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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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Around The NBA By Ron Jumper With the NBA playoffs in full swing, I felt it was time to tackle a few topics. None of these topics are worthy of dedicating a full article to so I just felt the urge to put them all into one piece. From San Francisco to Europe, yours truly has all the pressing topics and issues covered. As always, keep an open mind as I discuss it all from my own unique and unusual point of view. I just quickly want to tackle Stephen Jackson. Talk about a guy who just doesn’t get it. He is losing money at a rapid pace this postseason. If he could keep the focus off of his barbaric antics and outbursts, people would notice he is playing phenomenal basketball. I would be willing to bet you didn’t know or are immune to the fact he is averaging 23 points through the first 3 games against Dallas. Those are phenomenal numbers and could have been a great story that went something along the lines of “Jackson Gets Life In Order, Puts Focus Back On Basketball.” Instead, he gets thrown out of Game 2 and refuses to leave the floor while blessing us all with colorful language. He could also be this season’s Tim Thomas, as in that guy who has been up and down his whole career but because of a great playoff run gets a huge pay day. I just hate to see guys just not get it and blow great opportunities time and again. On to Jackson’s old team, the Indiana Pacers let Rick Carlisle go. I think that was the right move, which I rarely say about anything the Pacers do. To recap, this is the team that traded Artest for Peja and ended up not resigning Peja so they basically got nothing. Just imagine if they had got someone like Rashard Lewis or Lamar Odom instead. Then they move Al Harrington and Jackson for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. So in recollection, they lost Artest, Harrington, and Jackson for two very overpaid, underachieving white guys. That just doesn’t scream great work by the front office does it? However, I think letting Carlisle go was the right move. They can’t win with this team if they play half-court. Tinsley, Dunleavy, and Murphy need to be in an open, uptempo offense to be most effective. It would also make it easier for Jermaine O’Neal to play center, who I really think is most effective playing at power forward. Only time will tell if they can get the right guy to take over. I was listening to NBA Radio on Sirius last week when I heard an interesting discussion. Virtually every premiere team, but maybe Detroit and Miami, has a significant amount of international players counted on. Dallas has Dirk and Diop, Phoenix has Nash and Barbosa, San Antonio has Parker and Ginobili, Houston has Yao and Mutumbo, Utah has Okur and Kirilenko, Denver has Nene and Najera, Chicago has Deng and Nocioni, Cleveland has Ilgauskas and Varejao, and Toronto has Bargnani and Calderon. I first wondered why that could be and whether or not it was just a coincidence. I finally thought of a reasonable possibility of why, I believe having a balance of U.S. and International players also creates a balance from a basketball standpoint. In other words, they are different type of players that do completely different things. A team with too many international players might not play good enough defense while a team without any international players might not have enough shooting. Having a little bit of both makes for a more balanced and complete team. The point of this isn’t to say one is better than the other, more as to say they both need each other to cut down the nets. Ten years ago, U.S. players focused more on the parts of the game that take place below the rim than they do today which lead to the fundamentals of the international game being more desired and appreciated. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I feel comfortable in saying that the talent is diminishing in Europe. When I look at upcoming prospects, I just don’t see the same kind of players available. Scouts love Frenchman Nicolas Batum, a 6’8” forward with nice athleticism and shooting touch. However I have watched him both at the Nike Summit in Memphis and numerous highlight videos online, and I just don’t see him being anything special. In the Nike Summit, shot selection wasn’t even a part of his vocabulary and his athleticism didn’t stand out when he was going against American HIGH SCHOOL players. Granted I think O.J. Mayo and company are up and coming college players, they aren’t NBA-ready yet. So if they are able to dominate Batum, what does that say? I also believe the new rule forcing high schoolers to go to college for a year will make you less likely to take an international player. After they play in college for at least one season, the risk is pretty much gone and you know what you are going to get. There is no such thing as a safe international pick, just as there was never any such thing as a safe high schooler pick. It is a roll of the dice, could be great or could never even get on the floor. If I’m an NBA GM, why take the risk? Speaking of NBA draft prospects, the plan is going accordingly for those franchises that tanked down the stretch. Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Brandan Wright, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, and Corey Brewer are all turning pro. I’m a little skeptical about Wright and Noah though, they just don’t strike me as having complete enough games to be NBA studs. Wright has the “potential” label but I think scouts confuse “potential” with having a great vertical. (See Stromile Swift, Chris Wilcox, and Darius Miles) I think Wright will be a good piece to any team’s puzzle, however, the expectations shouldn’t be for him to be an All-Star. I see more of a David Lee-like role for whomever takes him, which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I think that is part of the problem with the draft in general, teams put so much emphasis on getting a superstar with every pick that they forget to address the rest of their needs via the draft. Take any team in the lottery, do you really think they are only missing one piece to the puzzle? They probably need some combo of a true point guard, a pure shooter, a great perimeter defender, a low-post presence, and a shot blocker. Notice nowhere in there did I mention needing the next superstar. I say that for two reasons, with the first being if you already have a max contract player it is going to be impossible to keep them both and have any other desirable pieces anyway. (See Philly in the AI and C-Webb Era) Secondly, there is a more likely chance he won’t meet expectations and you wasted a pick that could have addressed a need. (See Atlanta’s last five drafts) As for Noah, he isn’t getting any better. With him, what you see is what you get. I see him as a poor man’s Marcus Camby, with his awful shooting form, limited low-post moves, great length, and great passion for the game I feel they resemble each other quite well. Once again, I just hope he isn’t expected to be the face of the franchise wherever he is selected. Don’t worry there will be more on the draft in the months to come. I’m a big NBA Draft guy, as you can probably tell, and it makes it hard for me to keep interest in the NBA playoffs due to the fact every round takes 14 years. I liked the old days when it was play Game 1, take a day off, play Game 2, and so on. Now it goes play Game 1 on Sunday, Game 2 on Thursday, Game 3 the next Sunday, and so on. I have no idea how they could think the casual fan will stay interested that long. With March Madness, everyone can take interest because every game has meaning. When I watch NBA playoff games with friends, the most compelling question I get is, “Hey I forgot, are the Rockets up 2-1 or 3-1 on the Jazz?” That is about as exciting as it gets on a daily basis if you aren’t a diehard NBA follower or don’t have a wager on the game. I hate it to because the NBA product is wonderful and worthy of any avid sports lover’s following. That being said, no one is going to study it just to care about the 2 month marathon that is the NBA playoffs. Well, that is all I got for now. It is all off my chest. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be plenty of new topics for me to harp on in the coming weeks as the playoffs get deeper and the draft draws nearer. Don’t forget to keep up with the Daily Dose Of Hoops, as we sit 8-5 so far in the NBA Playoffs! April 28, 2007 |
| NCAA Football | |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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