U12 Analyzes Southern California and the NBA Draft

Sorry for the tardiness of this post.

Before I get into the debacle that was Westbrook going 4th in the draft, I want to comment on a few things.

So I love the Bulls and I really hope that when John Paxson said Rose is our future, he meant he’s going to cut one of the 4 useless guards we have on the team right now.

Lebron James: The last 2 seasons have proved to the world and to yourself that you are good enough to make it to the Eastern Conference championships, but you are not great enough to win it all by yourself. I’m not so certain Mike could’ve done it with Scottie and Shaq recently informed us all that Kobe couldn’t do it without him. So maybe a new town or a new edition to the Cavs would be good for you. But don’t listen to Jay-Z please. Starburry sucks. New York sucks. Isiah Thomas’ damage will last for years.

Did New Jersey just give up Jefferson for Yi Jian Lian??…seriously. Yi Jian Lian didn’t want to play for Milwaukee because there is no Chinese fan base there…uhh you are getting paid millions to play basketball. STFU (or I’ll slap the dim sum out of your mouth) and get out on the court. Its bad when American athletes start to bitch and moan about contracts, but when you are international you should just thank your stars that you are lucky enough to make that much money. Because no Chinese national team will pay like the NBA does; nor will Euro leagues, the Mexican Basketball League, or the 10 Punjabi’s in India who can dunk and decided to take a break from cricket. And if the Chinese nationals are so offended that you are stuck in Milwaukee, then tell them to pay your fucking salary and bring you back over sea.

The Warriors picked a sleeper. Usually all of their rookies are still asleep when the season begins so what else is new. However, I predict big big things for the Warriors this year. Either they’ll tank in the beginning of the season and Baron Davis will get traded instead of Stephen Jackson (sigh), or this year and last year’s rookies will function together as a great back court and the Warriors will be in the playoffs this time.

Now onto the So Cal Alums:

So OJ Mayo went up, put his cap on, and got off stage with another cap on. As much of a roller coaster as that may have been I’m sure he’s getting paid quite nicely so he doesn’t care. Memphis needs a leader. They thought they had one with Pau and he never turned out to be one so they dumped him for scraps. OJ has the opportunity to run his own basketball team; that’s always nice for a guy who can’t drink yet. Unfortunately for Memphis, they need a 20 point 6 assist performance out of Mayo at the least in order to look like a decent squad next year. Mayo’s rookie season will resemble that of another USC phenom…Reggie Bush. Average statistics, rough time being physical with the big boys will be the best way to sum up Mayo’s first season. I’ve said this before about Darren Collison and I’ll say it for Mayo, you can run around really fast in college and get away with it, but in the NBA it won’t work so well.

Kevin Love, also found bliss in the draft day trade. Minnesota, feeling the burn of seeing Kevin Garnett leave the Wolves and receive a ring all in the same year, is looking for a big man to replace him. Although, his workouts show stand out qualities; I still can’t believe he’s that changed from the same guy who couldn’t jump , box-out, or muscle anyone in the final 4. Nevertheless, if the scouts say he is what he is, he might have a solid season and will surely do better with the Wolves than OJ Mayo would.


Finally, Westbrook…So, there I was, inside the Pauley watching on the big screen UCLA get rocked by Florida, and seeing my dreams of running through Westwood half naked while tipping over cars slowly fade away, when I realized just how good Westbrook was. How out of all the Bruins, he was the only one who just didn’t give a shit and took it to the hole. How his aggressiveness was exactly what a college player needs to make it to the NBA. Last year, however, I saw none of that. Maybe it was the UCLA offense shape-shifting to accommodate Kevin Love. Maybe Farmar provided more opportunities for making such great plays. Whatever the reason, Westbrook did not impress half as much as he did his junior year. Maybe he still has it, and that’s what the scouts saw. But if he comes out looking anything like he did last year; he’d better start looking for a new field to work in.