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MoMoneyBC {l Wrote}:(named my dog Dudley)

Were you molested in the back of a bicycle shop as a kid?

No. He's a cute little guy.

angrychicken {l Wrote}:

MoMoneyBC {l Wrote}:(named my dog Dudley)

Were you molested in the back of a bicycle shop as a kid?

Not sure what that has to do with naming my dog Dudley, but good one.

Bottom line. I just have RESPECK for all Dudlies.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

branchinator {l Wrote}:

MoMoneyBC {l Wrote}:So he has two years to improve his ballhandling... sounds do-able. If he does that, he becomes the complete package at the the sg position. Something that Dudley and Smith can't be at their respective positions. He has more potential.

We're not debating potential. I agree that Sanders has more due to his size and athleticism. We're talking actual NBA production. And it's not like he has to just add a crossover, et voila, he's a lottery pick. It's not that simple.

If we are not debating potential then you are assuming he won't improve the ball handling. I was debating potential - I assume that all athletes that want to make the pros work on their weakness.

I'm assuming he won't improve it enough to enable him to make a bigger impact in the NBA than Dudley or Smith. That's my whole argument. These type of improvements are made in the offseason. We'll see if it has improved. Without significantly improved ball handling, Sanders is another Bill Walker minus the knee injuries.

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

branchinator {l Wrote}:

MoMoneyBC {l Wrote}:So he has two years to improve his ballhandling... sounds do-able. If he does that, he becomes the complete package at the the sg position. Something that Dudley and Smith can't be at their respective positions. He has more potential.

We're not debating potential. I agree that Sanders has more due to his size and athleticism. We're talking actual NBA production. And it's not like he has to just add a crossover, et voila, he's a lottery pick. It's not that simple.

If we are not debating potential then you are assuming he won't improve the ball handling. I was debating potential - I assume that all athletes that want to make the pros work on their weakness.

I'm assuming he won't improve it enough to enable him to make a bigger impact in the NBA than Dudley or Smith. That's my whole argument. These type of improvements are made in the offseason. We'll see if it has improved. Without significantly improved ball handling, Sanders is another Bill Walker minus the knee injuries.

Seriously? Sanders shot 35% from three last season.

Sanders is also a lot bigger than you are giving him credit for. I see him as a mini-Paul Pierce. Pierce can't dribble either. At all. Both have huge shoulders, and Pierce is only an inch or two taller.

Bill Walker is skinny and can't shoot, has no discernable basketball skills, and is still pretty much in the same place as Dudley.

Fair enough branch. I know I speak for all of us, when I say that we hope we see this improvement, and I hope we don't see Sanders charging/dribbling off his foot this year due to lack of a handle.

MoMoneyBC {l Wrote}:Fair enough branch. I know I speak for all of us, when I say that we hope we see this improvement, and I hope we don't see Sanders charging/dribbling off his foot this year due to lack of a handle.

If we don't see any of that, he is going to win POY. He's going to touch the ball twice as much this year.

i agree 9, he and the offense will be in much more rhythm this year i feel, and in crunch time he will be the one counted on to make big plays... not to say he didnt last year...... or

Bill Walker shot 31% from 3pt land at KState so there isn't much of a difference there. And I made the comparison to illustrate that if Rakim can't fix his handle, then he's another guy who's too small to play the 3 but with too limited a handle to play the 2.

I certainly hope he improves because that's really his only glaring weakness since it appears he's fixed his FT shooting a bit. We'll have to wait and see. This is something I would love to be wrong about. I will say that Rakim has never been "the man". There is a huge alpha dog void on the team right now. He can't disappear for large stretches like he has the past couple of years. Some of that may have been due to Rice's ballhogging. We'll see.

Rakim Sanders is not too small to play the three in the NBA. He'd be better at 2, but he is not too small.

Vince Carter is another guy with great athleticism and no handles.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:Rakim Sanders is not too small to play the three in the NBA. He'd be better at 2, but he is not too small.

Vince Carter is another guy with great athleticism and no handles.

How many starting SF's in the NBA are 6'5? Rakim's NBA position needs to be the 2. And for that to happen, he needs to improve his ball handling. A lot. Last year, he was a liability when we got pressed.

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:Rakim Sanders is not too small to play the three in the NBA. He'd be better at 2, but he is not too small.

Vince Carter is another guy with great athleticism and no handles.

How many starting SF's in the NBA are 6'5? Rakim's NBA position needs to be the 2. And for that to happen, he needs to improve his ball handling. A lot. Last year, he was a liability when we got pressed.

Do you mean real size, or the one that they list in the programs? Paul Pierce is barely 6'6'' in real life.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:Rakim Sanders is not too small to play the three in the NBA. He'd be better at 2, but he is not too small.

Vince Carter is another guy with great athleticism and no handles.

How many starting SF's in the NBA are 6'5? Rakim's NBA position needs to be the 2. And for that to happen, he needs to improve his ball handling. A lot. Last year, he was a liability when we got pressed.

Do you mean real size, or the one that they list in the programs? Paul Pierce is barely 6'6'' in real life.

Paul Pierce is also infinitely more talented than Rakim Sanders. Of course, there are exceptions but the majority of NBA SF's are taller than 6'5/6'6.

Quentin Richardson - listed at 6'6''
John Salmons - listed at 6'6''
Vince Carter - listed at 6'6''
Andre Iguodala - listed at 6'6''
Richard Jefferson - listed at 6'7''
Michael Finley - listed at 6'7''
Josh Howard - listed at 6'7''
Shawn Marion - listed at 6'7''
Gerald Wallace - listed at 6'7''
Ron Artest - listed at 6'7''
Caron Butler - listed at 6'7''
Paul Pierce - listed at 6'7'' (he is closer to 6'5'')
Danny Granger - listed at 6'8''
Carmelo Anthony - listed at 6'8''
LeBron James - listed at 6'8''
Rudy Gay - listed at 6'8''
Tayshaun Prince - listed at 6'9''

Turkoglu and Durant are over 6'10''


*all heights from NBA.com

What is missing from this list are the weights. Rakim Sanders is listed at 6'5'', 225 lbs. Turkoglu, for example, is 6'10'', 205. Take Pierce and James off of this list, and Sanders is bigger and stronger than most of them.

Regardless, he is 6'5'' with extraordinary leaping ability and strength. The average NBA SF is about an inch and a half taller than him. I think he could hang. Certainly defensively, where height makes the most difference.

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:Rakim Sanders is not too small to play the three in the NBA. He'd be better at 2, but he is not too small.

Vince Carter is another guy with great athleticism and no handles.

How many starting SF's in the NBA are 6'5? Rakim's NBA position needs to be the 2. And for that to happen, he needs to improve his ball handling. A lot. Last year, he was a liability when we got pressed.

Do you mean real size, or the one that they list in the programs? Paul Pierce is barely 6'6'' in real life.

Paul Pierce is also infinitely more talented than Rakim Sanders. Of course, there are exceptions but the majority of NBA SF's are taller than 6'5/6'6.

Infinitely more talented? You know this already? Even though Sanders is a 20-year old starting his junior year? Most draft sites have Sanders ranked in the Top-50 juniors. And that is considering he has been forced to play on a team with Pop-a-shot hogging the ball at PG for two years.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}: This year's team will be better than that year's team.

No way. Not even close. That team was SICK. Rice and **** ******** coming off the bench, Birdman playing like Gary Payton, Cookie, Duds... that was/is the best BC team of my lifetime, and this year's team will be nowhere near as good. Maybe next season they will come close.

Paul Pierce was a first-team all-american player at Kansas his junior year. Rakim Sanders, as much as I like him, isn't even close to that. It's going to take quite a leap for Rakim to come close to what Pierce accomplished at the same stage of his career.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:

branchinator {l Wrote}:

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:Infinitely more talented? You know this already? Even though Sanders is a 20-year old starting his junior year? Most draft sites have Sanders ranked in the Top-50 juniors. And that is considering he has been forced to play on a team with Pop-a-shot hogging the ball at PG for two years.

As much as I loved Rice, I laugh everytime I read this. Nice one, Teddy.

twballgame9 {l Wrote}:Let me be the first to say two things:

1. That was the greatest ACC Championship game ever. Period.

2. This year's team will be better than that year's team.

That's quite a bold statement. Try 2010-2011, when this team + Noreen and Heslip and more will be there to back them up.

Junior year is the year they will all go after it hard. Senior year is when they come back to repeat.