Darius Washington's Triple Double powers Toros to win

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Nice.

[BeerIsGood!]

That Mahinmi foul problem can be a double edged sword for the coaching staff to handle, because you want him to make an adjustment or two to limit his fouls but don't want him to start playing soft. I'm more encouraged by his aggressiveness and think if the coaching staff doesn't get over zealous by pounding the fouls issue in his brain that he'll eventually play his way into a smarter game with experience. Just keep stressing the fundamental elements of the game and see how he takes to learning to apply them.

[fred33]

That Mahinmi foul problem can be a double edged sword for the coaching staff to handle, because you want him to make an adjustment or two to limit his fouls but don't want him to start playing soft. I'm more encouraged by his aggressiveness and think if the coaching staff doesn't get over zealous by pounding the fouls issue in his brain that he'll eventually play his way into a smarter game with experience. Just keep stressing the fundamental elements of the game and see how he takes to learning to apply them.

no pics of tony at the game?

[urunobili]

please some of you experts tell me he'll be with us forever!!!!

[thiste]

I think it's pretty bold to start seeing patterns & draw conclusions about Mahinmi after only 5 games. Well the foul problem is pretty obvious I'll give you that, but other than that I don't think his scoring / rebound / block averages are meaningful yet.
It's not like if he was an american coming straight out of college. He's young and has just arrived in an environment that is totally foreign to him, he doesn't quite know the language yet, the US ways of BB, the coach, the system... in short, he has a lot to accustom to.
Besides, I see it as a great sign of confidence that he was able to score 22 on 10/12 on his fourth game. Ok it's not the NBA but it still indicates to me that he's confident.

And by the way, he has all the time in the world to learn the ropes of NBA play imho, I mean, not only big men take longer to adapt as somebody said earlier, their prime is also later in age (30s). So you're looking at about ten years from now for Ian to be fully operational.

It's nice to see Parker go to a Toros game, I'm sure he's taken Ian under his wing to make his adaptation easier. And I hope he gets to practice with the big guys sometimes as it's true that to get playing time is great but to learn from the best is great too. I hope he can combine the two.

[Darkwaters]

And by the way, he has all the time in the world to learn the ropes of NBA play imho, I mean, not only big men take longer to adapt as somebody said earlier, their prime is also later in age (30s). So you're looking at about ten years from now for Ian to be fully operational.

How do you figure that? You can't make a blanket statement like "Bigs primes are later than other players". You have to look at the specific player. Players that rely on quickness (a la, Parker) or athleticism (Mahinmi) to power their best skills will have an earlier prime. As their body slows down their abilities will decline. They have to adapt to remain compe ive (similar to how Manu is changing into less of a slasher and more of a shooter). Meanwhile, players like Duncan and Oberto that rely more on BBIQ, solid fundamental play and the likes will likely have a longer prime because the decline of their physical abilities will not devastate their output on the court.

What type of player is Mahinmi? An athlete trying to play basketball, or a basketball player hoping hes athletic enough to play?

You can't tell me that you think a player like Amare Stoudemire will be THAT much better when hes 32 and "in his prime". His athleticism will have whittled down over time (as well as his knee) and he will lack even more explosion. Unless he changes his game, he will be less effective.

[mystargtr34]

The foul trouble is obviously a concern... but Ian strikes me as the type of jumping jack type guy who can come in and give u a solid 20-25 minutes a night. I think he will really exceed Spurs expectations if he becomes a starter in this league.

[thiste]

I stand by it. Imho big men have their prime around or after 30.

David : MVP at 29, les at 33 & 37.
Hakeem : MVP at 31, les at 31 & 32
Jabbar : 5 of his 6 les after 32
Shaq : his lakers les between 28 & 30, the heat one at 34
Wilt : 3 of his 4 NBA MVP les between 29 & 31, les at 30 & 35
Tim : 3 of his 4 les between 27 & 31

You can body your way to dominance as a young like Amaré, Dwight or young Shaq, but experience is key as a center.

[Darkwaters]

I stand by it. Imho big men have their prime around or after 30.

David : MVP at 29, les at 33 & 37.
Hakeem : MVP at 31, les at 31 & 32
Jabbar : 5 of his 6 les after 32
Shaq : his lakers les between 28 & 30, the heat one at 34
Wilt : 3 of his 4 NBA MVP les between 29 & 31, les at 30 & 35
Tim : 3 of his 4 les between 27 & 31

You can body your way to dominance as a young like Amaré, Dwight or young Shaq, but experience is key as a center.

You said that Centers primes came in their 30's. Ok...

David's les when he was 33 and 37 his role was reduced from his previous MVP seasons (especially the second one). His back was giving him serious problems and his effectiveness was limited more and more often as a result. Hardly what I would call his "prime". Meanwhile, his MVP came before the age of 30.

Duncan won 3 of his 4 les between 27 and 31...but only one of those came after the age of 30. And for that final matchup he WAS NOT finals MVP where he had been everytime previously...he always mustered a finals MVP performance when he was in his 20's...even with the "primed" Robinson sharing the court with him twice.

Shaq won les in his late 20's and one when he was 30 with the Lakers. That still doesn't add to your idea that in their 30's they get better. Especially when you consider that the le at 34 for Shaq was the Miami one where he was stricly a role player. He played limited minutes and relied purely on Wade to win...he was NOT the driving force behind it. Rather, Dallas' often phantom fouls on Wade were.

Frankly, I know different players seem to hit their strides at different times. But your own evidence seems to indicate that the mid 20's to early 30's are the prime of a big. NOT starting in the early 30's and moving forward.

[BonnerDynasty]

Insert Kareem evidence here.

[MoSpur]

D-Wash surprised me the first time I saw him play. He makes it an effort to chase rebounds and I like that. Hope he improves on his turnovers though.

[thiste]

Yeah I said thirties as a general rule, Duncan & Shaq have been in their prime in their late twenties even if I don't think it's necessarily true for Tim. Imho Tim could be in his prime right now (stat wise) if he wanted to. He's just so great a character that he made room for the others.

By the way David turned 30 two months after his mvp season.

What I meant was, I really think Ian will hit his prime no sooner than 10 years from now, even if he'll probably turn out to be effective earlier. We should be patient and give him time to grow into the player we all want him to become.

[FirebatMIV]

Darius Washington with 29 pts, 5 boards and 4 assists vs. the Vipers tonight. He was matched against Rockets 2007 1st round pick Aaron Brooks, who fouled out, but did have 22 pts, 7 boards and 6 assists.

Ian fouled out, but two of those were clean blocks.

[remingtonbo2001]

Yeah I said thirties as a general rule, Duncan & Shaq have been in their prime in their late twenties even if I don't think it's necessarily true for Tim. Imho Tim could be in his prime right now (stat wise) if he wanted to. He's just so great a character that he made room for the others.

By the way David turned 30 two months after his mvp season.

What I meant was, I really think Ian will hit his prime no sooner than 10 years from now, even if he'll probably turn out to be effective earlier. We should be patient and give him time to grow into the player we all want him to become.

David had a little less wear and tear at 30. Remember, he sat out 2yrs for to meet Navy requirments.

HOWEVER, Tim relies more on IQ than athleticism, so yeah, he could be starting his prime. With new medical advances it's possible to see Tim play till he's 40. Granted I'm not sure if that's in his plans. Maybe?

[koopa]

wtf is wrong with the refs in the d league?? ian is gonna be averaging 6 fouls a game with this poor officiating