Shawn Marion shows off his Matrix WWE move with the knee smash from up high

Shawn Marion is an amazing player and if you have ever watched him play for the Phoenix Suns or the Miami Heat, you would have been amazed. Just how does he do what he does? And that jump shot or whatever you want to call it, just where did that come from and how come no coach ever made him change it? Maybe because it goes down even from long range?

Anyway, Matrix wanted out of Phoenix. It was simple math really. Steve Nash was the man and when his time was done, Amare Stoudemire was to be the man. Even Shaq got more pub in his brief stay in Phoenix. Of course, when did Shaq not get max pub?

Matrix took his game to Miami and Shaq went to Phoenix to save the Suns. It did not work out for either of them.

Shaq is old and not quite the force he used to be and Matrix, once again, seems under appreciated. Shawn Marion wants to be the man, instead he is trade bait.

The problem now is that Marion doesn’t appear to have a long-term future in Miami. The team is going through a rebuilding process with Dwyane Wade and rookie Michael Beasley as the cornerstones. Marion, who turns 31 at the end of the season and plays the same position as Beasley, doesn’t appear to be a great fit.

He has been dangled to the Lakers and Jazz, and more recently the Heat tried to work out something with the Bulls that would have brought them Ben Gordon and others.
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What do you think? Did David Stern just need a quick 50K and saw Michael Beasley?

The NBA fined Beasley 50k for his involvement in the NBA Rookie Transition scandal. Michael was former Kansas Jayhawks and now Memphis Grizzlies Darrell Arthur, and also Miami Heat teammate Mario Chalmers.

Beasley did not cooperate with the league’s investigation into the incident, which also involved Heat point guard Mario Chalmers and Memphis forward Darrell Arthur. Chalmers and Arthur were expelled from the rookie symposium and each fined $20,000.

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Everyone knows that women, weed, and the NBA Rookie Transition do not mix. The Police were responding to a fire alarm at 2 a.m. and smelled something like weed.

That is one expensive bag of weed!
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Maybe Michael Beasley should have been standing in front of Derrick Rose?

Image details: 2008 NBA Draft served by picapp.com

Can you use math to predict how good a college player will become in the NBA?

Chris Doughty, a 2008 industrial and operations engineering graduate of the University of Michigan, pointed me to a cool regression analysis of the great John Hollinger. Using data from current NBA players, Hollinger sees how well the players’ college stats explain their subsequent performance in the NBA.
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According to John, Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams, and Rajon Rondo would be the best 3 players from the 2006 draft.

So, who does John pick in the latest draft?

Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Darrell Arthur, Marreese Speights, D. J. Augustin, and then Rose.

It’s particularly interesting to see what happens to players like Darrell Arthur who had very different Hollinger and actual draft ratings. Hollinger ranked Arthur 3rd in projected PER (player efficiency rating) but Arthur was taken 27th. (Donte Greene, Kosta Koufus, Roy Hibbert, and Marreese Speights were also undervalued by the regression’s lights).

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High flying Derrick Rose holds the keys to the draft mania, but where is the basketball?

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This is going to be one crazy draft.

First let’s set the table. The Western Conference finished as tight in the standings as a conference could. There were barely any games separating first place from 9th place. What does that mean? Wheeling and dealing will take place, because each team that finished behind the Lakers and Kobe Bryant thinks it will just take one solid deal to move them up to first.

In the Eastern Conference, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, and especially Detroit are also ready to deal.

Just to add to the mess, this draft is loaded with point guards and other than Rose and Beasley; it just seems to have a lot of equal appearing players.

How about we just pick out a few scenarios from the mock draft by Chad Ford at ESPN.com.

Miami Heat #2

Go no farther than the Miami Heat at the number 2 pick.

We continue to hear that the Heat will probably trade the No. 2 pick if Rose is off the board. The latest talk has the Sonics and Heat discussing a swap that would send the No. 2 pick and Mark Blount to Seattle for Chris Wilcox and the No. 4 pick. The move would give the Heat a huge amount of cap space in the summer of 2009. (Wilcox is in the last year of his contract, while Blount has two years and $16 million remaining.)

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Seattle seems to be in everyone’s plans. With the number 4 pick and so many needs, they could pull off all kinds of deals.

Memphis Grizzlies go cheap

The Memphis Grizzlies at the number 5 pick are also looking to wheel and deal, but for a different reason.

Even stronger are rumors that the Grizzlies are talking to a number of teams, including the Knicks, Blazers and Suns, about deals that would send the No. 5 pick to whomever is willing to take Brian Cardinal’s awful contract (two years, $13 million left). The latest buzz has the Knicks talking to Memphis about a deal that would send David Lee and the expiring contract of Malik Rose to Memphis for No. 5 and Cardinal.

In other words, it sounds like GM Chris Wallace is, once again, being pushed by ownership to cut payroll.

Milwaukee Bucks get tough

It is going to be real fun following the Bucks up in Milwaukee. Think about the combination of tough former Michigan State University All American point guard, current NBA assist record holding, and former Chicago tough guy coach Scott Skiles with former Detroit advisor to Joe Dumars, now turnaround expert John Hammond. These are two guys that believe in toughness and have shown that before.

Alexander is a high-energy forward who impressed GM John Hammond and new coach Scott Skiles with his toughness and grit. That’s exactly what the Bucks are going for right now. Hammond wants to change the culture in Milwaukee, and Alexander has that capability. He also fits a need. The Bucks will be shopping Bobby Simmons (along with just about everyone else) hard this summer.

If Joe Alexander is what they say he is then he is going to love being a Buck.

Cleveland LeBron’s seek age insurance

At number 19 the Cavaliers are talking about Georgetown 7′2″ Center Roy Hibbert. LeBron James desperately needs players around him and Coach Mike Brown would love the big guy for his defense and shot blocking. Cleveland has to be concerned with an aging Ilgauskas and an aging Ben Wallace. It would be a great pick, but LeBron still needs points from other players inside.

Detroit Pistons look to surprise

Finally, how about my Pistons. Chad has them taking 6′6″ Bill Walker and they might, but most of us expect some kind of deal from Joe Dumars. There are just too many teams looking to move up or down for Joe D to miss this opportunity. Even though Boston showed you can win with old guys, it is time for the pot to be stirred on the Pistons, they need to get younger. Bill Walker would not provide a whole lot to the team and most likely would be included in any trade.

Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince are two likely candidates. Rip Hamilton could go if they replace him with a scorer.

This draft is all mixed up.

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Michael Beasley is shorter than listed in college, but still a lot taller than O.J. Mayo

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The Chicago Bulls have the first pick in the draft and seem to have narrowed it down to Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose.

Beasley seems to have come up short, in height that is.

He measured 6-foot-8 1/4 at the NBA’s predraft camp after being listed at 6-10 in college.

“It’s a little disappointing to me to find out I’m actually a midget,” Beasley said in jest. “But it’s not a big deal to me.”

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Of course, nothing is easy in Bulls land lately, both of these players are just coming off of their freshman years, so there are questions, but there is no denying their talent.

Check out the stats on Beasley.

Quick, strong and agile, Beasley put together one of the best seasons ever by a freshman, becoming the third in NCAA history to lead the nation in rebounds at 12.4 per game while averaging 26.2 points. He had the second-most rebounds and third-most points by a freshman in NCAA history, helping Kansas State to its first NCAA tournament victory in 20 years.

He was the Big 12 player of the year, a consensus All-American and the runner-up to North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough for several player of the year awards, but there are concerns about his character and height.

Most of Beasley’s issues seem to be plain immaturity, but then do you give a guy like that all that money?

Fair or not, one of the major issues surrounding him is his character.

To that, Beasley said, “If I have character issues, sorry — I guess.”

The issues stem from Beasley’s sense of humor.

He’s a prankster, has been since he was a young child.

It was not a major problem when his targets were friends and relatives, but teachers and school administrators were not always amused.

He wound up attending seven schools in five years as a teen, and that included a stint at basketball power Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he was told not to come back after he and a teammate bet who could sign his name in black marker on the most objects in the school.

Derrick Rose will visit Chicago next.

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Take a look at these prospects for the NBA.

Derrick Rose, Freshman PG, Memphis
Expected to go: 1 or 2 | NBA comparisons: Baron Davis, Dwyane Wade, Devin Harris
Talk to me: “Rose has done everything humanly possible to make a case for himself to be considered the #1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. While just a few weeks ago it was virtually a guarantee that Michael Beasley would claim that spot, Rose has now, at the very least, given NBA GMs plenty to think about before deciding to pass him up. Depending on which team lands the top pick, and what their point guard situation looks like, it’s not ludicrous at all to suggest at this point that he might even be the one.” — J. Givony, DraftExpress

Derrick Rose scoring easily for Memphis on my Michigan State Spartans

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Watching this guy destroy my Michigan State Spartans was actually fun. What a spectacular athlete. How easy he scores.

Of course he had help with Chris Douglass-Roberts a lanky junior that easily gets into the paint and scores with a silky jumper.

Or how about Kevin Love (played against my Spartans early in the year). Kevin establishes himself on the blocks and you cannot move him. Scores in a variety of ways.

Think of Tyler Hansbrough. They say he is not a great athlete, but every time you watch him, he is blowing by someone with a fancy move and taking it to the rack.

The list goes on.
Darrell Arthur, Kansas
Ty Lawson, NC
Brandon Rush Kansas

This is a star studded final four.

NBA Basketball special comment The NBA scouts will be salivating over these games.

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