Thursday, March 17, 2011

Grant Hill takes issue with Jalen Rose - Buckeyes to Face the Roadrunners -

The Roadrunners (20-13) and their smooth guard head to Cleveland for a game Friday against top-seeded Ohio State, which won't allow all those open shots.


Grant Hill takes issue with Jalen Rose

I hate to say it, but you go Jalen Rose. Grant just keep playing your piano and move on!


Former Duke basketball star Grant Hill called critical comments by former Michigan guard and current ESPN analyst Jalen Rose "sad and somewhat pathetic" in an open letter published Wednesday by The New York Times.

Rose, as part of an ESPN Films documentary "The Fab Five" that aired on Sunday (Rose was an executive producer), said Hill and other black Blue Devils basketball players recruited in the early 1990s were "Uncle Toms."

"I hated Duke and I hated everything Duke stood for. Schools like Duke didn't recruit players like me. I felt like they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms," Rose said in the documentary.






MIAMI -- LeBron James apparently has two NCAA tournament brackets, one from his head and one from his heart.

Figures! James is still a prince and a punk.
James
Earlier this week, the Miami Heat forward said he was leaning towards his home and picking Ohio State to win the tourney. But Wednesday when he released his bracket on his personal website, James predicted Duke will beat Pittsburgh in the final.

So is James a flip-flopper?

"I've got two brackets and I've got mixed feelings," James said before the Heat took on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"My heart wants Ohio State to win, of course," James said. "But Duke has experience, they've got a pretty good team. And I heard today they've got Kyrie Irving coming back, too."

James has long had ties to the Buckeyes, who began wearing his signature Nike shoes and uniforms in 2007. Two years ago, Ohio State made him an honorary alumni of the program. But he has other allegiances as he has personal relationships with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, his Olympic team coach; Kentucky coach John Calipari, a friend; and Akron coach Keith Dambrot, James' former high school coach.

"I wanted Ohio State to win, I like Kentucky's chances, and I want Akron to win but we'll see," James said listing his personal choices. "I can't be a fan these days, I can't root for anybody. No, it is all fun. I love March Madness. It is the most exciting time for basketball."

Hill, in the letter published on the Times website and signed "Grant Henry Hill, Duke '94," wrote that "In his garbled but sweeping comment that Duke recruits only 'black players that were 'Uncle Toms,' Jalen seems to change the usual meaning of those very vitriolic words into his own meaning, i.e., blacks from two-parent, middle-class families. He leaves us all guessing exactly what he believes today. I am beyond fortunate to have two parents who are still working well into their 60s. They received great educations and use them every day. My parents taught me a personal ethic I try to live by and pass on to my children."

Hill added that: "My teammates at Duke -- all of them, black and white -- were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball. I know most of the black players who preceded and followed me at Duke. They all contribute to our tradition of excellence on the court.

"It is insulting and ignorant to suggest that men like Johnny Dawkins (coach at Stanford), Tommy Amaker (coach at Harvard), Billy King (general manager of the Nets), Tony Lang (coach of the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins in Japan), Thomas Hill (small-business owner in Texas), Jeff Capel (former coach at Oklahoma and Virginia Commonwealth), Kenny Blakeney (assistant coach at Harvard), Jay Williams (ESPN analyst), Shane Battier (Memphis Grizzlies) and Chris Duhon (Orlando Magic) ever sold out their race."

Hill, who now plays for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, noted in his letter that he played against Rose and teammate Chris Webber from the time they were 13 and said "the Fab Five represented a cultural phenomenon that impacted the country in a permanent and positive way."

But he also said in the letter "I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping me and others they do not know in much the same way so many people stereotyped them back then for their appearance and swagger. I wish for you the restoration of the bond that made you friends, brothers and icons."

He added: "I am proud of my family. I am proud of my Duke championships and all my Duke teammates. And, I am proud I never lost a game against the Fab Five."

Duke won a pair of national titles when Hill was there. Michigan didn't win any, and Duke beat the Wolverines four times during Hill's career from 1990 to '94. Rose played at Michigan from 1992 to '94. The Wolverines lost in the NCAA title game in 1992 and '93.

Rose said earlier this week about his comments: "That's what I thought when I was 17" but didn't back away from what he said.



Who will replace Pryor at OSU


With Terrelle Pryor one of five suspended Buckeyes slated to sit the first five games of the season, and with Pryor expected to be limited in drills while recovering from foot surgery, Ohio State's coaches can focus on finding his replacement for September -- and perhaps his eventual successor to boot. The candidates: senior Joe Bauserman, sophomore Kenny Guiton and early enrollee Braxton Miller. Tressel traditionally gives the veteran first crack, which means Bauserman is the odds-on favorite. But Miller, one of the two highest-rated quarterback prospects in the country, is a potentially lethal dual-threat athlete who will get plenty of looks. It's not inconceivable he could be starting by the time the Buckeyes visit Miami on Sept. 17.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

exactly waht every person is still thinking to this day white or black

Unknown said...

Yeah right! God forbid there are Black athletes that actually have VALID DRiVERS Licenses and can speak! In modern "Blackspeak", that is known as being an "Uncle Tom"! Worse yet, Grant actually got an education. The nerve of that guy. He might as well be White. Pants don't even hang down to his knees. Geeez....why even let him play?! Young Black kids should keep listening to guys like Jalen Rose - Great Role Model. And I'll keep getting up at 600 am every morning and stopping by McDonald's to get a cup of Coffee from em!