Could someone please explain this obsession with Boki?

You could probably list a lot of players of other skin colors as well who were overrated when they were drafted...from the top of my head, the name Olowokandi comes to mind.

Anyway, I am not saying ethnicity does not play a role when it comes to determinining identification with a player. That is pretty simple logic.

However, I completely disagree with SamFisher's overblown assessment that there is a "bizarre obsession" with Boki, based on his skin color. That is just ridiculous.

KingCheetah, that was lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous .

I actually didn't say that properly. What I was trying to say was "I have seen other lawyers do a better job at that" .

 

Once upon a time, this was a team which depended on emotion to get things done.

Year after year, somebody stepped up. Whether it was Mad Max heaving in a 3 to tie a game in Miami, or Mario Elie hitting the Kiss of Death shot, or Eddie Johnson hitting a buzzer beater from downtown, players who were not projected as NBA stars or even starters came from nowhere to provide emotional life and lift to the team.

The team kept bringing in those players: guys who would provide an emotional boost to the fans, and make us believe that we would win championships.

Then, instead of drafting talented players, for a while we drafted guys on the basis of gutsy emotional performances, forgetting that we had previously brought in those players as complements to the players who were on the team based on talent, like Hakeem Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, and Clyde Drexler. So instead of drafting the next Sam Cassell, we drafted Rodrick Rhodes, Randy Livingston, Matt Maloney, Bryce Drew, Cuttino Mobley, Dan Langhi and Boki Nachbar, traded for Steve Francis, and signed underdogs like Emanual Davis, Thomas Hamilton, and Juaquin Hawkins. All of those guys are, in my opinion, guys who thrive on their effort and emotion, rather than on their talent.

For a while, that emotion and effort carried us, but then, the fact that we had not adequately replaced the talented players caught up with us.

Those of us who remember the championship years still get emotional about that kind of player, and want him to remain, as we build up our stock of players who thrive based on talent. Boki, though he only got a little bit of playing time, stood up to Karl Malone in a way that few in the league would dare. Thus, he has entered the emotional memory of the team in a way that only a few do.

 

In the 10 drafts, prior to 1999, here are only 6 guys, taken in the 2nd round, that I think we can objectively say should have gone in the 1st round (and a few of those, like DeClerq and Geiger are debatable):

Todd MacCulloch
Emmanuel Ginobili
Andrew DeClercq
Fred Hoiberg
Matt Geiger
Tony Kukoc

 

It ain't that hard to figure.....the boy is cute!
It seems like people always root for someone if they have an easy toothy smile or better yet a dimple.

Who wouldn't hope for the handsome young prince to ride in and deliver us to victory. Basketball is just entertainment you know.

Sam, you just such a summer buzzkill. Potential, hope if you will, is what gets people out of the bed to face another day. Why rain on it. I'm sure JVG makes the cold calculations of real talent , just let the fans have their happy talk during the summer.

 

I partially agree with Sam, and I think he does have a point.

In the end, I think the racist part of it may be subconcious and a factor, albeit, a small one.

I think mainly though, its he is an enigma at this point. He had high expectations, based on Rudy and cos scouting, but he hasnt been given the chance to show what he can do. On the other hand, that tells us, or should tell us something too. IOW, hes not earning playing time because hes not showing the coaches what they want to see in practice?? I dunno. Ive always that it was unfair though for fans (specifically here) to campaign for a rotation spot for Boki since we dont know what his practices look like.

Ive said it thousands of times. While Boki is a better defender than we though, and is good on the break, if hes not hitting his shot, then hes not a whole lot of good to us on the court for extended minutes, especially since we are not a fast breaking team.

 

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for me, it's cause he plays hard and seems to be improving and probably also cause i felt he should have got a few more minutes in his rookie season.... but mostly it's cause we desperately want the rockets to have some success with it's drafting

 

Aw go on an admit it's cause he's cute. That don't make you gay.

 

This one:

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79449
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79142

and these:

and I'm not going to mention the signatures "Free Boki Fan Club!" "Give Boki Minutes!" "Vote Boki for Point Forward!"

Actually, Jacko, you missed it old pal

1. I addressed MacBeth's contention about badiane. Did you read it? It's not difficult to see that certain ethnic presumptions ("He could be the next hakeem!") seem to have been at work there too.

2. Well, maybe you got me there Jacko, I guess he really is the "embodiment of the Rockets team spirit." That's a known fact that flew over my head. He is the one who gets everyone "rowled" up before games. It's quite obvious too, I mean Steve and Cuttino and Yao -- they were lifeless until Boki breathed some spirit into the mix.

3. Again, the Boki fanaticism existed well before this years playoffs.

Too bad we don't have the search function. I have a feeling that I could easilly prove you wrong. If you don't seem to think that a 2 ppg, 5 mpg player has generate an inordinate number of threads -- well, I don't know what to say.

There is an obsession that is disproporitionate with his production, which has been nil. Am I the one who started this thread?

Wrong, dead wrong. that's not what I said at all. And you even put quotes around it too, which is rather dishonest.

You don't seem to comprehend what I'm saying. A player's race and ethnicity are a factor in the composition and degree of his fanbase. This seems to be a fact that you can't comprehend or won't acknowledge because I gues it will cause you to lose face. But anyway, again, I give you exhibit A:

http://www.nba.com/rockets/chinese/index_gb.html

I give you exhibit B:

Listen to the players people are comparing him too in this thread: Ginobili, Peja, then saying that there are different expectations for European Whites and American Whites.

Why aren't people comparing him to Terrence Morris or Shawn Marion or Penny Hardaway? Probably for the same reason that nobody would compare Malick Badiane to Bobby Jones or Dave Cowens.

If you have facts, let's see them. Go dig up those breathless Terrence Morris posts. I recall a small amount of outcry when he left, which I marveled at as well given his lack of production (which was roughly 2x the amount of nachbars, btw)...but if you think that it matches Bokimania, I think you're simply dead wrong.

You seem to not be listening to a word I am saying. You fail to comprehend that because race and ethnicity are undeniably factors in the way in which he is percieived, it does not necessarily follow that it iis racism to see it as such.

Acknowledging that ethnicity and race are a factor in perception isn't racism, it's reality in America in the 21st century, and it likely always will be. Seldom is such a thing as pronounced than in pro sports, especially the NBA, the "black man's game", as Bird put it.

 

So what race is Sam Fisher that he is so fascinated about disparaging the euro kid boki and the chinese center Yao? Perhaps he has his own bias that can be correlated to his own race (just as he accuses others of having)?

 

brasss, I would have started to wonder the same thing if I did not know already.

SamFisher, you worked really hard on that one, huh?

 

oh forgot to add....i think sam fisher is right....that a player's race does help add SOME (but not all) fans to his fanbase.

 

I'm the adopted son of a belgian boulanger with a penchant for buggery.

Jackie: you know? What am I?

 

Since you asked .

 

to a small extent, for me, liking boki is a racial thing. boki isn't a stereotypical white/euro player. he likes to slash to the cup and try and dunk on people. he kinda goes against the stereotypes, which, being asian, is something i can appreciate.

 

Piatkowski's on Van Gundy's sh*t list.

Scott Padgett is always going to be Scott Padgett- not bad, just not good enough to be my backup small forward on a contending team.

And Adrian Griffin? A left handed Michael Curry.

Whether or not Nachbar's included in this trade, and despite the presence of Jackson/McGrady, depending on who starts at small forward, we're going to need a backup with talent at that position, so it's not always a net loss when we sub out.

Nachbar's the only guy with that kind of ability.

It's not so much some irrational bias for a floppy-haired foreigner with an endearing accent as much as it is common sense.

 

edit: wrong thread

 

edit: wrong thread

 

If America plays Spain in the WC, which team do you support ?
Is that "perception on ethnicity and race" ?

 

The world is separated by races, dig up such "perception" is rather pointless.

People like Boki because he's young, different (like Iverson a short guy in a tall people's game, not white as the race "white") and has potential. Padget is also white and has funny ears, but he's old and has no game left so people don't like him that much.

And Boki and Yao are rather different. You quoted the Chinese page which are for Chinese funs in China, they treat yao like Americans would treat their NT in a international game, strong support, it's more of the issue of nationalism, not race.