Dangerous A

And here is some workout info on potential sleeper Rawle Marshall... Rawle Marshall a camp sleeper? While Raymond Felton and Dee Brown did their thing, my eyes kept wandering to the other side of the gym where Oakland University's Rawle Marshall worked out against Michigan State's Alan Anderson. Marshall, a razor-thin, athletic, 6-foot-7 swingman from Detroit, averaged 19.9 ppg and 7.7 rpg during his senior season at Oakland (Mich.) University and is considered a possible second-round pick. He looked great in ATTACK's workouts on Monday. What stood out the most was his outside shooting. He has a super-smooth shooting stroke and was swishing NBA 3s with Joe Johnson-like consistency. He also has a very good handle for a guy his size and was excelling at several ballhandling drills meant for guards. Marshall was too thin in college, but trainer Tim Grover has been working on it. Marshall has added 15 pounds of muscle since showing up in Chicago. He also has long arms that allowed him to really disrupt Anderson whenever Anderson tried to dribble the ball. If he plays well in the Chicago pre-draft camp, Marshall could make a big move up the draft board. posted: June 6, 2005 1:17:14 PM PDT

Here is some workout info on some Bigs who haven't gotten as much pub as guys like May or Bogut.... Big upside in Chicago After the guards were done working out, several interesting big men took the floor at the West Loop Athletic Club (formerly known as Hoops the Gym). Chicago State's Deji Akindele, Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell and Vermont's Taylor Coppenrath all have been working out here and put on a show of contrasting styles on Monday. Akindele, a native of Nigeria, has the most upside. He's measured 6-foot-11½ in shoes. He has long arms, is extremely athletic, and has a ready-made NBA body. Akindele's in great shape and excelled at a tap drill where the prospect must tap the ball on the backboard five times and then dunk it, then four times and dunk, etc. The best player I ever saw at this drill was Andre Iguodala last year. Akindele was just as good, finishing all five reps. He also has great feet (the blessing of being a former soccer player) and likes to finish strong around the rim. He isn't a perfect prospect however. He still is very raw, especially offensively. He doesn't have much of a perimeter game and was even missing on some of the close-range stuff. However, if he goes into Chicago and has a big camp, I don't think there's any question he'll get consideration in the first round based solely on potential. Maxiell was the star in Portsmouth and did nothing to disappoint on Monday. No one plays harder or with more ferocity. He was bending the rim on every dunk. If he were three inches taller, he'd be a top-five pick. Still, you wonder if teams are sleeping on him a bit. He measured just 6-foot-7 in shoes at Portsmouth, but with a 7-foot-2 wingspan and a big vertical jump, he plays much bigger. He could really end up being a steal in the second round. Coppenrath clearly was the most skilled player on the floor. He has a soft touch around the basket and has range that extends all the way out to the NBA 3-point line. But athletically, Maxiell and Akindele are in a completely different world. Coppenrath is a good basketball player. But it's going to be hard for him to make the leap to the NBA because of his average athleticism. If he doesn't hook up with an NBA team, he'll be a big time player in Europe, however. posted: June 6, 2005 2:34:07 PM PDT

Here is Hakim Warrick's workout.... Hakim Warrick's workout The Chicago pre-draft camp doesn't start until tonight, so I took the chance to go back into Tim Grover's gym to catch Hakim Warrick's workout. Warrick worked out for the Knicks, Hornets, Blazers, Clippers, Lakers, Raptors and Bobcats. The reviews have been mixed. Teams love the athleticism and pedigree, but he plays so effortlessly that it often looks like he's coasting. He worked out vigerously for an hour alongside the 76ers' Andre Iguodala on Tuesday -- and barely broke a sweat. Despite the appearance, Grover says Warrick's one of the hardest workers in the gym. Warrick was in Charlotte on Monday working out for the Bobcats. After the workout GM Bernie Bickerstaff complimented Warrick on his improved mid-range jumper. He wasn't kidding. Warrick barely missed from inside 18 feet today. His shooting mechanics are silky smooth. He gets such great lift on his jumper that its going to be hard to stop at the pro level. The only real knock is that he hasn't developed real NBA 3-point range ... yet. Warrick's been working out with Grover for eight weeks in an attempt to work on his perimeter skills and add weight to his super-thin frame. The shot looks great, but his body is still a work in progress. Grover had him up to 228 before workouts began. But he's already dropped back down to 220. That's still an 18-pound improvement from when he came in. That's right -- he came into Grover's weighing 202 pounds. Grover believes Warrick eventually will weigh around 235, but Warrick has to keep drinking his protein shakes. "They're terrible," Warrick said. "Worst thing I've ever tasted. It takes me two-and-a-half hours to drink one. It's pink and tastes worse than Pepto Bismal." The reason his weight is such as issue is that teams are still trying to figure out his position in the pros. Warrick has the length and leaping ability to be a dominant 4, but he's going to have to keep packing on the weight if he's going to guard NBA power forwards. That's why the focus, for now, is on highlighting his skills as a 3. He still needs to work on his ballhandling and his long-range shooting, but he's improved dramatically in a short time. And in a few years, if the pounds ever come, he could be a big-time 4. "Hakim's just a player," Grover said. "When you roll out the ball in a game situation, he produces. I think he'll be a lottery pick based on what I've seen." If he keeps hitting that jumper and packing on the pounds, Grover might be right. posted: June 7, 2005 10:45:44 AM PDT

Here is a report from the Chicago workouts on 2 top point guards, Raymond Felton and Dee Brown.... Live from Chicago: Felton, Brown work out First up were the two fastest point guards in the draft – Raymond Felton and Dee Brown – joined by a surprise guest, former Bulls point guard Jay Williams. Felton looked the part of a lottery pick on Monday. He has a great body and blinding speed, and he was showing off his much-improved jumper. A couple of things really stood out: First, Felton is an amazing athlete. He was finishing lobs from Williams with tomahawk jams. That's special when you factor in that Felton measured 6-0¾ in socks. Second, Felton is super-quick laterally. Combine that with his strong upper body, and Felton has a chance to be a great pro defender. If Felton can continue to improve his jumper (he looked great from mid-range, inconsistent from NBA 3-point range), he has the chance to be a great pro. Brown might be, baseline to baseline, the fastest guy in the draft. He appears to have bulked up quite a bit in the last month, and he's got a nice shot that extends beyond the NBA 3-point line. The only knocks on him are size (he's only 5-11) and a lack of explosive jumping ability (he can't dunk). What he can't show in a workout like this is whether he can play the point. His ballhandling skills are good, but you can't judge decision-making skills here. That's why Brown will be playing in Chicago at the predraft camp. If he runs the point well there, he's got a shot at the late first round. posted: June 6, 2005 2:32:49 PM PDT

How is he overrated if critics skewer most of his movies? The guy makes generally funny bankable comedies and he knows what will draw people. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Jesus, I meant that he is overrated amongst the paying public. Like I give a fuck what critics think. I mean he is overrated amongst people like us. I never said he wasn't bankable. I know he's a draw. I am talking about talent in correlation to salary. I was trying to take the convo to a place where it doesn't seem that people bitch about actor's salaries, but they bitch about athletes. While I agree that athletes salaries should be criticized to an extent, I also feel why not the same scrutiny for hollywood actors?

I couldn't agree with you more on Raw sucking. In all actuality, I didn't like the ECW stuff either. It's like, great, you beat on Snitzky, Tomko, and Maven. Nice to see those guys on the level of ECW. Sorry, but I am not excited about watching ECW guys beat on WWE jobber dudes sans Edge and Christian. (although Christian is basically a jobber who is over with the crowd) Not a good show at all and definitely did not make me enthused about this sunday, that's for damn sure.

I have to agree with Flyboy a little here. While The Documentary was ok, Get Rich or Die Tryin was real, real good and I am not a 50 fan. Get Rich... while not boasting the greatest flow, had killer beats and hooks that make the album good music to play out of your car.

I think there are a lot of haters right about now going off of stereotypes seen from a year ago. Hate all you want, but this should be a very good Finals. Both teams are capable of playing great defense during stretches when they need it, but they are not half court, shut down Riley type teams anymore. The Spurs proved last series they can run when they want to. The Pistons won the championship last year. not executing the Lakers in the half court, but by out running them and then getting stops when they could or if they felt they could pull away some distance at certain points. I also feel both TEAMS have enough personality to carry me through. Just because the media haven't pumped gas about guys like Manu, Rasheed, Chauncey, or Tony Parker doesn't mean they won't provide entertaining basketball moments.

Excellent Game 7. You can really see where the poise and being a team together longer really helped the Pistons. The Heat took some pretty bad shots in the final 2 minutes when Shaq wasn't shooting. We are in for a kick ass Finals.

They probably filmed it JUST for the DVD. I noticed at BoxOfficeMojo that the Longest Yard cost $82 million. How the hell did it cost $82 million? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I know Sandler's salary of $25 million is part of that budget. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> $25 MILLION??? He is up to $25 MILLION? FOR WHAT? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You got me. I think the man is terribly overrated. And people bitch about athlete's salaries?

They probably filmed it JUST for the DVD. I noticed at BoxOfficeMojo that the Longest Yard cost $82 million. How the hell did it cost $82 million? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I know Sandler's salary of $25 million is part of that budget.

I'm not sure about Steiner's tolerance for wrestling while hurt, but he did hand DDP his ass backstage at a Thunder taping I believe. Quite sad because DDP was sticking up for his wife, who said Scott Steiner had pretty much sexually harassed her. DDP went to approach Steiner about it and according to reports from people who broke it up, it was a one sided affair and Steiner was on the better end.

One sad thing about tonight will be that this is the last TNT broadcast for this season. TNT is head and shoulders above ESPN and ABC in broadcasting games. They have the best pre and post show hosts in Barkly, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson and I really like the Kerr/Collins/Albert combo during the ECF. Very effective broadcasting crew from top to bottom.

I remember and Em dis on Ja on a mixtape that went like this... I done seen a lot of people go cross the line but this motherf*cker Ja must've lost his mind That Ecs got him thinking he was DMX then he switched to Pac, now he's trying to be him next So which one are you, X, Luther, Pac, or Michael Just keep singing that same song recycled We'd all much rather get along than fight you Me and Hailie dance to your songs, we like you And you don't want to go and step inside a mic booth C'mon dog, you know the white boy will bite you I'll hurt your pride dog, and you know I don't like you But I will if I have ta, with syllable after syllable, I'll just slap ya Killin you faster than you poppin little pill after pill of them tabs that you on But if you want it you got it you'd bump the shit too if we didn't dis you on it but if we lock horns we can charge harder than Busta we'll bump heads with any motherf*cker that wants ta So what's the deal, where was all the tough talk like when I walked up to you and said "Ja, what up dog?" How come you didn't say you had a problem then when you were standing there with all your men? We could've solved it then I'm a grown man, dog, come holla All you did was slap hands and swalla another one of those little Ecs pills in front of me and told me 50 Cent was everything that you wanted to be. I just love when anyone disses Ja Rule.

This is correct. I remember awhile back during the 50-Ja Rule wars when Jay-Z warned Ja not to go after Em because he'd murder him lyrically plus he's hot. Ja didn't listen and many, many dis tracks later, Ja was looking real stupid. I can imagine 50 having some pretty well thought out dis tracks for Em since 50's thing is beef, but if I were him, I wouldn't want to battle with Em. Hell, Canibus didn't want it with Em and Canibus is sick. I also think 50 knows this since he is all about the dollars and cents, would be willing to risk some of his rep to make some big dough.

I'd put Game in a Carlito status in that he isn't great in the ring either, but with a push, gets over with charisma.

It's sort of like wrestling in that your workrate MC's like Common, Kweli, Mos Def, Canibus, etc. have respect amongst the hardcore audience, but they are not getting MTV/TRL exposure like "star" MC's like 50 and Game. Jay-Z is a stud and he even admits that he has to dumb down his stuff for the mainstream because he can flow with the best. Em is in the same boat. Those 2 are like Rock or Austin in that they have tremendous workrate i.e. flow and are still huge stars. Game and 50 are stars who sell a lot of records, but can't hold a mic to a lot of the guys just listed in this post.

I'm banking on a big name to get drafted tonight as Meltz eluded to last night on WOL. I also wonder how much Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals will possibly effect the rating, especially since this is the first night of the draft. Add to that the Finals Game 1 is Thursday night. WWE v. NBA- Feel the Heat!!!

On Friday June 24th, Fuse will be airing the Summer Jam concert. The concert also has Jay-Z performing with Kanye West and such. Should be interesting to see how the Game/50 stuff is shown/portrayed.

I'm just gonna kick back tonight and hopefully watch a competitve Game 7. I don't have any real attachment to either team and have my reasons for wanting to watch each team succeed. Reasons to want the Heat to succeed for me, -Really like Wade, although if the Heat progress, he will not be 100% for the rest of the playoffs. -Like Shaq and would like to see him stick it to the Lakers. Reasons to want the Pistons to win, -Used to be a Pistons fan (back in the Mahorn-Laimbeer-Rodman Bad Boys days) and don't mind seeing them move ahead although I've become a Kings fan first and foremost. -Even though they blew their cool a couple times this series, the Pistons for the most part are a decent team with stand up guys. Even Rasheed is cleaned up in comparison to his Portland days. Winning will do that. May the best team win.

This bit from Allhiphop.com I guess shows the beef between 50 and Game isn't over.... The Game taunts 50 Cent at Hot 97's Summer Jam Ain’t no love in the heart of the city. At least when The Game comes to town. The West coaster lashed out against G-Unit members yesterday (June 5) during Hot 97’s Summer Jam concert — nearly overshadowing a surprise appearance by “the god MC” Jay-Z — in Game’s first New York performance since 50 Cent booted him from his camp over allegations of disloyalty and arguments regarding songwriting credits. “G-g-g-g-u-not!!!!” The Game sneered throughout his set, as he appeared at Giants Stadium, which is actually in New Jersey, decked out in a matching Mets fitted cap and baseball jersey. “I ain’t no solider and I don’t follow suit like Yayo and Lloyd Banks,” he continued to a mixed reaction of boos and cheers. Performing selections from his multi-platinum album The Documentary, including “How We Do” and “Dreams,” The Game made sure to rework lyrics on the tracks in order to avoid celebrating his one-time affiliation with the Gorilla Unit, 50’s collective featuring Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck. “Enough of that n***a, now listen to Game,” he rapped over 50’s verse on the duo’s hit collaboration, “Hate It or Love It.” But the insults weren’t left solely to songs. A mascot resembling a rat appeared on stage wearing a G-Unit tank top, to which Game remarked: “My n***a 50 Cent,” before beating down the rodent and declaring: “I ran out the rat hole and got my cheese.” The Game also challenged Banks and Yayo as he told the sun-sweltered audience he would knock the Queens rappers out, only if, he asserted, Yayo would come out the house, making light of his court-mandated house arrest. Game took another stab at 50, asking the audience if they missed the “real” King of New York, Biggie Smalls. The rapper then punctuated his scathing set when he snidely commented on 50’s relocation to Connecticut and later tossed his G-Unit necklace into the crowd. “F**k this chain,” he yelled as he sent his pendant airborne. I forsee lots of dis tracks back and forth

It's a post-match dark match that you're never gonna see. Why are you concerned? It'll probably be a fun match, with lots of comedy spots like the other dark matches. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You are right, I will not be paying to go to any WWE show anytime soon. It's not worth it. And my perspective of being concerned is IF I was to be going to that particular show. I did not make myself very clear on that in the first post.

Joe is good, but he may not translate well to WWE style. His strikes are stiff and there is no way WWE is going to allow him to do moves like the musclebuster or spots like the ole',ole' kicks, stuff which got him over with the ROH crowd. He doesn't have the look WWE craves, but that is what sets him apart in my eyes. I could see him languishing in WWE (most likely to happen) or he could take his uniqueness and use that to stand out from the crowd a la Rey Mysterio. Basically, he needs to play the cards he's been dealt (flabby body, great wrestling ability) and see where it takes him.

I remember right after Fall Brawl 98 where DDP won that atrocious War Games to win a shot at Goldberg, the next night he was cutting a promo and uttered "HALLOWMEEN" Havoc, emphasis on the "M" because he then rolled his eyes at himself in disgust for not being able to pronounce the word. Just funny as hell to me.

I think with Punk and Joe, it's to stave off TNA. The Observer reported those 2 along with Bryan "American Dragon" Danielson were on an internal memo to Lauranitis saying to give these guys a hard look because TNA was looking to sign them and WWE has the oppurtunity to wrap them up before they could go to TNA. These 3 were supposedly targeted because the thought was they would have the best chances of getting over on TNA. Sad that WWE would resort to signing them just to keep them away from TNA as opposed to, oh I don't know, using them to create an entertaining product and give us something fresh? Smith and Hart have the family legacy thing going for them and are probrably well schooled and versed in how things go in the WWE locker room.