Grudge Match Alert

by Ziller on Aug 10, 2008 7:17 PM PDT Comment 27 comments

Jason Thompson either called out Marvin "Milk" Williams or the Atlanta Hawks in his neat Bee interview with Sam Amick:

"I mean, you've got a guy like (Atlanta's) Marvin Williams, who comes out of North Carolina and wins the championship, coming off the bench and maybe averaging eight points," Thompson continued, the exasperation building. "And he's a No. 2 pick (in 2005). I mean that's what's crazy to me."

One thing about Thompson which has been mentioned or alluded to several times has been his fearlessness, his toughness. Talking about a player everyone admits was a bad idea is one thing, far different from elbowing Kevin Garnett in the post or pushing back against bigger opponents. But it could be smoke.

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At least

he was smart enough not to call out Shelden Williams.

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by section214 on Aug 10, 2008 7:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't have minded that.

BOOK IT!

by kingme18 on Aug 10, 2008 7:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good to see some ink on JT

So much about Greene the past couple of weeks, when the Kings have guys like Salmons, Garcia and Moore who can cover SF. I think Thompson will be able to have a more immediate impact given his strength and nose for boards. Green sure has a lot of upside, but I can’t wait to see Thompson bang around in there.

Rocks are free, and slingshots easily stolen.

by andy sims on Aug 10, 2008 8:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

greene was just acquired

only natural to have a sudden explosion of interest in him – the days after the draft, this place was JT central even though we have Moore, Miller, Hawes, K-9, Reef and Artest who could play the 4.

Donte? Donte'! Donté?!?!
'spect da 'xtra E'

by iashwash on Aug 11, 2008 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And you know what?

JT is absolutely right.

by Bitey on Aug 10, 2008 9:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

well at least he knows what NOT to do.

seems like he really wants to be huge in the L

by GOKINGS on Aug 10, 2008 10:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I wonder

what Shelden’s reaction is to this comment LOL

by kingme on Aug 11, 2008 12:16 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Shelden will average 12-7 in 2011 (?)

JT will have to prove himself on court about being picked higher if he was in another college. And he should have talked about Marvin Williams after averaging 15-6 himself .

His words might look a bit immature and too bold for a player who hasn’t even played in the NBA yet, but I like it… the last thing I wanted to see is another boring conservative boy with no balls. GO JT!

by ZenBaller on Aug 11, 2008 3:58 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In Europe

BOOK IT!

by kingme18 on Aug 11, 2008 2:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the difference between Marvin and Shelden, in JT’s argument, is that Marvin did little in college. Shelden would actually be someone, under JT’s philosophy, who should go high.

by Ziller on Aug 11, 2008 9:57 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Exactly...

Shelden didn’t sit on the bench, nor was he only a Freshman averaging a few points a game. He was in the discussion for the college player of the year, and a ton of other awards, and he carried a very good Duke team.

Not sure why people are making the comparison, other than that they were both picked high in the draft…

by cabz on Aug 11, 2008 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

U make a valid point

BOOK IT!

by kingme18 on Aug 11, 2008 2:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

the reason that people are making the comparison

is not just that that they were both drafted high, but that they have both underachieved considering how high they were drafted. For reference, Deron Williams was picked directly after Marvin Williams and Brandon Roy directly after Shelden Williams (maybe they just got confused about which Williams they were taking?) AND they were both selected by the Hawks in consecutive years.

More importantly, this weird quote has made me realize that if Atlanta had selected according to the prevailing wisdom of the drafts they muffed (and the correct picks hadn’t caused them to win more games), the Hawks could have a starting lineup of Chris Paul/Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford. Scary.

by furious.d on Aug 13, 2008 1:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd also like to point out that

the Hawks top three 3/4 guys the season before they drafted M. Williams instead of D. Williams or CP3 were Al Harrington, Antoine Walker and Josh Smith. Their top three PGs were Tyronn Lue, Kenny Anderson and Tony Delk. Incidentally, the Hawks won 13 games that season, finishing 5 games behind the first-year Bobcats. The Bobcats’ only players making more than $2M that season were Jahidi White ($6.1M) and Emeka Okafor (3.7M).

by furious.d on Aug 13, 2008 1:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

man

remember jahidi white?

by beevenator on Aug 13, 2008 5:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

a possibilty

that I’m not sure of, but maybe – anyone think that JT being picked 12th propped his ego a bit too much? I know people talk about how dropping in the draft can make a player work harder, but anyone see the oppsoite happening in this scenario?

Donte? Donte'! Donté?!?!
'spect da 'xtra E'

by iashwash on Aug 11, 2008 10:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Could be...

I was thinking it was just a chip on his shoulder because of the stigma attached to coming from a small school. He’s probably been asked variations of ‘were you surprised you went as high as you did’ and ‘did coming from a small school hurt your draft stock’ by every reporter he’s talked to since the draft. His response was a lot more refreshing to me than the standard ‘I’m just blessed to be where I am’ (that doesn’t typically seem genuine).

Still, you could be right, just makes more sense to me that he’s finally letting loose on the question after hearing it for the 700th time.

by cabz on Aug 11, 2008 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it has to do with the fact that large school players are given the benefit of the doubt when they don’t put up, and coming from Rider, he didn’t like that.

by LiquidPolio on Aug 12, 2008 12:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's also speaking to his hometown beat reporter

To be polite when questioned by SI or ESPN is one thing but when he’s at home he ought to have the room for more candid dialogue. As fans we want to get to know the members of the team. If, wihle speaking with SA, he stayed with the cagey “I’m blessed for this I’m blessed for that” line I would have been a little disappointed. Just like I would have been disappointed if I were deeemd worthy of the 12th pick in the draft and I’d not even been invited to attend my own draft night photo op.

by BrooklynFan on Aug 12, 2008 5:46 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

jea

free special ed.

by Swissy14 on Aug 12, 2008 9:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Who's Ed?

And what’s so special about him?

Let's go home.-Kevin Martin

by LeaguePassAddict on Aug 12, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Some things are not meant to be understood

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Aug 12, 2008 1:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's a talking horse

Duh!

Kevin Pritchard has Chuck Norris tied up in the trunk of his car.

by otis29 on Aug 12, 2008 1:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Aug 12, 2008 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If I knew

what was so special about Ed, I might want to help save him.

Just sayin’.

Let's go home.-Kevin Martin

by LeaguePassAddict on Aug 12, 2008 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Couple thigns

First I don’t think the point about Marvin Williams was as much as him talking shit about Marvin, as much as pointing out that what teams end up valuing around draft time and 10 yeasr later are reasons why guys like Jerry Reynolds talk about the draft being an imperfect science.

That being said, it was a good interview, and makes me wonder why it took so long to be released since Vegas happened almost 3 weeks ago now.

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Aug 12, 2008 1:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs