SHARTIE AART DEKKER / NBA (MOCK) DRAF SI / ALS JE DEZE SPELER KENT...BEN JE EEN ABSOLUTE INSIDER! 'Nikola Jović', 'Nikola Jokic?', 'Nee, Nikola Jović!' /

#FIBA #NBADraft

Nikola Jovic | Mega Basket | 2021-22 Season Highlights

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SHARTIE AART DEKKER -  NBA (MOCK) DRAF SI 

'Nikola Jović', 'Nikola Jokic?', 'Nee, Nikola Jović!'

ALS JE DEZE SPELER KENT...BEN JE EEN ABSOLUTE INSIDER! 

Als je een beetje sportliefhebber bent, dan is zelfs in Nederland  - zo'n beetje de Basketball-woestijn van de wereld als het gaat om aandacht voor Wereld-sport Basketball in de Landelijke Media gaat -  de kans reëel dat je (recent, of eerder) weleens hebt gehoord van Nikola Jokic; deze 27-jarige Servische alleskunner bracht recent een uniek record op zijn naam: hij scoorde 2000+ punten, pakte 1000+ rebounds en deelde 500+ assists uit aan zijn medespelers in het seizoen 2021-2022 in de NBA, en dat had nog nooit iemand voor hem gedaan in de toch record-rijke-NBA.

Dus als je dan de naam Nikola Jovic tegenkomt, dan zou je zomaar kunnen denken 'dat moet een tikfout zijn!'

Maar nee, dat is niet het geval; Nikola Jovic is een 19-jarige opkomende sterspeler die getipt wordt als een mogelijke Eerste-ronde-NBA-Draft-keuze. Waarbij ik het vermoeden heb dat zijn naam-rijm met de sterspeler van de Denver Nuggets hem wellicht wel een heel klein beetje kan helpen aandacht te trekken. Een aandacht, dat is het allereerste wat je nodig hebt om in beeld te komen voor een NBA-Draft.

Sports Illustrated zette hem in haar Mock-Draft; een verschijnsel dat je kunt vergelijken met het bespreken van 'Brackets' voor March Madness  - niets zo leuk als (eindeloos) speculeren over wat er zou kunnen gaan gebeuren tijdens een Gehyped-Sports-Event! -  dus ieder Amerikaans Sport-platform heeft er wel eentje, op Nr. 29 in de eerste ronde. Tevens als eerste Internationale Spelers in de Draft van 2022; dan ben je op zijn minst een nadere beschouwing waard...

Hieronder het Scouting-report van SI betreffende Jovic, en via de link kun je de hele Mock-Draft van SI bekijken.

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29. Grizzlies: Nikola Jović, F, Mega Basket

Height: 6'10" | Weight: 210 | Age: 18

Jović is one of a few truly intriguing names in a weak international class, as a big playmaking forward with feasible NBA upside. He was a bit of a mixed bag this season but produced some intriguing performances, and his passing and ball skills make him a viable option, particularly if he stays overseas another year or two. Jović is not especially efficient yet, and he’s a very streaky jump shooter, but he was young for his level, and it’s hard to find guys his size with his skill level. The bigger issue is he’s not all that athletic and struggles defensively, something he’ll have to figure out in order to stay on the floor as an NBA regular.

Memphis has multiple firsts but doesn’t necessarily need two rookies on the roster, given the young talent already in the fold and in need of minutes. In this scenario, they take the international route with this second selection.

 

De hele SI-Mock-Draft vind je   ---  Hier  ---

 

 

SHARTIE AART DEKKER / 'SEASON IS COMING' / TOEVALLIG GESTRUIKELD OVER EEN OUD KNIPSEL: 'Cameron Crazies' / NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL RIVALRIES / DUKE /

 

SHARTIE AART DEKKER - TOEVALLIG GESTRUIKELD OVER EEN OUD KNIPSEL 

Het Blijft een Onvergetelijke Ervaring....the 'Cameron Crazies' (@DUKE) 

Mensen die me al lang (en nauwgezet) volgen zullen wellicht zeggen 'Daar heb je het al (veel) vaker over gehad!'

Maar anderen weer niet...

Ooit  - ik geloof dat het 1998 was -  maakte ik mijn eerste Amerikaanse Basketball Trip, en op die trip was na een lange en lastige/zeer vermoeiende reis binnen 24h na aankomst mijn allereerste live bijgewoonde College-wedstrijd  Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels...

Zo'n beetje het 'The Rivalry aller Rivalries als het om Mannen College Basketball gaat...

En dat werd dus een ervaring om nooit te vergeten, vooral dankzij de studenten Fans van Duke die zo'n beetje de gehele onderste ring van Cameron Indoor bevolkten, en geen moment stil waren en geen moment stil stonden (zitten deed al helemaal niemand)! 

De toch erg solide gebouwde zaal  - voor zover zichtbaar voor mij Rots op Rots -  daverde op zijn grondvesten; niet alleen door het gespring van die Fans, maar vaak ook door het Geluid dat de pijngrens niet zelden overgschreed...

Binnenkort staan al die Rivalries weer op het programma, en ik geloof dat deze zelfs gratis te zien is op ESPN..!

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HOE LEBRON JAMES EEN ACTIVIST WERD: 'Enough is enough' social commentary from NBA stars at ESPYS Awards

'Enough is enough' social commentary from NBA stars at ESPYS Awards

WPLG Local 10

 

Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James call for change during the opening of the ESPYS.

 ..

LeBron James Accepts 2016 Sportsperson Of The Year Award | SPOTY 2016 | Sports Illustrated

•13 dec. 2016

Sports Illustrated

LeBron James was introduced by longtime friend Jay Z as he accepted the 2016 Sportsperson of the Year award.

 

 

 

COLUMN AART DEKKER / SPORTJOURNALISTIEK / BASKETBALL / PIEPER: Neo_Liberaal; Groot, Groter, Grootst, en dan...Dood – Ontwikkelingen in de Mondiale Sport Media / NRC-SPORT /

Afb van 'theringer.com, artikel

“Who Can Explain the Athletic Heart?”

The past and perilous future of Sports Illustrated

Het einde van het (modiale) Neo-Liberale Tijdperk lijkt dichterbij dan ooit – mede 'dankzij' Trump en Brexit – maar zoals wel vaker als een tijdperk eindigt flakkert zo'n tijdgeest dan juist extra op, alsof de benificienten van zo'n ontwikkeling dan krampachtig proberen om hem gaande te houden.

Als er iets Mondiaal is geworden in recente jaren, dan is het wel de Sport – met daar dan weer in, het Fifa Voetball en het NBA-Basketball als trendsetters – en de Sports-media, TV en nog meer Internet die grote organisaties als die twee van eindeloos veel financiële middelen en Podium bieden.

Dat allemaal terwijl het overgrote gedeelte van 'de Sport' natuurlijk juist Lokaal is; 010 vs. 020 (vs. 0XX, 0YY tot en met 0ZZ & alle andere '0-nog wats' in Nederland zijn daarvan het bewijs. Maar in het Nederlandse Basketball ook dat hoe groot Donar Groningen in die provicie ook is, er is weinig belangstelling voor in de rest van het land. Landstede Hammers Zwolle Kampioen? Leuk, voor de aanhang daar in de regio – die pas sinds kort substantieel blijkt te groeien, daar ben ik trouwens zeer verheugd over! – maar ten Westen van de lijn Den Helder, Amersfoort, Limburg ligt er echt helemaal niemand wakker van (en in het meerendeel van de gebieden ten Oosten ervan trouwensook niet, en daar word ik danaf en toe weer een beetje droevig van...) Ik vraag mezelf zelfs af of de trage manier waarop het seizoen 2019-2020 op gang komt niet deels ook daarin ligt, maar misschien is dat een beetje 'diep' voor een Column (zelfs een van mij waar de limiet van watje nog een Column mag noemen enigzsinds diffuus is...

Overigens is het voor mij bij mijn geschrijf overduidelijk welke steden de werkelijke Hoofdsteden (want aan een enkele Hoofdstad heb je niet genoeg; de rivaliteit van '010 vs. 020' (e.v.a.) is ook een onmisbaar onderdeel van gezonde sport/competitie) van het Nederlandse Basketball werkelijk zouden worden, vermits er in die steden iemand bij machte zou zijn om clubs aldaar werkelijk op Nederlands – laat staan Internationaal! – topniveau te brengen; Amsterdam, Rotterdam respectievelijk...wat dan volgens mij ook weer impliceert dat ook Den Haag, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Almere – en ga de lijst van grootste gemeenten van Nederland met enige Economische Potentie van plek 7 tot en met xx maar af – allemaal braakliggend, voor het Basketball ter veroveren territoir vormen...

Goed, wat brengt mij tot deze voor mijn doen korte bespiegeling? Dat is het korte onderstaande artikeltje over een ontwikkeling in de Angelsaksische Sportsmedia-wereld. Waar ik, en met mij waarschijnlijk nog wel meer generatiegenoten, zweren bij de Sports Illustrated-familie – als ik het goed heb bijgehouden nog steeds een tak van het CNN-conglomeraat – zijn er in de laatste decennia natuurlijk veel andere grote Sportsmedia-exploitanten bij gekomen; ESPN, Sky, Fox, Ziggo, en vele anderen. Het het lijkt me dat aan de ontwikkeling van 'Eten, of gegeten worden-tendens' op dat gebied nog lang geen einde is gekomen. TV- en On-line-rechten verkrijgen zijn daarbij een fundamenteel, maar Kwaliteit eveneens. En een groot onderdeel van Kwaliteit van Sportsmedia, is en blijft de kwaliteit van de journalisten die de Content maken, of dat nu redactie, gesproken of geschreven content betreft.

Ik heb nog geen tijd (gehad) om in de achtergronden van het onderstaande NRC-artikeltje te duiken, maar het lijkt mij dat de Organisatie waar 'The Athletic' deel van uitmaakt, beoogt te doen wat Sports Illustrated met 'Fansided' al een tijd aan het doen is, alleen dan net aan de professionele kant van de scheiding Proffesionele vs. Veredeld Vrijwillige contentmakers...

Overigens heb ik het gevoel dat de slinger van Mondialisering in de Sportsmedia ooit ook weer eens zal keren, en dan weer langdurig de andere kant uit zal gaan, want: 'Groot, Groter, Grootst, en dan...Dood', of met andere woorden 'Eeuwige Groei bestaat niet', en de tijd dat de Facebook's en dus ook alle andere Mediabedrijven maar ongebreideld kunnen blijven doorgroeien is eindig...

Nog een verzuchting: 'Oh, waren de andere FEB/DBL-clubs toch maar zo verstandig geweest om het 'Plan-Pieper' indertijd niet te laten smoren voordat het werkelijkheid werd...waar hadden we dan met het Nederlandse Basketball inmiddels niet kunnen staan ..?!?

Wordt waarschijnlijk wel weer eens vervolgd...

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The Athletic kaapt Britse sportschrijvers

• Bart Hinke 6 augustus 2019  Leestijd 1 minuut, Oorspronkelijke, complete NRC-artikel en nog veel meer over dit onderwerp   ---  Hier  ---

De transfermarkt voor Britse voetbaljournalisten leek op hol geslagen deze zomer, met de ongekende ‘coup’ van de Amerikaanse sportwebsite The Athletic die tientallen gezaghebbende schrijvers weglokte bij werkgevers als The Guardian, The Times en The Telegraph. The Athletic UK ging maandag van start, een paar dagen voor het Premier League-seizoen begint. 
 

Abonneesite The Athletic begon drie jaar geleden in Chicago en belooft de betalende lezer de beste online-sportjournalistiek. De aanpak is om per club of regio een van de meest toonaangevende verslaggevers in dienst te nemen, in de hoop dat zijn of haar volgers – vaak devote fans van een club – een abonnement op de site nemen. 

In de VS volgt The Athletic al 270 clubs in sporten als American football, basketbal en honkbal op zowel prof- als ‘college’-niveau. In Groot-Brittannië heeft The Athletic nu zijn vizier gericht op voetbal. Momenteel, zei oprichter Alex Mather in juli tegen persbureau Bloomberg, heeft de site een half miljoen abonnees. Hij verwacht dat dat in 2019 nog oploopt naar een miljoen die ruim 50 euro per jaar betalen. 
 

Mathers ambities worden gefinancierd door een aantal partijen die voor ruim 80 miljoen euro investeerden. Gezien de omvang van het schrijversbestand, de meesten van de ruim driehonderd journalisten zijn fulltime in dienst, moet het aantal abonnees hard groeien om winst te maken.

De expansie in Engeland treft vooral The Guardian hard, met het vertrek van vier verslaggevers. De bekendste is Daniel Taylor, die in 2016 het misbruikschandaal in Engelse jeugdopleidingen in de vorige eeuw blootlegde. Ook een aantal regionale kranten raakt hun lokale ‘clubwatcher’ kwijt, zoals James Pearce (half miljoen Twittervolgers) van de Liverpool Echo. (NRC) 
 

Een versie van dit artikel verscheen ook in NRC Handelsblad van 6 augustus 2019

SHARTIE AART DEKKER / EINDE VAN HET TIJDPERK LEBRON JAMES...?: / ... OF TOCH NIET? / NBA / SI BESCHOUWING / COLUMNIST AD /:

Cartoon van 'Omarmomani.blogspot.com'

CITAAT(SI, juli 2019, Why Can't LeBron James and the Lakers Land Stars in Free Agency? | Open Floor Podcast):

"You look at this situation, if LeBron James was as good of a recruiter as we kind of thought he was, if he was the power broker that we've built him up to be at times over these last couple of years in terms of having Rich Paul play every single angle, being able to get Anthony Davis, leveraging a franchise where Rob Pelinka's taking all of this potential risk to get to lay the groundwork to get a Kawhi Leonard deal. He gets this done. Whatever the pitch that needed to be made to Kawhi Leonard, he's the one who would make it. The title is sitting there waiting for them to go get if they're all together, right?

And bottom line, he wasn't able to make that connection. I wonder if there's concerns from other parties about whether it's his age, style of play, the amount of attention. I think you joked about the Instagram stuff, about whether there would be a personality conflict between him and Kawhi Leonard. There was multiple years there where nobody wanted to challenge LeBron. His fellow players wouldn't even say a negative word about him. Everybody was kind of on message for years and years. Kawhi Leonard just sent a huge message here. He said, 'No only do I not want to team up with LeBron, I want to steal Los Angeles from LeBron and I think I can do it.' "

*

SHARTIE AART DEKKER

Waarom Lebron James(de Lakers) er Niet in Slagen Ster-Free-Agents aan te trekken - ofwel: Zien we hier het Einde van het Tijdperk van king James?

Ikzeg het maar weer eens; vaak is het speculeren, analyseren, kortom het praten over Sport, nog leuker dan de Sport zelf. En dat geldt eens te meer voor de NBA...

Is, was LeBron James de 'Beste Aller Tijden' (G.O.A.T.)?

Of tenminste de 'Beste van Zijn Tijd'? Blijft een lastig te beantwoorden vraag. Ik zeg dat hij de 'Beste Ooit' was, maar ben er ook weer niet zo heel zeker van; omdat ik mensen als Bill Russell en Oscar 'Big O' Robertson, en ongetwijfeld nog vele anderen alleen maar ken van de verhalen en wat Highlights...

Deze vraag is al jarenlang onderwerp van Debat en je kon (of kunt) mensen (erg) kwaad krijgen door alleen maar te betwijfelen of Michael Jordan misschien minder goed van dan King James...(en dat maakt het dus zo leuk!)

Maar goed, het einde van het Tijdperk waar King James duidelijk regeerde is wel nakende, daarover zou niet al teveel discussie meer over mogen zijn. Wat weer niet betekent dat hij dus geen NBA-Kampioenschap(-pen) meer zou kunnen winnen...maar dan moeten de Laker en hij wel vaart gaan maken met het bouwen van een Team dat dan zou moeten kunnen. En dat blijkt dus ook al niet meer zo genmakkelijk...

Lees  - of luister -  het hele onderstaande SI-CrossOver gesprek van hieronder. Ik ben er trouwens voor mezelf nog niet uit of ik deze nieuwe vorm net zo prettig vind als de Verhalen van SportsIllustrated die ik al 40, 45 jaar gewend was te lezen...

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Wat i.i.g. blijft...(Cartoon van: 'Paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com')

**

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Why Can't LeBron James and the Lakers Land Stars in Free Agency? | Open Floor Podcast

Quickly

• LeBron James and the Lakers didn't land Kawhi Leonard this summer. In fact, the Finals MVP decided to join the Clippers and play for the other team in L.A. Why haven't the Lakers picked up big fish in recent years?

By Andrew Sharp

July 06, 2019 https://www.si.com/nba/2019/07/06/lebron-james-lakers-nba-free-agency-kawhi-leonard-paul-george

For a second straight year, LeBron James and the Lakers missed out on major free agents. Sure, they added Anthony Davis via trade, but when the summer sweepstakes kicked off they missed out on Kawhi Leonard, who instead joined the the Clippers with Paul George in tow. Why hasn't LeBron, who helped engineer Miami's Big 3 and spark this era of player movement, been able to successfully recruit? Andrew Sharp and The Washington Post's Ben Golliver consider this question and the current Lakers roster on the latest episode of the Open Floor podcast. 

(Listen to the latest Open Floor podcast here. The following transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

---

Golliver: So lets talk about them. We hinted at it earlier, we don't often refer to him as a loser. LeBron James is a big loser here, right?

Sharp: He is, and you know what? I don't feel great about trending in that direction. I tweeted earlier: "Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both wanted to be in LA, but not with LeBron."

Golliver: Facts.

Sharp: I threw a little dot, dot, dot at the end, which made it a little takier. But that now has 600 retweets, 2,000 likes. And I didn't want it to be that kind of viral take. It's very similar to something Skip Bayless said, apparently. Not proud of it at all, but facts are facts.

Golliver: It's true. Paul George didn't even give them a meeting, he re-signed with Oklahoma City at a time when really it did not make sense for him to re-sign. You look at this situation, if LeBron James was as good of a recruiter as we kind of thought he was, if he was the power broker that we've built him up to be at times over these last couple of years in terms of having Rich Paul play every single angle, being able to get Anthony Davis, leveraging a franchise where Rob Pelinka's taking all of this potential risk to get to lay the groundwork to get a Kawhi Leonard deal. He gets this done. Whatever the pitch that needed to be made to Kawhi Leonard, he's the one who would make it. The title is sitting there waiting for them to go get if they're all together, right?
And bottom line, he wasn't able to make that connection. I wonder if there's concerns from other parties about whether it's his age, style of play, the amount of attention. I think you joked about the Instagram stuff, about whether there would be a personality conflict between him and Kawhi Leonard. There was multiple years there where nobody wanted to challenge LeBron. His fellow players wouldn't even say a negative word about him. Everybody was kind of on message for years and years. Kawhi Leonard just sent a huge message here. He said, 'No only do I not want to team up with LeBron, I want to steal Los Angeles from LeBron and I think I can do it.'

Sharp: Yeah, absolutely, and this goes back to something I saw tweeted by a guy named David Zavac. He's a Cavs writer, and he wrote earlier today, "The gap between what NBA twitter thought of the Kyrie-LeBron stuff and what NBA players under the age of 30 thought of the Kyrie-LeBron stuff continues to impact the league and how we miss coverage of things impacting the league." I actually think that is a very, very smart and perceptive point when we think about LeBron.

Golliver: Are you 100 percent right now in this moment sure the Lakers make the playoffs?

Sharp: I am sure. 

Golliver: 100 percent sure? 

Sharp: Yeah... 

Golliver: I don't know, man. 

Sharp: I think that they'll find a way, but I need the free-agency news for the Lakers to just slow down right now because it just gets darker with each new development. But do you know what I mean? And do you know what David meant with that LeBron-Kyrie point? Because I think that is true. I think a lot of players around the league identified with Kyrie's frustrations with LeBron and would worry about that with another potential partnership with LeBron. And I think AD is kind of in his own category because he's a Klutch guy and they're interests are kind of intermingled in a way that is unique.
But I don't necessarily blame someone like Paul George or someone like Kawhi Leonard for saying, "I don't know if I want to be part of this situation where you're going to get all the credit, there's going to be drama every month and it's just going to be a lot of trouble and potentially more trouble than it's worth." 

Golliver: A couple of weeks ago we were kind of breaking down what the Lakers would look like if they got Kawhi Leonard, and I think one of the stumbling blocks we pointed out was the dynamic between LeBron and Kawhi on the court and off the court. Who gets the ball in the fourth quarter? Who gets the most touches? Who's going to sacrifice for whom? And I think at one point I asked you, "Is LeBron really at the stage in his career where he's ready to take a backseat? Where he's actually willing to admit that he's going to transition into a different role?" And I think that you just started laughing. And you kind of shot it down. There was ways that we could talk ourselves into that, but if you're Kawhi Leonard you need to know that for a fact if you're going to go play with him, right? You need to be convinced that you're going to go be the man. 

Sharp: And it's hard because I think LeBron is in the stage of his career where he recognized he should be passing the torch and he wants to pass the torch and he's saying the right things, but I understand anybody who looks at the last five years of his career and says, "Ok, so you say one thing in July and then by the time it's January or February it's a little bit of a different story," and proceeds with a little more caution than we would've seen when LeBron was like 27 years old and he was unquestionably the best player on the planet.
And now the story is a little bit more complicated, and it's not even a shot at LeBron calling him unlikeable or this or that. The fact is LeBron's going to be 35 years old and he's almost 10 years older than Kawhi Leonard. It's a completely different generation so it'd actually be crazier if he were able to successfully recruit all these guys who were literally in middle school when he was entering the NBA and beginning to win MVPs every year.

Tags

• nba
• Kawhi Leonard
• Paul George
• raptors
• Thunder
• clippers
• NBA free agency
• podcast
  

SHARTIE AART DEKKER / SPECIALE HERINNERINGEN: Stanford, Arizona, Tiger Woods, Andre Iguodala & Golden Earring - Radar Love / Pinkpop 2019 / VK CARTOON SIGMUND / MUZIEK / NCAA BASKETBALL:

Cartoon uit de Volkskrant, meer Sigmund   ---  Hier  ---

*

SHARTIE AART DEKKER

Weg Uit Den Haag(1): Muziekstad Den Haag

Na meer van mijn leven in Den Haag te hebben gewoond, ben ik er eind 2018 vertrokken. Een mooie gelegenheid om nog eens wat typisch Haagse 'dingetjes' de revue te laten passeren.

Speciale Herinnering Getriggerd door Radar Love - Golden Earring - Pinkpop 2019; ik was bij...Stanford vs. Arizona (en Tiger Woods was er ook...)

Mijn eerste Herinneringen (de buitencategorie-/die blijvend veel indruk op mij hebben gemaakt) aan de Golden Earring stamden natuurlijk van ruim voor mijn Haagse - recent afgesloten - leven
(AD) (van ongeveer 32 jaar); ik herinner me bijvoorbeeld van voor de tijd dat ik erg intensief begon te basketballen, dat ik voor meerdere concerten van de Haagse Rockers in Dordrecht posters plakte - en daarmee vrijkaarten scoorde - het laatste van die concerten was al wel in Sporthal Sterrenburg, de hal waar het grootste deel van mijn Dordtse Basketball-leven zich afspeelde...

Maar eenmaal in Den Haag hoorde de band natuurlijk gewoon bij de realiteit van het leven; ik weet niet eens hoe vaak ik ze daar zag spelen - misschien wel minder vaak dan in Dordt! - maar je liep (of reed) er vaker gewoon toevalligerwijs tegenaan zal ik maar zeggen...

En dan was er nog het feit dat de moeder van een - inmiddels al 25 jaar overleden - vriend een rol speelde in een van hun meest beroemde Clips; de moeder van Co Scholten in de Clip van 'When The Lady Smiles' en dat een andere vriend - maar ook dat was voor mijn tijd - bij concerten als Roadie had gefungeerd...

Maar toch werden al deze associaties en de indrukken die ze achter hadden gelaten ruimschoots overtroffen toen ik na een wel erg bijzondere NCAA D1-Top-wedstrijd - gespeeld om 12h00, ontzettend vroeg dus (zeker voor mij...)! - Arizona (met o.a. Andre Iguodala) @Stanford:

The Shot - Stanford Vs Arizona

De wedstrijd was niet alleen akelig vroeg, de beloofde toegangskaart lag niet bij 'Will Call', dus ik moest een ticket zien te scoren terwijl de zaal al mudje-vol zat en er buiten bijna geen levende ziel meer te vinden was...het lukte, al kostte het me een rib uit mijn lijf en een paar minuten van de wedstrijd. Onder de aanwezigen toen ook Alumni Tiger Woods - toen nog een 'keurige jongen', maar al wel een hele grote Ster-golfer - hij had 'the Best Seat in da House', al stond hij bijna meer dan dat'ie zat, ik zat een stuk hoger, maar hemelsbreed hooguit een metertje of 15 achter hem, misschien zelfs wel dichterbij... 

Als je het Clipje hierboven nog niet hebt bekeken, moet je dat vooral even doen, want het was een van de meer Legendarische wedstrijden aldaar gespeeld. Terwijl 'The Shot' onderweg was stond iedereen op zijn tenen - Woods meter voor zijn plekje, richting zijlijn - en daarvan maakte SI Magazine een Poster - ik moet hem nog wel ergens hebben... - 

Dus die wedstrijd op zich was al Legendarisch en genoeg voor een blijvende diepe indruk, toch was er nog een moment dat nog meer in mijn geheugen gegrift staat; ik zou na de wedstrijd nog even gaan praten met de coaches van Arizona, maar het duurde wel een uurtje voor die uit de kleedkamers kwamen. En terwijl ik stond te wachten, ook dat 'bijna een uurtje later' nog, speelde de Schoolband - waar bij de leden ook na zo lang nog de adrenaline uit de oren spoot - ineens een nummer dat ik heel goed kende; Radar Love van die Haagse Golden Earring...en dat gevoel, van 'een uur of drie in de middag, Stanford, California, en dan in je eentje staan te wachten en ineens komt die Haagse Hit voorbij', dat gevoel zal ik denk ik nooit meer vergeten... 

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13 jun 2019 , door Redactie 3voor12

Kijk terug: Golden Earring live op Pinkpop 2019

De video van de volledige set(68min):   ---  Hier  --- of hier:

Hoe groot zou statistisch de kans zijn dat je op de eerste Pinkpop ooit speelt en vijftig jaar later ook op de jubileumeditie? En dat dan in dezelfde samenstelling? Nou, Golden Earring uit Den Haag flikt ’t gewoon. De knasse knarren legden de lat hoog voor jonkies afgelopen weekend. Ze  lieten zien dat je spannende momenten als 'Radar Love' na al die jaren nog steeds kunt doorontwikkelen. Kijk de set van Golden Earring op Pinkpop 2019 hier terug! 

Lees hier de recensie over de set van Golden Earring, kijk hier naar andere video-opnamen van Pinkpop 2019 en bekijk hier de top 20 van het hele weekend. 

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AMATEUR-OPNAMES VAN HET VELD:

Golden Earring, bassolo Rinus Gerritsen Radar Love, Pinkpop 2019 (@FignonTube)

Golden Earring Cesar Zuijderwijk, drumsolo Radar Love, Pinkpop 2019 (@FignonTube)

 

NBA FREE AGENCY / NEWS / SI.COM: 'Grades: Spurs Legend Tony Parker Leaving San Antonio for Charlotte'

Grades: Spurs Legend Tony Parker Leaving San Antonio for Charlotte

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• Spurs legend Tony Parker is leaving San Antonio after 17 seasons. While the move makes sense for a veteran hoping to prolong his career, it's puzzling for the Hornets.

By Rohan Nadkarni

July 06, 2018

Well, this is going to be weird. Spurs legend Tony Parker’s tenure in San Antonio has come to a close. The point guard reportedly agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with the Hornets on Friday, according to multiple reports. Parker, 36, played in 55 games for the Spurs last season, mostly playing off the bench for the first time in his career. He averaged a career-low 7.7 points and 3.5 assists in 19.5 minutes per game. Parker told SI earlier this year he was hoping to finish his career in San Antonio after three more seasons. Instead, he’ll be leaving the Spurs in what’s been the strangest offseason for the franchise in years. Let’s grade the deal for Charlotte.

 

This is an, uh, interesting move for the Hornets. On one hand, their backup point guard last year was Michael Carter-Williams. On the other hand, Parker has had a negative net rating for the Spurs in each of his last five seasons, though last year was the only instance in which the team as a whole had a negative net rating with Parker on court. At this point in his career, Parker is probably more valuable as a veteran presence than as a productive player. (Though it should be noted he may have helped push Kawhi Leonard away from San Antonio.) Parker, at best, will be a slight upgrade over Carter-Williams, and he shouldn’t expect to see a ton of playing time behind Kemba Walker.

NBA

With His OKC Era Waning, Carmelo Anthony Must Pick Between Two Clear Free-Agency Paths

The signing does beg the question of the Hornets’ plan. Charlotte seems intent on being respectable next season, but sooner or later, this team will probably need to hit the eject button. In a summer filled with one-year deals, why did Parker get two? The Hornets could have over $90 million in salary commitments next summer, and that’s before a new deal for Kemba Walker. Maybe Charlotte finally lets Kemba walk, but then why give Parker another year? These moves, along with taking on Timofey Mozgov’s salary, invite scrutiny when considered together.

Ultimately, Parker’s signing most likely won’t move the needle much on the court. His strong presence in the locker room could go either way on a team mired in mediocrity. And Charlotte handing a 36-year-old point guard a second year in a buyer’s market is a little baffling. Who knows, maybe with LeBron out of the East the Hornets will be one of the teams that benefit. For now, Parker’s acquisition feels like all splash, very little substance.

Grade: D+

**

De Blog waarop SI.com alle Free-Agent-deals waardeert: --- Hier ---

Alles over 17 seizoenen Tony Parker bij de San Antonio Spurs   ---  Hier  ---

I often go back and watch old Spurs highlights for fun. This Tony Parker game-winner from Game 1 of the 2013 Finals is probably in my top 3 all-time. pic.twitter.com/GkPsGNtfDJ

— Robert Price (@RobertPriceTV) July 6, 2018

En wat moet je nu als Hardcore SA Spurs-Fan?

Tim Duncan retired
Manu is about to retire
Kawhi wants out
And now Tony Parker is leaving the Spurs pic.twitter.com/2uDTMoBIQW

— Romeo (@RomyMyHomie) July 6, 2018

SI VAULT CLASSIC / DRAYMOND GREEN - 'The Giant Killer' - GS WARRIORS / EEN SHA-ARTIE LONGREAD

Aart Dekker nam op zijn 18e een abonnement op het illustere Amerikaanse Sport-magazine Sports Illustrated. Het duurde een week of zes voor het magazine de reis over de oceaan voltooide, maar dan verslond hij het van de eerste tot de laatste bladzijde, totdat zijn eigen basketball-activiteiten zoveel tijd vergden dat dat er niet meer inzat. Sindsdien koopt hij met enige regelmaat papieren issues bij de American Bookstore (Den Haag of Amsterdam). Alles wat Sports Illustrated ooit publiceerde is op het Internet terug te vinden op 'SI.com/Vault'. Om extra aandacht te richten op dit fantastische medium richt Dekker regelmatig via zijn Blog de focus op een oud artikel dat nog steeds meer dan lezenswaardig is, onder het mom van ' SHA-ART'IE '(of wel Shared by Aart).

Deze eerste keer Draymond Green, 'The Giant Killer', een coverstory van 17 mei 2016. Het NBA-seizoen 2017-2018 is nog maar net begonnen, of we zagen alweer dezelfde beelden die we de laatste jaren zo vaak konden zien; de super intens spelende alleskunner van de Golden State Warriors, die zich zo mee laat slepen door zijn emoties, dat hij tot op -of over de rand- gaat in zijn bejegening van de scheidsrechters. Wat ZiggoSport-commentator Ronald van Dam dan weer doet verzuchten dat "...hij vindt dat die Refs wat hem betreft wel wat stevigere maatregelen zouden mogen nemen om dit (wan-)gedrag aan te pakken..." Dit gedrag -toen wel een keertje stevig bestraft- kostte de Warriors waarschijnlijk het Kampioenschap in de NBA-Finals van 2016, maar dat lijkt uiteindelijk bij Green niet tot het inzicht te hebben geleid dat hij beter een beetje kan dimmen, of misschien alleen als er echt iets groots op het spel staat. Ook de clubleiding van Golden State ziet er blijkbaar nog steeds geen reden in om echt in te grijpen. Green is natuurlijk ook wel een essentieel onderdeel van de superploeg die de Warriors nu al voor het vierde opeenvolgende seizoen zijn.

Het SI-artikel graaft diep in Green's verhaal en persoonlijkheid en is dus nog steeds een mooi kijkje in de keuken van het team dat ongetwijfeld ook dit seizoen weer de gedoodverfde kampioen is, en zeker ver zal komen in de NBA Play-Offs. Een aanrader dus!

AART DEKKER

D:\1_SCH\GR_Stories_2Tell\Big_SI_Vault_Stories


https://www.si.com/vault/2016/05/17/giant-killer

This issue's contents May 23, 2016

THE GIANT KILLER

By Lee Jenkins

 

View Cover

May 23, 2016

 

There's only one DRAYMOND GREEN: a playmaking marksman who stifles 7-footers. But unheard of versatility is only the beginning of what he brings to the Warriors

EVEN AFTER 73 WINS and 82 million dollars, after the championship and the All-Star Game, after Steph Curry called him the voice and Steve Kerr called him the heart and nobody dared call him a tweener again, Draymond Green still sometimes sprints down the court on defense and hears a giant holler to the sideline: "Coach, post up!" The giant points down at Green, a head shorter, and raises a mitt on the left block. And just like that, everything Green has done throughout the day to quiet his soul—watching the WNBA on TV in his home atop the Berkeley Hills, playing dominos with his friends, eschewing coffee for water and hype music for J. Cole and Boyz II Men—flies out the window of Oracle Arena. The giant might as well have doused Green's gold jersey in jet fuel and struck a match. "Are you f------ kidding me!" Green bellows, re-creating not one specific scene but hundreds of them. "You have to be joking right now! You cannot really be talking about me! You cannot! You think you're stronger than me? You're not. You think you're going to bully me? You're not. You think you're going to score on me? You're not."

Green is suddenly transported to the Civitan Rec Center in Saginaw, Mich., once again the pudgy kid with the Ben Wallace Afro ignored by the older boys every time he chirped "Next!" He'd sit down in the middle of the court and scream, "Who do you think you are? I'm not leaving this floor for you!" Regulars alternated between sticking him in trash cans, rolling him in rugs, setting him on the rim and banishing him to the pool table. He hurled billiard balls at his tormentors. "There were grown men trying to fight me," Green says, "and I fought them all." He fought anybody who messed with him and anybody who messed with his more reserved older brother, Torrian. Every other day, it seemed, a manager named Tyrone Davis had to kick him out of Civitan. Draymond would occasionally leave with a busted nose, as well as a game ball, which he would boot over the nearest fence. "Those big boys eventually learned," says his mother, Mary Babers-Green, "that my baby better get his next."

After Draymond cooled off he retreated across the street to his house, where Mary braided women's hair, one of her three jobs. "He was like my assistant," says Mary, who raised Draymond with his stepfather and her ex-husband, Raymond Green. "He always wanted to walk the ladies to their cars. He'd push his brother back and tell him, 'Let me do it!'" Day Day, as friends and family called him, yearned to be a man. When he fought his way into the pickup games at Civitan, gang members sat in the bleachers and bet hundreds on him, awed by his toughness.

Green is 26 now—a 6'7", 230-pound basketball revolutionary, arguably the best defender in the NBA and the best playmaker of his size—but everywhere he looks he still sees giants trying to toss him in trash cans. "This guy really thinks he has a mismatch!" Green tells himself, isolated on the block against the springy 7-footer. "He really thinks he's going to destroy me!" Often he spews his stream-of-consciousness out loud. "Sometimes I say it to get myself going," Green says. "I don't do it to bother anybody. But if it bothers them, that's cool, too. I don't really care."

Unless you're trying to back him down, he comes across as far more endearing than angry, the Warrior you'd most want to drink the proverbial beer with. His bravado is part of his brilliance, like the boxers he idolizes, from Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson. They could talk themselves into anything. Such was the power of their voices. When the post-up ends the way it so often does, the giant clumsily fumbling a drive or clanking a hook, Green flexes and stares. "I see his head drop," Green says, "and I hear him talk to himself, 'Come on, let's go, what are you doing? This guy is so small!'" Green beams as he turns and stomps downcourt. Look who's in the trash can now. Look who got next. "I feel in that moment like I took his spirit," Green says. "And that's an amazing feeling for me."
GOLDEN STATE has finished practice and most players have gone home, except Green, who stands at the middle of the court in his gray Roots sweats and relives his predraft workout on this very floor. The Warriors won the championship last season, won the most games in NBA history this season, and are back in the Western Conference finals, against the Thunder. Nobody cares anymore that Green was drafted 35th in 2012. "They had Jeff Taylor bring the ball up against me," Green howls, recalling the former Vanderbilt swingman who was taken four picks ahead of Green and is already out of the league. "I took it from him every time!"

After the audition Warriors.com asked Green how he felt about the term tweener, which back then was still used to describe prospects considered too big for one position and too small for another. "I don't mind," Green replied. "It means I can do multiple things." Then he left for his next workout in Oklahoma City, confident that he wouldn't be back, that he didn't belong in a place as sunny as California. Green remembers details about the draft that his own front office does not. He believed the Hawks would take him at No. 23, before general manager Rick Sund was replaced. He assumed the Grizzlies wanted him at 25, before Robert Pera bought the franchise from Michael Heisley. At least he could be sure the Bulls would snag him at 29. "They took Marquis Teague," he sniffs. Even the Warriors tabbed Vanderbilt center Festus Ezeli at 30 before finally coming to their senses five picks later. "We were too focused—the league was too focused—on positions," Golden State GM Bob Myers says. "Who cares what position he played? He helped us learn—really, he helped everybody learn—the value of multiple positions."

The Warriors, building around the backcourt of Curry and Klay Thompson, were searching for oversized playmakers. They believed Green's skill set would mesh. They weren't as sure about his personality. A few days after Green lost his first preseason game in Denver, the Dubs practiced in Portland, and the brash rookie upbraided veterans David Lee and Jeremy Tyler: "I'm going to push you, David! I'm going to push you, Jeremy! If I cuss you out, don't take it the wrong way: I'm pushing you!" His new teammates looked at him as if he were possessed.

By NBA standards, the Warriors were a tranquil group, with key players who hailed from privileged backgrounds. Curry and Thompson, sons of pros, were raised in the suburbs of Charlotte and Orange County, respectively. "I felt so different," Green says. His first coach at Longstreet Elementary School in Saginaw was his uncle Bennie Babers, whose approach may have been a little different from Dell Curry's. "He'd chase us down and beat us up," Green says. "He'd hit us like we were men—not in the face, but body shots. I needed it, too. I was a crybaby. I was a sore loser. I had a bad attitude." There were days even Bennie couldn't get through to Green. "Get your hat, get your coat and hit that door," he used to say.

Green starred at Saginaw High, but he was mocked mercilessly because of his pear-shaped frame, which earned him the nickname Dancing Bear at Michigan State. "People told him, 'You're too fat, you're too short, you're too slow,'" Spartans coach Tom Izzo says. "I'm the one who told him half those things."

Some of the jabs were deserved. "First day in the weight room," recalls former Michigan State captain Travis Walton, "he threw up trying to lift 135 pounds." After Green languished on the bench during a win at Ohio State as a freshman, he called home from the bus in tears. "I'm leaving!" he told his mother. He was looking for sympathy from a woman who used to excoriate him so loudly during games—"Day Day, you soft!"—that his coaches felt compelled to soothe him. He couldn't go back to Saginaw. He stayed in East Lansing.

"Draymond and I probably had more talks in the next four years than I had with my wife," Izzo cracks. "And later at night, too." The coach put up with Green kicking missed shots to the rafters in practice and challenging play calls in timeouts—"Some of our huddles were a freaking war zone," Izzo laughs—because the Dancing Bear was the rare player who cared as much as he did. Izzo's top assistant, Dwayne Stephens, was put in charge of defusing Day Day, staring down Green whenever he noticed the steam rising from his scalp.

NBA evaluators knew Green was a spitfire. They didn't realize he was also a hardwood genius. He deconstructed Big Ten scouting reports for his teammates, and idly chewed his nails in walk-throughs because he picked up concepts much more quickly than others. Mouthy and smart, the Warriors would learn, are not mutually exclusive qualities. "You should be teaching this," Darren Erman, Golden State's former defensive architect, told Green during a film session as a rookie. Green diagnoses plays midpossession, blurting, "They ran this against us last year!" When Erman urged him to shed weight, he cleverly hauled an exercise bike into the sauna.

Erman recounts a sequence, from early in Green's career, when Golden State gave up consecutive layups to a center coming off a pick-and-roll. "Next time they do that," Erman told Green, "I want you to cheat the play and block the f------ thing!" Erman didn't think Green could do it—he is 6'7", after all, and without a skyscraping vertical leap—but the coach was speaking Day Day's language. Green rose up and swatted the 7-footer, prompting bewildered looks on the Dubs' bench. "How does that kind of stuff happen?" asks Golden State assistant Bruce Fraser, nicknamed Q because of his good questions. "I'm asking because I really don't know. How does it happen?"

There is no easy answer. A 7'1" wingspan helps, as does an unyielding will. "He also reads the game better than any player I've ever been around," says former Warriors assistant Brian Scalabrine, who was a teammate of Kevin Garnett's. Green could detect, in the distance, a larger movement developing across the NBA. Several teams, led by the LeBron-era Heat, were deploying smaller, swifter, more versatile lineups. Green was no stopper at Michigan State, but what if he could defend every position, while rebounding like a center and passing like a guard? Erman told him he could make $8 million per year someday. Scalabrine told him he could be the next Lamar Odom, if Odom took every possession as a personal affront. Scalabrine dug up old Lakers highlights for Green, an undersized, underathletic second-round pick who set out to become one of the best players in the NBA. "To that point," Scalabrine says, "that person did not exist." But the league was evolving as Green was emerging, and they became catalysts for each other.

GREEN IS sitting in a booth at Twelve Bar Lounge, on the second floor of Oakland's downtown Marriott, when the news he has been waiting for scrolls across a TV screen. "Look at that!" he shrieks. "That is f------ beautiful!" Luke Walton, Kerr's prized lieutenant, has just been hired as coach of the Lakers. The announcement takes Green back to the spring of 2014, when he was coming off the bench for coach Mark Jackson, who wasn't convinced the Dancing Bear could guard power forwards. Jackson takes much flak for things he didn't do in Golden State, but with centers Ezeli and Andrew Bogut injured in the first round of the '14 playoffs, he put Green in the starting lineup for the last four games against the Clippers. "That changed everything for me," Green says. "It's when I realized I could do this." The Clips defended Curry as they typically do, blitzing him with two men when he comes off screens, only Curry kept hitting Green out of the trap. The Warriors lost in seven, but they found an outlet who could lead 4-on-3 opportunities, victimizing teams that overcommit to Curry.
Three days after the series ended, Jackson was fired and Green's breakthrough was forgotten. "I was nervous as hell," he says, and meeting Kerr did not ease his anxiety. "I have to show him everything right now!" Green told himself in training camp, which included brainless step-back threes in transition. "I was terrible," Green admits. "It was a disaster." He'd set a drag screen for Curry, which was effective under Jackson, and Kerr would tell him to run to the first post. "I want you to play more like last year," Kerr said, and Green threw up his hands.

"They're setting me up!" he vented to Walton, who became a confidante. "They're playing with my head." They were also toying with his bank account, Green feared, because he was entering a contract year. Money is a sensitive subject for Green, who used to live in a modest apartment in Emeryville, buying his groceries at Pak 'n Save. Growing up, Green hushed his mother when she told him they were poor, until he claimed her as a dependent on his taxes and had to ask for her income. "You were right," he told her. "We really were poor." He thanked her for making the money stretch.

Toward the end of camp, Kerr met with Green. "You have to relax," the rookie coach told him. "If you relax it will happen." Green does not unwind easily. He is a terrible sleeper who can't nap for more than 20 minutes—"I feel like I'm missing something"—and can't caffeinate because he fears he will grow too hyper. He lacks the patience to cook with his girlfriend or sit at the park with their eight-year-old daughter. He chills out by watching basketball—specifically women's basketball. "In the NBA there's always a guy who is only around because he can jump," Green says. "He doesn't have a clue about the fundamentals. I learn more from the WNBA. They know how to dribble, how to pivot, how to use the shot fake."

The system Green envisioned as a rookie, featuring dynamic tweeners who switch screens and create threes, was not so different from the one Kerr implemented. Green, with his versatility and zeal, made it hum, rather than incumbent power forward David Lee. He gathered the Warriors last June in Cleveland when they trailed the Cavaliers and cult hero Matthew Dellavedova 2--1 in the Finals. "Dellavedova is beating us to every loose ball!" Green roared. "The ball hits the floor and he's diving while we're standing and watching! This is the Finals! Do we even want to win? Tomorrow, I'll get 10 loose balls! Everybody else get one!" Golden State didn't lose again.

Nobody toasted the title with more enthusiasm than Green—"I'm flying past every one of you on the street," he told Oakland police at the parade, while posing for pictures—but when the buzz wore off he went back and watched video of all the pick-and-rolls he ran with Curry. The way the Clippers defended Curry in 2014, trapping him 35 feet from the basket, had become standard procedure throughout the league. He came up with a mental checklist he ticks off whenever Curry hits him at the top of the key, triggering the 4-on-3 advantage. "I'm watching two [defenders]: the big man and the corner man," Green says. "If the big man comes up and the corner man doesn't come in, I throw the lob. If the big man stays up and the corner man stays home, I shoot the floater or attack the rim. And if the big man comes up and the corner man comes in, I kick it to the corner." There is inevitability to the Dubs' offense. "Somebody," Green coos, "has to be open."

When Curry was not incinerating opponents this winter, Green was exploiting the fear that the MVP provokes. After signing a five-year, $82 million deal, Day Day delivered his finest season—14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists per game—but traditional stats don't do him justice. He compiled the best raw plus/minus of anyone in the past two decades, per NBA.com; Golden State outscored foes by a staggering 1,070 points when he was on the court. After Lakers forward Julius Randle singed Green in the preseason with his go-to stutter-step move, Green asked Warriors special assistant Nick U'Ren for every clip of the move, going back to Randle's days at Kentucky. "I studied the s--- out of that move," Green says, "and figured out what I needed to do to stop it."

The Warriors won their first 24 games, and when Kerr asked in March if they preferred to rest for the playoffs or churn for the 1995--96 Bulls' record of 72 wins, Green spoke for the team. "I want to go for it," he crowed, and the others nodded along. He later sent a group text to make sure they agreed. Golden State was a basketball dreamscape, free of the drama and stress common in other NBA outposts. The Warriors were peaceful, joyful, functional, which for Green brings its own kind of misery.

HE READS everything. "I think it's cool to read that Draymond Green is transcending the NBA," he says. "I also think it's cool to read that Draymond Green is terrible." He sleeps with ESPN on his TV, volume raised, lest he miss a disparaging sound bite. A dig from Doc Rivers? A bold prediction from Jason Terry? A jab from a '96 Bull? If anyone tries to change the channel he pops up like a jack-in-the-box. "There are still doubters," he says. "I'll find them somewhere." As he speaks, an elderly tourist at the Marriott swings by his table and asks what team he plays for. "The Warriors," he replies.
"Oh," the man repeats. "New Orleans." See, another member of the unenlightened.

"Draymond is comfortable in conflict," Myers says. "He does not want to live in a copacetic world." Of course, strife is hard to find in the course of a 73-win season, compelling Green to manufacture a little. "Everything can't be sweet," he explains. "Everything can't be peaches and cream. There are times I feel like I just have to start yelling at people. I don't even know about what. It doesn't even matter. They get mad at me for a couple days, but I think it gives them back that life."

Sometimes Kerr is the object of his ire, as occurred at Oklahoma City in February, when the coach singled out Green during a halftime film session. They had to be restrained from each other in the locker room. As the Warriors took the floor for the second half, trailing by 11, Walton begged Green to apologize, for fear Kerr would bench him. "I'll do that later," Green said. "This whole team is about to follow my passion, my anger." In the huddle, Kerr drew up a play on his grease board with only four names. "Where am I?" Green hollered. "Where is my name?"
"You're playing?" Kerr asked.

"Yeah, I'm playing!" responded Green, who logged a team-high 44 minutes. Golden State came back from a nine-point deficit with less than four minutes left to win in overtime. "We're not a crazy group, and you need a little crazy," Kerr says. "The Bulls needed Dennis Rodman. The Spurs needed Stephen Jackson. I have a potty mouth, so when Draymond and I go back and forth, there's some 'Hey, f--- you. No, f--- you.' The other guys are like, 'Oh, s---.' But that conflict—between Draymond and me, Draymond and the opponent, Draymond and the ref, Draymond and the world—gives us our edge." In the conference semifinals against the Trail Blazers, Green accidentally struck official Ken Mauer while complaining about a call, made a timeout gesture to Portland coach Terry Stotts during a Golden State run and essentially declared the series over after four games. He also stuffed box scores to the tune of 22.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 3.2 blocks.

Managing Green, Kerr acknowledges, was simpler last season. Now he is a leader and a top 10 player who is under scrutiny he never could have expected, whether he is completing another triple double or posting a Snapchat video of himself driving 118 miles per hour. "My fire is my gift and my curse," Green says. "I harness it 95% of the time, but the 5% I don't, it works against me." That's when he is most likely to get the text from Uncle Bennie: Get your hat, get your coat and hit that door.
"We all go a little sideways sometimes, but Draymond has the ability to center himself," says Warriors defensive guru Ron Adams. "That's the mark of a grounded human being." Kerr backed off Green a bit after the OKC squabble, but a few weeks later, Green approached Kerr and requested that he coach him as hard as he did before. Kerr will never muzzle Green, but they talk a lot about the best way to utilize his baritone. "I think Draymond understands," Kerr says, "he can't be the guy who yells every day."

As the Warriors lure more fans from San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Green is a bridge back to their base. He bowls at Plank in Jack London Square, hits up Too $hort shows, listens to E-40 and Mistah Fab. He isn't always the life of the party—"I'm actually very shy around people I don't know," he insists—but he'll open the door to his BMW at Yogofina and hold court while he eats his frozen yogurt. "Bro, you have got to be from East Oakland!" strangers tell him, almost daily. He understands why they say that. He plays with no fear and speaks with no filter.

Green can be tough on teammates ("You know I'll outshoot you any day," he needles Mo Speights, who was minding his own business during a second-round practice) but he is way tougher on himself. "I sucked, I sucked, I sucked," he told Izzo after a first-round clunker. Yes, he still calls his college coach at 4 a.m., still suggests pick-and-roll coverages against Ohio State, still texts Spartans guard Denzel Valentine: "You're not grinding!" Green donated $3.1 million to Michigan State's athletic department last year, but that's just one of many contributions.

Valentine is a 6'5" NBA prospect, and four years ago somebody might have called him a tweener. Green has made that term obsolete. Now he is positionless. "Everyone is looking for the next Draymond Green," Scalabrine says. "Any undersized big who can shoot a halfway decent three should be giving him 10% of his contract." Green was recently reading a predraft roundup that included a blurb about a team searching for its Draymond Green. "How did this happen?" he asks himself. "It's like a script. It never happens this way."

Teams can copy the Warriors' small lineups and switching defenses, but there is no cloning the harmony produced by Curry and Green. "It's the mellow lead singer," says Myers, "and the guitarist jumping into the crowd." They are much more than pick-and-roll partners. One night this season Green was asleep in his hotel room on the road when he woke up at 3 a.m. As usual, ESPN was on, but there were no juicy bites. Instead, the network was airing a profile of Curry, how he was scrawny and overlooked and his ankles kept buckling. The Curry biography is well known, but Green had missed some of the details. "By the end, I was in tears," he says. "I texted him: 'Bro, I'm so proud of you and I respect you so much.'"

One was raised in the suburbs and the other in the city. One was too thin and the other too thick. One had money and the other didn't. But they were not the study in contrast Green once assumed. "Steph and I talk about this," Green says. "Yeah, we grew up under different circumstances, but I didn't get everything I wanted and he didn't get everything he wanted, either. We have more in common than you realize."

This time of year, Green feels an invisible clamp on his lungs. It was tighter last spring, when he felt as if he couldn't take a deep breath for two months, but it's back nonetheless, a suffocating reminder of what's at stake: a title, a dynasty, a gilded season. Every player has their own way of removing the clamp. Curry will nibble his mouthpiece and shimmy his shoulders and fire. Green will clench his teeth and flex his muscles and fight, all Day Day, until the giants are gone.

***

Dezefde editie van SI bevat ook een analyserend artikel  -'All one'-  over het spel van Golden State,

je leest het   ---  Hier  ---

 ***

Table of Contents

May 23, 2016

GOLF PLUS

• THE JOY OF JASON DAY

  By Michael Bamberger

• SI NOW

  By WITH HOST Maggie Gray

• INBOX

MLB

• SALE'S FORCE

  By Ben Reiter

NHL

• Do It All D

  By ALEX PREWITT

INDY 500

• RACER'S EDGE

  By Andrew Lawrence

WORDS WITH...

• NOVAK DJOKOVIC

  By L. Jon Wertheim

  The 11-time Grand Slam champion opens up about his love for the one major that has eluded him and about the hard-won maturity that helps him dominate the tour

The M|M|Q|B

• Mr. Franchise

  By Emily Kaplan OF THEMMQB.COM

NBA BASKETBALL

• THE GIANT KILLER

  By Lee Jenkins

POINT AFTER

• The Fine Print

  By Steve Rushin

• Leading Off
• All for One

  By Chris Ballard

  The NBA's first unanimous MVP, Steph Curry is a player of this particular moment, statistically, as a transitional figure and as a showman
• Playing the Feud

  By Elizabeth Newman

  Athletes and their families take one another to court
• HOT | NOT
• Now Hear This

  By Michael Bamberger

  Jim Herman gets his head in the game
• JUST MY TYPE

  By Interview by Dan Patrick
• FACES IN THE CROWD

  Edited By Alexandra Fenwick
• Healing Sticks

  By Alexandra Fenwick
• Cable Vision

  By Richard Deitsch

  ESPN isn't sweating the loss of big names. It's the little guy who worries them