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My guess: he knows they have no real interest in drafting him. The Bucks have a logjam in their frontcourt positions - Gadzuric, Bogut, Villanueva, Skinner (if they pick up the option) and even Markota - that make drafting Noah seem silly. Like Atlanta drafting Brandan Wright is unnecessary to the point of borderline re**rded..._4_ said:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2007/co...&id=2901852he has a rotator cuff injury that he tweeked during the Celtics workout
Chad Ford's latest draft update said that based on the conversations he's had with people around the league there is a "near consensus" that Horford is the third-best player in the draft. His newest mock has Horford going third to Atlanta. He also confirmed that both the Bucks and Grizzlies like Horford a lot (there have been multiple reports saying the Bucks want to trade up to 3 to get Horford).This doesn't mean with 100% certainty Horford goes third. But I don't think it's an outrageous belief at all to view him as the No. 3 player in this draft.
what do you mean?
I dont think Abdur Rahim belongs on that list. He's had a nice career.Agree on Dudley, i think he will be part of a regular rotation soon.
Abdur Rahim hasnt been what he was thought to be when he was drafted. A top 5 pick should have a couple of All Star games under his belt to be considered having a nice career. I preceive him as an underachiever.
He had the misfortune of playing forward for the Vancouver Grizzlies for his best years. He was then traded to the Hawks. Playing your best ball for those teams will not get you recognized, no matter how good you are. Injuries have slowed him down considerably since 2003, I believe.
Guy made one All-Star team and would have made 2-3 others if he hadn't played in NBA wastelands. 20 ppg/8rpg is more than a nice career.How many big men from the '96 draft had better careers? Jermaine O'Neal. Anyone else?
Not talking work ethic or anything like that...just a bit arrogant at times, which can actually be a good thing for some people's games.
I'm not talking NBA teams, I'm talking fans who underrate those players.
A "decent" career isn't what you expect from the #3 overall pick though. Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Antoine Walker, Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O Neal, Zydrunas Illgauskas, and Derek Fisher all went after him that year.Abdur Rahim can score, and thats about it. Hes an average rebounder and passer, and hes a poor defender. The Kings this year gave up 3.5 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor than with him off the floor. Theres a reason that hes had such little team success.With all that said, I would agree with you that hes one of the better players on that list and you could take him off of it.
What's your logic on that ?
Is Randy Foye their point guard of the future ? If not, I'm taking Conley.
I loved Foye at Villanova. He wasn't even my favorite of that squad that had Ray, Sumpter, etc. However, I think they moved Mike James because they have confidence in him. His numbers were respectable for a rookie, I think. He needs to step up if the Wolves are in his future...
The wolves love this guy, but aside from the bolded, you are spot on here. The Wolves will be leaning on Foye at the PG spot this year but its not 100% just yet. He had some confidence issues last year, perhaps attributable to the fact he was a rookie, but despite that, Minny has seen enough good out of this kid to go through those growing pains with him as a PG. A scenario could develop, if the Wolves trade McCants and draft Conley, that he could slide to off-guard full time but he has the ability to play point and the Twolves have not been bashful about saying so.Why do people read that? Is bill simmons column the sports version of a horoscope? It usually doesn't make much sense.... but here I am reading.... and the words are just printed right over here..... so why not read it? Is there any other possible reason people have for reading bill simmons? It's amazing to me how many people bring up what bill simmons has written when 90% of the time it's just ridiculous.TommyGilmore said:Bill Simmons with a rather biased comparison between Oden and Durant here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=simmons/070622
His manlove for Durant is pretty blatant. He dismisses Oden for being well-spoken and funny, but then says Durant is more marketable. He says Durant's "worst case scenario" (a more-benign Glenn Robinson) is worse than Oden's (Alonzo Mourning), but then says Oden has a bigger potential downside.
The big knock on him coming out was that he was a tweener and not good enough of a passer/court vision to play PG. I didn't get to see many Minnesota games, so can you comment on that aspect of his game?nshelat1 said:saintfool said:The wolves love this guy, but aside from the bolded, you are spot on here. The Wolves will be leaning on Foye at the PG spot this year but its not 100% just yet. He had some confidence issues last year, perhaps attributable to the fact he was a rookie, but despite that, Minny has seen enough good out of this kid to go through those growing pains with him as a PG. A scenario could develop, if the Wolves trade McCants and draft Conley, that he could slide to off-guard full time but he has the ability to play point and the Twolves have not been bashful about saying so.
He's got a great inside-outside game and has a huge size/strength advantage over most PG's. Pressure was something that Minnesota was stressing last year, and I think that may be a reason he's being shifted over to the point. He would lose that advantage against many bigger SG's.
The best comparison here is Baron Davis in his playing days with the Hornets. Again, this is all contingent upon what direction the Wolves go in the draft. If Conley, then off-guard; if anyone else, then he's the point.
Its really a huge topic of debate amongst Twolves fans but one thing that is agreed upon is that he DID struggle against pressure throughout the season and made a good amount of costly and untimely turnovers. Some will claim that he simply does not have the proper skill set to man the point and others will say that its just rookie growing pains. My take is that its a little of both; his vision is good as he has shown on fast breaks and is able to hit back door options and flankers consistently. But he has a bit of trouble handling the ball as he brings it up the floor, often dribbling too much and setting up the play far too late or simply being sloppy with the ball. Some of these issues will be correctable and should improve his overall game but it will take coaching- and that is something I don't see happening with this Minnesota staff. This all said, it seems Minnesota is setting him up to be the PG of the future- but don't read into this 100%. With the trading of Mike Jones, Foye does become the #1 option but the team may be better suited if Conley Jr. is manning the point. Simply put, he brings a far better skill set to the position and allows Foye to become a primary scorer. I am rooting for this- especially if a KG trade does indeed go down and we net a group of young scorers.The big knock on him coming out was that he was a tweener and not good enough of a passer/court vision to play PG. I didn't get to see many Minnesota games, so can you comment on that aspect of his game?nshelat1 said:saintfool said:
He's got a great inside-outside game and has a huge size/strength advantage over most PG's. Pressure was something that Minnesota was stressing last year, and I think that may be a reason he's being shifted over to the point. He would lose that advantage against many bigger SG's.
The best comparison here is Baron Davis in his playing days with the Hornets. Again, this is all contingent upon what direction the Wolves go in the draft. If Conley, then off-guard; if anyone else, then he's the point.
I think Conley goes 5 to Memphis. They may like Noah, but Conley fills a bigger need.
The Grizzlies pick fourth (Boston is fifth - that was my mistake) and I agree Conley would be a great fit for them. I'd definitely take him over Noah without hesitation but it'll be interesting to see what they do. How much input is West (who apparently likes Noah a lot) going to have?
if the lakers keep the pick, ill be excited with any name stern says sans mcroberts and fazekas.mcroberts would look good next to biedrinsAnyone who's a fan of a team that's not in the lottery and has been doing the "Please Jesus, don't let us draft Josh McRoberts" dance...check in here.
i just think he's gonna be a classic duke bust. we will see though. the lakers scheme is in such limbo right now, i have no idea whats going to happen. These next five days will be very very interesting for US.
I'm in trouble - Sixers have the 21st and 30th and Billy King is a Duke grad. We already have Shavlik Randolph.Your Mother said:Anyone who's a fan of a team that's not in the lottery and has been doing the "Please Jesus, don't let us draft Josh McRoberts" dance...check in here.
It doesn't mean a whole lot. The Seattle scouts got to watch the Portland workout, and he went to Seattle and met with management. There's no way the Sonics wouldn't take him at #2.Your Mother said:
I'm with you guys... I have the feeling that combining McRoberts bust potential with Billy King's Duke ties and being a horrible GM.. McRoberts is destined to be a Sixer.... I just hope King doesnt take him at 12 .. :whoosh:I'm in trouble - Sixers have the 21st and 30th and Billy King is a Duke grad. We already have Shavlik Randolph.Your Mother said:Anyone who's a fan of a team that's not in the lottery and has been doing the "Please Jesus, don't let us draft Josh McRoberts" dance...check in here.
it's hard for me to think of 1 year players like these as representative of Dook and/or the program. i need at least 2 years to feel any real connection. that said, Dook sucks.
There's much more hype around Durant, but Melo is probably the best comparison in terms of position and what they accomplished as college freshmen. Because of his frame I question whether Durant will ever be able to score as effectively on the interior as Anthony does. However, Durant appears to have better natural range. His length will probably make Durant a better rebounder and he will block some shots, both areas where Melo is just average for a SF.
Durant 25.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 47%fg, 1.9 stls, 1.9 blksAnthony 22.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 45%fg, 1.6 stls, .9 blksClose, but Durant has him in every single category.
It seems Durant is much more complete of a player. I haven't seen him play much so I ask, does he create opportunities for his teammates? How is his defense?
My memory of this, and I'm too lazy to go look up the stats, is that Anthony really came on later in his college season, whereas Durant was fairly dominant right from the start. Regardless I think those stats are close enough to say they were roughly equal as college freshmen, particularly since Anthony was also the best player on a national championship team. In terms of how they translate into the NBA; I think Melo will be the more versatile scorer who can hurt you from every area of the floor, while Durant may eventually be the more explosive scorer who puts up points in McGrady, Bryant like bunches. Melo is a fairly pedestrian rebounder and defender, so Durant could really create some separation on that end of the floor.
If a guy is drafted in the 20s, then its not a "bust" for him to be a decent 6th man and nothing more. I don't see why you don't feel as if McRoberts can do that. I think theres a lot of unwarranted backlash on Duke players and theres still the "unathletic" label given to all white players...and this is coming from a Maryland fan.JMon348 said:
jay williams down?
Yes, because of an off the court accident - similar to Hurley.I'm talking flat out sucked - not injury related.
Trajon Langdon (sp) was pretty awful.
