SB Nation User Blog: Dheepan

Junk Drawer-August 3rd, 2009

Dheepan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:02:11 -0000

So I decided to make this since I was on at like 4am and I noticed that there was no junk drawer. I don't really have much to say, so I'll just ramble on and let the junk take on its own course.

I did finish up some new paintings. This one is like 30x30 or 40x40 in real life, I haven't measured it. Just saying that because it feels a lot different in person.

via farm3.static.flickr.com

I did another one as well but that was more or less just a quick little sketch. That I did in like 30-40 minutes. You can see it on my flickr page though. I'm working on another which I think is going to be my best of the summer but we'll see.

As far as other off topic conversation starters:

Do you feel like beauty if too often misconstrued as purely sexual in nature? And that gender roles limit how freely you can discuss the subject?

Dreams. How often do you have dreams? Do you think they mean anything, or do you think they are spontaneous and random in nature?

My Brandon Roy Painting

Dheepan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:22:36 -0000

So way back in March I said I was going to do a Brandon Roy painting. I pretty much finished it up today after I finally recieved/purchased new paint.

I'll go ahead and start out with the sketches.

The old ones were taken from a camera phone so I thought the digitals would be nice for clarity's sake anyways.MOMENT OF TRUTH->

Not satisfied with the color in this photo at all really but it's satisfactory, I think it has a much better emotional impact in person. Brushwork is a lot more visible adds to the intensity.

Close up.

Me not being 6'2" : ). I'm somewhere between 5'9" and 5'10", I haven't measured for a while. So it's a little bit above my waist in size. Also for the fashionistas out there; no, I don't wear cargo shorts in public, this is one of my painting getups. Also the shirt is a silkscreen print I did a few years back, which is why it looks like there's a Modest Mouse album cover on a sky blue polo tee.

Because looking away from the camera and squinting is cool. PS, I'm near sighted. Although not near sighted enough to paint this painting.

Oh and because I should get into blogging, link to my previous works, the newest one on the page is terrible imo. Probably will rewrite that at some point. Yeah I am aware of the comment spam. The concept I had in mind when writing these entries is the higher and lower level thinking within the male mind and the poignant differences that lie within. If you want to see more of my art, check the flickr page. The sketchbook stuff is all old and put up there for mostly my benefit.

Oh and one more thing, this was going to be a junk drawer :)

My Super Duper Conley Writeup

Dheepan — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:38:40 -0000

An Analysis regarding our Newest Favorite Future Point Guard of the Future

via media.scout.com

May 19th, 2009, fate delivered the Memphis Grizzlies the 2nd Pick in the 2009 NBA draft, and the likely selection of Spanish point guard sensation Ricky Rubio. Discussion focused around the acquisition of one Mike Conley, reached fever pitch. After all it only makes sense; the Blazer need a permanent backcourt mate to Brandon Roy, and the playoffs made it clear that the Steve Blake-Stopgap Era had outlived its natural usefulness. With young talent, draft picks, and cap room to spare, the Blazers seemingly have the assets to snap up the now superfluous second year point guard.

But is it the right move? Certainly there are a lot of people who support vigorously entering negotiations for Conely; however, there is not a particularly large voice in opposition towards this measure. It’s not because getting Conley is a decided "no-brainer". More likely, it stems from the lack of ostensible knowledge on the player in question. How many people actively watch Memphis Grizzly games? Sure, his stats Post Allstar break are pretty good for a 21 year old point, but we all know that surface stats belie tangible production. The Zbos, the Starbury’s, the Antoine Walkers of the league all have put up decent stats without helping their teams. Compounding the issue is the age old basketball truism "He puts up stats on a bad team".

My analysis of Conely is going to bisect him into two sectors, one of Theory and the other of Practice/Reality. Theory covers "how Conley should play" while the Reality consists of analysis of how Conley "actually plays". For example, The Theory of Jerryd Bayless would state that although he lacks natural point guard skills he makes a good backcourt compliment to Brandon Roy because he is a good shooter/penetrator, defender, and decent playmaker; reality unfortunately poked a lot of holes in that idea, proving that he is a poor shooter, and could not beat out thoroughly mediocre guards like Sergio Rodriguez and Steve Blake in the rotation.

Theory:

Built similarly to many of his lithe successful Post-hand check era peers, Mike Conley is rather small and uses his quickness and athleticism to blow past defenders, giving defenses fits because of his explosive first step.

Physicals Chart

Conley leads or comes in a close second in most categories besides the lane agility drill where he ranked last. Physically he compares very well to smaller point guard peers. Notably he scores high on the Bench press which indicates he has the upper body strength to attack the rim and play through contact at the NBA level, he and Paul are the only two that lifted 185lbs 10 or more times.

Draft Express on his exceptional athleticism.

"Athletically, Mike is as close to a freak as you can get for a point guard prospect. He has an incredibly explosive first step, outstanding lateral quickness, and nice leaping ability for a player who stands only 6’1. It is nice to see a player use all of his athletic abilities to the fullest on both ends of the floor, a rarity by today’s standards in the college game."

Reality:

Size matters in the NBA. When you are a point guard it’s far easier to see the court and players around you, when you are taller than your defender. However, it’s not the end all be all. Especially with the how rules are currently constructed in the NBA, it pays to be short and quick. Numerous guards have come out with Conley’s size in recent years and have adjusted to the NBA fairly well, *cough* Chris Paul. However, players his size are more prone to injury and have lingering durability concerns (look at TJ Ford). The fact that he missed 29 games with injuries in 2007-2008 certainly doesn’t put those thoughts to rest.

On Offense

Conley is a potent slasher that can finish at the rim with either hand and uses his quickness and great handle to break down defenders. He is a true floor general and plays with great maturity and patience with the ball in his hands. In college and his first year in the NBA he lacked a steady jumper. In his sophomore campaign he improved his 3pt shooting, hitting a very respectable 40.6% of his triple attempts. He had a 2.48 ast/tov ratio, which is middling for an NBA point guard, Chris Paul, meanwhile had a sterling 3.5 ast/tov at the same age. Playing for the Buckeyes he averaged 6.1asts , and a 2.77 ast/tov ratio, good for 3rd in the country.

Draft Express snippets

"On multiple occasions in this game Conley would weave with the basketball through the lane, going between defenders, crossing the ball over to switch hands, and using his body to shield the ball. Once at the rim, Conley can score with either hand, just as he can proficiently dribble with either, and he scored a variety of lay-ups in the game, the most impressive of which was a reverse lay-up off the glass in transition on which he exhibited tremendous body control…he also hit a right-handed floater from about 10 feet, to go along with his assortment of lay-ups."

"He showed outstanding court vision slicing up the defense at finding the open man, using a wide array of shakes and hesitation moves that allowed him to get inside the paint going either left or right almost whenever he pleased. His decision making was almost impeccable on top of that, dishing out to the open man spotting up on the wing when the situation called for it, or finishing plays himself with a floater or kiss high off the glass with either hand when that solution made more sense."

Reality

His shooting percentages after the all star break are good, 46% FG and 43% from 3pt, his lack of free throws drawn (2.5 per game) is troublesome however. A player with his quickness and ball handling skills should definitely be putting up at least 4 free throws a game. His assists per game, at 5.6 (post all star break) is a little low for a guard that supposedly had such talent at getting his teammates involved.

3 Shades of Blue also had the following take…

"Got one vote for most improved. Has a shaky shot (yes still, you can argue all you want otherwise). Has confidence problems. Is quick as lightning. Can make great, heady passes, even if no one on the team can make the shot after the pass. Doesn't turn the ball over too much. Loves to dribble. Alot. In fact, the over-dribbling kills the offense."

Defensively

Conley has great lateral quickness and is a decent on the ball defender. His great leaping ability and wingspan should translate into the ability to contest the shots of taller defenders. These qualities also allow him to more rebounds than expect for a guard of his size (3.4rbs a game in 2008-2009). Conley also anticipates passing lanes rather well, gathering 2.2stls a game in college. However his size means that larger guards will be able to back him down in the post fairly easily.

Draft Express

"On defense, Conley had another solid game, playing pesky on the ball…He has great hands, and it showed in this game as he deflected several passes, and a couple of them wound up as steals, either for him or a teammate. More so than his hands though, it’s his instincts and knowledge of where to position himself when his man doesn’t have the ball that makes him dangerous. A couple of Conley’s steals came from his anticipation and playing the angles correctly on defense, cutting off passing lanes."

Reality:

Small guards can become great defensive players, just look at Rajon Rondo (I was very surprised when I found out he was 6’1"). But having size and length are both extremely important to be a great individual defender at the NBA level, players Devin Harris, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose for example. I feel like on the ball defense is a skill that is harder to learn than others at the elite level. Conley was never especially known for his D in college, so I would not expect him to become elite in the NBA. However, I can see Conley becoming a better than average defender, especially since he got so many steals at his time at Ohio state.

Theory

The biggest sticking point that doesn’t need to be discussed, but will, because people pretend to be psychologists aka the WHY IS GREG ODEN IN SUMMER SCHOOL argument

Mike Conley doesn’t want to play with Greg Oden because he fears he will forever be in his shadow.

"When I got on campus I realized a lot of people have the opinion that I was just Greg Oden's high school teammate," Conley said. "That's the way a lot of people see me."

"Despite Conley being showered with awards, many doubted his true worth. One Division I coach -- privately, of course -- went so far as to tell CBS SportsLine.com that Conley simply wasn't capable of playing at the high D-I level, that he would never be a factor at Ohio State."

-CBS sports

Reality:

No? If you play with some from middle school on, travelling from city to city in AAU tournaments, I think you would become close to someone. Basketball is a sport that requires team chemistry, and as we have seen this year with Rudy and Sergio, having teammates that have long been acquainted certainly helps on the court. I think Conley would love to come and play with Oden again.

Projections:

If we consider his post allstar break numbers as indicative of his true potential and not an aberration, he compares very favorably to some very solid guards. Here are the numbers (from basketball reference.com)

Querying guards between the ages of 21-22 in their second season, between 5’11" and 6’1", who score at least 14ppg and at least 5.5ast/g brings up these players. Knocking it down to 10ppg and 5 asts adds Raymond Felton, Rajon Rondo and Mo Williams to the list.

via img200.imageshack.us

Analysis:

Fairly elite company. What’s notable here is that Conley draws the lowest number of free throw attempts per game which gives a few impressions. One explanation is that he still may not be used to the quickness and length of NBA defenders, and that he is not able to blow past these defenders the way he did in college.

Alternatively, considering his high three point percentage, defenders must be picking him up at the three point line. With his speed, it would be relatively easy from there to pull up for a mid ranger shot, or drive in for a layup. Maybe this another statistic that reflects Conley’s general lack of confidence on the court ? If he gets consistent minutes and works on his mid range game he could definitely become one of the better offensive point guards in the NBA.

Overall:

After doing this research I think Conley has quite a bit of untapped potential. He has great athleticism for his position, although he lacks ideal size, many point guards that possess the same physical attributes find success in the NBA. He had very solid numbers in college, especially as a freshman. Guys with a good work ethic, athleticism and solid fundamentals rarely flop in the NBA. He may have been drafted too high because of his great tournament run, but his game definitely has the substance. His weak rookie year can largely be attributed to injury and his adaptation to playing point guard in the NBA (normally a very challenging process) has proceeded very smoothly at the precocious age of 21.

Furthermore, considering his perceived weakness was 3 point shooting, his 43% post AS shooting average is very comforting news. He definitely has not remained stagnant the way his oft compared peer, Raymond Felton has. If he is in an environment that allows him to play to his strengths, which involve playing with the ball in his hands, pick and roll, drive and dish, he could become a solid 2nd tier point guard in this league. The same caliber of player as guys like Mo Williams, Jose Calderon or Jameer Nelson.

My only reservations with trading for Conley remain in his size and the resulting injury concerns; I still don’t like small point guards not named Chris Paul. However, the opportunities to grab, young, rapidly improving point guards are rare, and in this case it seems to be worth the risk.

Btw I emailed the dudes that write at 3 shades of Blue, if I hear back from them i'll post their comments here.

Steve Blake played like the Pink Ranger of point guards this series. If ever there was a moment...

Dheepan — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:36:25 -0000

Steve Blake played like the Pink Ranger of point guards this series. If ever there was a moment when the weakness at point was exposed, it was this series.

Junk Drawer-3/13 Dheepan's Artistic Exploits Ed.

Dheepan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:34:07 -0000

First off as Timbo has been covering, the Suns lost wooo! Also J.Rich is just dumb for trying to pull off a 360 dunk in the middle of a clutch situation. I don't care how good you are with the game as close as it was it was no time to try such a showy manuever. That being said wow Lebron...3rd straight triple double. I've been saying that he is better than Kobe this season, and these types of performances show why.

Oh and the artistic exploits tag line, I'm doing a painting of Brandon Roy!

The blurry camera phone sketches for mystery,

via farm4.static.flickr.com

If you want to see the rest of my paintings, minus the two I've just finished this week click the link on my signature.

Batum: Looking ahead.

Dheepan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:16:07 -0000

Been a while since I wrote a real post, anyways just some thoughts I've had regarding everyone favorite lanky flying frenchman.

It's no secret Batum is a fan favorite. Whether ordering whoppers at Burger King or flying down the court to swat away seemingly guaranteed points, he has become adored by BEdgers for his hustle, grit and hawtness. He's unquestionably shown a lot of promise, but just what is his future in the organization?

Flashback to the 2006 season, Sergio Rodriguez was nightly lighting up the assist column and provided flare to a team considered among the dregs of the Western conference. Many fans immediately anointed Sergio as a player of the future, someone with a Nash like ability to dish and penetrate. Next year, as additional guard talent was added, his minutes were cut and his development was significantly curbed. The ennui of Sergio did not crest until his 2008 trade demand and subsequent increase in playing time.

Does this offer a cautionary tale to those already penciling in Batum as the small forward of the future?

Batum, although he starts, plays backup type minutes, is wildly inconsistent between games, and on several occasions flirted with the ultimate stat of futility, the one trillion. Compared to other small forwards, Batum's PER rating of 12.5 (compared to league average of 15) is nothing to write home about. However, most of these faults have been brushed under the table because he has fit very well within the starting lineup and has more than exceeded expectations after being drafted 25th and his subsequent underwhelming performance in summer league.With Webster coming back from his foot injury, it seems logical he will regain his starting spot and with Travis coming off the bench, that seems to leave nothing but breadcrumbs of playing time for Nicolas. The question emerges, will he lose his playing time? Are we going to see a Sergio-esque slide into regression?

My guess is no

Although it seems like Nic's minutes are going to be cut with the return of Webster, that might not be the case. Travis Outlaw is still a work in progress at the small forward position, and with Channing Frye's continuing barrage of suck, moving Nic to the backup 3 seems like the most rational move.Furthermore, this rotation allows Travis to play exclusively at the 4, the position where he seems most productive. Batum also compliments the bench unit quite well, his fantastic knack for running the break, rebounding, combined with his decent shooting, and ball handling skills all fit well with the breakneck speed of the second unit. This means that Nic's minutes will probably remain the way they are, while at the same time he is allowed to play against far inferior 2nd unit players, combined with our softer second half schedule, I think the possibility of increased production is not unrealistic.

Outlook

In the long term, I think the management also views Nic as our answer at the 3 spot. His biggest strength, perimeter defense is our biggest weakness. His high BBIQ, and work ethic means that he will probably learn how to best use his elite level athleticism and ideal length.

Considering his youth (and to a certain extent nationality), his inconsistency can easily be forgiven, but what is very surprising is how rare it is for him to make mistakes. Batum is very rarely late on defensive rotations, or caught not boxing out on his man, or lackadaisically running back on transition. Furthermore, his shot selection has been solid. Just how many times have we seen him drive wildly drive into the lane to chuck a turn around fadeaway? All of this in just his rookie season points to player who has a deep understanding of the game of basketball.

Another promising anecdote about Batum, is that he has a high energy level even though he is rarely involved in the offense. McMillan's offensive scheme favors having the small forward parked out at the 3 point line with few if any touches. This sort of role can really affect how much energy an offense minded player (like Martell) can bring. Last season, Martell even though he started, seemed invisible on the court on many possessions. Guys like Batum, who have their head in the game even without the ball in their hands are rare and very valuable. He brings a lot of "intangibles" on court, from tipping balls, collecting errant rebounds, making the extra pass, his game is very cerebral, the unquantifiable qualities that top veteran role players bring. There is a very good reason a 20yr old rookie with very mediocre stats starts for a 20-14 team.

All of this points to Batum as a future keystone in the Blazers franchise, and the trading of either Outlaw or Martell to accomodate his growth.

Junk Drawer 12/17/08

Dheepan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:54:14 -0000

Few things I'll ramble on about here, absolutely nothing Blazers related...

Finished my first semester of college with a 3.8 GPA, oddly I feel a little unsatisfied with that number. Almost disappointed.

Being a night person has downsides when you are stuck at home and mysteriously lurking out at night raises suspicion from the parental units, thus I am left to pick at internet acquaintances to find conversation, such is life.

Now I see how life spreads people apart, dichotomizing them into the successful and the failures; some people are still content to slavishly waste away their life in community college, and it seems shocking.

I've been listening to The Clash (self titled album) a lot recently, it makes me feel good. I feel like that band stood for the rebellion, and just dissidence in general, whatever personal of societal form that may be. It's like no matter, what it is, even if I don't know what to do about, that very idea that I recognize something as wrong, something that I should purposely disengage myself from gives a lot of meaning to the otherwise random and seemingly meaningless human interaction. Creating a self narrative like that has proven to be pretty useful.

On music I feel like 2008 has been a sort of down year for music overall, not a lot that was amazing. I think my favorite so far has been an album by can'tsayitonblazersedge Buttons called Street Horsings. Movie-wise, it felt the same as well, although all the big releases are just about to come out. I need to see Doubt, The Wrestler, and Milk. Frost Nixon was good, and Batman although it was a superhero flick, was legit, just ask JJ Reddick he's seen it 10 times.

Oh and I might blog on my own. Well probably not, but I've been working on a layout.

Oh and one more thing, I started watching Dexter, that one show on Showtime, it's great. I would highly recommend it.

Trailmix aka Junkdrawer: The 19th

Dheepan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:51:47 -0000

Moving into the dorm today, exicting stuff. So exciting I couldn't sleep tonight. That was kind of by choice though, felt the need to digest, I guess, I digress.

I watched Tropic Thunder, that movie with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr as a black guy. By the way, that extra comma before the "and", that's called an Oxford comma, of course all you grammar technocrats already know this, but thanks Vampire Weekend, for educating me on the nuances of the English language.

Oh about the film.

It was definitely low-brow humor, but it was disgustingly hilarious at times. I'm trying to think of a part that is BEdge approriate but I can't remember anything.

Well here's a video of one of Portland's favorite sons, Elliott Smith. If you aren't in the mood for something melancholy, well you won't like it. I love his voice though, it's very delicate, and kind of haunting at times. Great lyricist too. This video is the only time I've seen him smile, which is really weird. Maybe the media has really perpetuated this image of him being a constantly depressed, lonely individual. It might because his lyrics are generally so dark. He obviously had his problems, but only poseurs act somber and serious all the time. Art in it's essence, is output of emotional dissonance. Or at least the kind of art I like. To quote Steve Carell who was talking about Proust "Anyway, he uh... he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, 'cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing." A lot of people seem to get mix up depressing art with a depressed person, they are not necessarily one in the same. Little Miss Sunshine was a fun movie. And yeah I definitely had to IMDB that quote but I thought of it that instant, I swear.

Oh and why don't you guys talk about all the great times in college or something. I can't think up a poll this minute.

Trailmix aka The Junk Drawer-9th

Dheepan — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:11:50 -0000

ahhh I don't have fun activities today, so I'll just post this filler, my college statement, a little theatrical no?

Dreams, dreams are the broad shoulders on which the wings of imagination lie. Unsure of what to pursue, I am unshakable in conviction.

While others have languished their greatest aspirations to the cudgels of reality, I shall never surrender my fortitude to normalcy. My greatest fear is to die in anonymity and social antipathy, an epitaph marked “beloved husband, father, and brother”. It’s not enough for me, for me to be normal. I want to be exceptional, I want to be a visionary, I want to bask in the applause of societies greatest circles, I want to part of the cream of my generation.

I believe greatness is a self-fulfilling prophecy, to consider yourself average is to be average. I want to be an inspirator, a leader, who channels his energies into uplifting the condition of the human imagination. I want the opus of my life to be a flame, a cinder that ignites the passion of man into a conflagration of venerability, eradicating injustice, and intolerable sense of averageness. I suppose it’s a bit myopic, but I want to be that ideal, to be great. I wish to imprint myself, as the individual, upon the skin of human permanence.

This ad is really cool

Trailmix aka The Junk Drawer-8th

Dheepan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:23:21 -0000

Fun fact, Dheepan is the short for Kandeepan. The extra H is added for numerologly reasons. With the H, both my shortened name and my full name have the same numeric value. My mother is really into this stuff from some reason. My parents never actually use Kandeepan, so I don't really know why I have it. Kandeepan is the Tamil translation of the Hindi name Arjuna. I think. Not entirely sure, meaning I have absolutely no clue. Arjuna was the name of one of the prominent characters of the that one long poem the Mahabharata. Had to wiki the spelling.

If you wanna try out your name calculation and stuff like that click on the red words in this sentence.

My "psychic" number is a 6 since I was born on the 15th. That apparently means I am...

Loving and caring, everybody's friend, charming and charismatic, beauty oriented. Balanced yet paradoxical in their self expression. Good ally and counselor, home-maker, nurturing, sympathetic, service oriented yet independent. Periodical bouts of luxury seeking. Artistic, attractive, admired, adored, posses refined taste, sexual. Suffer when separated from family yet have to endure this occasionally, pleasant personality, excellent taste, open minded and open hearted.

Interesting coincedence though, I'm suppose to be highly compatible with 4s, and my two best friends were born on the 13th of May.

This one is on a different site and has goes into more details about name numbers.

Your psychic number is your primary personality traits. Your destiny number is rather self explanitory, it attempts to predict your destiny (future desires, beahviours, things like that). As a result, it generally doesn't apply to you until you reach age 30 or 35. Having matching numbers, like a 6 as a psychic number and a 6 as a destiny number exacerbates your strengths and weaknesses. So having mixed numbers means that some of the extremes of your number are evened out.