Before you think about mocking Charles Barkley’s picks, remember this — he was picking the Mavericks last season long before conventional wisdom came around to them.
So when Barkley says that the Chicago Bulls are the best in the East, we shouldn’t just dismiss it as the usual Barkley bombast. Here are his quotes from the Dan Patrick Show Thursday, via CSNChicago.com.“I still think the Bulls are the best team in the conference, but if they don’t get Derrick Rose back, they’re not going to win.”
“Unless LeBron James carries (the Heat), they’re not going to win the championship -- he’s got to be their closer, finisher, everything, he’s gotta play unbelievable, he’s gotta be the walking triple-double for them to win the championship.”
Barkley was making the media rounds the last couple days and appeared on ESPN 1000 in Chicago with Waddle and Silvy and said some other very Barkleyesque things (like how he has a funny feeling the Nets may win the lottery before they move to Brooklyn). Via Sports Radio Interviews:
On Kentucky’s Anthony Davis: “You know what, I like that kid. He seems like a very nice kid. It’s unfortunate he’s going to come out. I’m not big on these one-and-done guys. I wish we can keep them in college for two years. You know, he’s got to gain some weight. He’s probably got to gain 30-40 pounds if he’s going to play in the NBA.”
His sleeper in the West: “The Memphis Grizzlies. They’re finally getting healthy. They went into Oklahoma City and beat them. They went into LA and beat them. We’ve got to wait until they get everybody healthy, but Zach Randolph is rounding into form. I’m not a big Oklahoma City fan because I think they don’t get easy baskets. I don’t think they can score enough down low. I think you can beat them up down low and score on them. I just don’t like jump shooting teams that are not great defensively.”
On the Dwight Howard situation: Whatever happened with Dwight, I’m not sure, but I’ve got to tell you something, whoever in upper management told Stan Van Gundy that, they should get fired immediately. To me, that’s a scumbag move to have a private conversation with a higher official, and they go back and tell the coach? That to me was one of the most scumbag moves I’ve ever heard of in the NBA….
“I wish (Howard) would own (asking to get Van Gundy fired) to be honest with you. If he said that, just own it. Just come out and say ‘hey you know what, I did say that. Me and coach are not getting along. I want a new coach.’ You can’t walk up and put your arm around me. I think Dwight has done a lot of stuff wrong in this whole free agent thing, no question but think about this, he should come out and say ‘you know what, I did say that’ because he acted like he didn’t say it. That’s what disturbs me the most. Even though someone leaked that information, just own it. Just say ‘you know what, I did say that, and I stick by it.”
