BREAKING NEWS - Johnny you might be interested

So hopefully none of you have forgotten about that post written back in August, about this AMAZING basketball player who BYU missed on. And BYU deserves to lose because we didn't recruit this kid.

The kid's name was missing from the post and I really wanted to know who it was to see how much of the story checked out. I'm not sure if the author didn't know the name of the kid or if he knew but didn't want there to be any follow up; regardless, I happened to figure it out.

The kids name is Christian Parker, son of former NBA star Sonny Parker. He went to BYU-Hawaii for a year, and then served a mission in ATL. He redshirted his first year at BYU-Hawaii and after his mission, he decided that he wanted to play D-1 so he transfered from BYU-Hawaii and enrolled at CSI, the one and only College of Southern Idaho.

The entire story checks out, including the part about having a kid brother, who happens to be Jabarri Parker, http://illinois.scout.com/a.z?s=169&p=8&c=1&nid=4451328 The kid already has some legit D-1 offers from Kansas and Illinois. He's still only a freshman. However, the main theme of the post was how stupid Coach Rose was for not picking this kid up (the older brother Christian). So let me fill in the story with some facts, and you be the judge of whether or not this guy has a place on BYU's team, who is currently 17-1, and ranked #17 in the country.

Currently at CSI Parker has played in 5 of the 15 games, averaged 3.8 minutes per game. He's averaging .8 (less than 1) points per game, scoring a whole 4 points on the season. He has played the least amount of minutes of anyone on the team, hence scoring less than anyone else on the team. The games he did play in, the team won by an average of 40 points. Do I need to say where his minutes came from? I'm not so sure that's the type of player that's going to help BYU win many games in March.

I have nothing against the kid. I wish him the best, and hopes he becomes an amazing basketball player, and if he does I hope BYU can pick him up. With that said, let's be realistic for a second, not every kid is going to be a great player. And I think in this case, the BYU coaches just might have made a good decision by recruiting Tyler Haws, who has started 16 games for yours truly, averaging 12 points, and 5 rebounds, shooting 54% from the field; and Brandon Davies, who has played in all 18 games, averaging 14 minutes, scoring on average 6 points, shooting 59%.

I think somebody owes the BYU coaches an apology. If I recall correctly, the "kid had a desire to go to BYU" (I don't blame him), but the coaches were "incompetent." So yes in this case the BYU coaches rightfully recruited "a kid from Utah County than get an athletic kid from Chicago." (Both Haws and Davies are from Utah County)

One other detail that I didn't realize until now was the claim that the younger brother would never go to BYU unless his brother was there. If my math is correct, the younger brother is in the class of 2013, so his first season at college will be 2014. The older brother is a redshirt-freshman now, so he will graduate college in 2013, making it impossible for the 2 to play together. I don't think the argument holds much weight that we should have recruited the older brother to get the younger brother. BYU may not get the younger brother, but I don't think it has anything to do with his older brother not getting an offer to BYU. If the younger brother only goes where his older brother had offers, it looks like he'll either go to BYU-Hawaii or CSI . . . hmm tough choice.

Go Cougars!!!

Nartker did this once, I think

As one of my friends here would say: "That was dirty stinky."

Operation Scheyer Face

I was browsing washingtonpost.com and just happened to see this on the home page, with accompaning caption:


(Photo: Toni L. Sandys/Post)
CAPTION: Maryland fans taunt Duke player Jon Scheyer as part of Operation Scheyerface during the game at the Comcast Center.

I don't know much about Duke's squad this year; nor about Maryland's. I don't really follow College BBall until March. But I want to know more about Operation Scheyerface.

Stats & Sports

If you have some time on your hands, this article written by Michael Lewis ("Money Ball," "The Blind Side" [the book I recommended a couple months back]) for NY Times magazine is very interesting. Sports will never be completely predicted by stats, but the new statistics that are being applied to sports I care about (see www.footballoutsiders.com/info/methods and their explanation of DVOA; to a lesser extent, basketball) are making the role of statistics in determining the "value" of players and the possible contributions they can make to a team absolutely fascinating (to me, at least).

I acknowledge that boiling sports down to pure numbers takes away from much of the human factors that make it great -- passion, drive, will, discipline, inspiration etc -- so I'm not saying stats are the end-all, say-all. But they provide some nice insight.

Anybody have thoughts on this? Are stats taking over too much of how sports / players are judged? Do they need to be more of a factor?

Quadruple-Double?

...Chris Paul may have punched Julius Hodge in the man-area back in college, but he seems like a pretty good guy. Please feel free to correct me if I am mistaken or you have evidence indicating otherwise.

Not to mention he recently edged close to a quadruple-double against the 76ers: 27 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and seven steals. Ridiculous stat line. I guess with West and Chandler out, he's had to pick up the slack. Watching him pick apart Dallas in the playoffs last year was enjoyable -- the kid's got talent.

He also has a great sense of humor, if you want to listen to an interview with him, scroll down to the Chris Paul interview. It's worth the time.

Shaq Commercial

"How'd you get so many Q's?"
"Don't worry about it."

I love ESPN commercials.

"Don't Bring Donuts"

Sac-town Kings veterans punk their own rookie

Oldest Guy To Play College B-Ball

A 73-Year-Old Gives Basketball a Second Shot

from the NY Times

BYU Basketball Online in High Def (Is there HD for internet streaming? If not BYU TV looks pretty darn close to HD)

For all your cougar fans out there, just wanted to let you know that BYU TV is showing some of the men's basketball games on the channel, and if you don't get the channel then you can watch it online at www.byu.tv or http://www.byutv.org/streaming/ (if you go to the latter link, just click on "BYU TELEVISION Tune In Now" right in the middle of the screen). The online quality is awesome (and no I'm not being sarcastic). I know BYU plays two more basketball games tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, and both games will be online or on the channel. Enjoy.

Also, here is a link to BYU's schedule: http://www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=111 The schedule shows which games are broadcast on BYU TV.

And one final plug for BYU TV. They also have archives of True Blue (If you've never seen it you should definitely watch an episode) and highlights of recent football and basketball games.

Greatest Sports Video Compilation Ever

I think we've all seen this, but it needs to be up on the blog for inspirational purposes.

The Art & Science of Wheelchair B-Ball

I'll just make this easier and post a link to the NY Times story.

Post-Finals Interview with KG

I have nothing to add, besides: "I called it."

Why I Care About the NBA (Temporarily)

I haven't followed the NBA closely in years. There's something about overpaid, whiny adults that doesn't appeal to me as a spectator. I do acknowledge, however, that this could simply be a personal preference, considering the popularity of unbearable shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Real World" (Granted, I don't know if the perpetually-longing-to-return-to-my-frat-boy-glory-days individuals on "The Real World" get paid, but if it's anything more than -$200, or the highly-inflated currency of a foreign country, it's too much).

This NBA post-season, however, I have been glued to each playoff game.

I attribute this to a few factors. And yes, while one of them is definitely "the elimination of the Spurs," they are just as (if not more) boring to write about as they are to watch. I'd rather talk about Kevin Garnett.

This has nothing to do with me jumping on the Celtics bandwagon once they got good this season. I am still contemplating jumping on, given the age of the team. It has everything to do with having grown up and loved watching KG in all of his raving, ranting glory. I've never seen anyone play sports with his passion, or the barely-bridled enthusiasm that so many of the pros lose as they view playing ball as a chore -- a multi-million dollar chore, mind you -- and not something to be loved. Garnett loves it, and you can sense that watching him play. You can hear it in interviews with him.

Admittedly, it is that same intensity that sometimes scares me a bit. It almost reminds me of that one spelling bee girl from about ten years ago, who would talk to herself during the competition like she was possessed. Anyone remember her? ...Bueller?



KG's intensity is almost like that. Minus the social awkwardness and overall dysfunctionality. And eventual ostracization by society and peers. Man, that was a really poor analogy. Apologies to the Big Ticket on that one. But seriously. Have you seen him do stuff like this?



Whatever. My point: I love to watch this guy. Especially when he makes big plays--

--Yes, the big plays that are inevitably followed by his requisite swearing tirades. I know I haven't renewed my lip-reading certification (come on, if they have a Beer Judge Certification Program, this is not outside the realm of possibility), but I would liken watching him swear to the urge that non-Spurs fans get to knee Bruce Bowen in the crotch -- it's not so much the frequency that surprises you, but the intensity with which it happens. You ever wonder why KG, often the biggest superstar on the floor, is never mic'ed up during the games? It's because the NBA would automatically be banned from the networks and relegated to HBO and Showtime.

My only concern is what will happen to KG if the Celtics do win the Finals. He may explode. Or it may be like an Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark-type thing. I dunno.