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YoungSpike
Posts: 20081
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Joined: 7/5/2005
Member: #947
USA
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http://msn.blogs.foxsports.com/demonicume/Renaldo_Balkman/15589
Renaldo Balkman.
Burn that name into your mind.
Knicks fans and coaches alike now behave as if they'd never heard of the 6'8", 215lb Forward out of Tampa, Florida. But I’ve always known who he was. He’s a good kid that studied hard to overcome severe learning disabilities. He partied like other kids, but behaved himself. Anyone who knows him will remember the miniature motorcycle he would ride around the parking lot of fraternity parties. It looked ridiculous. He looked like a clown. you dont know who he is because he wasn’t hanging out fighting like normal NCAA Division I athletes. He never drove away from a police check point. He's never been video taped raping a stripper. He was just a nice kid too shy to go into a fraternity party.
He also moves as well without the ball in his hands as with. He's a monster offensive rebounder, passer, shot blocker and playmaker. He hustles up and down the court every play whether ahead by 20 or behind by 15. He scores on things that are not designed as plays, but spontaneous like offensive put backs and in transition.
SC Coach Odom runs a ball control, 3Point oriented offense. The Gamecocks lived and died by the 3 point shot. Coach would rather win a game 50 to 44 than push the ball down the court. This scheme did not fit the make up of his team this season and was the reason we lost to Florida in the SEC Championship. Because Carolina had the quickest guards in the country, Renaldo was often left out of the play calls, and forced to step outside the team scheme to find the basket. Though Coach Odom ran no designed plays for him, Balkman still found ways to contribute and often took games over. Current basketball theory is to feed the hot hand. Not so at Carolina; go back and watch old tape, Coach Odom only fed the hot hand if that hand was raining 3’s from NBA land. All others were neglected until the game was on the line. This is when Renaldo shined. Prior to the last few minutes of a tight game game, scoring without permission often landed him on the bench for extended periods.
He lead the team in blocks his freshman year. SEC opponents quickly realized his defensive tenacity, and respected his presence. He had an excellent freshman season as he was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. This past summer, Renaldo played on the Score International Team with teammate Stephen McDowell. They traveled to Germany for competition, playing in five games against international competition. He led the USA Team in rebounds and was second in PPG playing in the Nation's Cup. Surgery on his left thumb in the late spring of 2004 curtailed his weight training and hampered skill development last season.
Who is he? Ask Floridan Coach Billy Donovan. He'll tell you that Balkman is a menace on the court. He's quick, averaging nearly 2 steals and 2 blocks a game from the 3/4 spot. At 6'8", Balkman was normally the tallest player the Gamecocks had on the floor. SC's defensive scheme landed him guarding guys that were either bigger and stronger, or smaller and faster. Regardless of his assignment, Balkman came through. He HANDLED Joakim Noah (the latest ESPN darling) in the SEC Tournament to the tune of 8 points, 7 rebounds. In the NCAA championship, the commentators marveled that someone as big as Joakim could run transition. In the NIT Tournament, the commentators accepted what I already knew: no one at his position in college basketball was quick enough to stop Balkman’s offensive and defensive fury. Slender forwards and swing guards tried to blow by him and either turned the ball over or were blocked. Heavier, stronger forwards and centers tried to sit in the paint and body him, but everyone quickly realized that Renaldo's too agile to be muscled. He ran the point in transition, often going coast to coat and finishing over 2 people. He can score off the dribble and from the arc. Renaldo shot 60% from the field this year. At the end of the first half of the Louisville game, he was 6/7 with 2 steals and a block.
Knicks fans are publicly bemoaning this pick. They ignore the fact that he showed up to camp and outplayed every daddy's girl, prima donna, 1st round talent on the court. They disrespected him the same way NY fans disrespected another SC standout athlete... John Abraham (how’d that work out for ya’ll NYC?). They made rude signs and shouted disrespectful comments. I'll bet my paycheck that not one of them has ever seen the kid play. It was obvious no one at the ESPN Draft Desk had watched anything beyond highlight reels. They made insulting and demeaning comments based on reports they’d gotten from other people. Anyone who watched Carolina beat 2 Final Four teams knows what I know: it wasn’t Renaldo’s fault he didn’t shine, it was not the players’ fault they didn’t get invited to The Big Dance. They played well within the system. Balkman played the role he was given and allowed Coach Odom to kill his NBA hopes with some stupid 3 point motion screen ffense (dribble around the 3 point line for 20 seconds and shoot!). Balkman took over the game when Carolina was down and Coach was at a lost for what to do.
Renaldo didn’t start often because Coach Odom did not like his shot selection. Renaldo didn’t shoot enough three pointers. The Cocks lost a game to LSU early in the season that they should have won because of Odom's bias. Balkman blew up for 12 early points. He was dominating the boards, blocking shots and generally wreaking havoc in the paint at both ends of the court. Odom pulled Balkman for the rest of the game for driving into the paint and dunking on 3 people. 5 minutes into the second half, we fans were howling Balkman's name, yet he sat there quietly on the bench. I looked to my buddy - who lives and breathes Carolina basketball - and asked him what happened. Was he hurt? Was he in foul trouble? No, he said, Coach Odom, like most coaches, has a system that he sticks to regardless of the situation. Balkman wasn’t supposed to shoot the ball on that play.
Carpe Diem my left nut!
Coach Odom didn’t set Balkman free during the NIT. Balkman took the tournamant over because his Coach was choking and his teammates were drowning. We Carolina fans were calling the radio stations during interviews with the Athletic Director ‘why isn’t Balkman playing?’ ‘what kinda stupid offense is that you’re running?’ Letters and emails were written to the University President. The city Mayor and the Lt. Governor were outraged - both carolina grads. When it was all said and done, Coach sat atop the NIT ladder as if he’d masterminded the victory, when in fact we here in Columbia Carolina were just tired of seeing our favorite player get benched for scoring.
Still don't know who Renaldo Balkman is? Ask Rick Pettino – a hall of fame coach – who described Renaldo as 'an awesome player' and 'someone everyone should be paying attention to.' This is high praise from a sure Hall of Fame coach.
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6/30/2006 8:32 AM