Le Basketbawl

Regulars here at the “House That New York Vinnie Built” Le Basketbawl realize that I march to the beat of my own Frickin Drummer. Just because the majority of people think something is the truth that does not mean that New York Vinnie is going to agree with them. New York Vinnie has always based things on the way that I Frickin see them. There are enough Frickin Lemmings on the Planet; New York Vinnie will not go along with the crowd just to Frickin get along.

There are an awful lot of NBA fans who are just out and out “Haters“ of Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo. Whether it is the fact that he started get pub when he was playing in grade school, the controversy about his one year at USC or folks think he is just a Frickin “Hot Dog“  there are many fans that would like to see the guard fail. New York Vinnie is not in that camp; I was impressed with what I saw of this young man last year and think he has the capabilities of being an All-Star in the NBA.

The “Memphis Commercial-Appeal” has reported that Mayo wants to become known as more than a one dimensional player known for his scoring. The guard heading into his second season in the NBA says he wants to gain the reputation of a complete player. Mayo told reporters “I figure I can do all of the intangibles. You may not see 30 points that night but if you look across the (stat sheet) line you can see I dibble-dabbled a little everywhere. I’m going to just try to get the job done. In order for the Memphis Grizzlies to be successful we need to come together and play for each other. Man, last year wasn’t a pretty sight. So if we work together we can get over this hump.”

Those sure do not sound like the sentiments of  a “Hot Dog” to New York Vinnie. Mayo is saying that in order for his team to get better he has to get better at all aspects of the NBA game. For a young man that will not even be 22 years old until next month that sure sounds like a pretty Frickin mature statement. It takes some NBA players years before they come to that realization; and others never realize while they are playing.

Mayo told reporters that the two men he looks up to the most in the NBA are Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups and his head coach with the Grizzlies Lionel Hollins. The guard said “Chauncey Billups, in my mind, is the best leader in our league. Chris Paul is a great point guard. Deron Williams is great. Rajon Rondo. But Chauncey Billups is by far the No. 1 leader in our league. Just being around him and seeing how he leads on and off the court was a big thing. And coach Hollins is a very passionate coach. If you can’t play hard for that man then you don’t want to play this game. He’s by far the most passionate coach I’ve ever had. I’ll leave it at that. He is the guy for this job; to get the monkey off this organization’s back. … He understands that his job could be on the line so he’s not going to tell us anything wrong. We just have to go out and execute what he tells us to the best of our abilities. I’m willing to follow his lead and then do whatever it takes to win.”

There is no doubt that O.J. Mayo has the physical gifts to be a huge star in the NBA. However if this young man can keep his present mind-set we could be looking at a pretty Frickin special player before all is said and done.