magnumt wrote:KnicksGod wrote:magnumt wrote:You got "Porzingis may end up with a bad attitude" from THAT video?!
So I guess Steph Curry must be a vile human being to you then?
The nerve of KP, having fun while representing his country BY CHOICE. The nerve of KP running youth camps and building a basketball court to do so.
...how DARE he!
Y'all nig*as reach for anything these days.
--Mags
I'll just have to disagree with you that running a basketball camp is a sign of true goodness or toughness.
Actually goodness is not really what I'm even talking about. Agree to disagree.
I want to see signs of a tough and mature person who is determined to do his part on the court by becoming great. KP has to convince me he's one of the best young bigs in the game. His offseason workout videos don't tickle my toenail.
And yes, him throwing his weight around after a good but not great 2nd season -- that's a little inconsistent with the typical path of a great player. Again, Kawhi would not have done it, nor would Parker. Just two guys that come to mind who are sort of at KP's level of talent, but just have shown themselves to be great players over the years. Let's hope KP gets there too.
As for his videos, they're not conclusive proof of a clown. But they're not impressive either, just like a basketball camp isn't ... to me.Be great and win. That's what matters. Not your social media personality.
Dude, that's not what you said.
You said Porzingis is heading down the path of a jerk (ala Dwight). Now you're going off into some tangent about "toughness & mentality"?!
Lose focus much?
Anyway, Porzingis is NOW entering his THIRD year after averaging 18/7/2 in under 30 MPG. Let that sink in for a sec.
And Parker?? Jabari? Let his ACLs hold up and then we'll talk.
FYI, Kawhi didn't become Kawhi until about year 4.
Porzingis also HAS NEVER BACKED DOWN from.a challenge (and QUITE a few NBA players have issued said challenge thinking he's just another"soft Euro"):
And ofcourse this gem:So yeah, keep saying stupid **** my man!
I'll take that
24/7, 365 days! Curry too!
--Mags
Jerk not as in -- 'He isn't nice to children and doesn't like puppies.'
Jerk as in -- likes promoting himself and gets distracted, maybe not entirely focused on greatness.
Another and perhaps better way to explain it is as focused or not focused. If a guy is worried about his likes, forget about KP for a second and just imagine a guy who cares about this a little too much, then I would say that's troubling if you're someone trying to evaluate his odds of greatness.
You don't have to call that a jerk or not a jerk. But to me it's a form of jerky behavior.
Humans have only so much bandwidth. Greatness requires a lot of bandwidth. If you're not focused on it almost exclusively all year round, your odds go down. It's really not that hard to understand or defend.
LeBron probably didn't have to focus on it as much, nor Shaq. They're that gifted ... I also think they didn't really spread their "distracted wings" until AFTER they had accomplished a lot. They were already becoming great.
Now times have changed. Social media is a big thing. That's great I guess. But if I was advising players, I'd tell them to hire someone to do all their social media posts. Maybe KP has. We don't even know.
Him going back and forth with a girl is not something that INCREASES his odds of being great ...
... that's something we can probably all agree on.
Slightly OT but do you think Donald Trump has time to invest in his job as president AND also call people out and figure out who is against him or not and Tweet about them? No he doesn't. Just like Mike D'Antoni spent so much time giggling at his own jokes and fighting with refs -- you knew that dude was not focused on his job. Now maybe that's because the Knicks were not good and he had no idea how to fix them.
But yes, I subscribe to the idea, fully and unabashedly, that you can SEE signs of a person's focus by how they conduct themselves. It really isn't a crazy idea.
Are they all about getting better and winning or are they jerking away from that core mission into sidebars and nonsense? I'll admit that I don't really know what's going on with KP that much if you admit that the connection between quiet and focused determination and greatness is real. And after a while, it does tend to become obvious when a player does not have it in him to be great.
That's not always distraction, much of the time it's simple lack of ability. Charles Smith wasn't distracted in a way that we knew about. He just wasn't very good and never lived up to his hype. If Kawhi was not as serious about being great as he was, he wouldn't have gotten there. He has some definite gifts but he's not overflowing with talent. That's largely self-made greatness there.
I would say KP is also not talented enough to half ass it. He better be mentally right to become great.
And please don't tell me Charles Smith couldn't shoot like KP. That's not my point.
Yes I think great shooting can cover up a lot. And KP has shown signs that he could be great. I'm a believer in that. But the Phil exit stuff, some of the stuff we see ... I'd admit I can't condemn him for it, I've said that repeatedly, but to pretend it's definitely meaningless ... nope, that ain't true either.
* We have a Brunson Burner™ *