No burn, DNP, and then sent home. It’s funny how one line can sum up the year for Brook-nam’s Jamaal Tinsley and Stephon Marbury. While both still get fat pockets and eat shrimp and spaghetti, the focus now is on Steph’s younger cousin, Sebastian Telfair, who gets some burn, does play, and has a team. But, are there bigger and better things for Bassy? I think he needs the playground style to reboot his game. In my “45 Degrees of Blackness Column,” I highlighted 6 guards that could use a change to get their games going and/or help a team to a higher caliber of play. See the article: “ The Devin Harris Effect.” While Telfair isn’t listed as a potential All-Star in the blog, I feel he has enough “playground” in him to excel and challenge Chris Duhon. Bassy, in a high-screen and roll offense with the green light, could be dangerous. Sebastian is still young and this might be the situation for all his speed and handle to flourish. Check Dime magazine’s Andrew Katz’s blog: “Is Sebastian Telfair a bust?” at Dimemag.com” for some more opinion on his career.

Guns are super wack

The Plaxico Burress incident has brought much sadness to the city of New York. Guns take freedom, life, and time away from so many of our talented brethren. Players don’t want to be shut-ins, but the minute one brings an unregistered gun into a club, his mind and his soul is not in the right place. The mind of a true player isn’t on violence or even protection from it, it’s on things that make the soul full and those around you prosper. Prosperity isn’t rooted in money, it’s in the peace of mind you have when your time is in soulful productive activity. Many families in the projects I come from are prosperous because they work in peace, they keep their minds free of the angles of envy and jealousy, and remain in a state where productive citizenship brings the satisfaction of seeing their neighborhoods and their people achieve. Read More »

photo: www.roseto.com/gallery

Basketball and Coney Island seem to go hand in hand with each other. Books like The Last Shot and flicks like He Got Game, introduced the world to the tiny sector in Brooklyn that has produced the likes of Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair, Lance Stephenson and the fictional Jesus Shuttlesworth.

Jamel Thomas aka “Five-Thirty” also rose up from Coney. Cousin of Starbury and older brother of Bassy, Jamel is a 6-6 forward with a sweet stroke and bulldog-like toughness. Thomas never reached the same level as his famous family members but he still had a long and successful career. Read More »