93-year itch

With the NBA Playoffs, NFL Draft, NHL Playoffs and NBA draft lottery all in the news, it’s easy to overlook baseball nowadays. It’s that sport that is always there in the summer, and maybe never quite appreciated enough because it comes at us day after day after day. Don’t get me wrong, I love the NBA and drafts and all that good stuff, but we should appreciate baseball. It’s not going to just stop like the NBA and NFL might. It’s one of the oldest sports. In fact, a piece of baseball news recently caught my eye—the Red Sox and Cubs are playing at Fenway Park for the first time since 1918 starting tomorrow. Not sure how the two managed to go that long without meeting at Fenway, but they have. A lot has changed since then, obviously. Except for the Cubs. Ninety-three years since that last meeting, and they still haven’t won a World Series.

Tonight: The first step back to respectability for the Nets

The NBA Draft is tonight. If Evan Turner isn’t available with the number three pick, then the Nets need to take Wes Johnson. It looks like they will take Derrick Favors, but who wants a project? I want a proven player, and Wes represents that.

Party in Jersey?

Didn’t see that one coming

Favors: No. 2, 3, 4? Who knows.

As soon as the final horn (and even before that) sounded in the NCAA College Basketball National Championship game this past April, the NBA Draft “Experts” got to work on their mock drafts. In those two and a half months since, the mocks have been changing as often as the second hand on a clock. As players dropped out and their stocks moved up and down through workouts, the boards have been unpredictable.

For so long, the actual “experts” pinned down Evan Turner as the for-sure number two pick in this Thursday’s draft. So of course, all the common folks who consider themselves experts did the same. Wall. Turner. Favors.

Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case any more. Favors has suddenly leapfrogged Turner to become the number two pick of the hour.

So who really is better? Who knows. It’s not like they’ve played in any NBA games yet. Who knows why these changes happen. The only thing we can be sure of is that these picks will be for sure only one time. And that is on Thursday, after the NBA Draft has finished.

With the number three pick in the NBA Draft, the New Jersey Nets select…

Ever since the Nets got the number three pick in the draft, it has been assumed that they would pick Derrick Favors, a forward out of Georgia Tech. It seemed to be common knowledge that John Wall and Evan Turner would go numbers one and two, respectively, to the Wizards and the 76ers. But now reports have surfaced that the Sixers maybe be interested in Favors, leaving Turner on the table for the Nets.

I’ve always been a fan of the big names in the draft. Players that have proven themselves in college. Like Evan Turner. Not Derrick Favors. Now, there have been plenty of college busts and plenty of great players who didn’t do much in college. But that is my belief.

If the Nets got Turner, it would be ridiculous. I almost like him more than Wall. Who anointed Wall as the number one pick anyway?

With that being said, I’ll take anyone that will make the Nets better. But I still want Turner over Favors. Even if he went to Ohio State.

Noooo

Wow. I really dislike the 76ers right now. They don’t deserve the second pick. I’m not so upset that the Wizards got the number one pick. I am glad for the Pollin family. I’m more upset that the Nets did not get that pick, or even the second one. No John Wall. Not even Evan Turner. I don’t know who we’re going to pick now. The best we can hope for is that whoever we choose will be better than John Wall. Who says this guy is going to be a star anyway? That’s all we can hope for.

Here come the ping-pong balls…but it ain’t bingo!

John Wall

The NBA Draft lottery is Tuesday night, which means two things- the NBA Draft is closer and the Nets are closer to getting a potential star. But about that potential star…..See, unlike the NFL and Major League Baseball, the league’s worst team is not guaranteed the number one overall pick. The Nets have a 25 percent chance of essentially landing John Wall. That’s better odds than any other team, but the the team with the best chance often does not get the top pick. The Nets could get screwed and land up with the number four pick. But let’s go with wishful thinking here. The last two times the Nets had the best chance of getting the number one pick, they won the lottery (1990 with Derrick Coleman, 2000 with Kenyon Martin). They are on the ‘every ten years’ let’s suck and get the number one pick’ schedule, and hopefully it won’t come back to bite them.

A team that has had little luck in the draft are the poor Wizards. Obviously, they are in the lottery a lot, but like last year, when they could have gotten the number two pick and fell to five, they don’t have much luck. But they did win it in 2001, and the Washington Post was discussing that. Here is a quote from them which I found absolutely hilarious: “That leaves 2001, when the Wizards actually won the draft lottery. And then took Kwame Brown with the first overall pick. Which is probably worse than just losing the damn thing.”

Oh, Kwame Brown. Can you say B-U-S-T-?

Bust.

They were hot hot hot

In sports, new always seems to be better. Rookies provide intrigue, but the next year, when they are sophomores, they are not so cool. New stadiums and coaches are pretty cool too. Until that stadium reaches its second year, and until that coach proves to be not too hot after all. So in the NBA Draft, there is bound to be excitement over these brand new players. But really, how much of an impact will these players have in their first year? There is always the exception, but for most, the answer is little. They may be a building block for years to come, but they will not make an impact for a little while. People make picks and envision themselves winning a championship, when in reality, we already know the contenders for next year. And those teams making those high draft picks are most likely not one of them. And what percentage of teams are made up of mostly players they drafted? Very few. Sorry, but that is how it is. Wait a couple years, and maybe you can be a contender. So to GMs, coaches, fans, etc.: enjoy your shiny new toy of a rookie until next year, when they seem not so shiny and when another group of hot players come in. And maybe, just maybe you can squeeze some winning in between.

PS: Wiz won’t be as good as people think next year. I’m a little worried about the Nets. Orlando will be beast if they can keep it together. Too many trades last night. Unfortunate times for those undrafted, whether they were seniors or underclassmen. 2009-2010 beware list: Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, Rockets, Blazers, Magic, Cavaliers, Celtics, Wizards, Hawks, Mavs. Hottest teams of the hour: Magic, Cavs, Spurs.

PPS: Baseball, you can get your glory back today. Sorry you got shoved under the radar yesterday.

Drafts like the wind, or drafts like a rough draft? I’ll take both, which sums up the NBA Draft

I could sit here and talk about the NBA Draft, but I’ll leave that to the experts, such as ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb, who predicted Georgetown’s “Darrell” Summers to go 30th in the first round. Last time I checked he went by DaJuan, but then again, who really knows. I just hope the Nets pick someone that can have a Brook Lopezenesque like impact. And for those who say the draft is weak, I agree and disagree. The high school class of ’08 was a weak one, and I can say that because I went to school with them for 3 years, and just because the classes of ’06, 07, and especially ’09 are much better. But no worries because the class of ’10 wasn’t too hot in my high school. On the other hand, this draft may just have some late bloomers. There are good players that can be found anywhere, and I think some of the guards can be good. Not too sure about Blake Griffin. I don’t see him as a star, and I think Ricky Rubio is a huge risk. However, they are projected to be drafted high for a reason, so we should see. It will be an interesting and fun night tonight!