to stretch it to body guard? is that even believeable since the whole lakers pacers fight a while back showing none of the lakers can fight.
lastly, i’d start foye,rickey,al since you know their gonna look for their points, then start brewer over green for defense and tie theos body to the backboard like a scarecrow for defensive presense.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Veezie says:
just wanted to remind everyone that today 15 years ago, the greatest team in the history of team sports won the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics. Dime needs to do a segment on this. I never get tired of reading about it.
August 8th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
G says:
Bring back the Afternoon Run!
August 8th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Saku 39 says:
Actually I mostly agree with you about Nate. I’d say he’s more of a glorified energy guy though; he’s inconsistent, I still don’t think he can run a team, but he does make contributions and not just highlights. I hope Isaih trades him now when his value is high.
Didn’t hoopstv show a lot of love for Hargett back in the day?
August 8th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
bron42 says:
yea but he was actually a pretty basic dunker…his “trademark dunk” was only a self pass of the glass. it was more the fact he was 6′1 and banged on people than his overall dunking skills. hoopstv was ontop of a lot of guys back before they became big. jameel pugh, hot sauce, etc…
August 8th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Celts Fan says:
speaking of Pugh, whatever happened to him? I remember having to pick my jaw up off the floor time and time again in NCAA Dunk Contests when he was still at Sacramento State (I think…) Is he still playing? Where? Does anyone know?
August 8th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
bron42 says:
jameel lost in the ncaa dunk contest his senior year 2 years ago…last i heard from him he was tryin to go over seas but still has no jump shot to speak of….he was kinda like james white/brent petaway…always had hops but never really worked on the areas…
August 8th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Saku 39 says:
Good deal. Just felt like talking about some forgotten guys. Keep it up. BTW, Victor Page says hi.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
bron42 says:
for those who didnt kno about jameel
http://www.thejump101.com/med/vid/sick/jameelpughdunks.html
August 8th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
bron42 says:
victor page….wow someone took the way way back machine wiht that nameq