The draft was upon us and now it is beyond us. I'll be the first to admit to being a complete draft geek. I study the mock drafts and follow box scores all year in preparation for a few hours on one day in June. Let's see who had a great day and who had a not so great day.


Winners!

Portland "No Longer Jailblazers"

Aldridge was a great pick up because there was an obvious need at center with Pryzbilla taking off and Ratliff being on the decline. While Telfair has a lot of potential, any Portland fan can't complain about getting Brandon Roy. I honestly feel that either he or Tyrus Thomas will end up being the best players in this draft. To put a little cherry on top, they also snagged Sergio Rodriguez and Joel Freeland. Now if they can ship off the Cheech and Chong Darius Miles and Zach Randolph, Portland fans will have a reason to cheer and a great young team to build upon.

Da Bulls

I think that the Thomas pick is a little redundant with all the size this team already has but I can see how you can't resist someone with that much potential. If they keep Chandler around, they may have the most explosive front court in the NBA. The pick I really liked was Sefolosha. The Bulls are height challenged in the back court and Thabo will provide length, athleticism, skill and a sweet name to the team. Imagine the PA announcer bellowing "Taboooooo!" after every great play. I know you're jealous.

Memphis

The funny part is that I'm not putting them here because of the Rudy Gay pick up. The look on Gay's face as teams passed on him didn't come across as disappointment to me as much as disgust. I don't think he could believe some of the players that went before him. I'm not a fan of his heart and I'm honestly surprised that Jerry passed on guys like Brewer and Sefolosha. I also don't like that they ended up getting Swift back because I don't like his contract as well as his heart. I know this sounds like a bashathon but I really liked the Lowry pick as well as getting Johnson. To me, their most glaring need was at the one and Lowry will do great things for them. Johnson could end up being the steal of the draft due to his great size and athleticism. Teams passed on him probably due to age but you need to stop living off of potential all the time.


Losers!

Phoenix

I hate to do this and it tears at my heart like a Lifetime movie but I am very upset with how this draft went down for my Suns. Steve Nash is aging like a fine wine but great backups that you can groom for the future don't come along often either. Rando or Rodriguez would have been ideal candidates for that exact role. I don't see many great guards coming down the pipe any time soon and the Suns simply gave up on these players for money. If they don't resign the main core and bring everyone back, I'm going on strike.


The Knickerbockers

Ah, Isiah... Why this man has any power in New York still is beyond me. He goes and takes a second rounder with the 21st pick and then drafts a slow combo guard at 29. Break out your rabbit's feet and four leaf clovers New York. I'm not saying that in hope that they win this season but that Isiah is fired half way through it.


Seattle

Seattle already has an improving Robert Swift and a solid backup in Johan Petro. So what do you draft? That's right, another center! Huh? They needed rebounding and toughness at the four with the Evans trade and they passed on Cedric Simmons who could have been a great fit in their uptempo system.

It doesn't look like I'll be able to cover the entire draft prior to it due to time constraints, aka having to work. But, if anyone has any questions out there I'm more than willing to try to answer what's rolling around in your brain. After the draft, I'll make sure to discuss who I feel are the winners and losers come Thursday morning.

It's draft time so I figured it was about time for me to give a bit of a preview. I'll initially start with the top five picks and move through the first round five picks at a time. So, let's dig in...

1.Toronto

Leave it to Bryan Colangelo to finally get a number one pick as soon as he leaves Phoenix. If only that luck would have been there for his Dad when a little guy named Lew Alcindor came into the NBA via UCLA. There aren't any Lew's in this draft but there are some solid choices at the top of the board. With a solid building block in Chris Bosh playing the four and Charlie Villanueva playing really well last year, the Raptors are pretty much set at the three and the four for a while. Everyone seems to think that Bargnani is the guy but I honestly feel that Bryan is using that as potential trade bait. The Raps have more pressing needs at the center, the point guard position and the two guard. Lamarcus Aldridge makes a lot of sense here but he seems a bit soft and his game is comparable to Channing Frye who went ninth last year. If I was Toronto, I would trade down a bit or just take Brandon Roy who can contribute immediately and be one of the cornerstones of the team for the next decade.

2. Chicago

Thomas seems to be the consensus here but that really doesn't make much sense to me. With players like Chandler, Deng, Sweetney and Nocioni in the front court, the two guard position seems like the biggest need. Gordon won't fill that role full time due to defensive nightmares due to a small backcourt. Roy should be the guy here again because he could come in and help lead a team that is already in the playoff hunt.


3.Charlotte

The BET/JumpMan Cats are looking hard at the small forward position from most reports. It's a toss up here between Rudy Gay and Adam Morrison. For my two cents, Gay has a ton of potential but Morrison has a lot more heart than Gay and a higher basketball IQ. Also, you can't stop the stache...


4.Portland

Portland would love a shot at Roy and Morrison here but I think they're going to be off the board. Regardless, they already have nice pieces at their positions in Webster and Outlaw. Outlaw deserves minutes and should be starting next season. If not, I'd love to see him in Phoenix's system. Thomas or Aldridge should be the guys here. Randolph aka Big Eddie Winslow, is difficult and the signs are all over the wall that coach Mac and him are not simpatico. Pryzbilla is out the door and Theo Ratliff isn't going to be taking over that position so it's time to find a big fella. Gut feeling, Aldridge is the guy.

5.Atlanta

Being that Atlanta is picking here, chances are that they will take a swing player or just someone that noone saw coming. Who knows, maybe Bob Cousy won't be off the board. Thomas could help complete a ferocious front line that flies up and down the court. With Marvin Williams around now though, he really shouldn't be picked. Marcus Williams should be picked up here. I don't think he's the best point guard in the draft but the perception is that he is. I think that Sergio Rodriguez and Rajon Rando will end up being better pros but Williams could allow JJ to play full time two guard and help get Atlanta's athletes out on the break.

I just wanted to inform anyone out there of another great blog. If you enjoy European basketball or are curious about future prospects in the draft via Europe, check out http://www.europeanprospects.com . The site really is great and there are a lot of great videos that aren't anywhere out there on the internet.

This post is dedicated to all the Knicks fans in the world. That team becomes more and more of a joke on a daily basis. While Larry Brown was obviously not a good fit for this team, Thomas sure isn't either. His blunders in Indiana cannot be ignored. I honestly think that former WWF valet Captain Lou Albano could do a better job then both of these men.

While I pity anyone that has to try to deal with a backcourt of Starbury and the Franchise, there are some good pieces to build upon. First of all, play Frye and Lee. Both of these young guys showed great promise last year and on a team that played so poorly, why not give the kids a chance? I would start Steph along side a bigger guard like Q and bring Francis off the bench in a sixth man high octane role. More than anything else, just find a squad that works and keep them out there. This team won't necessarily be good but they could at least not be a laughing stock. It would be great for the NBA to have the knicks succeed. I won't ever say the same for the Lakers. : )

Here I am writing about all this stuff on the current happenings around the NBA and I haven't even written anything about the NBA Finals. There are some dynamic talents on display with players like Dirk and Dwayne Wade but I just haven't gotten into it. I guess I was on such a high from the Phoenix run that I didn't know what to do with myself without our floppy haired floor general running the show. After hearing about Mark Cuban's antics, I'm kind of happy I haven't tuned in. While the officiating can be very poor at times, there is no "conspiracy" within the NBA. If there was, the Knicks and Lakers would be champions every year and David Stern would have ratings through the roof. I used to love the story of how Mark obtained the Mavs and felt like he was one of us. He was just a normal guy that happened to be able to purchase an NBA franchise. As time has gone on though, he's become more and more egotistical. The money has finally gotten to his head and you can tell that he feels that he is above the his team, his players and the NBA in general. I love the way the Mavs play ball but deep down, I don't want Mark to raise that golden orb above his head. My predication you ask? Mavs in seven but I'm not happy about it....

The draft is quickly approaching and once again my team, the Phoenix Suns, have all kinds of rumors swirling around them. They have been infamous over the years for putting out smoke screens in order to allow them to draft who they want. The best example of this came in 2002 when they supposedly loved everyone from Chris Wilcox to Jared Jeffries but coveted Amare Stoudemire all along. Now they supposedly love Rodney Carney, Saer Sene and Thabo Sefolosha. While all of them would fit well into our system, I have a feeling that they really want Sergio Rodriguez. Steve can't play the bulk of the minutes year after year and Sergio really fits our system as well as anyone I've seen in recent years. Here are a couple highlights to wet your appetites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBa0dqhRdas&search=sergio%20rodriguez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPuDjcOVyYs&search=sergio%20rodriguez

basket-ball

After the Nickoloz Tskitishvili disaster of 2002, many NBA and draft pundits proclaimed the European invasion to be over. I think anyone involved with the Nuggets organization would admit to falling in love with the idea of the next Dirk Nowitzki. Who wouldn't want a seven footer that runs the floor like a small forward and shoots the three like a shooting guard? The thing most people failed to realize is that Dirk is a one of a kind player. How many potential MJ's have come down the pipe in the last fifteen years? I'm not saying Dirk is MJ but he is working his way into the top 25 players in NBA history. Euro's and players worldwide have been unfairly put under a microscope while their American counterparts can fail to meet expectations themselves. There are great American players and great players from outside the States too. The same can be said for players that aren't very good. While we will always produce amazing talent in the U.S., there is a new hotbed of talent starting to come out of Europe. It's not Germany, Switzerland or even the previous hotbed, Serbia. It's actually France. That's right, France.

When you think France and basketball, a few readily available names probably jump to mind in the NBA. Tony Parker has been blazing across the NBA hardword for years now with the Spurs. Boris Diaw came out of nowhere this year to become a force for the Suns. Mickael Pietrus could probably do well too if Golden State would stop playing Dunleavy as if he deserved his contract. Some other players like Johan Petro and Mickaël Gelabale may not be recognizable to few outside of my own NBA obsession but they do have the potential to do good things in Seattle. Ronny Turiaf amazingly showed signs of real potential in the postseason this year for LA despite having heart surgery earlier in the year. While these players are representing France very well in the NBA and abroad, there are some hot new prospects that will be showing up in the NBA draft in 2007 or 2008.

A lot of people may not know that there are competitions within basketball that represent respective countries for players that are 18 years of age and younger. It gives kids across the globe the chance to participate in high level competition against their peers, represent their country but also represent themselves. While the NBA scouting radar is all over the globe, no matter how big that radar is, the world is always a little bit bigger. Players can slip through the cracks and events like this can really open a lot of people's eyes. A few French prospects have done just that.

Nicolas Batum:

As with any young prospect, it's really hard to decipher who will be the best among them down the road. I list Nicolas first because he really falls in line with what people are describing as the new vogue of the NBA. Teams want players like a Josh Howard or a Boris Diaw that can play and guard multiple positions. Nicolas is 6'8 and will most likely be a two guard or small forward down the line. NBADraft.net really hit it on the head when they compared him to Joe Johnson. He can handle the ball well, shoot inside and out and also distribute. He is also showing the defensive potential that Joe is as well. The difference between the two is that Batum has to work on his body, which shouldn't be shocking since he's only 18. Athletically though, Batum is both quicker and more explosive off the ground. Come next year, don't be shocked if Nicolas is a lottery pick.

Alexis Ajinca:

It will probably be a toss up between Saer Sene and Alexis once he gets to the NBA to see who has the longer wingspan. His huge wingspan allows him to be a force on the defensive side of the ball. While some sites are comparing him to KG, his offensive skills are nowhere near that level. His shot is decent and he can definately throw down but he doesn't really have post moves or anything off the dribble. He runs very well and his real potential is as mentioned, on D. Being that big men are at a premium, Alexis may end up being the better pro down the line once he fills out.

Ludovic Vaty:

Ludovic, like Nicolas, is a great athlete. Ludovic is a power forward that lives in the paint and aggresively attacks the rim and the glass. I believe that he had a knee injury and while he was out, players like Nicolas and Alexis had an opportunity to showcase more of their skills. While Nicolas exploded at the Albert Schweitzer tournament, Ludovic cannot be forgotten. Vaty looks to have bounced back and played well at the Douai tournament. Keep an eye on him with the European U18 championships.


All of these kids have unbelieveable potential. It should be fun to watch them grow over the course of the next two years. They should all be in the NBA but they all hopefully continue to work on their games and bodies in order to maximize their talent. As you can see, while France is showing well thus far, their future is very bright.

I would like to take this opportunity for myself, to introduce, myself. I'm a mid-twenties guy that was born and raised in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. At a tender age, my father took me to my first Phoenix Suns game. I don't really remember the moment that I fell in love with the game really but I kind of always remember feeling that way. There was something so amazing about these giant men that could run and leap like they were something straight out of a comic book. I soaked up any information on the game I could whether it was from a book, a telecaster, my father or simply playing myself. It's hard to believe that a game with such a simple concept as putting a ball in a bucket can be so complex. It's really a life long process to fully understand why and how players and teams as a whole do the things they do. Over the course of this blog I will discuss all aspects of the game from the draft to x's and o's to sneakers. Anyone who is really into the game understands that basketball is more than just a game, it is a way of life. Hopefully you enjoy the ride and discuss this game with me, this beautiful game...