9:00 - Sorry about the delay with the diary. I was too busy crying and plotting trying to pull out Jordan Hill’s dreadlocks. Austin Daye went with the first non-lottery pick to the Pistons. He is the absolute opposite to the forwards taken by the Pistons recently (think Jason Maxiell). He’s only 190 pounds and tries to hide it with some baggy sleeves but
9:03 - Who knew the sweater vest was making a comeback in Spokane? Thank you Mr. Daye. Maybe Adam Morrison could rock that on the sideline. It would really compliment his budding barely pubescent facial hair.
9:07 - Jeff Van Gundy brings up an interesting point. Tayschaun Prince and Austin Daye together? The Detroit Pistons, helping even the gender disparity in eating disorders since 2009.
9:08 - YES! First pick I nailed outside the lottery with James Johnson to the Bulls. If only someone beside Jay Bilas knew he was a martial artist from Wyoming he would have been top 10. The Bulls automatically gain an advantage in the next bench-clearing brawl.
9:11 - Steve Kerr plays coy on the Amare trade rumours. Does this surprise anyone? If a GM was not vague in a live draft interview he’d be out the door before the next team was off the clock.
9:13 - Somehow Jrue Holliday was the last guy in the green room before the 76ers got him. Austin Daye was by far the favorite coming into this thing while Holliday was a possible top 10 guy.
9:15 - Even the first thing that Holliday mentioned was defense. Holliday may never be the offensive player he looked to become but he should be able to shut down the rest of this bumper crop of point guards.
9:18 - Ty Lawson to Minnesota. Well apparently three point guards are needed to get the ball to Al Jefferson. And I thought they got rid of Kevin McHale? All this talk of so many trades. This better be the signal of one to come or poor Al’s gonna be quadruple teamed.
9:20 - There it is. Apparently Lawson headed to Nuggets. Lawson behind Billups? I like the sound of that, Lawson will probably be so much better learning from Billups tan having to go somewhere and handle the ball more
9:23 - Calling Jeff Teague? I guess I just know those Wake Guys. With Claxton and Law gone this is a good spot for Teague. Bibby is also a shoot first guard so Teague can refine his ability to overlook teammates and fire threes.
9:27 - Come on Utah don’t let me down with goofy white guys. Here it is…BOOO. Eric
Maynor, so no Mullens, how sad. Him and Kosta Koufos could have been the greatest 7
foot white former Ohio State center combo ever. That is not a title to be taken lightly.
At that point, just 27 minutes in I was unable to continue with my diary, but I was able to jot down a few notes:
Welcome to the NHL
You just have to love how all the international guys show up out of the crowd. Its reminiscent of the one hockey draft I watched where random eastern Europeans just appeared out of the crowd to receive congratulations from the teams that would eventually employ them. Nando de Colo, Jonas Jerebko, Henk Norel, Rodrique Beaubois, and Christian Eyenga (Division two in Spain? Officially the most random first round pick in history) were all in the house to great either David Stern or Adam Silver. Stern seemed actualy surprised to see 6'8" guys strolling out of the crowd while Silver actually seemed to enjoy that the guys wanted to come greet him.
ESPN Must Improve...Graphics
In both the NFL and NBA drafts the analysts try and highlight the weakness' 0f the top prospects taken by teams. They both present some doosies that would make the needs to improve seem like if anyone could improve such a trait, they too would be spoken of during the NBA draft. For example, Nick Calethes must improve his lateral quickness and Danny Green must improve his athleticism. I'm pretty sure one is born with those traits. If Green could improve his athleticism, he would, but its not so easy as a few hundred shots in the gym or a couple of wind sprints.
I Have a Trade to Announce
Adam Silver has the best job in the NBA. The deputy commish gets to announce the second round, and as usual said second round in ripe with trades, and who doesn't love a good swap of draft picks, rights to European players and guys who will total less than one hundred minutes on the season. Silver obviously appreciates his worth as he seems to get a chuckle out of every cheer that greets every trade, even when it means the gold standard for busts, Darco Milicik, is bound to come to the Knicks in said trade. The pick following the trade could be John Krasinksi, but the fans don't care, at least it was a trade.
Here is what came to mind during various moments in the first 14 picks that just had to be mentioned:
Winning the Lottery
Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti proves to be smarter than I thought. I do think he is building a good team but I felt that Rubio’s hype would prevail. Harden is just a basketball player, pure an simple. He doesn't need to be a star on this team to have a good impact.
“I’m Ricky Rubio, I’m not like anybody else.”
When asked who he compared to by Mike Tirico, that was Rubio's response. O, he's got an NBA ready personality. Though some people like the confidence I call it cockiness, and think he's a bust waiting to happen. He says quotes like that and his highlight tape is full of needless around the back dribbles that have no bearing on if he actually got to the cup or not.
Fogarty swears by his skills and think he'll be great, I disagree. He's not Pistol Pete reincarnate, he's Jason Williams (the white one) 2.0. He's less known for his skills, more known for being White Chocolate and lucking into a possessed Dwayne Wade championship. Have fun in Minny Ricky, them Midwesterners just LOVE foreigners too.Wait, where is Golden State?
I thought if Curry got by T-Wolves he’d be a Knick and my dream would come true. Not to be but at least I know both Stephen and his dad wanted New York. His dad Dell had the look on his face of “Why is my son going to Oakland? He's too classy for that.” Oaktown is about as far from Davidson College, a very white, very small, very rural school, as you can get.
Welcome to New York Jordan
A little kid held up a thumbs down as the camera panned over him for a crowd shot on the Jordan Hill. His dad turned it back up as if to say, "Don't boo him son." The kid couldn't have been more than 9 but he knew what was up. Gotta love New York draft fans, no matter what the sport. While most franchises use the draft as a time of hope, New Yorkers see it for what it is, a meat market where they get stuck with nothing more than last weeks bologna.
He Ain't Short
After last year when Jay Bilas spent all but 2.3 seconds of his airtime talking about just how long the arms of every draftee was, it took till Gerald Henderson, the 12th pick for Mr. Bilas to salivate over the length of another man.
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