BR.O.Y. is back

And he's tearing it up already. 16 points 10 rebounds and 8 assists is a pretty good way to announce that you're back in the running for the Rookie of the Year award. Looks like I'll have to start updating the R.O.Y watch...

Please be true, Nate Rob

Nate Rob has offered an apology and made some promising statements (free but requires a membership) after the skirmish with Denver. This is more like the Nate Rob we know and love. I love the quote at the end of the article:

“That’s not who I am,” he said. “That’s not the person I’m trying to influence kids to go out and be, because me, I’m fun, I’m happy all the time, I’m smiling. I work hard, I play hard and I’m just protecting my family.”

He also made some comments about not allowing his emotions to get the best of him. I know this probably will not always be possible for Nate, since he is such a passionate guy, but I hope this is a lesson for him. The more his mind is on what is best for the team, the better. I know that he wants to support his teammates at all times, and his rush to the defense of Mardy Collins is proof of that, but being a professional at all times is more valuable than Nate understands. Or hopefully, understood.

Nate Rob, you fool...

To eliminate any confusion, I think the reaction to "The Brawl" has been completely overblown. Participants in many fights worse than the Knicks Nuggets melee have b een punished less severely. Greg Anthony, another Knick, left the bench in street clothes in 1993 to sucker punch Kevin Johnson and only got 5 games. How is what anyone did on Saturday worse than that, let alone worth 3 times the punishment? Fights happen in sports, and in the case of the Knicks, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. They've been sucking, and every althelete has pride. Eventually one of them was going to snap. All that aside, Nate Rob has gone and done something stupid.

A few weeks ago he screwed up a toss to himself dunk in a close game against the Cavs and admitted it was dumb, saying he wouldn't try it again "Unless we're up by 20." In other words, he wouldn't do something needlessly flashy unless he was in a situation where he could show up the other team.

The Knicks were down 20 at home. If it were the other way around, Nate would have absolutely tried to get a highlight reel dunk in before time expired. But his reaction to the play by J.R. Smith is completely contradictory to his comments about his own show boating. "They just wanted to embarrass us. It was a slap in the face to us. As a team, as a franchise, we weren't going to let that happen." Nate should have to take it if he wants to give it out. His role in this fight highlights his immaturity, and to me, indicates a regression from his behavior at UW.

As much as I felt Larry Brown was going to be a great mentor for Nate, I believe Isiah is the worst possible coach for Nate. Larry Brown was always about playing winning basketball. Doing it the right way, making good choices and playing as a team are his priorities. Isiah clearly views basketball (and maybe life) as a series of personal wars, and places a lot of value in not only winning, but establishing dominance over the other team.


"The attack by those who want to die - this is the attack against which you cannot prepare a perfect defense." - exerpt from "The Dosadi Experiment" by Frank Herbert

I hated Isiah Thomas growing up. Being a kid in Chicago that was too young to know that Chitown was Isiah's before it was Jordans, he was the bully we couldn't beat. The guy we should have beat but couldn't. The Pistons were the only true rival of the Jordan led Bulls teams. The Celtics had already faded when the Bulls got really good, and the Knicks were never really a threat. Jordan and the Bulls were talented enough to beat the Pistons the two years they lost to them in the eastern conference finals. We had a strong enough roster, but the Pistons would do whatever it took to win. Isiah set the tone for those Piston teams. He was the general, Liambeer was the sergeant at arms, and the Bulls were their bitches. Domination was all that mattered. Isiah was a suicide bomber on the court.



Nate Rob has always been an instigator. He was the engine behind UW when he played here. Everyone fed off of his fearless nature and his desire to completely destroy the opponent. At the same time, Nate Rob is addicted to flash, and clearly likes to be the center of attention. Nate wants to be on sportscenter, he wants to excite the crowd, and he want to rip his opponents still beating heart from his chest (Kali Ma!). At UW, I felt the win was what drove Nate more than anything. Occasionally you'd see him do something dumb to show up the competition (like the time expiring dunk he put on Oregon), but for the most part, proving UW was a team to fear appeared to be his top priority.

On the Knicks, Nate Rob is more concerned with himself. This is a cultural problem that centers around Isiah. Isiah made it OK to openly question coach Brown, and tacitly allowed the Knicks to put their own personal goals ahead of the teams. Nate Rob, in the center of this, decided his own pride is what mattered most. Nate clearly has a passion for the game, but with the team he is currently on, he is unable to see himself as the selfless player that could be great. Instead, he's little more than a punk. And it makes me sad.

Is this heaven? No, it's Europe...

As a fan of any and all basketball (except for 90's style Knicks murderball), I am very curious about the euro basketball scene. But at this point, it's basically a mythical fantasy land to me. A place full of slow-but-coordinated 6'11" jump shooters who can pass. A place where Orlando Woolridge was king (my dad's favorite line about him when I was growing up in Chicago: "There's a D in Woolridge, but it's silent."). Where fundamentally sound NCAA players go to bang hot French chicks and populate the world with Tony Parkers. Is this heaven? No, it's Europe...

While this is all lollipops and fuzzy bunnies, there is a darker, more mysterious side to European basketball. I don't know much about it, because all of their secrets are in some strange, non-English language. All I know is that I am not allowed to find out where they buried Tre Simmons' body. And that bothers me, cause I spent about two hours this morning digging through Spanish league websites trying to find him to no avail. The lesson here is it's very very difficult to find simple information about many of the Euro leagues if you do not speak the native language of the league (or you are unwilling to shell out 29 cents a day). As much as I've seen euros complain on US basketball blogs about self centered we are when it comes to basketball, you'd think that there would be some nice internet resources out there for us "stupid Americans". But there aren't. At least as far as I can tell. While there are nice sites for The Euroleague (which is a best of the best league like the UEFA Champions League is for soccer football), there are very few English language resources for the national leagues.

I suppose part of my problem is that I am looking for somewhat marginal players. Chester "Tre" Simmons and Jamaal Willams are not exactly world beaters and play on marginal teams. And although I did find some information on each player (I was more lucky with Jamaal Willams), a lot of it was old, and none of it was in English. If I was Europe, and I wanted to show off my basketballs to dumb Americans increase the exposure of European basketball in the US, I would create an English language website that helps college fans to track the progress of their favorite gritty team player from their college team who are ballerin' it up over there. I would read that site daily. I would put a link to it on Hec Heads.

Brandon Roy commercials

So, stayin in Portland for the Thanksgiving weekend. I have been here a little more then 24 hours. I have seen 20 Brandon Roy commericals. SAVIOR!

Nate Rob REJECTS Yao Ming!

Shoot son, did you see Nate Rob REJECT Yao Ming last night. That shit was baller!


Another highlight in the long list of Nate Rob jumping out of the building highlights.

<- look over there, it's the R.O.Y. Watch

Henry Abbot thought he was maybe the first person to state ROY=R.O.Y., but apparently some other dude did. Since we've only had a blog for like, less than two months and thus have no history to point to, I will not make any claims of predating their cleverness. Nor should I. Even if I am pretty sure I heard that somehwere long before the NBA draft, I have no proof to offer. I definitely did not come up with it on my own as I am a slow reader. It took me like 10 or 15 reps of Rrrr....Ooooo.....Y, Ruh....OYE, Ruh..OYE, RUH-OYE, ROY! before I felt comfortable saying his name off the cuff. In related news, I am very close to being able to tell which one of these things is not like the others, and which one of these things does not belong.

What I can say that is we are the first site that I know of to have an official "Brandon R.O.Y Watch", which tracks his progress over the course of the season. You may have already noticed it. It's that thingy on the left there that says "Brandon R.O.Y. Watch". Look for marginal craptastic improvements as I steal learn from other peoples html code.

NateRob - season update

3 games into the season, Nate Robinson is producing for the Knicks. He is averaging 14.0 ppg off the bench in 23 minutes. Not bad. Nate needs to put out a higher assist per turnover ratio 1.33 TO to 1 apg.

Brandon Roy watch - Update!

We will be adding a Brandon Roy watch column to our blog here in the next couple of days. Through 3 games, Brandon is off to a fast start in the NBA, averaging 18.3 points per game, 5.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 38.3 minutes per game. Click here to view the rest of B-Roy's stats.

It will be interesting to see how Brandon holds up for an entire NBA season. He has already commented in the media about several games being a bit different then is used to. I think Nate needs to use him a bit less then 38 minutes a game, but that is just me. Interesting stat is that Roy has missed all 8 three pointers he has taken this year, and is only shooting 38.3% from the field.

Here is an article from opening night as Roy shined in Seattle.

Where are they now: Jamaal Williams

France! I randomly found this today (um, yeah... randomly. I look through french basketball sites like, all the time, so shutup (no, not really)). I'm glad our favorite 6'5" post threat found a place to play.

Roy for ROY

Well, it is appearent that taking Sheldon Williams at pick 5 could be the worst move ever looking at the stat line of Brandon Roy last night.

Brandon Roy 35 minutes, 10-16 shooting, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

Here a look at other rookies this year in the debut games in the regular season.

Shelden Williams 16 minutes, 0-2 shooting, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block
Adam Morrison 32 minutes, 5-13 shooting, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists - Buzzer beater end of 1st.
Tyrus Thomas 16 minutes, 4 points, 5 boards.
Rajon Rondo - 23 minutes 2-6 shooting, 6 point, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Andrea Bargnani 9 minutes, 2 points

Roy for ROY, oh yeah, he got a "W" against his hometown Sonics too!

Washington Alumni, doing the Romar system justice!

BRoy - In Seatlle with a Win!

BROYYYYYY! Wow, BRoy was at Key Arena last Friday for the Sonics-Blazers exhibition game. So, Pat and I attended Key Arena last Friday drunk as a homeless man in the U-District. Everytime that BRoy scored, we went nuts, and the people around us were SERIOUSLY pissed at our cheering. ROMAR WAS THERE TOO! They put him on the big screen and I went nuts! I HEART ROMAR!

Vote for Nate!

Help Nate Rob win picture of the year!

Vote now for picture of the year at NBA.com. Nate Rob is up against Ben Wallace for picture of the year, and needs your help! Vote for Nate!