NBA Draft Time! (Time for Warriors FAIL)

Friday, June 26th, 2009

It’s draft time!

(Yes, I scheduled this post to go up right before the draft)

I can accept the Warriors won’t find a way to get my new mancrush Ricky Rubio, so the only other person who I’m interested in is Terrence Williams. He’s athletic, can really pass (5 assists per game in college, most PGs can’t even do that), and can defend. He could be the next Iguodala (very similar skill set coming out of college) or maybe even Sprewell (people may say I’m crazy, but Sprewell was rated low in college) He can’t shoot or really score, but I think he can develop that, and when you’re on a Don Nelson team, if you can run, dunk, defend, and pass, you’ll be fine. The Warriors could use more passing and defense anyway even if its considered a reach to get him at #7. He played 4 years at a big basketball program (Louisville), so I think he can step in and contribute immediately.

And yeah, can he dunk



In the last few drafts, here’s whom I wanted for the Warriors

  • 2008: Kevin Love. Good!
  • 2007: Don’t remember. Probably Yi or Corey Brewer. Oops.
  • 2006: LaMarcus Aldridge and then Rudy Gay when I saw him slipping. Grizzlies got him so the Warriors ended up with Patrick O’Bryant. Enough said. 2006 was seriously a weak draft.

What the Warriors need to do this offseason:

  • Trade Jamal Crawford or Corey Maggette. Either would be pretty good as an offense only 6th man. Unfortunately, the Warriors have both, and they both make a ton of $. No way Crawford opts out.
  • Keep Brandan Wright. They can’t get good trade value out of him anyway, so might as well give him some more opportunities. He’s not like O’Bryant who was lazy and never could play, Wright’s been injured, but has shown promise.
  • Warriors just need to get rid of swingmen. They have plenty of good ones, and they’re probably going to draft another one anyway. So try to burn through Kelenna Azubuike and Marco Belinelli if you have to, even if I do like both of them. There’s just only so much playing time to be had. I would guess Kelenna has the most value of the Warriors guards, considering talent, potential, and current salary. Morrow is worth holding on to over Kelenna to see how far he can improve.
  • Here’s the list of shooting guards (including non-true points) and small forwards they have that are pretty decent and could probably play 20 minutes a game on a good team: Azubuike, Maggette, Crawford, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Morrow, Monta Ellis, Marco Belinelli and (maybe he’s a stretch at the moment). That’s 7 guys! You basically add two more guys, and that’s a normal NBA rotation. But out of all them, only Jackson defends, and none really can run the team. They need to find a way get rid of at least 2 of these guys (or maybe 3 if they draft another one)

Predictions! This is all just for fun, like I know anything.

  • The Warriors will disappoint me, and do none of the above
  • Blake Griffin will not be the best player to have come out of this draft
  • There will be no crazy draft deals, though I want there to be. Shake it up! [Edit: I wrote this before the Jefferson and Miller/Foye deals. I guess I was wrong, those were some decent deals]
  • At least 3 of the highly touted lottery PGs (Rubio, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry, JRue Holiday, Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans) will suck (never be starters on a decent team- Sebastian Telfair is an example) or not play that position (that only applies for Tyreke really).
  • When I think of Stephen Curry, I think of BJ Armstrong. That’s based on nothing other that ill informed perceptions though. DraftExpress really likes him, so I’d be willing to believe in him as a Warrior
  • Ty Lawson, the 7th of the 6 lottery PGs, will be a better player than at least two of the PGs who go in front of him
  • Updated busts, these are the lottery guys who I guarantee (again, means nothing, but I say it like it does) will be full time starters in the NBA fo r a decent team:
  • Jordan Hill -  people think he should go to the Warriors. I don’t know if he’s any good, but I do know he’s an athletic rebounding power forward who can’t shoot, pass, rely on a good low post game, or play good defense. Yeah, he maybe has a better body than Anthony Randolph and Brandan Wright, but is he really any more talented?
  • Hasheem Thabeet – Hasheem will almost have to be a starter by default because he’s 7’3 and a Center, but will not live up to his top 3 draft ranking
  • DeMar DeRozan – people should stop using the Vince comparison.
  • Gerald Henderson – went to Duke. I’m just saying…..
  • 3 of the PGs above
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26.06.2009 Basketball 1 Comment

(No Homo) Ryan Reynolds – The Nines [Review]

Monday, July 7th, 2008

Continuing my recent man crush parade on Ryan Reynolds, I checked out The Nines, a movie released late last year.

It’s really hard to describe the movie, and when I read the general plot line, it didn’t seem interesting at all. Even if you watch the trailer below, it doesn’t seem that interesting.

But I watched it for Ryan Reynolds (ladies, he takes off his shirt in this, and if you have ever seen him with his shirt off, you will understand and appreciate why I mention this), and it was worth it. He is excellent in this, but so is everyone else.

(I wish I had his abs. When I watch basketball, I sometimes get excited and want to go shoot hoops- Ryan Reynolds makes me want to go do crunches.

Whoa. That is very much a least some homo there. Moving on
.)

It’s quite a good movie, it’s a bit of a conceptual piece (though not as much as The Fountain that slowly comes into focus. You just can’t really talk about it or describe it in a way to make people understand if they should see it or not. At the same time I can see it being a this-is-weird, miss, or this-is-awesome, hit type of movie.

I’m on the side of hit, giving it a 7/10 on IMDB.

Like I just said it feels a bit off, but I think that’s what’s intended. It’s hard to know how to rate it. I have some more to say about it, but I consider it a bit of a spoiler, so it’s after the trailer. I suggest not reading in order to focus more on the movie experience.

In the middle of the movie, one of the characters is doing a test pilot focus group. People are watching a TV show pilot and then giving feedback on the show. When I watched the movie, that’s how I felt- I felt like there was some concept or some idea that was being pushed to me. Not as focused or mature as it normally should belike you’d seen in a TV show in its 3rd of fourth year, but I felt like the person being tested, being gauged to see if I could follow the movie, was it interesting, did I like the characters.

Very unique, and my assumption is this was intended.

Trailer:

(The Nines Trailer)

*****Potential Spoilers******

I read an article a couple of months ago talking about how there’s a good possibility we’re (our universe/world) just part of a simulation. Kind of how we’re trying to make video games now that simulate real life, this world could be someone’s advanced artificial intelligence simulation. This idea was somewhat shown at the end of Men in Black- remember how they kept zooming out and eventually the entire universe was shown as one marble an alien was playing marbles with?

Basically, we are not all that in the universe, where universe means everything we can or cannot imagine. It’s an idea I very much believe in, and on a religious level, I know that there was no way I could understand the concept of a higher being or a god. Having that kind of awareness will instantly make me insane.

Anyway, let’s going back to The Nines, this is the concept that the movie wraps itself in.

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07.07.2008 Movies, Reviews No Comments

Chaos Theory [Review]

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Did I mention I really really like Ryan Reynolds? I just watched Chaos Theory (8 hrs after Definitely, Maybe), and it’s another fine example of how great he is.

Ryan Reynolds is legit!

Chaos Theory, like Definitely, Maybe, fits the romantic comedy category but not really the mold. Just a serious, intriguing story involving romance, real life issues and complications, and comedic elements.

I would describe the movie, at least a little bit, but it just wouldn’t sound very exciting.

Here’s the trailer, instead:


I gave it a 9/10 on IMDB.

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15.06.2008 Movies, Reviews No Comments

Definitely Maybe [Review]

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

It’s been a long time since I liked a movie this much.

A disclaimer is required though- I have a mancrush on Ryan Reynolds. I watched his start in 2 Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place (The girl’s now in the TV show Monk, and don’t know where the other guy is) 10 years ago on ABC and have been a fan ever since.

Reynolds stars as a just divorcing father whose daughter just learned all about sex and wants to know why things are supposedly “complicated” in terms of her parents’ splitting up. As Reynolds stammers and tries to avoid the discussion of why he can’t just fix his marriage so easily, his daughter forces him to tell the story of how he met her mother, a tale that looks at his post-college move to New York and key relationships with three women- a examination of his life and love with the result being his daughter.

Definitely, Maybe is defined as a romantic comedy, but I think it contains a lot less fluff than my stereotype of a Matthew McConaughey/Sandra Bullock/Kate Hudson romantic comedy movie.

Consider it more of a drama in some ways, it’s just a serious movie, a serious look at the father’s life, but with plenty of charming and comedic elements. It’s smart and non formulaic, it feels complex and complicated and mysterious.

My score for it on IMDB, 9/10.

Here’s the trailer:

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15.06.2008 Movies, Reviews No Comments

Mancrush on Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl [Review]

Monday, February 18th, 2008

I love Ryan Gosling. I like him from the commercials of the Notebook (that’s right, commercials. I’ve wanted to see it for a while, but never gotten around to it for the same reason explain in my Enchanted post) and I haven’t even seen him in Half Nelson, so really this mancrush is based on Young Hercules, which was an amazingly good Fox Kids daily afternoon show from Saban, which also did Power Rangers. Ryan’s 14 days older than me, so it’s not like I was so little boy when this all happened- Young Hercules ran about 10 years ago.

Lars and the Real Girl Movie Poster In Lars and the Real Girl, Gosling stars as the titular character Lars, a man who buys a plastic doll to become his girlfriend. Delusional, he treats her (uh, it) as a real person while the small town he lives in struggles with accepting his condition. Even though I complained against Juno because I thought its plot was unrealistic, the situation here with the town and the overall plot is yet somehow realistic. Although the town is uncomfortable with his mental state, they grow to accept the situation because they care so much about him. The acceptance from the town grows gradually, and though it’s obvious Lars has mental issues (the movie does go into why he may have them), you can see his mental growth and recovery over the movie, and it’s amazing to see.

One one side, because I think the world is normally not that great of a place for those who are just not so normal….especially in America, the supposed homeland of tolerance and freedom, you might feel if you were to read a plot synopsis of this, how the movie progresses, just that it would never happen, but when you’re watching the movie, you truly believe in it. The characters are real, with depth and flaws, and I think that the movie stars in a small town, rather than more “modern” America, could have something to do with its believability as well.

I gave the movie 8/10 on IMDB.

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18.02.2008 Movies, Reviews 2 Comments