Links: Bend It Like KG

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• Ben Osborne Posted: Feb.25 at 2:47 pm
  Based on recent correspondence, I assume Joel’s O’s will appreciate this.

• Rome Posted: Feb.25 at 2:48 pm
  no one cares about soccer!! (at last in my immediate, biased, and limited worldview lol)

• ber Posted: Feb.25 at 2:52 pm
  Nash has him beat.

• Jackie Moon Posted: Feb.25 at 2:54 pm
  Thanks. I don’t know how that is compared to other soccer players’ abilities, but that’s amazing to me how he can control the ball like that.

• Ryne Nelson Posted: Feb.25 at 3:05 pm
  I wonder how Beckham would look trying to shoot the ball (with his hands) from that distance…

• Eboy Posted: Feb.25 at 3:06 pm
  Ahhh……he can’t make full court jumpers with no effort.

• BETCATS Posted: Feb.25 at 3:27 pm
  i love that KG gives himself pep talks ‘come on kev’ lol!

• Ryan Jones Posted: Feb.25 at 3:28 pm
  Adi going back to the well — they did that ish with him and Reggie Bush on a football field. I’m not mad, though.

• SLAM ONLINE | » Three Stripes House Party Posted: Feb.25 at 3:32 pm
  [...] Links: Bend It Like KG February 25, 2009 3:32 pm  |  No Comments [...]

• Sean Posted: Feb.25 at 3:54 pm
  Beckham can actually ball from what I’ve heard…
  He used to play growing up apparently he wasn’t bad…

• WhaHuh Posted: Feb.25 at 4:01 pm
  its FOOTBALL!!

• WhaHuh Posted: Feb.25 at 4:05 pm
  D.Beck>

• Anton Posted: Feb.25 at 4:19 pm
  Why is Kevin Garnett so awesome?

• Jackie Moon Posted: Feb.25 at 4:34 pm
  Trick question: he isn’t.

• Tzvi T Posted: Feb.25 at 4:36 pm
  “That’s accuracy!”

• Anton Posted: Feb.25 at 4:53 pm
  Why does Jackie Moon fail at life?

• THE WAITER Posted: Feb.25 at 5:01 pm
  i love that kg shows emotion & is as intense as he in the game when lets out that howl 2 the moon…& hes just trying to kick a soccer ball into a hoop 4 fun lol

• starbury&stevey Posted: Feb.25 at 5:02 pm
  beckham hasnt a future dudes…
  hes 34/35 years old…
  but he was the best football..uhhmm i mean soccer player in the world in the early 2000´s

• DP Posted: Feb.25 at 5:09 pm
  bastard hasn’t even played a full season in america. I hate false advertisement.

• Tarzan Cooper Posted: Feb.25 at 5:11 pm
  is that why the la galaxy paid him super millions to boost interest in soccer, only for him to be hurt or suck when he’s healthy

• riggs Posted: Feb.25 at 5:12 pm
  in the 2000′s? he was second best and always has been

• Tarzan Cooper Posted: Feb.25 at 5:13 pm
  actually, starbury&steve, beckham has never been a top 10 player in his career. he has been most definitely the most talked about and gossiped about, but the best? gtfoh

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.25 at 5:23 pm
  David Beckham was never the best player in the world. Beckham is kinda like the Ray Allen of futbol in that they both do one thing better than anyone else (Ray= 3s, Becks = crossing the ball). However, in many ways Beckham is very limited. He’s slow and he can’t dribble for sh*t. He can’t beat his man. Don’t get me wrong, he can be very useful, but he’s in no way shape or form the best player of any era. The best player of the early 2000s was Zinedine Zidane. And I realize %97.3 of you could give a rat’s a$$. Just sayin…

• Ibracadabra Posted: Feb.25 at 5:32 pm
  He was runner up to Rivaldo for 1999′s European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. U guys dont know football its a european thing but basketball is another story.

• Bruno Fontes Posted: Feb.25 at 5:47 pm
  Beckham sucks…
  He wouldn’t be in Brazilians 10th squad.
  He´s 100% overated.
  Never won anything.

• Mendel Posted: Feb.25 at 5:49 pm
  Here in America runner up is the first loser cuz

• Moose Posted: Feb.25 at 6:09 pm
  @ Mendel: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” –Talladega Nights.

• RV Posted: Feb.25 at 6:30 pm
  the fact that this is a commercial kind of kills some of the awesomeness…….and to answer jackie Moon, i dont think it’s that difficult for the average pro soccer player…

• Anton Posted: Feb.25 at 6:46 pm
  @ Tariq: it’s kinda hard to dribble on the grass, bro

• Andy Posted: Feb.25 at 6:48 pm
  I’ve never been a huge fan of Beckham, but I urge you all to find a video of him playing for England against Greece in 2001. It’s possibly the best individual 90 minutes I’ve seen any football player produce. He literally dragged England to the World Cup single-handedly.

• Andy Posted: Feb.25 at 6:50 pm
  And Bruno, I think Beckham and his league and cup medals from Manchester United, his league medal from Real Madrid, and his European Cup medal from United would like to disagree with you.

• karan Posted: Feb.25 at 7:08 pm
  becks’ greece performance was good… but i have to say, the best 90 minutes ever produced by an individual that i have seen has to be my MAIN man (and greatest player of our generation) zinedine zidane against brazil in the quarter final of the 2006 world cup.
  zizou, 2 matches away from retirement, destroyed the so-called greatest team in the world, single-handedly controlling the whole game.

• Jackie Moon Posted: Feb.25 at 7:40 pm
  Zidane is legendary.

• Jackie Moon Posted: Feb.25 at 7:41 pm
  @RV – Thanks for the perspective. @Anton – Thanks for participating.

• KozmicKid505 Posted: Feb.25 at 8:11 pm
  Ain’t no book for this dawg! Bend it Big Ticket Bend it lol.

• davidR Posted: Feb.25 at 8:15 pm
  i dunno ish about soccer, so i’m just asking — how does ronaldinho measure up to the best? and it sucks cause you guys are praising zidane, but someone who doesnt follow soccer like me will only remember him for the headbutt.

• Ryan Jones Posted: Feb.25 at 8:29 pm
  Beckham is simultaneously the most overrated and underrated big-time athlete in modern sports history. Dude’s never been as good as the hype has made him out to be, but he’s not nearly as bad as his haters wish he was. He’s been playing well for Milan this season. He doesn’t suck.

• Ryan Jones Posted: Feb.25 at 8:30 pm
  david: Ronaldinho, like 3-4 years ago? Amazing. Ronaldinho now? Not horrible, but disappointing. He got a little fat and lazy, which seems to be an unfortunate recent trend among great Brazilians.

• tealish Posted: Feb.25 at 8:50 pm
  ^Reponse to above: While Beckham may be the Ray Allen of soccer, C.Ronaldo is analogous to Kobe. Both are the best at their game but being jerks, both have as many haters as diehard fans. It’s hard for most to acknowledge that they’re the best and instead, they’ll give that title to someone more likable. LeBron and .. Kaka?

• Joel O's Posted: Feb.25 at 9:04 pm
  @Ben: Yes I did! Hmm, somehow my last comment didn’t get through, but Tariq is totally on point here. I don’t think the over/under-rated thing really is relevant to Becks, it’s more like people misunderstand him and aren’t able to appreciate what he does, and what he can’t do. Like Tariq said, he can’t dribble to save his life and he’s really, really slow… but his crossing skill will NEVER be duplicated, and he makes up for his weaknesses by working his butt off. Think about it – the superstar, overpaid, overhyped athlete being the hardest worker… that’s him.

• Joel O's Posted: Feb.25 at 9:10 pm
  Also, I don’t even think the Ray Allen analogy really fits, because Ray can do a lot more than just shoot… he handles, jumps, defends and drives at a really above average level. David Beckham is more akin to – and I don’t know where I read this – something like an “idiot savant”; he’s extremely specialized in a single regard and makes everyone better by this one skill, but he’s handicapped in many other respects. I’d say he’s more like a Steve Nash, in his ability to unnaturally find the right guy every single time with his crosses/passes… and Nash is similarly a liability on the defensive end. Or like Reggie Miller, the clutchest, deadliest shooter ever who can’t really create his own shot without the help of a good pass and off-the-ball screen…

• Joel O's Posted: Feb.25 at 9:14 pm
  @tealish: I don’t know if you’d agree, but IMHO Lebron would be closest to… Wayne Rooney, in that they both are a mix of skill and relentless brute force. Lebron has also got tons of highlights where he chases down an open layup and smacks it against the glass… akin to how Wayne Rooney has so often singlehandedly stopped a counter-attack by sprinting across the entire field from the forward position to stop the opposing winger.

• Chris Posted: Feb.25 at 9:15 pm
  Anyone who says Beckham wasn’t one of the Top 10 from his era is smoking meth. His crossing, his accuracy from free kicks, his stamina, his charisma are almost completely unmatched. I would never say he was the best, but you people are completely selling him short.

• Bruno Fontes Posted: Feb.25 at 9:51 pm
  Here in Brazil
  we consider winners players who actually won world Cups
  That simple. Romario, Ronaldo (R9), Pelé (G.O.A.T) and so on.
  Much respect to Zizou, Maradona and other WC winners. Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and others are and will always be remembered as role players.

• chintao Posted: Feb.26 at 1:38 am
  Only Brits believe that Beckham was ever good. Football is a sport that, like basketball, requires an array of skills and demands that everyone involved play some role in both attacking and defending. Beckham could do exactly two things on a football pitch: 1) cross the ball in with deadly accuracy; and 2) take free kicks with a high success rate. In every other aspect of the game, I would as soon have KG on the pitch as have Becks out there. Also, f – - – A.C. Milan and the L.A. Galaxy.

• Lang Whitaker Posted: Feb.26 at 2:00 am
  I’m not a Brit, but I don’t think Beckham was ever good — he was great, and sometimes he still is. For whatever reason my favorite players have always been Brazilians — I love the style they play with. I loved Ronaldo before his knees went and I loved Ronaldinho back in his PSG and Barca days (and I saw Robinho and Diego play down in Santos back in the day). And Becks has always been one of my favorite players as well. Whoever said it above that Beckham’s not a good dribbler and can’t beat his man is right, but I really, really appreciate his passing ability and his creativity with the ball. No, he wasn’t the best and he isn’t the best now (I’d go with C. Ronaldo or Messi right now), but Becks was awesome and sometimes he still is. And I’ve seen him play in person a few times and I’ve never, out of all the elite athletes I’ve seen in person in every sport (including MJ, Vick, Kobe, Bron, Maddux, C. Ronaldo, etc.), seen a crowd respond to a player like they do to Beckham. He’s in my 11.

• Ibracadabra Posted: Feb.26 at 3:50 am
  All I can say is that no team would say no to have him in their first XI doesnt that say enough. Has anyone here played football (soccer)? Beckhams passes, crosses & freekicks are absolutley top notch only a few can compare Juninho OL or A. Pirlo AC hes just that good stop hating. And the best players right now are Ibrahimovic (im swedish but hes a monster), CR7 he can turn matches by himself and Leo Messi the closest thing to maradona so I’m with Lang on that!

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 4:37 am
  Anton:
  Maneuvering on the grass while controlling the ball is called dribbling, bro.

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 4:52 am
  And I can list lots of players over the past ten years who are vastly superior to Beckham: Zidane,
  Ronaldinho,
  Ronaldo,
  Thierry Henry,
  Shevchenko in his first, seven-year, Milan stint,
  Cannavaro,
  Samuel Eto’o,
  Cristiano Ronaldo,
  Leo Messi,
  Kaka,
  Deco,
  Van Nistelrooy,
  Didier Drogba,
  Raul,
  Pavel Nedved,
  Figo,
  Roy Keane,
  And I could go on and on…

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 4:57 am
  However, I’m not saying that Beckham sucks. He’s just OVER-RATED.

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 5:02 am
  I would say that Beckham’s standing in World Soccer over the past decade is similar to Vince Carter’s over the same time period. Vince isn’t a bad player at all, but he DEFINITELY isn’t the best.

• The g funk Posted: Feb.26 at 6:40 am
  ha no one cares about soccer? well what me call football mate is like a religion in everywhere apart from america

• Andy Posted: Feb.26 at 7:45 am
  A proper football discussion on my favourite basketball website. This just made my day.

• Ryan Jones Posted: Feb.26 at 8:46 am
  Joel: I don’t think the LeBron-Rooney analogy works exactly, but as I had it in mind about five years ago, I still love that you went there. Lot of similarities, on and off the court/pitch. The big difference: LeBron’s got mad charisma; Rooney is a personality black hole.

• Ryan Jones Posted: Feb.26 at 8:48 am
  Tealish: The hole I’d poke in your Kobe-C. Ronaldo analogy is that the Portuguese dude doesn’t go out of his way to pretend to be likable…
  Otherwise, yeah, it sort of works.

• Pro Posted: Feb.26 at 9:17 am
  Haha cosign Andy

• Hail Mary Jane | Hail Mary Jane Posted: Feb.26 at 10:27 am
  [...] Bend it like KG. [...]

• Hail Mary Jane | Hail Mary Jane Posted: Feb.26 at 10:27 am
  [...] Bend it like KG. [...]

• Fred34 Posted: Feb.26 at 10:33 am
  Come on. . . . . . . . . . He has a REALLY hot wife and max contracts. No use hating him. Now Marko effin Jarishctz on the other hand – that dude needs some hatin (grrrrrr green with … )

• Cizzo Posted: Feb.26 at 10:37 am
  That’s impressive in the backyard but …………………………………………..

• Darksaber Posted: Feb.26 at 10:48 am
  Yeah yeah, it was real nice, and he has got an incredible right foot. Too bad his balls shrink when he has to take penalties for England though. Or getting red cards in important games for the national team. wonder if Cappelli will still count on him in the next world cup. Girls love him, Victoria rides his fame to the utmost, but listen once, just once to him speaking….Daisy Duck a’int got nothing on Beck’s voice.

• Darksaber Posted: Feb.26 at 10:49 am
  Oh and Marko Jaric? *me fistbumping my chest*…. much respect, man. That was the steal of the century!

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 11:07 am
  Darksaber:
  I think whether or not Capello uses him will come down to tactics. In my opinion, the main problem with Beckham in the England team is that they need to use four in midfield: one water-carrier (probably Gareth Barry), one central midfielder (Gerrard or Lampard, and two wingers. In that formation you need to utilize speedy wide players like Aaron Lennon or Joe Cole. I would include Beckham in the squad because he can be useful in certain situations, but his inclusion in the starting lineup would make the team stagnant.

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 11:13 am
  If you want to use Beckham as a starter, you need to move Rooney back to play as a traditional number 10 behind two strikers. Capello will never do that, in part because England don’t have any decent forwards. So Rooney will play just behind one main striker. So they’ll need to count on the wingers for penetration, something Beckham can’t provide. I just realized that I know a lot more about football than I do about basketball.

• WhaHuh Posted: Feb.26 at 11:22 am
  The fact that Beckham is still even considered for the World Cup tells me the English team/football has not progressed in 10 years. Beckham was NEVER a one trick pony, his ability to pass is underated and his speed has only diminished in the last 3/4 years. The discussion some people are having is missing the point, he has perfected his game, that all he needs. Who was the last Wold class central defender who could beat his man off the dribble?

• Lang Whitaker Posted: Feb.26 at 11:30 am
  @Tariq: I like your list, except for a few things. Henry, for instance, was superior to Beckham for a while, but he also had some down years in there. The same can be said for a lot of those guys in your list (Drogba, Shevchenko, etc.). One of the things I appreciate about Becks is that he’s so damn consistent. He might have a bad game here or there but he’s always performed at about the same level, no matter which team he was with, and I think that speaks to his greatness.

• Fred34 Posted: Feb.26 at 11:31 am
  Beckham was never a football god, but his crosses were a thing of beauty. Off a full sprint send the ball exactly where the other sprinting player needed the ball . . . . things everyone should work on in their game. Still I’d take Zizou over him in a heart beat.

• Darksaber Posted: Feb.26 at 11:42 am
  Tariq knows his soccer. Sadly i can’t truly say too much on this since i despice the Barclay Premier League. Deutsche Bundesliga (BAYERNNNN!) and Spain is my area of expertise, with a bit of Serie A sprinkled in. Your points sound very valid though. Have the brits found a decent homegrown goalkeeper yet?

• Lang Whitaker Posted: Feb.26 at 11:47 am
  @Darksaber: No, they have to keep importing Americans for that.
  @Fred: At his prime I’d take Zizou, too. But right now?

• Darksaber Posted: Feb.26 at 11:52 am
  See what a post about the ultimate spice boy (Eddie murphy don’t count) brings me? I misspell “despise”. Great

• riggs Posted: Feb.26 at 11:53 am
  CaCa!

• Darksaber Posted: Feb.26 at 11:54 am
  @Lang: Lol at that. yeah, if they didn’t still have the deep rooted distrust in the Krauts, they’d have noticed that some of the best goalkeepers in the world play in the Bundesliga. (why my fascination with goalies? i first played soccer till 16 before discovering B-Ball, and i was a goalkeeper)

• Darksaber Posted: Feb.26 at 11:55 am
  There are fewer people in the world i’d like to punch more than Mourinho (ex chelsea, now Inter Milan).

• Fred34 Posted: Feb.26 at 11:56 am
  No, right now Messi proved that he’s the God du jour. Argentina should scare the world coming up… that boy can’t be stopped by 5 guys at once. He crapped all over France’s squad – it was painful to watch.

• Fred34 Posted: Feb.26 at 12:02 pm
  I’m sure that no one here will agree but a debate for another day would be Football vs. Hoops. Hoops requires more precision, but Euros to donuts Football is a much harder sport to play. You get zero time outs, (maybe) 1 player change the whole game, you run non-stop for 1.5 hours (not just 5 meter sprints, but 80 meter and back) . . . oh and you have to use your feet to make everything happen. Feet vs. fingers – I think KG drove home the point pretty well. While Footballers would not produce a pretty game of Hoops, BBallers would look like children on a Football pitch (Nash doesn’t count). I’m just sayin.

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 12:08 pm
  @Lang: First off, Beckham has had some down years, too. When he first came to Spain, for example. Even the Madrid press were on him. In fact, he only really performed for Real Madrid in the last few months of his stay there, after he had already committed to LA Galaxy. Secondly, let’s say that you are going to build your team around one 20-year-old player. Knowing what you know now, would you seriously take 20-year-old Beckham over young Henry or young Shevchenko?

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 12:13 pm
  Fred:
  In my opinion, if I could watch a really great football match or a really great basketball game, I’d go with football. I mean, no basketball player has ever done anything as beautiful as what Diego Maradona did in 86. That’s just my opinion. HOWEVA, the problem with football is that it can also be BORING. Exhibit A: All the big Champions League games that were played this past Tuesday and Wednesday were BORING. I started asking myself: “Why am I watching this defensive, tactical bullsh*t?!” But then you get a team like Spain at Euro 2008 and you go “Oh, that’s why. I remember now.”

• Fred34 Posted: Feb.26 at 12:17 pm
  For sure Tariq, but seeing and playing are 2 different things. Sure on TV you can get a fair amount of groaner matches in Football. On average you have a better chance of enjoying a basketball game on TV hands down. I’m talking about the difficulty in playing the two sports – technically it’s way easier to do something / anything with your arms, hands, fingers, finger tips than it is with your feet. And that’s also part of the reason it’s a (bit) more magical when great things happen in football – cuz it’s not as easy as hoops.

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 12:23 pm
  Fred:
  I’m not great at either sport, mainly because I’m SLOW. But I’ve always been able to do plenty of stuff with a football. I can easily make a cross-field pass or score a volley. In basketball, however, I just SUCK. And I’m 6’4″, which makes my plight even sadder. But seriously it’s a lot easier for me to control the ball with my feet. I can’t begin to fathom the handle a guy like Chris Paul has.

• MarcoSimone Posted: Feb.26 at 1:44 pm
  @WhaHuh:
  Paolo Maldini. His roulette in the derby was probably the sole highlight of the game for Milan fans. But otherwise, agreed. Becks has developed a fine sense of the game lately, flanked by two enforcers, he could be a passable midfield regista for most clubs.

• Lang Whitaker Posted: Feb.26 at 4:12 pm
  @Tariq:
  You know what? If I were running a team I’d probably take a 20-year-old Beckham over a 20 y.o. Henry or Shev. Not only could you just stick Becks on your right side for the next ten years and forget about him, but think of the merchandising and marketing $$ he’s brought to his teams over the years.

• Tariq al Haydar Posted: Feb.26 at 5:33 pm
  @Lang:
  Oh, I didn’t think you’d bring Beckham’s marketing power into the equation. I was talking strictly on the pitch. And I’d have to respectfully disagree with you on that one. I’d take Sheva or Henry without even blinking.

• chintao Posted: Feb.27 at 1:54 am
  Darksaber would rather punch Mourinho than Sir Wailex the Ultimate Crybaby Ferguson? Come on, son. That’s not even defensible. At least Mourinho’s arrogance has an entertaining edge to it.

• Joel O's Posted: Feb.27 at 12:19 pm
  @Ryan: True about the charisma part. Rooney’s scowling angst is really far cry from how Lebron carries himself.

• Joel O's Posted: Feb.27 at 12:24 pm
  Honestly, Henry over Beckham or Shevchenko any day. Those last few seasons with Arsenal were Jordanesque. Even as his great midfield unraveled and left one by one, Henry took up more and more responsibility and became scorer, emotional leader, distributor, etc.

• Darksaber Posted: Mar.2 at 12:38 am
  @chintao, it’s no contest. I used to enjoy ManU during the days of Van Nistelroy, so i kinda learned to ignore “Sir” Alex’s rants on press row. Mourinho on the other hand, well let’s just say if i were a waiter in his favorite restaurant, his after meal coffee might have a whole other kind of sweetener in it. i just HATE the guy.

• chintao Posted: Mar.2 at 3:22 am
  ^I can’t tell you how sad that makes me. All this time, I thought that you were a bastion of integrity.

• RyanG Posted: Mar.4 at 4:30 pm
  im from england , and i play basketball not scoccer , but i could do that easy lol unlucky KG stick to ball.

• Darksaber Posted: Mar.7 at 11:17 pm
  @chintao: Bastion of integrity just made me laugh for like a minute! Sorry to dissapoint, Chintao, i’m only human. Can’t control what i like/dislike. Don’t hate me, friend.