OJ Mayo

[wiscodevil]

http://www.trojannyc.com/2007/10/did-oj-mayo-pun.html

USC coach Tim Floyd said he met with guards O.J. Mayo and Daniel Hackett over the weekend after multiple sources told the Daily News Mayo punched Hackett during a pickup game last month.

Broken jaw!

[Oriole Way]

Sounds like USC got the quality young man for their no-nonsense program everyone expected.

I can't wait to see how Lil Romeo meshes in with the team.

[Patrick Yates]

The story of Dan's jaw broke a week or so ago. The official story is that Hacket caught a stray elbow from Mayo. All accidental, everybody's good, etc.

Privately, many sports journos scoffed long and loud about this obvious PR spin.

Mayo is a cancer. It was pretty obvious that he struck Hackett intentionally.

This brings up two scenarios.

1. Best Case. Mayo and Hacket got fired up in a scrimmage and OJ took a swing. Lost his cool, which is not cool at all, but it happens. (I'll wager this sort of thing happens all the time at other schools, but so long as no injuries result, it is hushed up. Practice can get heated and physical, just ask Parks and Laetner).

2. Worst Case. Mayo intentionally took out the starting PG, allowing Mayo to move to a lead guard slot, as opposed to the SG he will play when Hacket is in the lineup. This gives Mayo more control over the ball, and the ability to jack up at least 5 more shots a game than if an experienced PG were spreading it arround.

Mayo is a cancer. It tells you something when schools like UNC, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and other traditional elites don't really bother pursuing the kid. Huge red flags. That USC team will be in meltdown mode by february, assuming Mayo doesn't succomb to some temptation from the LA scene (paging Reggie Bush).

Thank god we dodged that bullet.

Patrick Yates

ps. Kevin Love had a great quote on Pac-10 media day when he said that Hacket was his friend too, and that he (kevin love) had never punched him.

[JasonEvans]

"Thank god we dodged that bullet."

Dodged? We were never even in the sights of that bullet. K never even considered Mayo, from what I have heard. He knew OJ was all about OJ and not about the team concept. Plus, K is really into kids at least "unpacking their bags" when they come to school thinking about the NBA. OJ is at USC to get as much media attention as possible before departing for the draft as soon as he can.

--Jason "and I'd put the odds at about 60-40 that USC ends up on some sort of probation related to OJ going there" Evans

[Patrick Yates]

"Thank god we dodged that bullet."

Dodged? We were never even in the sights of that bullet. K never even considered Mayo, from what I have heard. He knew OJ was all about OJ and not about the team concept. Plus, K is really into kids at least "unpacking their bags" when they come to school thinking about the NBA. OJ is at USC to get as much media attention as possible before departing for the draft as soon as he can.

--Jason "and I'd put the odds at about 60-40 that USC ends up on some sort of probation related to OJ going there" Evans

I meant dodged the bullet in the sense that K never recruited him. I think K would (wisely) recruit a player, even if that player were a virtual lock to be a one-and-done. Monroe evidences this. I think K's only consideration is whether the kid will Unpack (ie truly commit). As long as the kid will give his all, within the team concept, I don't really think K considers the duration.

As for the 60-40, that is the very low end. This has illegal benefits a la Bush written ALL over it. I say 80-20, and that may be on the low end.

Patrick Yates

[MrBisonDevil]

I can't wait to see how Lil Romeo meshes in with the team.

Lil Romeo has a report net worth of over $50 million dollars (thanks to Disney, 20MM records & his pops). I think everyone on the team will me$h with him (whether they like it or not). I doubt you'll see any drama come his way. If he has any drama, his bodyguards (since age 2) will surely take the brunt of it.

It's going to be interesting to see if OJ (if he stays) and Romeo will be big time ballers off the court.

USC (which my UCLA VP just called "University of Spoiled Children") is a good place for Romeo. He'll make a lot of entertainment industry connections in LA and he'll probably be bigger than Russ Simmons in 20yrs.

[Oriole Way]

Lil Romeo has a report net worth of over $50 million dollars (thanks to Disney, 20MM records & his pops). I think everyone on the team will me$h with him (whether they like it or not). I doubt you'll see any drama come his way. If he has any drama, his bodyguards (since age 2) will surely take the brunt of it.

It's going to be interesting to see if OJ (if he stays) and Romeo will be big time ballers off the court.

USC (which my UCLA VP just called "University of Spoiled Children") is a good place for Romeo. He'll make a lot of entertainment industry connections in LA and he'll probably be bigger than Russ Simmons in 20yrs.

I'm more interested to see if it will say "Romeo" on the back of his jersey.

[Wander]

I agree that I sure wouldn't want Mayo on my team, but to be fair, I've heard Hackett had some kind of a history for getting into conflicts in practice from last year. For whatever it's worth.

If that's true, maybe this is more of a coaching problem?

[Jim3k]

I'm more interested to see if it will say "Romeo" on the back of his jersey.

I'll bet it just says "Miller." No reason to flaunt it. Doing so would needlessly impact the team concept. However, I'm betting that the pep band tries to imitate some of his numbers. Might actually be fun for the student body.

"Li'l Romeo" = Percy Romeo Miller for those who don't know.

[hc5duke]

"Li'l Romeo" = Percy Romeo Miller for those who don't know.

Percy Romeo Miller Jr. apparently. Seems kinda weird since his dad's name is Percy Robert Miller...

[mgtr]

This whole thread should be mandatory reading for those who complain about Duke's players. Thanks to K, we have it easy compared to some other schools.

[lavell12]

I just remember when we were recruiting Patrick Patterson I saw him interviewed by ESPN he basically said without saying it that he was looking forward to not playing with OJ Mayo and it basically sounded like he couldn't stand this punk. OJ will be a bust at USC and will come out after 1 year and won't be drafted in the first round and will be in jail in 4 years.

[JasonEvans]

I just remember when we were recruiting Patrick Patterson I saw him interviewed by ESPN he basically said without saying it that he was looking forward to not playing with OJ Mayo and it basically sounded like he couldn't stand this punk. OJ will be a bust at USC and will come out after 1 year and won't be drafted in the first round and will be in jail in 4 years.

If by "bust" you mean they will not go far in the tourney, I agree. I do think he will post some big numbers at USC, if for no other reason than the fact that he does have mad skillz and will shoot a TON.

There is no doubt he will come out after one year.

But you are wrong on number 3. He's gonna be a first round draft pick. Oh, he may not be the top 3 lock that he thinks he is, but he is gonna go in the first round. I'd be stunned if someone did not take him by the middle of the first round at the latest.

As for a future in jail, yeah, I agree that some brushes with the legal system seem to be in his future.

--Jason "at some point this year he will score 30 with 35+ shots in a loss and will walk off the court smiling" Evans

[micah75]

--Jason "at some point this year he will score 30 with 35+ shots in a loss and will walk off the court smiling" Evans

And during his final game of the season (and collegiate career) will he walk off smiling as he gets T'd up for tossing the ball high up into his sea of adoring fans?

[mgtr]

I don't even like mayo on a sandwich, let alone on a basketball team.

[blazindw]

Percy Romeo Miller Jr. apparently. Seems kinda weird since his dad's name is Percy Robert Miller...

As a roman numeral II myself, I was taught the "proper" procedure when I was young and asking why I wasn't a Jr. From what I've been taught, if you have the exact same name as your dad (middle names and all) or grandfather/uncle/cousin, etc., you add the roman numeral II. If the middle name is different or the son doesn't have a middle name at all, then Jr. is appropriate.

Like I said, just how it was explained to me when I was a kid...other people may have their own procedure

[Clipsfan]

I don't know if people have read the article on Mayo this is linked from the front page, but I found the following quote hard to believe:

Floyd very quietly proclaims that compared with the many gifted young players he coached with the Chicago Bulls -- Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Elton Brand, Ron Artest -- Mayo is "more advanced than all those guys were when I had them as rookies, in terms of his understanding of the game, the poise, the skill package and the size and strength for his position."

I mean, really? He understands the game better than Brand did after two years at Duke? If so, he'll be really good.

[hc5duke]

As a roman numeral II myself, I was taught the "proper" procedure when I was young and asking why I wasn't a Jr. From what I've been taught, if you have the exact same name as your dad (middle names and all) or grandfather/uncle/cousin, etc., you add the roman numeral II. If the middle name is different or the son doesn't have a middle name at all, then Jr. is appropriate.

Like I said, just how it was explained to me when I was a kid...other people may have their own procedure

not that wiki is always correct, Junior is described as:

Junior (suffix) (usual "Jr"), the suffix given to a child with the exact same name as a parent (typically a son and father)

Though this one says:

Sons with a different middle name or initial may also be called Junior.

Interesting stuff. I always thought using II over Jr was only when you skip a generation, or if you're named after an uncle, but I guess that is not the case.