It's been a while

Sorry about the delay, but I have finals coming up and just had Thanksgiving so I've been kind of busy. MAN!!!! So Illinois lost last night by 2. Most unsatisfying ending to a game I've ever seen. Illinois brings the game to within two. Fouls, and Clemson misses the front end of a one and one. Demetri McCamey gets the ball with 7 seconds to go. Dribbles down the court and gets double teamed, he passes to Chester with less than a second and Chester dribbles to the hoop and the buzzer goes off. All I have to say, is what the hell? First off Demetri McCamey needs to make a smarter play than that, and even if Chester got the ball with .1 seconds at least throw the ball up. I can't think of any more frustrating way to end a game then not getting a shot up. If you can think of anything, be sure to comment. Thanks for reading, and I'll try and post here with a little more frequency in the future.

Oldie but a Goodie

Here is a video of my friend Aaron opening a box of 500 dollar exquisite basketball cards. He has the most amazing pull of his life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqG8qCI-lhc

The Art of Basketball

So I'm fully convinced there's more to basketball then just plain skill. I look at some people who tore up college like let's say Dee Brown, Adam Morrison, J.J. Redick, etc. The thing I believe is it is all in confidence. I think Morrison is starting to get his back, I don't know if Redick will ever be on the same level he was at Duke, and Dee Brown can't get enough shots up in games to ever get his back. But here is my point, I think the difference in skill between Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, and a 3rd string point guard on a bad club is a lot smaller then many of us would think. Guys like Derrick Rose and Chris Paul have more confidence, and they have a slightly higher basketball IQ, and the are GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY. That is the whole part of basketball I don't like. There are so many capable players, but there is so much politics and crap involved in sports it just makes me mad. It's like Morris Almond goes down to the NBDL and scores 20 something a game but can hardly see the court in the NBA. Or Jamario Moon was playing with the Harlem Globetrotters for years because no serious league wanted him, then he gets to the Raptors and has a awesome debut as a 27 or 28 year old rookie. I just wish people looked more at skill and character, and I wish coaches tried to instill confidence in everyone. If someone takes a bad shot, don't yank them out of the game immediately because they're going to start thinking about every shot they take. Tell them it's alright, but try to be a little more conservative with your shot selection. Be easier and don't bring a players confidence down, because not only are you going to hurt that players development, but you will also hurt your team.

Illinois Game - Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose

So I just got back from the Illinois vs. Texas A&M CC game, and Illinois was able to win convincingly. Derrick Rose and Michael Jordan were also in attendance as well. Jordan's son plays for Illinois, and apparently Derrick Rose's girlfriend goes to Illinois. As the game was coming to an end I saw Derrick Rose leaving the stadium, so I ran to my car and got some photo paper and a marker. I came back and Derrick Rose was with his entourage, and he said he couldn't sign. I was like, "I'll walk with you dude, come on." Then some dude in his entourage chirpped in, and was like, "He can't sign, cause once he starts signing then he'll have to sign for him and him." And he pointed to one of my friends, and I was just like, "Dude that's one of my friends, it's fine." Then another guy in his group started whispering about me, and I asked what he was saying. They said he thought he remembered me from a long time ago. I said he probably did, because I was in an AAU tournament with Derrick Rose a long time ago. Derrick Rose was then like, "Yeah I remember you, give me that - I'll sign it for you." I was like thanks a lot, then took off. Right after we tried to see where Jordan was, but someone said he had already taken off. Apparently he left in a silver Ferrari with his security team. Oh the life of a millionaire.

The Start of My Blog

For my first post I'll just tell you a little bit about myself. My name is J.J. (John Joseph) Painter, and I'm a basketball addict. I'm either watching basketball, playing basketball, collecting basketball memorabilia, or looking up stats with most of my time. I even like to do basketball related paintings, and have done paintings for Luther Head and Dee Brown, and have gotten paintings signed by them as well as John Wooden.












Basketball is my passion and I'm currently in business school at the University of Illinois. I plan on going to law school after I'm done here, and hope to become a sports agent. This was just a small intro to my blog, and I am likely to post new material, pictures, videos and so on, of my adventures and stories pretty much everyday. So check back often because I go to a lot of basketball games and go to a lot of basketball related events, and am always looking up information. I will also post my thoughts on most Illinois basketball games. So while my focus will be NBA, I will have plenty of college information as well. You will also hear about my autograph adventures, and my experiences meeting players. Hopefully I will have videos available for most of these experiences. Well anyways, thanks for viewing and check back often.