The Wright Way - No Chaser #4

By: Sharone Wright
Sharone Wright was an All-state performer at Macon's Southwest high school as a McDonald's All-American. He played basketball for 3 years in the prestigious ACC conference at Clemson University where he is one of it's top 10 all-time players. Sharone was drafted 6th overall by Philadelphia in 1994 and also played for the Toronto Raptors. After 5 years in the NBA, he went to Europe as a player for 7 years and now coaches.

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The Wall (not John )

The more things change, the more things stay the same. The youth movement in the NBA is always exciting in the beginning of the season. It’s that burst of energy that you have with young players in the start of the seasons. I guess you can attribute this to youth and how rookies can’t wait to play in the NBA. Once there they find that it’s a grind and after they play 30 games they hit what’s commonly call the Wall. I did it and most all rookies do .

It’s for that reason that you see the decline in mostly all new players. As I'm up late watching the Kings play the Raptors against Sac, I can’t help but love one of my favorite young new players Demarcus Cousins.

He just rolled off 10 buckets on the Raps. He has that kind of offensive ability. I always felt that I could score on guys but after that 30th game you feel like your feet are in the mud. They never quite tell you about how during that time you can’t even get up in the morning and your skill disappear like the movie Space Jam (BTW I was in that movie so support it).

Now don’t get me wrong there have been some exceptions to the rule but more often you’ll see these wonderful rookies slashing and dashing and dunking early in the season, but then come the 40th game, you just see kids doing layups.

After that period and after all-star break you start to see the guys get their legs back and finish strong. It’ll be interesting to see how this group of newcomers handle the Wall and that’s not to say John Wall will run right smack into it.

So how goes it so far?

The Heat are still a rock band. After the bad showing on opening night they have settled down and started defending great. It seems that Lebron has taken on that floor leader role and now Wade is scoring the load of the baskets.

They’re running a lot of stuff for Wade at this point of the season. Bosh on the other hand hasn’t looked as good as I thought he would. Remember that Mike Miller is out so when he returns, they will look even better.

The Celtics are doing what has made them the best defensive team the last 3 or 4 years. The Lakers have been electric so far and they’ll continue to be with the great additions to their bench.

They seem to invent new ways to score in the triangle offence each year. Now it’s more of the post ups for Kobe, Artest and now Matt Barnes.

I watched a very old Spurs team the other night and it goes right into what I said in my preview. The older teams get older. I see a dark year for a couple of teams though. Nets, Clippers, Sixers and Wolves.

But again judging by the past 3 seasons , this would be the norm.

Woww what a great start to the season by Rajon Rondo. I think you’d have to really watch a game in person to understand exactly what he is doing.

He to me is seeing floor as well as Jason Kidd does. He’s recording assists on a clip that’s Stockton-like.

Not since the days of Magic, Stockton and Mark Jackson have we seen this many assists. The guy just runs this offence to a T.

Lets hope this continues because he is the straw that stirs the Boston Tea Party (sorry I’m a Democrat ).

Seriously folks we lost a great warrior this week in our game. Maurice Lucas was the epitome of what hard work and desire in the NBA is all about.

Remember that it was he that protected Bill Walton from the brutal beast of that era. His toughness and ability has always been admired.


Especially in Portland’s Championship hay day.

My prayers to the Lucas family.

We need more warriors and all around great guys like Lucas in the league.

I told you before that I’ve always wondered about the Hawks and their decisions. It seems that through the years they’ve made bonehead choices sometimes that came back to haunt them(remember not taking Chris Paul?) Or (giving Joe Johnson the house and the kitchen sink with the 119 million) or how about the infamous Jon Koncak contract?

To me the trading of Dominique Wilkins is the straw that broke Ted Turners back. But things are getting better and this week shows.

The team is undefeated although they haven’t had a true test yet. They’ve shown that this isn’t a 3 team race in the east. It’s a 4 team race. To top that off they kept the one piece that I felt they needed to.

They resigned Al Horford.

I felt that this was a MUST if they want to keep the organization going in the right direction. He has become such an important cog in their way of doing things. Larry Drew is doing a great job so far and it’s evident that the nucleus of this team really loves and learns from him.

Let’s see how it goes after 50 games though. There are also rumours of a Josh Smith trade. If the Hawks do this they would for sure have to get something of great value . Let’s be aware of your past trades Hawks. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Slow your roll playas.

J smooth is finally happy and here come the trade rumors.

Oh well these may still be the Hawks of old. And just when I was beginning to remove the Curse of Dominique.

Oh crap!!!

Not to forget, I have to give props where props are deserved. I completely love this kid Blake Griffin's game.

He is everything that scouts said he would be and even more. People have been comparing him to different players of old. My comparison is Karl Malone. Maybe not the athleticism because Griffin is off he charts with that. But I mean his build, his strength and his rebounding. He’s a Beast!!!

So I’m arguing with my best friend who’s a coach in the NBA and the argument of the day was who will be the better pick up to a new team. I said that I loved Micheal Beasley since his one year At Kansas State.

I feel that his move to Minnesota will recharge a very young career and his skills will blossom with Kurt Rambis's scheme. He argued that Beasley doesn’t do enough for what his talent level shows and that his off the court problems may follow him.

He liked the Turkoglu to Phoenix deal. I for sure don’t. I think anytime you have a guy that can't fit in to the Toronto city and seem to go from team to team, you’ve got a problem.

It’s like trying to figure out who Kim Kardashian is dating this week or what dumb thing Sarah Palin did for attention this week.


We all know how hard it is to have chemistry in the NBA and sports in general. So it’s surprising to see a good solid player like Hedo move and move and flirt with this team and flirt with another.

My weekly Kudos goes out to Memphis for extending Mike Conley. He’s showing his worth.
The Hawks for extending Al Horford, The Suns for extending Jared Dudley.

Looks like a great year so far.

SW