Getting Ready for the Draft - Part 1

[George O'Brien]

ASFN: Getting Ready for the Draft - Part 1

Getting Ready for the Draft - Part 1

 

[Chaplin]

Good article, but I think it's very premature.

 

[Gee!]

Geez, the NFL draft aint even here yet. Slow down.

 

[George O'Brien]

Actually, with March Madness coming up, it is useful to ID some of the college players that might come out so people can make a point of watching for them.

 

[Errntknght]

I don't see how this is at all premature... 90 % of the threads on here are about what we should, could, might, or mightn't do in the upcoming offseason. Shoot, we've had fifty threads about signing Kobe alone.

BTW, a well written article, George... keep it up.

 

[PhxGametime]

Any UNC fans?

Rashad McCants -

I have a few UNC games on tape (collect all teams) but only UNC game actually watched early this year, I paid most attention to Felton and Williams but after looking at stats -

PTS 19.9 REB 4.5 AST 2.2 STL 1.8 BLK .7 FG PCT .49 FT PCT .72 3PT PCT .43 3PTMade 2.6/game

3PT shooting is great and overall stats look good. If McCants is anywhere the athlete Hassan Adams of UofA is - he'd be a decent pick-up with Cleveland pick???

 

[Mainstreet]

This was a very well written and timely article... I look forward to more!

 

[Joe Mama]

Nice article George. Keep up the good work.

Joe Mama

 

[elindholm]

The only thing I don't like is the observation that the team with the worst record "rarely" gets the top pick, because the tone of the paragraph implies that it tells us something about what will happen this time around. Historically, it's true that the worst team hasn't fared well in the lottery, but this is irrelevant. Barring a tie for the worst record, the worst team has a 25% chance of getting the top pick. No more, no less. 25% is 25%, and it doesn't make any difference what has happened in past years.

Similarly, it isn't true that the worst team "almost always" gets a top-three pick. The probability is about 64%, which means that the worst team will fall to fourth (or, this year, fifth) more than a third of the time.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Errntknght
I don't see how this is at all premature... 90 % of the threads on here are about what we should, could, might, or mightn't do in the upcoming offseason. Shoot, we've had fifty threads about signing Kobe alone.

BTW, a well written article, George... keep it up.

You misunderstand. Most drafts look "bad" at this time of year. Last year's did. Outside of Carmelo and Lebron, nobody really had much of a clue about anyone else. Do you actually think people knew last February that Carlos Boozer would be a very good NBA player? Servicable, maybe, but nobody thought he would be someone to build around. (Although I'm sure George will come on and claim that HE did)

It's premature because we simply don't know anything about most of the kids on the list. Yet.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Chaplin
You misunderstand. Most drafts look "bad" at this time of year. Last year's did. Outside of Carmelo and Lebron, nobody really had much of a clue about anyone else. Do you actually think people knew last February that Carlos Boozer would be a very good NBA player? Servicable, maybe, but nobody thought he would be someone to build around. (Although I'm sure George will come on and claim that HE did)

It's premature because we simply don't know anything about most of the kids on the list. Yet.

I'm still finishing up my followup piece. It will be focused entirely on college players to add some spice to watching the tournament.

Last night I watched Wisconsin beat Michigan State. Devin Harris of Harris of Wisconsin came on very strong late in the game to win it, but it only happened when Paul Davis on MSU had to leave due to cramps. Neither guy looks like what the Suns need, but it made the game more interesting after only seeing scounting reports before.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by George O'Brien

... but it only happened when Paul Davis on MSU had to leave due to cramps.

Cramps??? Is his name Paul or Paulina?

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
Cramps??? Is his name Paul or Paulina?

Joe Mama

Maybe if they had given him midol.

 

[Errntknght]

Chap, "Do you actually think people knew last February that Carlos Boozer would be a very good NBA player?"

Yep, a lot of people knew last February(2003) that Boozer was pretty good because he'd been in he league half a season - Boozer was drafted in 2002, not 2003. I remember that well because we passed on Boozer to take Casey. (Just think if we'd gone the other way, we'd have skipped a whole year of small ball!)

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Errntknght
Chap, "Do you actually think people knew last February that Carlos Boozer would be a very good NBA player?"

Yep, a lot of people knew last February(2003) that Boozer was pretty good because he'd been in he league half a season - Boozer was drafted in 2002, not 2003. I remember that well because we passed on Boozer to take Casey. (Just think if we'd gone the other way, we'd have skipped a whole year of small ball!)

Fine. The year before then.

Did you really know what I meant, or... ??

Would Dwayne Wade satisfy you as a substitution?

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Chaplin
You misunderstand. Most drafts look "bad" at this time of year. Last year's did. Outside of Carmelo and Lebron, nobody really had much of a clue about anyone else. Do you actually think people knew last February that Carlos Boozer would be a very good NBA player? Servicable, maybe, but nobody thought he would be someone to build around. (Although I'm sure George will come on and claim that HE did)

It's premature because we simply don't know anything about most of the kids on the list. Yet.

Chris Bosh was very high from the beginning because he almost came out as a HS player the year before. But there is little doubt that Wade, Hinrich, Ford, and maybe even Sweetney (I don't remember) benefited from extradordinary games in the NCAA's and good tryouts.

Back to Boozer, he was about 30 pounds overweight in college. I think most scouts figured they had him pegged and did not really look at him after the season. I'm guessing that most people figured he'd be like Sweetney this year - strictly a situation player.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Chris Bosh was very high from the beginning because he almost came out as a HS player the year before. But there is little doubt that Wade, Hinrich, Ford, and maybe even Sweetney (I don't remember) benefited from extradordinary games in the NCAA's and good tryouts.

Back to Boozer, he was about 30 pounds overweight in college. I think most scouts figured they had him pegged and did not really look at him after the season. I'm guessing that most people figured he'd be like Sweetney this year - strictly a situation player.

Add to that the fact that he was from Duke, and while they are a terrific college team, up until that time, the school wasn't known for producing stars. (Elton Brand and Grant Hill notwithstanding)

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Add to that the fact that he was from Duke, and while they are a terrific college team, up until that time, the school wasn't known for producing stars. (Elton Brand and Grant Hill notwithstanding)

Duke has gained a reputation, like that of Indiana, of producing great college players that aren't that much in the NBA -- such as Christian Laettner and Danny Ferry. I'm not sure this reputation was really justified, but perhaps it hurt Boozer.

 

[Yuma]

I AM getting ready, although there's an outside shot we may not have ANY picks in the draft if we trade them away for cap reasons. I put in high speed internet, and have it right by my satellite connection!! I will be wired for this year's draft!! Although I am looking more forward to the NFL draft, and even the WNBA draft since the Mercury have the top pick!!!