The next Larry Bird?

Shadowlight

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I'm sure that will get some attention but let me preface this by saying that listening to all the hype surrounding black athletes is sheer torture which also implies an underlying violence. Yes I take these things seriously but one of the things that really amps up the torture to an even higher level is the doting on very young black athletes ie some 5 year old "Speedster" has signed with Liverpool kind of thing which means we will have to listen to this merciless stuff for an eternity.
So with all that out of my system their are two 16 year old Euro propects that are getting big buzz. The first is Dragan Bender who might be the second coming of Toni Kukoc. The best for last. From the Ukraine standing 6'6" the only bad thing one can say is his name is tough to figure at first glance. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is a high flying athlete who gets fans off their asses with his ultra exciting all around play. Word is he is the NEXT BIG THING. Remember the name, scouts are drooling!!!
 

whiteathlete33

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I'm sure that will get some attention but let me preface this by saying that listening to all the hype surrounding black athletes is sheer torture which also implies an underlying violence. Yes I take these things seriously but one of the things that really amps up the torture to an even higher level is the doting on very young black athletes ie some 5 year old "Speedster" has signed with Liverpool kind of thing which means we will have to listen to this merciless stuff for an eternity.
So with all that out of my system their are two 16 year old Euro propects that are getting big buzz. The first is Dragan Bender who might be the second coming of Toni Kukoc. The best for last. From the Ukraine standing 6'6" the only bad thing one can say is his name is tough to figure at first glance. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is a high flying athlete who gets fans off their asses with his ultra exciting all around play. Word is he is the NEXT BIG THING. Remember the name, scouts are drooling!!!


Also, there is a kid from Croatia name Mario Hezonja. They are saying he's better than Drazen Petrovic.
 

celticdb15

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There will never be another Larry Bird! He's one of a kind. He had basketball savvy, ultra competitive, pure shooter, he was a hustler, and most of all he wasn't intimidated by anyone! People like to discredit his athleticism but he had bad knees later in his career. But Larry Legend could literally get into any position he wanted on the basketball court to score or play D.

Both Kevin Love and Kyle Singler were compared to Larry in a SI article when they were coming out of HS. It's a hard thing to live up to.
 
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whiteathlete33

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There will never be another Larry Bird! He's one of a kind. He had basketball savvy, ultra competitive, pure shooter, he was a hustler, and most of all he wasn't intimidated by anyone! People like to discredit his athleticism but he had bad knees later in his career. But Larry Legend could literally get into any position he wanted on the basketball court to score or play D.

Both Kevin Love and Kyle Singler were compared to Larry in a SI article when they were coming out of college. It's a hard thing to live up to.

Keith Van Horn was as well. He was a very good player, though he never met the incredible expectations.
 

dwid

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There will never be another Larry Bird! He's one of a kind. He had basketball savvy, ultra competitive, pure shooter, he was a hustler, and most of all he wasn't intimidated by anyone! People like to discredit his athleticism but he had bad knees later in his career. But Larry Legend could literally get into any position he wanted on the basketball court to score or play D.

Both Kevin Love and Kyle Singler were compared to Larry in a SI article when they were coming out of college. It's a hard thing to live up to.
he had a very bad back after paving his mom's driveway and it only got worse. Having a bad back myself, I can tell you that is extremely hard to play at a high level. You might be able to do one game once in a blue moon off of adrenalin but its going to hurt performance. They said he had someone adjust it for several hours just so he could play one game of basketball, but Ive gotten adjustments and they aren't that great, it helps a little bit.
 

Shadowlight

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Also, there is a kid from Croatia name Mario Hezonja. They are saying he's better than Drazen Petrovic.
Yes Hezonja is a terrific prospect and likely lottery pick. The scouts say Mykhailiuk rates even higher and it is rare for scouts to get excited about young white wing players so the guy must be big time.
 

Carolina Speed

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There will never be another Larry Bird! He's one of a kind. He had basketball savvy, ultra competitive, pure shooter, he was a hustler, and most of all he wasn't intimidated by anyone! People like to discredit his athleticism but he had bad knees later in his career. But Larry Legend could literally get into any position he wanted on the basketball court to score or play D.

Both Kevin Love and Kyle Singler were compared to Larry in a SI article when they were coming out of HS. It's a hard thing to live up to.


Unfortunately for us at CF celticdb15 could be right. The thing that I believe separated Larry Bird from other good white BB players was his work ethic. Yes he had all those things you mentioned, but Bird also worked very hard to hone those skills. His passing skills were also very underestimated!

Another player we may never ever see the likes of is Pete Maravich! My 2 favorite players off all time are Larry Legend and "Pistol Pete." Maravich is still the NCAA all-time leading scorer with 3,667 points/ 44.2 PPG in only 3 years before the 3-point line was introduced.

You younger guys dig up some highlights of Maravich, you'll be impressed. He was way ahead of his time.
 

Freethinker

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Another player we may never ever see the likes of is Pete Maravich! My 2 favorite players off all time are Larry Legend and "Pistol Pete." Maravich is still the NCAA all-time leading scorer with 3,667 points/ 44.2 PPG in only 3 years before the 3-point line was introduced.
Get this!

Maravich played before the advent of the three-point line. His long-distance shooting skill thus produced far fewer points than would have been the case in a later era. Years later, former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown charted every college game Maravich played, taking into consideration all shots he took. Brown calculated that at the NCAA rule of a three-point line at 19 feet 9 inches (6.02 m) from the rim, Maravich would have averaged thirteen 3-point scores per game, lifting the player's career average to 57 points per game.
 

Don Wassall

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Pete Maravich was possibly the best pure shooter and passer ever. He had a heart problem he didn't know about and died at the age of just 40.
 
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