Posts Tagged ‘Derrick Rose’
Tuesday, March 21st, 2017
by Brandon McConnell
The NBA has always been full of conspiracies, for years. Let us take a look back at some of them. The Orlando Magic becomes a new franchise and just so happen to get the #1 pick, two years in a row. The Cleveland Cavaliers happened to get the #1 pick the same year Akron’s own LeBron James is available. Chicago Bulls just happen to get the #1 pick the year Chicago’s superstar Derrick Rose become eligible for the draft. Lastly, the Cleveland Cavaliers get three #1 picks after LeBron James leaves to go back to Miami, making it very convenient for him to come back home to a championship contender.
Now for the latest conspiracy. Lonzo Ball to the Los Angeles Lakers. This year, the Los Angeles Lakers have the second worst record in the league. Their pick is only protected if they get a top 3 selection, or the pick goes to the 76ers. With that being said, the Lakers are obviously trying to lose games in order to be bad enough to get a top three pick. They got rid of their top scorer, Lou Williams, to the Rockets and now are sitting several veterans in order to assure a bad enough record to align themselves to draft UCLA’s Lonzo Ball.
Nothing in the previous paragraph should be anything new to the average NBA fan. Now I am going to enlighten you on a conspiracy that no one seems to be talking about. Everyone has been conversing this week on why the Cavaliers sat their “Big 3” on Saturday night versus the Clippers, on a nationally televised game, but played everyone against the terrible Lakers on Sunday. Their reason for sitting the “Big 3” was for rest due to back-to -back games, but they didn’t have a game on Friday. Let me give you a little history about coach Tyronn Lue. He just so happens to have 2 NBA championship rings as a player, 1 championship ring as an assistant coach, and 1 championship ring as a head coach. Where did he win his player rings? You got it, with Shaq and Kobe as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Remember the Iverson step over? Yes, that was Tyronn Lue. He won his first coaching ring as Doc Rivers’ assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. Look at any film that year Boston won, that was Tyronn Lue behind Doc Rivers every game. So, let us break it down. The Clippers are currently in 5th place in the Western Conference, fighting for a first-round home court advantage, with several other teams to get the 4th spot. Tyronn, being the nice guy he is, decided to help his mentor Doc Rivers gain a win to help position the Clippers to become a 4th seed while playing his starters and winning Sunday against the terrible Lakers, which helps put them in a better position to get a top 3 draft pick. A top three pick would allow them to keep the pick and not give it to the 76ers. If you look back at the previous paragraph, the NBA just so happens to do a good job with allowing the next coming superstar to join their hometown team. Ask yourself, why don’t you ever see the lottery balls get selected? So, expect the Lakers to get Lonzo Ball. Tyronn Lue just happened to be a pawn in what I call “NBA CHESS”.
Brandon McConnell, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Brandon McConnell, Cleveland Cavaliers, Derrick Rose, Lebron James, Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA Draft Lottery, Tyronn Lue, War Room Sports, WRS
Posted in Brandon McConnell, General, NBA | No Comments »
Friday, April 26th, 2013
by Cory Jefferies
If some of the greatest players in the history of North American sports can be overrated from the narratives told about them and the social statuses given to them to describe their level of greatness, surely it isn’t too hard to figure out how or why a great player can be overrated DESPITE the player’s GREATNESS. “Overrated” doesn’t automatically run mutually exclusive to extremely horrible, over-hyped players. I think 99% of fans miss this point. Well, maybe more like 87-90%.
Let me point out 3 types of overrated players:
#1. You can be HORRIBLE & OVERRATED (see JaMarcus Russell’s draft day position). See Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez, Ryan Leaf, and Kwame Brown’s draft position, plus their actual production.
#2. You can be AVERAGE & OVERRATED. For example, see discussions on whether or not guys like Derek Fisher or Robert Horry are Hall of Famers.
#3. You can be GREAT/ELITE and STILL BE OVERRATED. See Steve Nash winning two consecutive MVP awards. See Derrick Rose’s MVP season where he averaged 23 ppg & 8 apg but was outplayed in every sense by LeBron James. See Michael Vick’s best season in Philly and Donovan McNabb’s career in Philly as well (DESPITE his otherwise nice playoff resume). Just because you are elite doesn’t exempt you from being overrated. If people say that Kobe Bryant is better than Michael Jordan, even though Kobe’s surely one of THE greatest players ever, he’s simply overrated.
My point: Whether you are awful, marginal, above average, mediocre, good, or very good, the narrative people have for you can make you overrated.
Cory Jefferies for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Cory Jefferies, Derek Fisher, Derrick Rose, Donovan McNabb, JaMarcus Russell, Kobe Bryant, Kwame Brown, Lebron James, Mark Sanchez, Michael Jordan, Michael Vick, Overrated, Robert Horry, Ryan Leaf, Sports Talk Radio, Steve Nash, The War Room, Tim Tebow, War Room Sports
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 19th, 2012
By Brandon McConnell
The big story around this year’s NBA season has been what team will Dwight Howard play for in the future. At the beginning of the year, Dwight told the Orlando Magic’s executives that he would like to be traded to the Lakers, Nets, or Mavericks. The Orlando Magic listened to trade offers the first half of the season, turning them all down hoping Dwight would change his mind and stay with the team. In the words of Jesse Jackson, they were “keeping hope alive”.
The big rumor surfacing throughout the league was Dwight opting out of his deal and joining Deron Williams in New Jersey. This was the obvious plan for the last three months. Orlando even believed this was the plan since Dwight would not accept a max contract with them that would pay him $109 million dollars.
As the trade deadline approached, you heard a new rumor on Dwight every hour of the day. Dwight wants to go to the Lakers. Dwight is going to team up with Derick Rose in Chicago since they are both with Team Adidas. Dwight is going to New Jersey with “D-Will”. You never heard Dwight wanting to stay in Orlando. He even told management that he was not going to stay.
So Orlando management starting fielding offers from the league to seek the best deal they could get for Dwight Howard. In the 11th hour, Dwight Howard developed a conscience and decided to opt-in to one more year with the Orlando Magic for $19 million because he felt like he owed his teammates and the fans of Orlando since he showed such a lack of loyalty throughout the season. What is he thinking? Dwight Howard is that guy who breaks up with his girlfriend and asks her back at the end of the day because he started feeling bad.
People always want to give LeBron a hard time, even myself, but one thing I can respect about LeBron is he did exactly what he wanted to do and didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought. By Dwight staying one more year for $19 million dollars, he risks being hurt and getting paid a whole lot less next summer. If he wanted to stay in Orlando, in the words of DMX in Belly, “GET THE MONEY YO”. He could have signed a max deal for $109 million dollars. If he is staying one more year to be nice to the people of Orlando, that is dumb since you will be a free agent next year and have to go through the same media circus again.
In concluding, Dwight, if you want be the “MAN OF STEEL”, start first by trying to be a MAN!
Brandon McConnell of Respect Da Game, for War Room Sports
Tags:Adidas, All's Fair in Sports and War, Belly, Brandon McConnell, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, DMX, Dwight Howard, Jesse Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Respect Da Game, Sports Talk Radio, Superman, The War Room, War Room Sports
Posted in General, NBA | No Comments »
Friday, June 17th, 2011
By Jimmy Williams
I haven’t written about Football in a while and after watching LeBron fail to give full effort in the NBA Finals, it reminded me of a certain football player.
What’s on your mind Jay?
Mr. Cutler…or as he will be known for now on…“Jay Ramone Cutler”. You sir, are a pipsqueak! I’m not going say you were not in pain or bring up other players like Ronnie Lott cutting of a piece of his finger to get back in the game, or Phillip Rivers playing 6 quarters with a torn ACL, or Byron Leftwich having a broken shin and having his lineman carry him instead of not playing, or even Tom Brady playing with a stress fracture in his foot last season.
I personally don’t know your pain tolerance but I do know you appeared to mentally check out of the Chicago Bears’ game in the playoffs last season. After leaving the game, you looked like your mind was on your second job at Vandelay Industries and you could care less about the NFC championship game.
Initially I heard you had an MCL sprain, then after it seemed as though the entire world called you a quitter, it became a tear. By the time the lockout is over you will have a disease in your leg and need an amputation.
This isn’t the first time I have seen you mentally check out of a game. I have seen you do it in college and I have seen you do it in Denver. My co-host Dev can attest to how I have always called you a fraud and thought you were a horrible quarterback. You have all the physical abilities but it appears that you think you are better than you are and don’t have what it takes mentally to be elite. (Sounds like LeBron huh?) You are becoming wasted talent. Like Calogero’s pop Lorenzo told him in Bronx Tale, “the saddest thing in life is wasted talent”.
Anyone who doesn’t think you quit is either a delusional Bears fan or someone who has a low football IQ. You embarrassed your family, your team, President Obama, Oprah, Kanye West, Common, Michael Jordan, Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade, The Vice Lords, The Gangster Disciples, Al Capone, Larry Hoover, Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, Jim Belushi, Mayor Daley, or anyone else associated with the city of Chicago!
The fact that you are a complete jerk made your peers think it was cool to talk pork chop greasy about you. That means you are a sub-par quarterback and a jerk as a person. Hopefully you will rebound from all this and decide to work at becoming an elite QB. That is if we actually have football this year. If last season doesn’t make you stronger, you’ll always have your job at Vandelay Industries to fall back on.
I’m Nice!!!
Jimmy Williams
Tags:ACL, Al Capone, All's Fair in Sports and War, barack obama, Bronx Tale, Byron Leftwich, Chicago Bears, Common, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, James "The Blueprint" Williams, James Williams, Jay Cutler, Jim Belushi, Kanye West, Larry Hoover, Lebron James, MCL, Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka, NBA Finals, NFC Championship Game, NFL, Oprah Winfrey, Phillip Rivers, Ronnie Lott, The Blueprint, The War Room, Tom Brady, Vandelay Industries, Walter Payton, War Room Sports
Posted in General, NBA, NFL | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
By Brandon Pemberton
Coming off of a 34 point performance last night in a 96-85 win over the Chicago Bulls in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals, it’s pretty obvious to me that Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is playing with confidence and has found his place on this team. Early in the season, Bosh looked lost, passive, and out of place on the floor. He was often criticized for his timid play and lack of rebounding. Playing in Toronto, most people hadn’t really seen him play much unless you are a big fan of hoops and had the NBA League Pass.
Bosh was used to being the man for the Raptors, having the offense run through him and everyone else playing off him. While he averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds per game and made six All-Star performances, he’d never won a playoff series and he never was a legit superstar player. A player like Lebron James or a Derrick Rose type, who has enough talent to carry a team to high places with fair talent around them. There were plenty of basketball fans that thought Bosh was that kind of player but he wasn’t, and hasn’t been that kind of guy.
Now, playing with two legit superstars who have the ball in their hands the majority of the time, Bosh had a rough time early in the season finding his role on the team. The injury to Udonis Haslem made things even worse for him, as the team needed him to play a more physical role, similar to what Haslem would play. The Heat struggled with chemistry and Chris was one of the [main] culprits.
As the season progressed, Bosh and the Miami Heat have gotten better on the offensive end of the court. The Heat use him in pick & roll situations, which fits his game perfectly as he has one of the best mid-range jumpshots in basketball (big man or not). He also has been playing well, finishing off passes from James and Wade and hitting the offensive glass. In the three games against the Bulls, he’s averaging 25 ppg and grabbing 7 rpg as well. You can see the confidence that he lacked during the season as each playoff game goes by.
Finally, I’ve never been the biggest Chris Bosh fan and after the WWE type celebration he, Lebron, and Wade partook in [after signing], it made me dislike him even more. Add in the fact that he’s a fake tough guy and it irks me when he scowls and yells on the court, but I have to admit that he is playing well and will be one of the key reasons the Heat win it all this season.
Brandon Pemberton, Blogger for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Brandon Pemberton, Chicago Bulls, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Eastern Conference Finals, Lebron James, Miami Heat, NBA, NBA League Pass, The War Room, Toronto Raptors, Udonis Haslem, War Room Sports, WWE
Posted in General, NBA | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
By Brandon Pemberton
In game four against the Atlanta Hawks, a game that the Chicago Bulls lost 100-88, Derrick Rose scored 34 points on 32 shots. Yes Rose is the league’s MVP and the best point guard in the world, but he needs help on the offensive end. That help should come from two sources, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng.
The Bulls signed Carlos Boozer to a 5-year deal for 75 million dollars last off-season to be the 2nd scorer and post player they needed to take the next step and be a legit title contender. Boozer missed 23 games this season due to a hand injury that happened when he fell at home. He put up 17.5 ppg and 9.6 rpg, which are right at his career averages. But in the 2011 playoffs, his production has dropped off as he’s putting up 10.7 ppg and 9.1 rpg. He says he injured his right big toe in game 5 of the first round series against the Pacers, but he was playing horribly even before the injury. Boozer never was a defensive player to say the least and he needs to produce, bottom line.
In game 1 of the series against the Hawks, Luol Deng had a good game scoring 21 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. In the three games since, he’s scored 14, 7, and 13 points respectively, putting Derrick Rose in the spot where he’s taking more shots than he should. While Deng is not a superstar nor a star player, he is a legit 2nd or 3rd scoring option on a good team. Deng can score in a bunch of different ways and the Bulls need him to provide scoring in the 16 to 18 point range nightly, along with the great defense he plays, if the Bulls are to have a legit chance to make it out of the East.
If Boozer and Deng can get it together and play up to their ability along with Derrick Rose leading the way, the Bulls can win this series against the Hawks and find themselves one step away from the NBA Finals.
Brandon Pemberton, Blogger for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Atlanta Hawks, Brandon Pemberton, Carlos Boozer, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Indiana Pacers, Luol Deng, MVP, NBA Finals, The War Room, War Room Sports
Posted in General, NBA | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
ROY to MVP?
I just want to take a minute to go the route of my Homie & co-host Aquil Bayyan and offer a public apology to one Mr. Derrick Rose. Prior to, during, and shortly thereafter the 2008 NBA draft, I loudly proclaimed that Mike Beasley should have been the #1 pick instead of the young Mr. Rose. I saw Rose’s athletic upside in his lone season at the University of Memphis but never in a million years thought he could also become a prototypical point guard on top of that. Less than 3 years after draft day, he is averaging 24.5 points, 8.1 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game, he’s in the midst of a VERY legitimate MVP campaign, and though I don’t give him this title quite yet, he is arguably the best point guard in the NBA (I personally still reserve that title for Deron Williams).
Now hindsight is always 20/20 and I never actually said he wouldn’t be good, but I was unaware of the intangibles that this youngster possesses that sets him apart from the “pretender” category. His desire to be great is extremely evident in both his work ethic and his level of what seems to be GENUINE humility. When he came into the league, his jumpshot had a body-cast on it. He, unlike Raon Rondo (yeah I said Raon…I left the J out on purpose…think about it for a minute) has put in tireless work to become a better shooter…and a better shot has disallowed people to continue to play off of him and limit his athleticism by forcing him to shoot. Let’s put this into perspective…he’s no Ray Allen, but he has arrived at a point where you must respect his jumper, leaving defenders at his mercy and vulnerable to ape-like highlight reels and poster shots (yeah I said ape-like…get over it…it’s a compliment). He has also become a much better passer and playmaker than I’d expected.
So ball on young Mr. Rose and continue to prove all the doubters wrong…if you still have any. This is one sports analyst that you’ve won over. Now go collect your MVP trophy and take a bow.
Devin “Dev” McMillan of The War Room, for War Room Sports
Tags:Aquil Bayyan, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Devin McMillan, Mike Beasley, NBA, NBA Draft, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, The War Room, University of Memphis, War Room Sports
Posted in General, NBA | No Comments »
