Hometown Fans Give Outlaw Big Mississippi Send-off
by Net Income on Aug 29, 2010 10:15 AM EDT
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PrintWe haven't heard a lot from Travis Outlaw lately. He, Troy Murphy and Derrick Favors are the Nets' big additions (so far) this off- season, but he's been quietly spending a lot of time in his hometown of Starkville, MS. Saturday, he prepared for his big move north with a big send-off from his biggest fans, his friends and family.
It was "Travis Outlaw Day" in Starkville, an annual event created by the town to show its appreciation for his work in the community. An estimated 1,500 to 1,800 people came to wish him well and participate in fun and games at a city park.
"This is just amazing, it gets bigger and bigger every year," said Outlaw. "Everybody coming out here to support me, and all I can do is just be thankful. I thank everyone who came out." As part of the event, Outlaw made a contribution of $20,000 to the Starkville Boys and Girls Club.
- Starkville spends time with Outlaw during special day - Joel Coleman - Starkville Daily News
- Record crowd attends Travis Outlaw Day - Tim Pratt - Columbus Dispatch
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Another example
of the type of first quality players that King, Avery and Prokhorov have assembled together.
In this day of the ‘me first agenda’, it is so refreshing to see players like Outlaw, Morrow and Farmar that are giving back to their communities; using their status to benefit others less fortunate.
Makes you want to cheer all the harder for these guys to succeed!
Don't get used to it...
If we sign Melo, it’ll be the same ol’ “me first” we’ve come to know and hate…
by JohnFromLongIsland on Aug 29, 2010 11:50 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I hear what you're saying
The LeBron kool aid left a bitter after taste going down, not so sure the Melo jello will taste any better :)
Ummm, all those guys give back...
Lebron and Melo give back lots of money and time as well. NBA is very good like that. I have to disagree and say that Melo will play winning basketball, and watching him over the last few years- he’s changed his game to be a great defender and team player as well. I haven’t really read or heard Melo shooting his mouth off or anything- guy just wants out.
Yeah the Lakers hate that
That Kobe guy is so self absorbed, I bet they can’t stand having him on their team.
Most Upside?
Of all the free agent signings, I think Outlaw has a combination of the lowest expectations and the highest upside. He could actually turn out to be worth what we paid for him. He will certainly get more of an opportunity with us, than he has gotten anywhere else that he has played. My biggest question about Outlaw is: Can he stay on the court for 75 games? I think he will be pushed by Twill and James too. I think AJ is going to be very good for Outlaw. If he buys into the “hustle” and his shot falls, Outlaw could contribute as much as anybody in reaching a win total that exceeds thirty. Really. Go NETS!
Paul from Delray Beach
before he broke his foot last season
he had played in 163 of a possible 164 games the previous two years.
I agree that he could really blossom here. At 25, he is the oldest of the four free agent signings (May is 26).
163 out of 164 is great..
but the remaining 229 out of 328 isn’t – an average of 57 games played per season. (Not including his rookie campaign of 8 games played.)
On another note, there is no way hes playing more than 30 minutes a night consistently this year so everyone who has their hopes up for 18 ppg and 6 rebs needs to get over that. Even if he did manage to last 35 strong minutes per game this season his stats won’t just exponentially improve across the boards; when he has been productive, he typically is torching second units for most of his points, and he is certainly streaky…
He is not gonna pour in buckets on LeBron, Durant, Pierce, Iggy, G-Wall, Gay etc. on a night to night basis. And lastly he wont be that productive given this lineup: Brook (18-21 ppg), Devin(17-21 ppg), T-Will (wildcard – 12-18 ppg), Morrow (11-15ppg) and possibly Murphy (10-14 ppg) will average more points per game than Outlaw IMO.
by BrooklynBridge on Aug 29, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Why the heck would he?
He’s been in the league 8 years and has never earned more than 27.5 min per game (career average 21.5 mpg). He is not a true starting SF, everyone with a clue about basketball knows this… This league is packed with legit stars and above average players at SF and there is no doubt he cannot handle guys on that level. I will repeat: LeBron, Durant, Melo, G-Wall, Pierce, Iggy, Gay, Granger, Jamison, Butler, J Green, Deng, Ariza and I’m sure there is one or two more…)
On top of this, I hope to God Avery wakes up and will play T-Will at the 3 at least in spurts, and D James literally has a larger upside than Travis altogether. I also went on to say in the same sentence that you are knocking me for that he may indeed play more minutes than 30 a game.. I simply said I for one certainly would not want that to happen.
So, good for you.
by BrooklynBridge on Aug 29, 2010 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Williams is not a small forward
or does someone need to repost the youtube vid that’s been floating around on here, of when he was matched against Carmelo Anthony?
Williams looked like a small child compared to Anthony
He’s a shooting guard.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 29, 2010 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Carmelo's a beast
He dominates everyone who guards him, so hard to do that matchup. Plus Twill was a rookie.
I still think Twill is a goner soon. Perhaps as a Nets fan I’m overvaluing him, but I feel like other teams see the potential as well, and therefore he’s a nice trade asset.
No, you're not overvaluing him
You have a pair of two eyes, and you see the same thing that I have seen: a talented player, albeit with a maturity issue, that can create off of the dribble and fill up the stat sheet.
If anyone thinks that other GMs haven’t taken note of what T-Will did the last two months of the season, I don’t know what to tell them.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 30, 2010 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Well then we better go get ourselves a SF
Because Outlaw is simply not good enough and D James ain’t ready yet… You simply cannot win in this league without an above average player at SF, especially now when there are SO MANY studs at the position. I would say confidently 90% of all NBA teams have a superior SF to us. At the least you need a gritty, punch you in the mouth kind of small forward aka Ron Artest to shake up the monster, score at will SFs.
The answer? Melo.
by BrooklynBridge on Aug 29, 2010 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Yup, agreed
It’s why I wouldn’t cry if we traded Lopez for Melo.
Carmelo is an unstoppable player. All the elites in the league can’t guard him, just like you can’t guard the elites in the league.
Lopez's problem....
seems to be his court awareness….I hope for his sake that this changes quickly or Brook is going to lose alot of chest hair……..
We need Lopez here to do anything with Carmelo
Like I said B4 Carmelo and a bunch of wings won’t cut it.
It won't win a championships this year
But it’s a start. Five years from now, you have a shot coming out of the East.
And I’m not Prokhorov, but I’m pretty sure he’d feel the same way.
yeah
but common sense says that we’d be able to compete with the big dogs in the East with Lopez AND Melo, and not Melo and whatever’s left in the wake of a gutting of the Nets roster.
If Anthony couldn’t get talented Denver teams over the hump, you guys are fooling yourselves if you think he’ll win anything here without Lopez in the middle.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 30, 2010 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions
MrDollarBills.....
I wouldn’t go as far as degrading TWILL’s defense in that video as I would of degrading that defensive genius running along the sidelines in that video… No one had a clue of what to do or where to be defensively…….and was not TWILL a Rookie ??…With Avery combined with TWILL’s athleticism , TWILL will be a Star defensive player…….
I wasn't degrading Williams at all
I just agree with the assessment that he’d fare better against Shooting guards instead of small forwards.
To be fair though, Anthony is a big boy. I remember watching Kobe defend him last year and he made Kobe look like a small child as well.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 30, 2010 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Agree to disagree
Outlaw has split time in Portland with Webster and more recently Batum. Two seasons ago Webster was injured and for some reason, they started Batum, But Outlaw played more minutes and generally played most if not all of the fourth quarter. The fact that he didn’t start is meaningless—he was their third leading scorer behind Roy and LMA, and third in minutes played (though he was also behind starting PG Blake in MPG). Last season, Outlaw was hurt.
I would be very surprised if Outlaw did not average at least 30 MPG this season. He is not in a time-sharing situation any more. James is a rookie, Ross is at best a journeyman, and TWill was more effective last season as a guard. Outlaw will be a fine addition to the club. Nobody can handle LeBron, Durant, or Melo, but he will be a middle of the pack starting SF this year, which is much, much better than anything we trotted out there last year. I’d take him over RJ, that’s for sure. And he has shown that he can be a very valuable sixth man if we ever acquire a stud SF.
Everyone focuses on Outlaw’s contract, and I can see why—5 years is a big commitment. But on the court where it matters, he will be the biggest addition to the Nets this season and will positively impact more games than Favors, Morrow, and all the rest. Unless we get Melo, of course, which I don’t see happening.
The fact that he was in a timeshare
WITH BATUM AND WEBSTER says enough to me. As stated by many before, he is not a valid NBA starter (at the very least not for a legitimate contender)
No fan even knew this guy was a free agent nor would any NBA team even entertain the idea of giving Outlaw a hefty and longterm contract like the Nets did. There is no excuse for locking up an undesirable kind of player (maybe thats too strong but he certainly has never performed at expectation level, even when given minutes) coming off a severe injury kind of season
by BrooklynBridge on Aug 30, 2010 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions
I think James is going to take his spot by the end of the season
Tougher plays better defense and rebounds, shows he can shoot the ball. I think Outlaw is better suited to come of the bench honestly but a good player.
a good player to have either way IMO
The guy is athletic and can shoot.
I really am dying to see this team play together.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 29, 2010 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
people tend to forget
that there has been some talk of James playing some three…including by the coach..
Outlaw can also play some four.
he certainly has the range for it
not sure about his ball handling skills though.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 29, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
It's not that hefty, cmon now
If he’s one of the best 6th men in the league, he’s worth his money to Proky.
7 million per for 5 years is hefty?
My god folks, come on.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 30, 2010 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions
Please be healthy Outlaw!
This is yet another guy who when on Portland I was like, why can’t we have a guy like this on the Nets? Please stay healthy!
But, I’m still trying to get over Michael Ray Richardson, what potential that guy had. He was athletic and could shoot like crazy, man he was good…
he snorted his career away
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 29, 2010 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions
So you're saying he and Paris Hilton have something in common
Busted for cocaine.
Nets = Global
Knicks = Local
It must be nice to get busted for felony cocaine possession and being able to walk right out of the police station a few hours later.
Now if that was some black kid in East Orange, he’d be sitting in Essex County waiting for his day in court.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 30, 2010 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Yo Couch
Consequences will never be the same.
by NetsMets4Life on Aug 29, 2010 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions
TWILL...
is a good comparison to Michael Ray……..I hope that TWILL’s shot improves some more…
BTW, it's Micheal Ray
…and while he was a terrific player, shooting wasn’t his strength (22% career on 3Ps). He was like a poor man’s Magic (no shame there), and used his size, speed, and court vision to disrupt offenses and dominate in transition. He lead us to some great wins, and his demise as an NBA player was very sad. If TWill becomes anywhere near as good as Sugar was, we struck gold.
I thought that.....
Sugar was….Sugar Ray Williams…….
Booger Sugar Ray Williams
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
by MrDollarBills on Aug 30, 2010 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions
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