[SIZE=5]From Chicago USA[/SIZE]
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Shocky1;842441503 said:
whether it's playing high stakes poker, putting together a multi million dollar business deal or kissing a smokin' hot brunette yoga girl for the 1st time or all of the above, it's important to know the tell
the tell is a small almost imperceptible visual cue that tells you what the other person is thinking...its benefits are priceless
are you still with me?
so ivan rabb is being interviewed along with jaylen brown by the espn announcers after the bishop o'dowd vs wheeler match up...the talking heads ask the 5 star brown re: his thought process with respects to selecting a college...the camera & all eyes focus upon jaylen but i'm still just watching ivan
the articulate & thoughtful jaylen says "players and coaches come and go, i want to pick a college where i'm comfortable"...ivan is starting to nod his head
jaylen then says "i want to pick a college that has a family atmosphere, somewhere that feels like home"...ivan is totally moving his head in agreement & then looks down to his left at his heart, these 2 guys got a connection
the tell is clear (do not argue or question my body language reading skills, i aced psych 1 at cal)
diamonds are forever (expect the unexpected)#
i've been lobbying tsubasa onozaki, cal's director of video (they are creatively killing it lately with their fun & energized cal branding videos) re: my recommendation for the theme song for the cal basketball program's intro video on the haas scoreboard on gamedays, kayne's diamonds are forever
tsubasa told me that the players will reconvene after the australia team bonding trip & then decide as a group the theme song
if the california golden bears student athlete basketball players don't pick kayne's diamonds are forever that is gonna be a tell in my mind, a clear indication that i should shut the **** up, that they're not interested in this foo foo lame **** & that the cal's monster class thread should be terminated at that time
yeah, its all gonna be real clear real soon
the tell#
Shocky1;842580701 said:
coach martin would like to keep me further afar at all times
south bender;842580787 said:
Now, I can't imagine why...
Shocky1;842419802 said:
flew from phoenix to reno today sitting next to a nba scout (he worked yesterday's arizona/gonzaga game in tuscon) & then shared a taxi rental from mccaron airport to the lawlor center for this afternoon's dramatic bears victory vs the wolfpack on their home floor
he told me about the career dilemma choices confronting marginal bubble nba prospects like cobbs & solo, do they go overseas & try to earn a little $ (the number of guys who play their way back into the nba from overseas is very small) or do they try to dazzle in the nba development league earning around $30k a year?
it's a tough situation (pursue some potential international paychecks or pursue your nba hoop dreams) particularly for those without a college degree, when their playing days are gone, their career options are pretty limited at that point
his team categorizes prospects into 3 categories:
1) high priority-guys who could be 1st round, early 2nd round draft choices (40-50 players)
2) bubble-guys who could be drafted but have major question marks, could potentially be drafted late in the 2nd round (50-60 players)
3) watch-guys who are still developing or are late developers, most likely free agents (70-80 players)
at this point in time, his team has tyrone wallace in tier 2 and both david kravish & jabari bird in tier 3
he attended a cal practice earlier this year & david kravish (his strength is his high twitch put back rebounding spring after a miss) when david suddenly runs off the court at haas towards the locker room
so he asks one of the cal coaches, what's up, is david injured or something?
the coach said, "nah, he's got a class, he'll be back a little bit later"
mr nba laughed when he told me that story & said "that doesn't happen at kentucky"
Shocky1;842466285 said:
there's around 2 minutes left in the washington state game pac 12 tournament game at the mgm grand & the president of the brenden glapion fan club is nudging me & asking me why her favorite player isn't in the game
so i start screaming from our seats (thx ash & jj) directly behind the cal bench "coach, let's get the walk ons into the game, they work their azzs off all season, let's go"
and then coach martin yells "brenden" & our fearless hero jumps to his feet & runs to the scorer's table
taylor can't believe it, this **** is getting live
and then the cougars defender fouls glapion, all of his teammates rise to their feet & start clapping, he's gonna get 2 free throws
so brenden toes the line, bounces the ball & releases his smooth left handed stroke into the las vegas airspace...the ball rotates perfectly for seemingly forever & then drops thru the bottom of the net...the bears crew are totally fired up & pumping their fists...brandon chauca, a great teammate, comes up from behind the 3 point line & messes with brenden's crewcut
taylor & i are going ballistic...i'm screaming at the top of my lungs, "great shot, brenden, way to go baby...washington high school shooter, let's do this baby, let it fly, let's do this"
brenden bounces the ball, inhales a deep breath & focuses in on his 2nd free throw...he deftly strokes the 2nd free throw & it also drops perfectly thru the basket...brenden glapion has got 2 points in the pac 12 tnt, he's in the history books & now the staff is also smiling broadly and telling the guys to get back on d
i'm still roaring like a golden bear saying lots of stupid **** & high fiving dr danger & his son along with everyone else in our vicinity...taylor & i hug and i almost see a mist of bay area fog in her beautiful green eyes, my daughter is alive & happy sharing a very special moment with her dad
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(click for larger image of taylor cheesin it at our golf club in flagstaff)
the stars & the universe are all perfectly aligned at this point in time
as the cal players leave the court, i'm stilling relentlessly clapping & yelling at the tv sideline reporter "interview glapion, interview glapion, talk to the big guy, come on let's roll"...the players are looking at me smiling & i dunno maybe shaking their heads a little bit too because i'm such a dumb azz, we've all experienced & shared something bigger than the game of basketball
did i mention that taylor's dream school is the university of san francisco (she's gotta raise her gpa if that's gonna happen otherwise she's gonna be at her mom's school, asu) & that brenden grew up in san francisco?
brenden glapion=cable car baller
the magic of cal basketball#
Shocky1;842581031 said:
what is the biggest area of much critically needed improvement for the cal basketball team if it's going to achieve it's unlimited potential during the upcoming season?
getting the ball to ivan rabb down low in the paint where he can do something offensively with his vast but currently underutilized scoring skills
this is totally on the bears guards & cal coaching staff, wake the **** up...you gotta special talent, try sharing the ******* basketball with him, ok?...guards gotta look for ivan & the coaches gotta scheme better for rabb too
i could tell ivan was getting frustrated during the 1st half with the minimal amount of touches so i yelled at young ivee "ivan, finish with the ball, be selfish baby" as he ran downcourt by me...ivan actually looked at me with a pained look & said "i'm trying"
i feel young ivee's pain...he played for 4 years at bishop o'dowd with his montera middle school best friend point guard paris austin who unselfishly shared the ball with his mcdonald all american teammate in places that ivan could do severe & permanent damage to opponents
then the **** hit the fan...i attended ivan's post high school national high school all star games which were remarkable for the guards like allonzo trier absolutely never sharing the ball, just jacking up off balance 3 pointers...the only way for bigs to score in these playground games is offensive board put backs
then the bears went to australia & more of the same with young ivee not put in position to be successful
let's be real here, if them callifornia golden bears don't figure out a way to feature my boy ivan rabb offensively, then both young ivee & myself are gonna transfer to tami rabb's former school, them sacramento state hornets
and yeah, then i'll start a thread entitled "sacramento state's monster class"
go hornets#
Shocky1;842491892 said:
trust me, the staff knows about 2018 phenom jordan brown...both theo robertson & travis decuire were telling me about a blue chip middle schooler from near sacramento back in the day
6'9" 180 lbs phenom jordan brown of woodcreek high school in roseville blew up in the eyes of the national recruiting scouts/analysts at the team usa camp in colorado springs
coach martin & the bears staff are actively building relationships with the future top 5 player in the 2018 class
nor cal, baby
"jordan brown has been great this evening...2018 pf is a potential big timer"
-eric bossi
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yeah, jordan brown is the real deal...
jordan brown & his family unofficially visited cal during the final australia preparation team practice
jordan is not a dumb azz, he got a 3.8 gpa as a freshman at woodcreek high school
cal along with ucla & arizona (good luck for the family driving to los angeles & tucson for all of their son's games) have offered the future top 5 player in the 2018 class
so i'm shooting baskets (i'm probably gonna walk on so i can sit by my boyz nick, cole & brenden at all the games) at haas pavilion after the bears morning practice before the san diego state football game when the other guy on the floor introduces himself to me, he's jordan brown's aau coach
he played ball at byu back in the day & told me that jordan wanted to visit berkeley but his parents had work commitments...he told me jordan is extremely polite & a true student athlete with academic ambition from a very close family that enjoys watching all of his games...i asked him if brown would be attracted to an academically mediocre factory like kentucky or arizona that is far from home & he said he didn't think that would be a real good fit
at lunch i asked richard midgley if jordan brown is an ivan rabb kinda player?...sir richard told me absolutely yes
Shocky1;842582208 said:
jordan brown is unofficially visiting cal this weekend, yeah he's the top priority prospect with an actionable offer along with bishop o'dowd's elijah hardy & mater dei catholic's miles norris for cal's started at the bottom class (2018)
the university of california, berkeley=#1 ranked public (#3 overall) university in the world (including roseville)
bearmanpg;842582275 said:
Jordan Brown is the only freshman I've seen who compares with Ivan Rabb as a freshman.....He is an extremely talented young man with a basketball IQ beyond his years...if he improves as much as Ivan did in high school he will be a beast by the time he chooses a college (hopefully Cal)....the difference between the two is the difference in the ability of the competition they play against....O'Dowd played a national schedule the last two year of Ivan's days there while it is yet to be seen what level of competition Woodcreek High will play.....it is also possible that Jordan could transfer to a more basketball centered school like Findley Prep where he would get to play against top notch talent from around the country....it wouldn't surprise me in the least...