Grading The Draft Grader
The NBA Draft is a fun time to speculate how the teams did. Of course, this is almost as hopeless as creating a mock draft, but I still enjoy to see what people think. Here are my favorite clippings from expert Chad Ford.
Analysis: I think it’s too early to know what grade to give Golden State. Grade: Inc
Well, we new that. You can use that statement for any team! His point is that Curry could be traded. Yes, but Hedo Turkoglu could go to Europe, and that didn’t stop ESPN from telling me the Magic’s “projected lineup” which somehow didn’t include Vince Carter, but did include Hedo.
Analysis: There is no “A” in Clippers. The franchise has been sometimes snakebitten and almost always inept.
Well, an A for the Clippers isn’t too hard when they have the most no-brainer pick in the a long time correct? In all, they still only had one pick (which they couldn’t screw up) and Griffin was that one. Not an A for effort on this grade.
So, to recap: The Wolves traded two key players on their roster, Randy Foye and Mike Miller, and took back bad contracts, to get the No. 5 pick, a questionable move. Then in the draft the team got the two guys they love, Rubio and Flynn. Terrific. Then GM David Kahn announced his idea to have Rubio and Flynn play together in the backcourt. Huh?
This might not fit with the idea of this website, but, to be serious for a second, all night I was wondering how many guards the T’wolves wanted. They finally did get rid of Lawson, but now they have some interesting decisions. I agree with Ford that one of them will probably get moved, but, as of now, Minnesota will be a jump shooting team, which doesn’t seem to work to well in the playoffs. This night reminded me of my Lions insisting on picking wide receivers, and we know how well that worked out.
Greatest Number 1 Pick?
SportsNation polls are always entertaining. Especially when they ask if we care about soccer.
Here we have the current poll on the site asking
“Which player was the best no. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft in the lottery era (since 1985)?.
There choices include Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing, LeBron James, Shaq, and David Robinson. They left some key players out, however. I say Olowakandi, Kwame Brown, and Danny Manning to be much more deserving.
In all seriousness though, no AI or Yao? I get most those players have rings on their fingers. I’m more just saying that there are a lot of amazing number 1 picks so the question itself is incredibly hard. Wait, did I just give ESPN credit for a poll that made us actually think?
CP4 Getting Mauled, No Help For Wade, Draft Class
It was always odd to me that refs call the game differently in the playoffs than in the regular season. Why should the game change just in the post-season? This isn’t just noticeable in the NBA, it happens in other sports too. It is just talked about more in basketball because the officiating is so often criticized. If they want to stop the questioning of calls, maybe they should be more consistant between the regular season and post-season.
Playoff Rundown, Less Time To Declare, Pacers Needs
The NBA playoffs are in full force, but does anyone else feel a little unsatisfied? I mean what series is really intriguing you? I guess the Bulls/Celtics series is the popular pick but outside of that, nothing has really happened that has been exciting. Tonight could change that, but I doubt it.
Linked on Basketball
-A quick rundown of the playoffs thus far
-College players will have almost a month less time to decide about their future next year.
Mike Brown Wins, Curry’s Tough Decision, NBA Playoffs
Mike Brown wins coach of the year. I guess I saw this coming even though I tried my best to rationalize why he wouldn’t be. There is no doubt he’s a pretty good coach, but how hard is it to coach the most gifted athlete in the history of sports? We’ll have to see if he can parlay this award into a championship.
Linked on Basketball
-Mike Brown named coach of the year?
-Stephen Curry not sure about entering the NBA Draft.
-Important questions to ask and answer about the NBA playoffs.
Syracuse Losing Players, Agent Zero, Paul A Maverick?
These college guys are so smart. They want to go to the NBA, but they don’t want to forfeit whatever they could have at school should they not get drafted so don’t hire an agent. It’s so simple for these players who really wouldn’t benefit that much from having an agent right now anyway. If you do hire the agent, you are most likely stuck going to Europe rather than playing one more year in college basketball.
Cuban Downplays Shaq, Last Shot Nuggets, Teague Gone
Until Shaq puts on a Mavs uniform, I will not believe any of his words. It’s nothing against him, I just know that he is a very good talker and doesn’t always go through with what he says. Cuban is now downplaying the speculation that they will go after Shaq. At this point, all we can do is watch for updates on Shaq’s twitter.
Cuban Tweeting, CP4 Is Smart, Draft Stocks
I still don’t get the whole Twitter thing, but it seems to me that it is just another spot to get into trouble. What is in it for these athletes and owners? Well, I’m sure Cuban is one of the few owners, but it doesn’t seem to be worth it. He makes it obvious that he doesn’t care how much he’s fined. Still, I’m surprised so many professional athletes use the site. It is cool to connect with the fans, but you have to be careful with what you say.
