He had 20 tonight in another loss, but shot 9-15. which is better that his usual lately.

My wife fell in love with T-Will last year, so she drafted him in the final round of our NBA fantasy league this year. As a result, we’ve been following him pretty much daily.

And despite the atrocious shooting and turnovers, he’s shown enough to suggest that he could still be a really good pro…. IF he takes care of those two issues.

So here’s why I’m hopeful:

First: NBA players often make huge leaps in FG% over their first 2-3 years in the league. For one thing, they just practice like crazy, and T-Will clearly needs to do that.

But just as importantly, NBA rookes are essentially learning a new game. The “sweet spots” on the floor aren’t open like they were in college, so they have to learn anew what kinds of shots are good and which ones aren’t so good.

Remember how long it took T-Will to learn what a “good shot” was at U of L? Well, here we go again. But he had figured out a lot by the end of his senior year, and I’m hopeful that he’ll do the same thing in the pros.

Same deal with turnovers – the speed and the angles of the pro game are way different than college. And playing PG certainly doesn’t help. But if T-Will watches a lot of film and dedicates himself to learning the pro game, I still think he’ll be a solid pro SG/SF.

So I’m not disappointed with his stats so far. he’s learning on the job for a freakin’ terrible team. This just shows how far he has to go.

So now, the real question kicks in. Is T-Will just a “natural”: charismatic, super-athletic, but ultimately just a raw talent? Or is he smart enough and dedicated enough to transform himself into a true professional?

Here’s hoping for the latter. Go Cards…. and go T-Will!

I hope you aren’t starting him!

Me and a few other rad louisville alums went to see the net-knicks game at the cultural wasteland that is the IZOD center this past saturday. T-Will grabbed the mic after the starting lineup and wished everyone a happy thanksgiving in advance, and I knew it was a sign of good things to come. While we all took it to mean that Terrence was set to unveil the mythical Cornucpia Dunk, something else was in the cards (no pun intended).

 At about 3 beers deep the nets mascot (sly the wolf, yeah I have no idea) raised his mighty t-shirt cannon and leveled it at our section. The t-shirt bullet bounced offa few grubby guido’s hands before landing a few seats to my right. I immediately lunged, as did another guy about my age on the other side of it, and a fat 15-16 year old in the seat in front of it. I fought my way to the bottom of the pile and came out of the scrum on top. Now I am one Rocawear brand NJ Nets T-shirt richer.

Awesome.