Practice | ‘24 NFL Draft | College Hoops Top 25 | Jets-Bills | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Practice by Drake is the 18th track off of his sophomore studio album, Take Care. This song samples Juvenile’s 1998 hit, Back That Azz Up, and is about Drake’s infatuation with a presumed stripper. This song also shares the same title as Allen Iverson’s famous Practice press conference. Which of the two subjects do you think I’ll dive deep into in the introduction?
For a bit of context on how Allen Iverson famously said the word “practice” 22 times in a 2-minute stretch, we gotta look into what got him in front of the mic just after the Philadelphia 76ers had lost to the Boston Celtics in the 1st Round of the ‘02 NBA Eastern Conference. Entering the NBA, Allen Iverson went #1 Overall in the 1996 NBA Draft. He went to Georgetown and as Hoya for 2 seasons, he averaged 23 points, 4.6 assists, & 3.2 steals a game.
In his Rookie Season, AI immediately took The Association by storm, collecting the NBA Rookie of the Year while averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. In the last 4 decades, his 23.5 points per game rank #4 all-time for a player to average in his rookie season behind only Terry Cummings (23.7), David Robinson (24.3), and Michael Jordan (28.2). Notice how I said last 4 decades, Lew Alcinder aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28.8), Oscar Robertson (30.5), and Wilt Chamberlain (37.6) are just too cold. The moral of the story here is that from Iverson’s rookie season, he was cold as hell, even setting an NBA rookie record of 5 straight games with 40+ points. Despite Iverson’s brilliance, the 76ers were still trash as they went 22-60.
In Iverson’s 2nd year in the NBA, Philadelphia hired Larry Brown to be their new head coach. Brown played in the ABA and was the ABA’s 1st All-Star Game MVP. At a young age, he figured was better off coaching on the sidelines so he became the head coach of the Carolina Cougars at just 32 years old. His coaching career would land him the head gig at Kansas where in 1988 he led the Jayhawks to a National Championship while winning Coach of the Year. After reaching the pinnacle of the College Hoops, Brown was again determined to coach the pros so he jumped to San Antonio right after the NCAA Championship. He stops with the Spurs, Clippers, and Pacers. With the Spurs, he helped develop David Robinson during the start of The Admiral’s career. As a Clipper coach, he got LA to the playoffs twice and was the only coach in their history at the time to end his coaching tenure with a winning record. With Indiana, Brown led Reggie Miller’s Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, the team had never previously won a playoff series in their NBA history, prior. Larry Brown at the time was the right answer to coach The Answer.
After another rough year in Philly, the Iverson-Brown marriage took off in the strike-shortened 1999 NBA season as the 76ers made the playoffs. Iverson led the league in points and minutes played, thanks to smart Larry Brown coaching. The team followed up their 1st playoff berth in ‘00, when they again won a playoff series before getting beat by the Pacers in the Semi-Finals. Then in ‘01, the 76ers broke through as Iverson and Brown reached the NBA Finals where they would get beaten by Shaq & Kobe Lakers’ Dynasty but it was where AI would become a legend for dehumanizing Tyronn Lue on a national stage. Iverson drilling a long-range corner 2-pointer and then stepping over Ty Lue was iconic. Even Lue, who despite winning multiple championships became one of the first walking memes thanks to AI, has said, “I love AI. Even before the series, he’s someone that I idolized…He changed the culture for us.”
Coming off his ‘01 MVP season, the expectations in Philadelphia had now risen to championship level. The 76ers failed to meet those expectations in ‘02 as the team barely made in over .500 and would lose to Boston as the #6 seed. It was a very difficult season for AI especially, as one of his best friends, Rahsaan Langford, was shot and killed months prior. Iverson during the season would sit out for practices. He would later open up about how at times it would be because he’d been out the night before but it was a bit more complicated than that as he also led the NBA during his prime in minutes played per game. Today, NBA stars sit out games due to load management and this was not a thing during Iverson’s era. In fairness, he had a point of being annoyed that the Philly media at the time were giving him lip about his commitment so he gave it back to them with an all-time rant. The cultural aspect that Iverson had on the league was also enormous. AI didn’t show up to press conferences dressed up or talked the way most players conducted themselves. On the court, a whole generation of kids watched AI, who was listed at 6’ on a good day, dominate below the rim amongst NBA giants. Anyway, here is the legendary rant…
“If I can't practice, I can't practice. If I'm hurt, I'm hurt. Simple as that. It's not about that at all. But it's easy to talk about and sum it up when you just talk about practice; we're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. I mean, listen, we're talking about practice. Not a game! Not a game! Not a game! We're talking about practice. Not a game; not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last, not the game, we're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that? We're talking about practice. I know I'm supposed to be there, I know I'm supposed to lead by example, I know that. And I'm not shoving it aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important. I do. I honestlydo. But we're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man! We're talking about practice! We're talking about practice... We ain't talking about the game! We're talking about practice, man! When you come to the arena, and you see me play... You see me play, don't you?”
Brian Thomas is from Walker, Louisiana. At 6’4”, he is an absolute nightmare matchup for collegiate corners. The junior WR flashed his raw talent in his 1st 2 years at LSU, catching 59 passes for 720 yards and 7 TDs. This season, Thomas Jr. has already matched his first two combined as he has 55 catches for 1,029 receiving yards and he currently leads all of College Football with 14 TDs. Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers make up an elite WR duo and will be the latest of the LSU Tigers that one day dominate on Sundays too. His size, speed, and great hands will make him a highly touted prospect come this spring.
Devin Neal is from Lawrence, Kansas, so my guess is he grew up rooting for the Jayhawks. He was considered the #1 recruit coming out of the state of Kansas for his recruiting class. Neal became the first Kansas freshman to ever win a Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. As a freshman, he had 707 rushing yards and 8 TDs. Last year Neal improved some more as he had 1,090 rushing yards and 9 TDs en route to being an All Big 12 Honorable Mention. Thus far this season has been Devin Neal’s best as he already has rushed for a career-high 1,103 yards and 13 TDs. Neal is quite nifty as a runner and has also progressed in the passing game, catching more passes every year.
Christian Haynes is from Bowie, Maryland. In ‘18, he joined the UConn football program and redshirted as a freshman. He saw the field in ‘19, as the team’s starting right guard. After UConn didn’t play football in ‘20, Haynes came back in ‘21 and played at both guard positions. Last year the AP named Christian Haynes as an All-American as he once again started 13 games at OG and was an integral part of UConn averaging 195 rushing yards per game. Entering this season, UConn head coach Jim Mora started playing Haynes at the center position and believes this versatility will only help the key cog of UConn’s prospects as an NFL prospect. Haynes never missed a game in his collegiate career.
Cody Schrader is from St. Louis, Missouri, and always wanted to play for the Missouri Tigers. In high school, Schrader was an All-State star who scored 99 TDs and holds many of his school’s records. Despite the accolades and stats, Schrader was overlooked by Division I college schools likely due to his 5’9” size. From ‘18 to ‘21, Schrader attended Truman State where he played Division II CFB. At Truman State, Schrader continued to dominate on the field, as he totaled 2,074 rushing yards on 300 carries with 24 touchdowns. After 3 great seasons at Truman, Schrader decided to take a chance and walked on to the Missouri Tigers. As a senior walk-on in ‘22, Schrader made 11 starts and led the team in rushing with 746 yards and 9 TDs. This season Schrader made yet another jump, as he has already rushed for 1,272 yards and 12 TDs. He had the opportunity to break a Tiger record for yards in a game this season, but told his coach, “We didn’t build this team off of chasing records.” Cool underdog story.
Andrew Chatfield Jr. is from Plantation, Florida. Out of high school, Chatfield has offers from the likes of Ohio State but chose to play in his home state as a Gator. At Florida, Chatfield struggled to find the field much. In 23 games he only had 19 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, and 2 sacks. He transferred to Oregon State in ‘21 and sat out a year. Last season, played in 12 games for the Beavers and had 20 tackles with 1 sack. This season Chatfield has elevated his game as an outside linebacker in this Oregon State defense. He already has a career-high 9 sacks to go with 2 INTs and 2 forced fumbles. The once-elite recruit has figured out his game thanks to his move to Oregon State.
The Associated Press has yet to respond to my kindly worded email which I have requested they release their College Hoops Top 25 on Sundays instead of Mondays. I may have to circle back on this request at a later date.
Zach Edey is from Toronto, Canada. Edey is one of the more well-known college hoopers in the sport because of his 7’4” size. I’m here to confirm to you that Zach Edey is still out here doing Zach Edey things, like winning opening tips against 5’8” point guards. After coming off one of the most statistically dominating seasons in college basketball history as he averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 1.5 assists per game, Edey is back with the Boilermakers dominating once again. In 3 games so far, Edey has averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game while also swatting 11 opponent shots. Expect another huge year out of the Purdue Big Man.
Vladislav Goldin is from Nalchick, Russia. After playing for Russia’s U18 and U19 National teams, Goldin started his college hoops in the States at Texas Tech. He played sparingly for the Red Raiders so he decided to transfer to FAU for the ‘21-’22 season. Goldin started in 33 of 34 games in his first year with the program and made an impact in the paint as he blocked 1.1 shots along with collecting 4.9 rebounds per game. Last year, the Russian 7’ footer broke out for the Owls during their Final Four run as Goldin averaged 13.4 points and 6.5 rebounds while blocking 1.2 shots per game. So far this season, Goldin once again leads FAU in points and rebounds.
Ja’Kobe Walter is from McKinney, Texas, which is about 2 hours north of Baylor. Walter led his hometown high school to their first-ever state title as he was rated the #17 player of this freshman class according to ESPN. The freshman guard got off to a hot start with the Bears as he scored 28 points in his collegiate debut. In 4 games this season, Walter has averaged 18 points per game on just over 2 3’s per contest and he is hitting them at around a 40% rate.
Rob Dillingham is from Hickory, North Carolina. This is the start of his freshman season, but Dillingham already made a name for himself prior to Kentucky. He was rated #15 by ESPN in this Freshman Class. Dillingham was very impressive at the Iverson Classic. Hoops Fan Insider and I graded him out a bit higher than the World Wide Leader in Sports, but what do we know we were just at the game scouting. Thus far, the freshman guard has got off to a great start as a Wildcat, averaging 16.8 points per game on 43.5% shooting from 3.
Terrence Edwards Jr. is nicknamed “Fatt.” He grew up in the ATL and he has been a part of the JMU hoops since his freshman season in ‘20. As a freshman, Edwards got 7 starts and played in 20 games as he averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He earned himself more playing time his following season as he put up a modest 9.1 points, 2.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game. Last year with the Pirates, Fatt took home the Sun Belt Sixth Man of the Year as he led JMU in scoring with 13.3 points per game while coming off the bench the majority of the season. Fatt is a very versatile player who has the height to rebound and guard skills to handle the ball. So far this season Edwards is averaging 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists as he led James Madison to an upset win over the #4 Michigan State.
Notes Nobody Asked For
Jets-Bills (Week 11, ‘23)
- Congratulations to Tommy D on his very 1st NFL win.
- I’ve taken Decker out for 3 walks today already, there better be no funny business once it’s 4:25.
1st Quarter
- Nathaniel Hackett is now coaching from the booth, instead of on the sidelines - reports Tracy Wolfson.
- On the opening kickoff, Jets rookie returner Xavier Gipson gets lit up and fumbles the ball to the Bills. Q-Ball gets a big sack to stop the Bills from scoring more. 3-0 BUF.
- Jets offense gets the ball this time and goes 3-N-Out, punts. Josh Allen drives the ball down the field, converting on 3rd Downs until the drive ends in the red zone. Tony Adams’ finger looks brutal. 6-0 BUF.
- Tony Romo, who I liked as a player, is being way too overly positive about the Jets and it is pissing me off. Shut up, Tony, respectfully, please.
2nd Quarter
- The Jets defense holds the Bills to another FG as the score is now 9-0 BUF.
- This Jets offense makes every opponent’s defense seem elite.
- The O-line is terrible and Zach Wilson inspires 0 confidence.
- Where are all the young players like Jeremy Ruckert, Jason Brownlee, and Izzy A who were said to be making their first real extended action?
- Decker is starting to give me the “I want a walk” look so I’ll be back.
- Back and somehow the Bills are in the red zone. I made it in time for Bills RB James Cook to score a TD to go up 16-0 BUF. What a joke. The defense should quit at this point.
- It turns out that while I was walking the dog, Zach Wilson fell on his ass while running into the huddle and then a few plays later he threw an interception.
- Jets Punter, Thomas Morestead, picks up a 1st down on a fake punt pass. Put Morestead into the game at QB, that was the best Jets’ play thus far.
- Jets RB Breece Hall is so good. If this team had any real semblance of a balanced offense, Hall would be an All-Pro player. Hall scores a TD to make the game 16-6 BUF.
3rd Quarter
- I booked the night train for a reason, so I could sit here in this hurt, I need to switch things up for the Jets so we’re changing settings.
- Former Jets RB scores a TD to make the score 22-6 BUF. Glad I didn’t see that on TV.
- Now it is 29-6 BUF, not I’m REALLY glad I’m not watching this embarrassment on TV, it is bad enough keeping track on the fantasy football ESPN app.
4th Quarter
- The Jets have benched Zach Wilson for Tim Boyle and we’re just reaching Wood-Ridge. WooHoo!