2011 NBA Draft Recap: Three Longhorns Drafted in Round 1, Baffling 2nd-Round Picks, ESPN's Bumbling Coverage, etc...
TEXAS ADDS 3 MORE 1ST-ROUNDERS... The Texas Longhorns added 3 more 1st-Rounders to this already impressive list of talent when Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton, and Cory Joseph were all drafted early. That brings the tally up to an incredible nine 1st-Round draft picks in the past nine years!
Thompson will see a lot of PT as the Cavs rebuild and he should be productive. Hamilton ended up in Denver and will battle for shots in an already stacked roster. Joseph found a good home with the Spurs.
NBA TEAMS THROW AWAY MORE 2ND-ROUND PICKS... I just don't get the strategy behind NBA teams and their 2nd-round picks. How do productive college players such as Matt Howard, Demetrius McCamey, and Matthew Bryan-Amaning go undrafted while international players such as Milan Macvan, Chukwudiebere Maduabum, and Ater Majok get selected?
Of course, this happens every year. Sometimes even in the 1st-round with more valuable picks. NBA teams pass on talented college players in lieu of unknown foreign players. Take the 2004 NBA Draft, for example. Pavel Podkolzin and Viktor Khryapa were drafted ahead of Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Kevin Martin. Why do teams draft this way? Just take a good college player you're familiar with and have him come in and help your team.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... when in doubt, draft the college player with the best "resume" of accomplishments or a local college star that will generate a buzz for your team (i.e. If the Blazers drafted a local favorite from the U. of Washington or Oregon). If he's a good player, then he'll end up helping your team. And if he turns out to be not-so-good, at least no one can say it was a "bad pick".
I THOUGHT ESPN'S DRAFT COVERAGE WAS AWFUL... I watched the ESPN3 coverage and sat through the ESPN production, led by Stuart Scott and friends. These guys sure make each other laugh, huh? They're kind of like the funny guys at every office in America... not as funny as they think they are. It seemed like they tried to make it like a locker room-type atmosphere, and they'd say any joke, no matter how obvious. Some gems:
I wrote a post on how I would improve ESPN's NBA Draft coverage, check it out here!
THUMBS UP ... Here are the teams who I thought did a good job of improving their team through the draft.
Celtics - Then drafted two Purdue Boilermakers: JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore. I've been talking up JaJuan Johnson to my friends all season and I think he's a perfect understudy to Kevin Garnett. And I also happen to think Moore will be a perfect understudy to Ray Allen. Both are great fits.
Nuggets - Came away from the Draft with Kenneth Faried (Morehead St.), Jordan Hamilton (Texas), and Andre Miller (traded from the Blazers). All three should make an already deep team even deeper this season.
Pistons - Drafted Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Kyle Singler (Duke), and Vernon Maclin (Florida). Knight showed promise as a Frosh last season. Singler and Maclin were productive players who played at big-time schools in big-time games...which means those are great picks!
Rockets - Marcus Morris (Kansas), Chandler Parsons (Florida), and Johnny Flynn (via trade with Timberwolves).
Blazers - They walked away from the Draft with Nolan Smith (Duke), Jon Diebler (Ohio St.), and Raymond Felton (via trade). Felton replaces Andre Miller at the point, which is an upgrade. Smith and Diebler probably won't be stars in the league, but they fill areas of need and improve the team's roster. Solid moves.
Wizards - Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Chris Singleton (Florida St.), and Shelvin Mack (Butler). I've heard Vesely compared to a young Tom Chambers: Tall and high-flying (and doesn't play much Defense). Singleton is a monster on Defense and plays with toughness. Mack will contribute off the bench.
THUMBS DOWN ...
Knicks - They said they had Defense in mind when they drafted Iman Shumpert (Georgia Tech) in Round 1... which would have been fine had there not been two Defensive studs still on the board at that point (Kenneth Faried and Chris Singleton). I'm not a Knicks fan, but that pick made me groan. Awful pick.
Timberwolves - The Timberwolves drafted Targuy Ngombo in Round 2. And even though he's never played a game yet, the pick can already be called a terrible one. Turns out, Ngombo (who hails from Qatar) is actually 26 years old, not 20, as the Wolves had thought. Whoops! Maybe they should have researched this guy a little more before they called his name in the Draft! A totally wasted draft pick by a team who can't afford to waste picks!
ETC... While I sometimes criticize ESPN and their products, I enjoy most of their stuff. And I can't rave enough about ESPN3.com! The fact you can watch everything they air on ESPN or ESPN2, and much, much, much more -- for free -- is unbelievable. You can watch picture-in-picture, or up to 4 events at one time in a mosaic view. Plus, they archive stuff for about a week, so it's kind of like your own sports DVR. And if you're into less mainstream sports (like tennis, lacrosse, rugby, Australian Rules football, college baseball), this is the place for you. It's a great service provided by The Worldwide Leader.
TEXAS ADDS 3 MORE 1ST-ROUNDERS... The Texas Longhorns added 3 more 1st-Rounders to this already impressive list of talent when Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton, and Cory Joseph were all drafted early. That brings the tally up to an incredible nine 1st-Round draft picks in the past nine years!
Thompson will see a lot of PT as the Cavs rebuild and he should be productive. Hamilton ended up in Denver and will battle for shots in an already stacked roster. Joseph found a good home with the Spurs.
NBA TEAMS THROW AWAY MORE 2ND-ROUND PICKS... I just don't get the strategy behind NBA teams and their 2nd-round picks. How do productive college players such as Matt Howard, Demetrius McCamey, and Matthew Bryan-Amaning go undrafted while international players such as Milan Macvan, Chukwudiebere Maduabum, and Ater Majok get selected?
Of course, this happens every year. Sometimes even in the 1st-round with more valuable picks. NBA teams pass on talented college players in lieu of unknown foreign players. Take the 2004 NBA Draft, for example. Pavel Podkolzin and Viktor Khryapa were drafted ahead of Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Kevin Martin. Why do teams draft this way? Just take a good college player you're familiar with and have him come in and help your team.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... when in doubt, draft the college player with the best "resume" of accomplishments or a local college star that will generate a buzz for your team (i.e. If the Blazers drafted a local favorite from the U. of Washington or Oregon). If he's a good player, then he'll end up helping your team. And if he turns out to be not-so-good, at least no one can say it was a "bad pick".
I THOUGHT ESPN'S DRAFT COVERAGE WAS AWFUL... I watched the ESPN3 coverage and sat through the ESPN production, led by Stuart Scott and friends. These guys sure make each other laugh, huh? They're kind of like the funny guys at every office in America... not as funny as they think they are. It seemed like they tried to make it like a locker room-type atmosphere, and they'd say any joke, no matter how obvious. Some gems:
- Before the 1st overall pick, Stuart Scott says, "Cleveland makes THEIR decision." Good one, Stu.
- After Jan Vesely was drafted 6th overall, he smooched his Euro-babe girlfriend, much to everyone's approval. Fran "The Man" Frascilla pipes in with, "He's got great taste in women!" Um, that kind of goes without saying... but you had to say it anyway, didn't you Fran?
- When Markieff Morris was drafted before his more-heralded twin brother, he is asked by the sideline reporter, Why do you think they picked you instead? How is he supposed to answer that?
I wrote a post on how I would improve ESPN's NBA Draft coverage, check it out here!
THUMBS UP ... Here are the teams who I thought did a good job of improving their team through the draft.
Celtics - Then drafted two Purdue Boilermakers: JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore. I've been talking up JaJuan Johnson to my friends all season and I think he's a perfect understudy to Kevin Garnett. And I also happen to think Moore will be a perfect understudy to Ray Allen. Both are great fits.
Nuggets - Came away from the Draft with Kenneth Faried (Morehead St.), Jordan Hamilton (Texas), and Andre Miller (traded from the Blazers). All three should make an already deep team even deeper this season.
Pistons - Drafted Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Kyle Singler (Duke), and Vernon Maclin (Florida). Knight showed promise as a Frosh last season. Singler and Maclin were productive players who played at big-time schools in big-time games...which means those are great picks!
Rockets - Marcus Morris (Kansas), Chandler Parsons (Florida), and Johnny Flynn (via trade with Timberwolves).
Blazers - They walked away from the Draft with Nolan Smith (Duke), Jon Diebler (Ohio St.), and Raymond Felton (via trade). Felton replaces Andre Miller at the point, which is an upgrade. Smith and Diebler probably won't be stars in the league, but they fill areas of need and improve the team's roster. Solid moves.
Wizards - Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Chris Singleton (Florida St.), and Shelvin Mack (Butler). I've heard Vesely compared to a young Tom Chambers: Tall and high-flying (and doesn't play much Defense). Singleton is a monster on Defense and plays with toughness. Mack will contribute off the bench.
THUMBS DOWN ...
Knicks - They said they had Defense in mind when they drafted Iman Shumpert (Georgia Tech) in Round 1... which would have been fine had there not been two Defensive studs still on the board at that point (Kenneth Faried and Chris Singleton). I'm not a Knicks fan, but that pick made me groan. Awful pick.
Timberwolves - The Timberwolves drafted Targuy Ngombo in Round 2. And even though he's never played a game yet, the pick can already be called a terrible one. Turns out, Ngombo (who hails from Qatar) is actually 26 years old, not 20, as the Wolves had thought. Whoops! Maybe they should have researched this guy a little more before they called his name in the Draft! A totally wasted draft pick by a team who can't afford to waste picks!
ETC... While I sometimes criticize ESPN and their products, I enjoy most of their stuff. And I can't rave enough about ESPN3.com! The fact you can watch everything they air on ESPN or ESPN2, and much, much, much more -- for free -- is unbelievable. You can watch picture-in-picture, or up to 4 events at one time in a mosaic view. Plus, they archive stuff for about a week, so it's kind of like your own sports DVR. And if you're into less mainstream sports (like tennis, lacrosse, rugby, Australian Rules football, college baseball), this is the place for you. It's a great service provided by The Worldwide Leader.
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