I was surprised that Maxiell went in the first round, but the Pistons
are the perfect team for a work-horse like him. It's also nice when
a college senior gets the nod over the high-schoolers. I already liked
Detroit, now I just like 'em more.


I was also surprised Warrick lasted as long as he did, but I'm pretty excited
about him playing for Memphis. Watching him and Rodney Carney duel it
out last year in MSG was probably the high point of the season for me. Looks like he will
possibly replace Stro. (anyone remember the dunk Stro threw down on Yao this season?
probably the best NBA slam of the year. ) Jerry West may be losing it though, he
said Warrick was from Princeton during his interview. :laugh:

You guys stole Warrick at #19. He'll put some fans in the seats for you and get the Grizzlies on the ESPN Top 10

TexanMark Wrote:You guys stole Warrick at #19.

No doubt about that.

I was hoping Warrick would go to Houston to play with TMAC and YAO, but Grizz got a steal at #19. Great get.

Maxiell also got his degree. So that's ANOTHER UC player that has graduated from UC (most of the last senior class, if not everyone, got their degree). So maybe this will end that ridiculous "Zero percent graduation rate" garbage. UC actually has a solid graduation rate under Bob Huggins.

Cat's_Claw Wrote:Maxiell also got his degree.  So that's ANOTHER UC player that has graduated from UC (most of the last senior class, if not everyone, got their degree).  So maybe this will end that ridiculous "Zero percent graduation rate" garbage.  UC actually has a solid graduation rate under Bob Huggins.

Who the hell said anything about UC's grad rate? You are waay too sensitive dude.

Bambu Wrote:

Cat's_Claw Wrote:Maxiell also got his degree.  So that's ANOTHER UC player that has graduated from UC (most of the last senior class, if not everyone, got their degree).  So maybe this will end that ridiculous "Zero percent graduation rate" garbage.  UC actually has a solid graduation rate under Bob Huggins.

Who the hell said anything about UC's grad rate? You are waay too sensitive dude.

What the hell are YOU talking about? I didn't aim that post at anybody, I never mentioned your name or made a quote or even said that anybody mentioned graduation rates. I just posted that post in general because it was in the Cincinnati papers. Read my post, I said "And also", I didn't go on a rant. When your program gets slammed for 15 years for graduation rates maybe you would be a little sensitive to. But, in this case, you're overreacting to a harmless post I made mentioning Maxiell getting his degree.

Here is the article I'm referencing when I mentioned that Maxiell also got his degree, which is a positive to UC's graduation rate, for people thinking I'm being sensitive or something. I only mention this because people are so quick to talk about UC's graduation rate in a negative way, but get upset when someone talks about a positive of UC's graduation rate, which is what I was congratulating Max on in this thread:

<a href='http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050629/COL03/506290350/1078' target='_blank'>Cheers to Maxiell for doing it right </a>

Basketball only part of Max's legacy at UC

By Paul Daugherty
Enquirer staff writer

Jason Maxiell did it right. The whole thing. Max went to class, made the grades, endured Bob Huggins' practices, learned and worked and strived and grew. He leaves the University of Cincinnati as the total package.

He also can play a little basketball.

The celebrating Tuesday was for Maxiell's entry into the NBA. More than 50 family members, from at least six states, gathered at Fifth Third Arena to toast Jason's success. "He has a chance to live his dreams," was how his grandfather, James, put it.

Yeah, he does. But it's more than that. Maxiell leaves UC a better place for having been there. His example should stand for every kid who ever shows up in town dreaming big, whether it's basketball or biology. Maxiell didn't get anything handed to him. He earned it all.

Ideally, basketball players go to college and end up this way. Their games improve enough, the NBA becomes interested.

Their minds improve enough, they leave with a degree. (Maxiell's is in psychology.)

Their selves improve enough, the 18-year-old child leaves as a 22-year-old adult.

"He speaks so well now," Patricia Maxiell was saying. "He writes so well. He's become a man."

Jason was 5 when he announced to Patricia, "I wanna be in the NBA."

"OK, baby," she said.

Seventeen years later, she opened her mail one Saturday morning in March and started crying so hard, she didn't stop until Sunday night. "I got this letter from the university," she said last night. "I thought, 'OK, what bill did we not pay?' It was his diploma."

Patricia calls the NBA "a perk." Imagine that. She says The Association is just a small part of what she hopes will be a long life for her son. "He can't play basketball the rest of his life. That degree will last him forever."

She was there for Jason, always. Preaching the motherly gospel of support. Never allowing herself to dream that Tuesday would come, satisfied only that her son was working hard and good things would happen.

"He was always a hard worker. He got that from my dad," Patricia said.

Her dad was at the gathering Tuesday. James is quiet, reflective and big as a house, same as his grandson. "I told him I'd be his grandfather and his father," James said. "And I was." Jason and Patricia lived with her parents until Jason was 14, in Hazelcrest, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

Jason saw his grandfather go to work every day for the Chicago Board of Education, then come home in time to take Jason to the gym. He saw his grandmother do the same. He watched Patricia earn her degree in accounting. A house full of strivers.

By the time he got to UC, Jason was who he was. Credit Huggins for honing Maxiell's work ethic and his game. Next to Kenyon Martin, there has been no bigger success story in Huggins' 16 years at UC than Maxiell.

Mostly, credit Maxiell, who did it all himself.

There is a very good chance no Bearcat has ever been screamed at less by Huggins than Maxiell. There's an equally good chance no player needed less introduction to hard work. Maxiell never cheated himself or anyone else. Celebrate that, because that's why David Stern called Maxiell's name Tuesday night.

The Detroit Pistons, second-best team in the league, took him as the 26th pick in the first round. That surprised the "experts" who believed Maxiell would go later. Maybe they don't know him very well. "Be courteous and listen," James had told his grandson. "Be responsible and do your best."

That was a long time ago, but the advice still applies.