Durant seems to have list of 6 teams he will interview with in NYC

bobheckler wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:I even included KO to make you all happy.

Cow,

I'll bet that hurt.


bob

.

you must know that feeling too, like watching him get tossed like a ragdoll while trying to rebound

bobheckler wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:I even included KO to make you all happy.

Cow,

I'll bet that hurt.


bob

.

Cow is playing the long game:

One of the many reasons I didn't want Bender is because some (many) NBA guys are going to take a bunch of cheap shots at him for no reason (being white).



At least Zizic is tough enough to take it and give it back.

dboss wrote:Durant very likely to stay with OKC.

They can retain him and still add a high profile vet.  Problem is that they now need a PF that can rebound and defend and maybe give them 10 PPG.

Not a lot of positional options there in free agency so they probably need to make another trade.  I would suspect that the Thunder got the green light from Durant to move Serge.  

Dboss

what they may give up defensively can be made up offensively with more minutes for Kantor and Olidipo

arambone wrote:One of the many reasons I didn't want Bender is because some (many) NBA guys are going to take a bunch of cheap shots at him for no reason (being white).



At least Zizic is tough enough to take it and give it back.

how do you know this is racial? was Green kicking Adams in the nuts racial? were Lebron and Green mixing it up racial?

cowens/oldschool wrote:

arambone wrote:One of the many reasons I didn't want Bender is because some (many) NBA guys are going to take a bunch of cheap shots at him for no reason (being white).



At least Zizic is tough enough to take it and give it back.

how do you know this is racial? was Green kicking Adams in the nuts racial? were Lebron and Green mixing it up racial?

Watch these two black guys admit it and break it down:

Significance of Nik Stauskas' Statement

Assuming  Durant's meeting with x number of teams is a dog and pony show, the Celtics focus should be on Whiteside, Howard.....and then all the other backup centers.  

The only one that is really worth a max deal is Whiteside.

Riley will be using some old Jedi mine tricks on the kid.  Truth be told the Heat, have more question marks than an online survey.   If ever there was a time to embrace greed now is the time.  Let us hope that Riley cannot sell the hometown discount to the kid.

James if nothing else may help us.  He set a precedent when he rejected the Riley pitch.

Dboss

Ranbone

I can see you have real issues dealing with race.

Now you have the ignorance to post a video of two black guys in an effort to prove your point.  Those two black guys are NOT authorities.  

Players will certainly go hard at Bender for a lot of reasons but the color of his skin is not one of them.  

Your logic reflects a serious deficiency in reality.  One of the many reasons you did not want Bender because he was white and black players would cheap shot him.

Do you not have enough self control to avoid making inflammatory ststements?

Horrible.  This is not the first time you have stepped across the line.  

I find your comments extremely offensive and obtuse.

Dboss

dboss wrote:Ranbone

I can see you have real issues dealing with race.

Now you have the ignorance to post a video of two black guys in an effort to prove your point.  Those two black guys are NOT authorities.  

Players will certainly go hard at Bender for a lot of reasons but the color of his skin is not one of them.  

Your logic reflects a serious deficiency in reality.  One of the many reasons you did not want Bender because he was white and black players would cheap shot him.

Do you not have enough self control to avoid making inflammatory ststements?

Horrible.  This is not the first time you have stepped across the line.  

I find your comments extremely offensive and obtuse.

Dboss

you find my comments un-politically correct and thus unacceptable. The accuracy of the statements have nothing to do with it.

Let me guess, black people are incapable of racism, too.

And if Barkley or Shaq said the exact same thing I said (noticed), you'd declare that they are the only two black NBA players who would ever think such a thing.

Then you'd pat yourself on the back for being morally superior, confident in your belief that only white people can have race issues, or even notice them.


All I did was make a simple observation, but it's simply unacceptable to you and proves that I'm a racist.

"Players will certainly go hard at Bender for a lot of reasons but the color of his skin is not one of them."

Your god-like omniscience goes well with your moral superiority.

Burn him at the stake!

Bird: NBA 'a black man's game'

Larry Loser wrote:Larry Bird says he wants to see more white superstars in the NBA, but the legendary former Celtic has also revealed that nothing in basketball bothered him more than being guarded by another white player.

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1818396

Nobody thinks Bird or Maxwell or Stauskas or those two guys discussing race in that video are racist. And I doubt many black people would find my original comment above racist. Only smug, politically correct white people.

Celtic forward Cedric Maxwell also admitted that at the time, a lot of black players were biased against caucasian players, openly skeptical that they could play well against top competition since there was a dearth of white stars in the league.

"I saw Larry and it was like eh, he looks like just another white guy," Maxwell recalled. After Bird drained three consecutive long shots over the third-year forward, each from further out, Cornbread started to believe the hype."I was like damn, okay, this white boy can play."

http://www.celticsblog.com/2015/1/7/7507079/the-story-of-how-rookie-phenom-larry-bird-led-the-nbas-greatest

How about changing the direction of this thread?
Keep it about Durant!

tjmakz wrote:How about changing the direction of this thread?
Keep it about Durant!

good idea.

Bone

One should concern themselves with what they say.

Apparently some people hear things and buy into racial stereotypes and it becomes part of their mindset.

This has nothing to do with what this person said or that person said.  It has to do with your statement that one of the reasons you did not want Bender is because  Black players would go at him.

That is a racist thought that is not supported by anything.  That is your thinking.  That is on your mind because you accept stereotypes about the way black players think about white players.

You do not know a damn thing about this.

Dboss

Thank you, TJ. I was just about to summon the spirit of Sam the Moderator to put out the fire!

db

Dboss, I think all people a basically the same, and as such, I know that racists exist among all racial groups, not just among white people.

You don't seem to know that.

If you weren't riding so high on your horse you'd have noticed I didn't say all black players are going to target Bender for being white. That would have been a racist comment but that's not what I said, so don't twist my words and label me a racist based on YOUR twisting of MY words.

If you don't think it's even possible that a black person could have race issues/resentments/racism against white people, you're only fooling yourself.


Moving on, there are other issues at play with Bender, and even Ben Simmons coming into the NBA. The reputation for Euros/internationals being soft is one that is well earned, with plenty of historical evidence to support that stereotype. A guy like Zizic cleary doesn't fit the stereotype, but there are many more that do.

As Bird correctly stated, the NBA is a black man's game. It's also a very tough, physical game, and very different in that way from most international leagues. Many of the NBA's players come from tough economic and sociological circumstances, where being tough is basically a necessity. Many European and other international players, and many American players as well, were not raised on mean streets and don't have the requisite toughness needed to succeed in the NBA.

European cultures and Australian cultures, and actually a lot of different cultures, are more laid back than the local cultures that a lot of NBA players come from. It's still possible to be NBA Tough coming from any culture/place on earth, but culture can certainly affect the likelihood of a prospect being NBA Tough.

Ben Simmons and Dante Exum before him come from a laid back Australian culture, and seem to be laid back guys themselves. I'm not sure Simmons even knows what's coming, especially since the PHI coach has plans to play him mostly/exclusively at power forward.

Simmons will be targeted for being a foreigner, for being a highly hyped prospect, and for having an apparent sense of entitlement.

In the rough and tough NBA, players use any/all kinds of reasons to get motivated and destroy their opponents. Race just happens to be ONE of those reasons that SOME NBA players use to motivate themselves in a league where many of the most successful players view their opponents with the most animosity.

And players who can't make the adjustment often find themselves running back to the safety of European leagues, which is where I suspect Dragan Bender will eventually end up. The guy plays not to get injured in Europe, and can't even get off the bench for a losing team in desperate need of help winning games. The NBA is going to eat him alive, by all kinds of players, for all kinds of reasons. Race being one of them, by SOME players with racial issues, even if sometimes those issues are just manufactured for one game as a way to get properly motivated to destroy the other team.

I'm all done on this topic, mods feel free to delete any/all of my comments, or even my account if you see fit.

Many as you said or one or two few

You just cannot help yourself.   You just have to inject an unnecessary racial element into the mix.  That does not make you a racist.  I did not call you a racist.  But what you said is very offensive to me.  

I would bet that there is not one single poster on this board that feels one of many reasons not to draft Bender is because black players will go at him based on the fact that he is white.

That is a stupid and insensitive feeling to post on this board.  

Bone..you post great comments but the dark side compromises your humanity.

Everytime you pop off with some Bullshit comment I am going to call you out.

Dboss

I, for one, never even thought of any NBA players pushing and shoving a skinny guy like Bender because of the color of his skin or even where he came from, but rather did think that every guy he played against would push and shove him until he didn't allow himself to get pushed any more. Guys built like Bender always have had to withstand such pushing and shoving until they grow up and grow into a spot where they no longer accept the abuse. Cripes, this is true even in middle school basketball.

It is a natural fate for any skinny rookie to have to earn his spots on the floor against the bigger, stronger and older guys. In fact, when Zizic plays against Bender I will bet that he tries to push Bender around as well and Zizic is neither older nor blacker-just stronger.

dboss wrote:Many as you said or one or two few

You just cannot help yourself.   You just have to inject an unnecessary racial element into the mix.  That does not make you a racist.  I did not call you a racist.  But what you said is very offensive to me.  

I would bet that there is not one single poster on this board that feels one of many reasons not to draft Bender is because black players will go at him based on the fact that he is white.

That is a stupid and insensitive feeling to post on this board.  

Bone..you post great comments but the dark side compromises your humanity.

Everytime you pop off with some Bullshit comment I am going to call you out.

Dboss

Fair enough, Dboss.

so we should get rid of KO since black players will go right at him cause hes white and defenseless?

cowens/oldschool wrote:so we should get rid of KO since black players will go right at him cause hes white and defenseless?

I don't see much evidence that Bender will develop into a 40% 3 point shooter and 3 point contest invitee. Without the 3 point shot, Olynyk would have little value.

wideclyde wrote:I, for one, never even thought of any NBA players pushing and shoving a skinny guy like Bender because of the color of his skin or even where he came from, but rather did think that every guy he played against would push and shove him until he didn't allow himself to get pushed any more. Guys built like Bender always have had to withstand such pushing and shoving until they grow up and grow into a spot where they no longer accept the abuse. Cripes, this is true even in middle school basketball.

It is a natural fate for any skinny rookie to have to earn his spots on the floor against the bigger, stronger and older guys.  In fact, when Zizic plays against Bender I will bet that he tries to push Bender around as well and Zizic is neither older nor blacker-just stronger.

my thoughts exactly

[quote="arambone"]

cowens/oldschool wrote:so we should get rid of KO since black players will go right at him cause hes white and defenseless?[/qu

I don't see much evidence that Bender will develop into a 40% 3 point shooter and 3 point contest invitee. Without the 3 point shot, Olynyk would have little value.

even with that shot hes so weak in so many areas, hes practically useless