Amare’s not bad on the sticks.Yesterday saw some of the Dime crew out in San Diego, hanging with Amare Stoudemire while he wraps up some business for Sony’s NBA 08 video game. Gracing the cover for the second time (his first was in ‘06 — Kobe got the cover last year), today STAT will suit up for a motion-capture session. Last night he dropped by our hotel to play the game for a while on the PlayStation 3. Of course Amare was the Suns, but unlike some NBA players we’ve been around (cough*Gilbert*cough), he doesn’t shoot with himself every time down … Amare couldn’t get over how the announcers on the game kept calling Steve Nash “Captain Canada.” When someone asked if anyone on the Suns calls Steve that, Amare said “I have no idea where they got that from.” Whenever Amare talked about Steve, he called him “Stevie.” … After a bad call went against Amare, he muttered, “Come on, Donaghy” under his breath … One crazy thing about the video game: the Rockets are the No. 1 overall ranked team, and Steve Francis is like Steve Francis circa 2001 on there … In real-life Rockets news, the team is that much closer to getting Dikembe Mutombo back for another year. The 41-year-old told the Houston Chronicle he’s “probably” going to sign on for one more run. Don’t get it twisted, because Deke can still play — when Yao was out last year with that broken leg, Mutombo had a run where he was pulling down at least a dozen boards a night. When it comes to backup centers, he’s as good as they come in the League today … Forget about playing past 40: one guy who’s just trying to get in the League period is our man Corey “Homicide” Williams, the Rucker Park/NYC playground superstar. In Dime #35, we gave Homicide the floor and let him argue his case for why NBA GMs should give him a look. Here’s “The Pitch” with Homicide. According to Corey, Allan Ray can vouch for his pro-ready skills … Word out of Seattle is the Sonics are seriously considering playing Kevin Durant at two-guard. Is that the right move? Obviously KD can score from anywhere, but putting him in the backcourt will take away from his opportunities to post up. The bigger issue is defense, though. The farther away from the basket you can pull Durant, the more you help your team because he and his skinny frame aren’t getting posted up. Then again, the Sonics are gonna have a hard enough time rebounding the ball next year that it’s tough to move a guy who averaged double-digit boards in college away from the cup … Kevin Martin during his post-contract extension press conference, when asked who called him first after he signed his $55 million deal: “I think Ron (Artest). Ron was calling me throughout the whole process! I thought Ron was my agent for a minute!” … No games at the FIBA Europe championships on Thursday, but Darko ended up getting a chunk taken out of his new Grizzlies deal — he was fined about $13,000 for his bleep-filled outburst after Serbia was eliminated the other day. Pretty sure Memphis is just glad he’s showing some fire … If you kept up with our Elite 24 coverage than you read about John Riek, the 7-2 Sudan native whose game recalls a young Mutombo. Riek was supposed to be a Class of ‘09 junior this year, but now it looks like he could end up in the NBA Draft as early as 2008. While he attended high school in Long Island, NY, as a sophomore last year, Riek has reportedly produced documents to prove he already graduated high school in Africa. He is said to be in the process of transferring to the Winchendon School (Mass.), where he would be a post-graduate and be able to enter the ‘08 Draft. NBA rules say you have to be one year removed from your graduating class and have to be at least 19 years old or turn 19 in the same calendar year as your Draft. According to FOXSports.com, Riek turns 19 in November 2008. Long story short, the kid will be a Lottery pick whenever he comes out, be it next year or in a few years. Now whether he’ll be closer to DeSagana Diop (the good version) or Saer Sene remains to be seen … Make sure to come back to dimemag.com during the day for more from our trip to San Diego … We’re out like Ron-Ron the Agent …
September 7th, 2007 at 5:39 am
Kosta says:
Here’s Darcos G-rated comment:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jaKk8vBiCPw
He was mad because of referee decisions so he cursed very badly the italian referee. He said he is going to fuck his ( referee) mother, he is going to fuck fucking motherfucker, and if he (referee) has a doughter he will fuck her too.
September 7th, 2007 at 9:55 am
seth says:
Dime crew, could you guys explain how exactly putting KD at the 2 limits his post scoring? What??? I don’t recall playing the 2 negatively affecting MJ’s low post scoring. He killed other 2’s on the block. Don’t have the numbers to back this, but I guarantee MJ circa 96-98 was one of the top 5 low post scorers annually when he took his muscled frame, (slightly) diminished hops and patented fadeaway to the block and switched the game up to compensate for his age. KD ain’t Mike, but he has obvious advantages playing the two that will do nothing but enhance his game on the block. He will be a matchup nightmare with some 6′6 dude trying to check him. He’s 6′10 with a pterodactyl’s wingspan. Buckets all night. When they switch a bigger dude on him, that’s when KD pulls him away from the hoop. Now if they were gonna play him at say, the 4, he would have next to zero chance to get buckets on the block or defend anyone because he doesn’t yet have the bulk to bang with the big dudes. On the rebounding front, I think JKidd & Bron do O.K. rebouding from the perimeter. In short, I just think the kid is a freakish, revolutionary talent & the Sonics are tinkering with their new toy to find out how to best exploit his gifts. Yes, I’m all up on his nuts. Jump on now while there’s still room.
September 7th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Amar says:
I’m with Seth . . . why bother posting up a guy who couldn’t get the bench up once against guys like Boozer and Amare? Against shorter guys he’ll have 3-5″ on them, and be at the same quickness level.
Seattle has Wilcox, Collison and crew to try to board, with Durant you want him filling in the lanes on fast breaks, not crashing the defensive glass.
But whatever, it’s Seattle we’re talking about. They’ll be in Las Vegas or Oak City in another few months, right?
September 7th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Jules says:
“One crazy thing about the video game: the Rockets are the No. 1 overall ranked team, and Steve Francis is like Steve Francis circa 2001 on there”
Number #1 sign this game will suck.
If I was an NBA star, I’d be fighting to be on the cover of NBA 2K8…
September 7th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Austin Burton says:
If PJ Carlesimo comes in running a version of San Antonio’s offense, I would imagine that means the two-guard won’t post up much. You don’t see Manu ever posting up, after all. And you know PJ’s not gonna run the triangle (which is where Mike and Kobe get their post-up opportunities). If you haven’t noticed, NBA coaches never change their style, no matter who they have on the team — they’re all stubborn like that.
September 7th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Kudabeen says:
You forget PJ Coached Sprewell too. Spree was on the block, iso’d, and was all over the place scoring for GS. I think PJ won’t have problems finding ways to take advantage of Durants gifts. He had a front row seat at the Scrimages, when KD efficiently lit up to competitors. Only difference is can KD pass and handle the ball well enough to manage the NBA pressure that He’ll see on a team where he is one of maybe two real threats on Offense.
I look at a player like Kevin Garnett. On the block (when he rarely goes their) he gets moved, but figured out how to finish. I remember when in early matchups with Rasheed, Duncan, Webber, Malone, and other stronger PFs KG would make a good move on the block, but his shots would be short or off. When KG went for his shot it was easy for them to move him with a little push or contact. KD will have to addjust and become more decisive on the blocks, then the rest won’t matter. They can’t create contact (that’s not a foul) if you know what you want to do and beat them to a spot.
I hate that video game creators never seem to be in tune with the actual performance of players. I guess they are getting better, Steve Kerr type players are no longer throwing down dunks on the break, but they over and under rate so many players, I spend more time adjusting attributes and creating players, than I do playing the actual game…