The first Noel griefing is upon us
Corey Tincher | Aug 06, 2012 | Comments 4
No more than a few days after Nerlens Noel announced he would be arriving in Lexington to join his teammates shortly, the typical Kentucky hate train has already started punching tickets. The first man on-board is DraftExpress.com’s Johnathon Givony, who offered up some stirringly negative comments regarding Noel’s play at the recent adidas Nations Tournament.
“Nerlens Noel couldn’t score today unless he was completely spoon-fed under the rim,” Givony tweeted. “Defensively his fundamentals & awareness looked just OK.” These brief comments drew the ire of Big Blue Nation, and a big blue army amassed, each coming out against Givony and his assessment of Kentucky’s centerpiece in yet another number one recruiting class.
Givony’s comments aren’t incredulous enough to warrant the rabid reaction with which Kentucky fans responded. Concerns regarding Noel’s scoring ability have been well-advertised, and everyone understands that his his raw athleticism and instinct compensate for any lacking fundamentals. Although his comments showcase a some validity, Givony’s problem is the way in which he chose to word his tweet heard round the bluegrass. The tone and delivery lacked the courtesy and respect that a reporter should show when covering young men trying to accomplish their dreams. Instead it read as targeted and purposeful, not observant and objective.
Another interesting fact is that DraftExpress.com, the site for which Givony works, still has Nerlens Noel listed as their overall number one draft pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Apparently there’s something to like about the young star if he’s the most desired player in the current college basketball crop, and perhaps their reporter simply missed the memo. In the end, Givony may have just overstated a genuine opinion. Or he might be looking for the attention only a spurned Big Blue Nation can provide. We may never really know if Givony was boarding the Kentucky hate train or simply waving goodbye as its engine bellowed into the distance.
But one thing is for certain, I have a pretty good feeling that Nerlens Noel will be proving Givony wrong sometime in the near future, and by then the Kentucky hate train will be up to full speed.
Filed Under: Basketball
[...] Tincher | Aug 06, 2012 | Comments 0 Nerlens Noel received an early taste of the critical media when Johnathon Givony of DraftExpress.com tweeted concerns over Noel’s play earlier this [...]
[...] Tincher | Aug 07, 2012 | Comments 0 Nerlens Noel has been the center of his first controversy over the last couple days, and apparently he’s well aware of the [...]
[...] That is the crux of the problem when it comes to Nerlens Noel. He was ranked as either the top or second best prospect by a number of scouting sites coming out of high school and picked Kentucky as his NBA finishing school of choice….about 2 weeks after the Anthony Davis led Wildcats won a National Championship and 6 before he was taken first overall in June’s draft. The comparison between the two is too obvious not to be made, despite it being debunked by coaches and analysts across the college basketball landscape. As a result, expectations are sky high among fans, to the point where criticism of Noel’s readiness by draft expert Jonathon Givony resulted in a wave of fan disgust. [...]
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