“Your man Pondexter has Sam Cassell balls”
Washington's Quincy Pondexter
Which game-winning shot is harder to hit? A catch-and-shoot three from NBA range with nobody in your face, or getting the ball on a clear-out against a 6-6 defender and having to create something at the rim?
In the late-afternoon round of games (on the West Coast), Northern Iowa’s Ali Farokhmanesh and Washington’s Quincy Pondext had me contemplating that question. Farokhmanesh buried a perfect-form three that got Northern Iowa past UNLV in the final seconds, while Pondexter beat Marquette by taking Jimmy Butler to the rack and hitting a double-clutch banker.
Immediately after, my editor sent me this text: “Your man Pondexter has Sam Cassell balls.”
* Here’s the Northern Iowa shot:
* Is Marquette’s Lazar Hayward a pro? Lately I’ve been comparing him to a young Antoine Walker: He’s got a quick release and three-point range, he’s got some craftiness working off the dribble, and he can score in the post. Hayward had one play in the second half where he went stop-and-go on the baseline and flipped in a reverse layup that was just nice. He’s an undersized power forward at 6-6, he’s got skills, but I can see NBA teams overlooking him.
* It wasn’t until my Dad showed up at my place to watch the UW/Marquette game that I realized I’d been sitting on the couch watching basketball for seven straight hours. (And that was four and a half hours ago.) Having done this getting-paid-to-watch-hoops thing for a while now, these marathon days of March Madness apparently can fly by now.
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March 19th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Scott says:
Can we please not compare anyone to Antoine Walker, that player may get severely depressed and you know, become Antoine Walker. Just thinking of the talent that dude had and wasted is beginning to depress me right now. I need a drink now.
Thanks.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:17 am
sh!tfaced says:
That’s why AB said YOUNG Antoine Walker. Gotta emphasize the “young” if one wants a positive comparison to Puerto Rican Empleado Ocho…
March 19th, 2010 at 2:24 am
sh!tfaced says:
Should have said “Your man Pondexter has Cappie’s balls…”
March 19th, 2010 at 8:27 am
RC says:
To be mentioned with Sam “X Files” Cassell in a the same sentence is an honor for this dude!
March 19th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Ko_Peso says:
I like Lazar Haywood a lot too. If NBA teams are smart, they’ll know that the only reason he played in the post at MU was his team’s lack of size.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:44 am
eyes says:
@5…They’re not we’ve all seen how dim most of them are. That is what i love about the tournament. All the mid majors get a chance to say play ball. Screw Conference ratings.
BRING YOUR GAME NOT YOUR NAME-I.S.8 PETE EDWARDS
March 19th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
pleas says:
Walker did not waste any talent. His coach told him what to do and he did it. You people just sound stupid because if Antoine had not listened to his coach you would be calling him names anyway.
I love revisionist history by people that never watched the Celtics until KG came to town running their mouths about the 90/early 00 celtics teams because they read Bob Ryan and copy what he says despite the fact he admits he never liked Antoine.