My favorite thing about Boki is how everybody here loves him despite the fact he has never contributed anything whatsoever to this team. He and Yao are the only two rockets that seem immune to the constant player bashing on this board and it cracks me up because the only reason Boki is immune is because we haven't hardly seen him play. but it seems to me high time to quit theorizing he's Peja, Dirk, Gasol or Turkalu or whoever you're imagining him being right now. If he was that right now, he'd be starting right now. If he was half of that right now, he'd be seeing signifigant minutes. If he develops into anything even resembling that caliber of player, I'm sure we'll see considerably more of him. Also, I'm going to say it. I sincerely doubt so many people would be so pro-boki if boki was black. i mean good god, some good players slip to the mid and late first round and occasionally even the second round but you people are acting like every 15th pick is supposed to be a star when in actuality, there are years that the top five doesn't even produce a star. Maybe it's just guys like Peja, Dirk and Gasol playing so well that has you guys hoping for our own european sensation but traditionally it seems like white players aren't criticisized as harshly. examples- matt bullard and scottie brooks were fan favorites and I remember people talking about Maloney being the next John Stockton (and notice that of course they compare him to a white point guard rather than any of the many black ones). Nevermind everybody turned on him after he signed that big contract and started sucking so bad..... i never really heard any bullard bashing or brooks bashing despite the fact that they both had their bad games. Brooks in particular wasn't a very great basketball player, though he was smart and his mistakes were generally more due to a lack of ability than bad decision making. maybe i'm off target here, and god knows i'd love to be, but i really can't help making that observation and damned if i'm not known to speak my mind. also as a note, i'm not pointing fingers at any one individual or even saying this is some sort of conscious racist conspiracy, but it seems to me that these days white people are as damn near as anxious to see their fellow white man succeed in the NBA as black people were to see Jackie Robinson succeed in the MLB. as another note- i'm a caucasian myself so what do i know?
Oh please don't make this a racial thing! White fans cheering white players?!WTF?!We're not in the 20's!Segragation is finished!And the initials of the Rockets are certainly not 3 K! I'm tired of ppl using racial conflicts as an excuse when something doesn't go their way!Stop bringing ur own problems on a BASKETBALL forum! Boki isn't bashed on this BBS coz,as u pointed out,we have not seen him play;therefor we can not judge his Bball skills.No matter what color his skin is! If ppl here had racial prejudices,do u realy think they would love Yao so much?! ALA
troo! i saw alot of this nonsense crap all around this board.. and i dunno why?! please people, this is BASKETBALL. we dont have to be racists here! dont look at it skin-deep.
Yes you are off target here. Give me a break. If I cheered for white people I would be a Mavericks fan or a Utah Jazz fan or a Kings fan because they have more white people. That is a stupid judgement. Give me a break.
jmwilliamson, you are WAY off target with your post. I don't know how often you came here during the season to read all the posts begging for Hawkins, Terence, and Tito to get playing time. But there were plenty. The last time I checked none of those players were White. The deal with Boki is that he was hyped up all preseason, and every week on Rudy's radio show as being this outstanding shooter. I want to see him get on the floor as well so I can see what he can do. I am rooting for Boki big time and I am Black. Your assumption that Black people cheer for Black players and White people cheer for White players is insane. I guess that leaves only Chinese people to cheer for Yao and Euros to cheer for Boki and Vlade. Get out of here with that racist nonsense you are spreading.
I'm concerned about Boki's work ethic. Has anyone else noticed that Boki this past year did not look to be hitting the weight room. His arms look soft. Now if he comes into preseason a little more cut I'll know he's serious.
BTW, out of curiousity, has there been a Euro player who was drafted between 1-15 in the first round that has been a complete bust??? It seems that the vast majority of them if anything will at least build a niche for themselves and become a solid role player. (this assumption is just my brief observation. no detailed research was done). Anyone??
Good point. I think that's part of it too. Basically, it's just very weird to see a 15th pick in the draft not even get a chance to play...especially when your other players have injuries or aren't really playing very well to begin with. I bet 95% of the 1st round draft picks this season got more playing time than Boki. Like I said...weird.
like i said, i WANT to be wrong about that. But yeah, I do read this board alot more frequently than I post on it and I don't recall any talk of wanting to see Tito Maddox play. A little (very little) of people wanting to see Terrence Morris play, but more Morris bashing than supporting. The most support went to Juaquin Hawkins because of his defensive capabilities, but he regularly got playing time. Boki, at minimum, got ten times more hype than any of them and 1/10th the playing time of any of them, even maddox. I really thing that whether my observation was right or wrong it was worth mentioning and it's worth thinking about. Also, I didn't point any fingers or make any outright accusations so I have to wonder about anyone who would get overly defensive about such a post. as to "Your assumption that Black people cheer for Black players and White people cheer for White players is insane. I guess that leaves only Chinese people to cheer for Yao and Euros to cheer for Boki and Vlade. Get out of here with that racist nonsense you are spreading." I didn't say anything of the sort. I just made an observation that second rate white players often seem to be fan favorites. And in this case, a second rate white player who apparently isn't good enough to get time over a washed up Glen Rice or an unpolished Terrence Morris is a fan favorite for absolutely no reason. I suppose I knew I'd get bashed, but like I said, I didn't point fingers or call anyone names or even make any outright accusations. It was just an observation I feel is worth mentioning and worth thinking about. Sometimes racism isn't intentional.
Europeans aren't considered White? Well......anyways.....I hope Boki plays. And I hope Maddox is waived. And I hope Tierre Brown is resigned.
You are making assumptions that White fans only want to see Boki play because he is White. You aren't thinking that maybe people want to see him play because the Rockets have hyped him for a year about how good he is and he was the 15th pick in the draft, no that couldn't be the case. By assuming the only reason people want to see Boki play because he is White is a accusation of racism that is not needed or accurate. By even making the statement you made an accusation at everyone who ever hoped for Boki to get playing time.
actually, i allowed for the possibility that maybe people just have their hearts set on the rockets getting their own european sensation in the mold of dirk, peja or gasol. Were I accusing I would say "There is no doubt in my mind that you all only want to see Boki play because he's white.". I didn't say that. I just made an observation and supported it with the cases of players like Matt Bullard and Scottie Brooks. Two former fan favorites who really didn't merit their popularity. You really are defensive about this though. I wonder if it hits a little too close to home.
Dont be so naive. Just because we dont have racist laws (Jim Crows) dosnt mean racist ideas dont exist, even in basketball. IT was either Brian Gumble or Bob Coastas's show that did a feature on this exact issue last year. Mark Madsen was saying a Western Conference GM told him that some club would pick him merley because of the color of his skin becuase teams like to have a few white players on their team cause it looks better to the predomintly caucasion highend season ticketers. If you dont think racism exists or class seperation go to an inner city and see what years of segragation has done to the minority community, the ecomonic stranglehold that they were pushed into as the white man mad his way out into the suburbs. Seriously, read up on the subject, its eye opening and carrys an importance of understanding that goes beyond any sport.
BRANMan, a la is French, so he probably doesn't fully understand American racism. French racism is a much different animal. I think it was Real Sports, by the way, that had the show about white players in the NBA. Writers such as Fran Blinebury have subtly promoted the same thing when they write about European players improving the game because they are not from the "cracks in the ghetto" or some other such nonsense.
after being at the recieving end of so much bashing i really appreciate the comments by two people who don't seem to be offended by my comments and actually feel they may be a valid concern or at the least a question worth asking. also, I completely forgot about that Real Sports interview. I didn't see it myself but I remember seeing the previews for it and it looked interesting.
boki With the success of the Euro-player in N.B.A. land I think that Boki's game should have the opportunity to succeed or fail on it's own merits before we write that pick off as a dud. I'm sure that I will wax sentimental about all that Rudy did for the franchise but I find myself excited about the possibilities of a face lift for the team
