Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Drunken Drafting: Volume 1

With the NBA Draft fast approaching and speculation abound on the ebays about who’ll be selected by whom after picks 1 & 2, I figured I’d contribute to the completely unfounded speculation by giving my thoughts on a few of the potential draftees/scenarios that we may or may not see come to fruition in just over a weeks time. I’m going to continue to give my thoughts in this space on the most intriguing draft in years as we inch closer to draft day, so stay tuned…

- You really have to respect Atlanta Hawks GM Billy Knight. If only because its quite clear he doesn’t give a flying fuck what anyone thinks about his ability to evaluate talent and/or assemble a team of composed parts that actually fit together. However, what’s really become clear of late is that I have been grossly underestimating the man all this time. You see, I actually thought he was going to finally bend to the unrelenting criticism this year by selecting the somewhat overrated Mike Conley, Jr. with the #3 pick (I’ll get to him in a minute). Nope. Word out of Atlanta is that Knight is now enamored with Florida PF Al Horford and plans to select him at #3. On face value, this isn’t a bad choice until you remember that Knight “promised” Shelden Williams (a nearly identical but less talented version of Horford) at #5 last year despite Williams being seen as a late lottery pick at best. What’s more, two of Knight’s other recent draftees, Marvin Williams & Josh Smith, also play extensive minutes at PF. So, to sum it up, Knight is planning on using the #3 pick in the draft to select a player who’ll be competing for minutes with 3 of his last 4 first round selections. What? I have a feeling that if you were able to enter Billy Knight’s head it would end up looking and feeling an awful lot like that new Stephen King movie with John Cusack.

- I mentioned Mike Conley, Jr. earlier and I’d like to talk a little more about him. As you may know, tired player comparisons drive me crazy. So, I nearly ripped my own hair out (wait, I don’t have any hair) when I read this yesterday, “The Grizzlies think Conley is the next Tony Parker.” Why exactly is he the next Tony Parker? Because he’s short, fast and has no jumpshot to speak of? Ah, I see. And that is meant as a compliment? You’ll have to excuse me for a second while I wonder if that is the kind of “compliment” I’d want paid to somebody I’m investing a top 5 NBA Draft pick on. Don’t get me wrong, Parker is a very nice player but he also carries a career average of 5.4 assists per game. That’s not exactly hall of fame material for a point guard. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that any PG who goes in the drafts top 5 should immediately be near the top of the NBA in assists or scoring. Parker does neither of these and will never do either of these. If you’re drafting Mike Conley, Jr. because he’s “the next Tony Parker” then I’d advise you to trade down or see if you can’t find a little more value with the 4th pick in the Draft. (Note: Conley and Parker and far different. Conley’s a better passer and defender as well as more physically developed already. Parker a much better natural scorer but he’s really more of a two in a point’s body). I’m not saying that Conley won’t be a heck of a NBA player and probably an All-Star. Rather, what I’m saying is that Conley isn’t really anything like Parker (save for a very nice floater and the aforementioned lack of jumpshot) and that he’s going to end up being selected much too high in this year’s draft. Think about it, is he really that much better a prospect than Rajon Rondo was last year (Rondo went #21)?


- Chad Ford reported that Brandan Wright had an “amazing” workout in Milwaukee recently. While I’m not accusing anyone of lying here I am left to wonder how “amazing” a workout can be when a player isn’t working out against anybody and their range only extends to 10-12 feet. I’m sure Wright is an unbelievable physical specimen, but how impressive can somebody really be when all they’re doing is dunking, shooting jumphooks and grabbing rebounds over a 6’1 assistant coach?


- Ford also reports that New Orleans is interested in USC G Nick Young. This seems, to me, like a match made in heaven. New Orleans will finally get an athletic shooting guard who can actually shoot (Sorry Desmond) to run with Chris Paul and Nick Young will get a ton of open looks by virtue of playing around proven scorers like David West and Peja Stojakovic (if healthy) as well as the best young passer in basketball in Paul. Furthermore, this move would give the Hornets the most formidable starting lineup they’ve had since the franchise left Charlotte. Assuming that Peja is healthy, the starters would look like this:



PG: Paul
SG: Young
SF: Stojakovic
PF: West
C: Chandler

If New Orleans were still in the East (somebody still needs to explain that to me) that’s a top 5 team right there.

- Want to know who I think is a guaranteed bust in this year’s draft. No? Oh well, it’s my blog. Thaddeus Young. Young is a marvelously athletic player with no defining skill other than his aforementioned athleticism. His handle is extremely shaky (Dare him to go right) and his jumpshot is slow and inconsistent. Despite his size (6’9) he lacks any real post game and due to his shaky handle can’t really create for himself off the dribble. Sure, he’ll get out on the break and finish with aplomb but good luck getting anything out of him in the halfcourt. If you ask me, he’s a less athletic version of Josh Smith. While his jumpshot may be better than Smith’s, its still erratic and he doesn’t have nearly the motor or defensive ability of Smith. I’m going to go ahead and mark him down for 50+ DNP CD’s this year.

-Finally, I’m not sure if you’ve heard but Tim Tebow recently had a son. Here’s a video clip of him. The genes are strong in the Tebow family.

8 comments:

Greg said...

Tebow had a son? Out of wedlock? Wow.

Greg said...

I just want to add that I'm certainly NOT judging Tebow. I'm just surprised, that's all.

Greg said...

Good to see his son is a healthy 245 pound "dude". I wonder if he left his watch in there; a gold Seiko set to Mountain Time.

Mark said...

Like I said, the genes are strong in the Tebow family. Strong like bull. I heard the first thing young Tebow commented on was how hot it was in there.

CFunk28 said...

I hate Tony Parker. But when the Bucks took TJ Ford a few years ago all of a sudden it became okay to take a really quick guy w/ no outside shot.

At least Parker has worked on his shot and it is much improved (ask the Cavs). Ford is still purely a drive to the basket guy, even after he was almost paralyzed. At least Ford and Conley can pass.

Did I say that I hate Parker?

T.J. said...

Isn't TJ Ford one hard fall away from paralysis?

Mark said...

The thing is, with the new rules that constrict hand checking (or any contact on the perimteter) quick point guards with no jumper can be effective in the NBA. They're virtually impossible to keep out of the lane and thus cuase defenses major problems with their penetration.

Mark said...

I too hate Tony Parker. Here's a sampling of some of the reasons:

1. He looks like Gargamel
2. He carries the ball on every crossover. (Look at a clip of hiim in the open court. He ALWAYS turns the ball over on his crossover)
3. He was born in Belgium. Ugh.
4. He never gets called for his obvious traveling violations when he pivots in the paint.
5. He gets tons of credit for having a "hot fiancee" who's really, really average when she doesn't have on more makeup the a Geisha. Which is pretty much never. Seriously, Prince's girlfriends don't wear as much makeup as that midget.