Poor Bogut

Bryan on Nate Robinson: "The possibility of D'Antoni turning Nate Robinson into the next Steve Nash is fascinating." 

Nate Robinson is a good player. His merits come forth in furious flash mobs of excellence--scoring bursts with impossible degrees of difficulty, herky jerky drives consummating in dunk thunder, and blocks of Yao Ming--. He's a good player and the genius of D'Antoni bottles his lightning but Robinson will never SEEM like a good player. He could score thirty a game on a playoff team and still reek of novelty. 

As he rose to eminence in Dallas, Nash seemed like a novelty as well. His status as a Canadian and the mythologic bent of his origins rendered him the NBA's cute imp. His made for sitcom friendship with Dirk Nowitzki, a goofball himself, lent a tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum aspect to his game. It was hard to take him seriously, even as he made All-Star games.  

Nate and Nash are both gimmicks and it is tempting to compare them for purely plot reasons but the two players could not be more divergent on the floor. Their shared freneticism manifests itself in vastly different ways. Nash, cool and controlled as he dashes through traffic, zipping curveball passes and draining open threes, is the output of an adventurer. He is a leader of men, a tawdry mish-mash of Shawn Michaels and Christopher Columbus. 

Nate? His ceiling is Michael Adams. His achievements, no matter how gaudy, will be the achievements of a little man. If you aren't down with the league like we're down with the league this might not make sense but Nate Robinson will never be considered a basketball player. 

That's a strange thing to say about a professional basketball player. 

*****

Bryan argues that last night was the first great night of the NBA season. It looks that way on paper but Greg Oden made me turn off the TV. 

The 2007 Draft Class was supposed to be one for the ages. With Durant and Oden, the league boasted two predestined superstars, and most of the lottery picks were cited as having All-Star potential. They played at esteemed Hoops Universities and were poised to set the league on fire. 

I've read so many words on this class I began to believe the hype but the results have been disappointing. I fear for the future of the league, not because Oden will dominate, but for the amount of wasted words spent on Oden. I've lived through Darko. I can't do this again. 

Durant... :( Poor fella. 

Could 2007 go down in history as the Horford Draft?

In the days leading up to the 2007 draft, praises were sung of every player with heaps of attention loaded onto their very best good attributes. 

The 2008 Draft made mountains out of molehills as every prospect was nitpicked for flaws. Was Rose too small? Beasley too immature? Mayo too high strung? Most importantly: Could Kevin Love run? 

It's early to speculate as we are only six or seven games into the  story arcs but these guys look like ballers, already outshining the more seasoned sophomores, which begs the question "WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT GREG ODEN?"