Category: NBA General

With the #2 pick in the NBA Draft, The Atlanta Hawks select, Marvin Williams forward from the University of North Carolina. A massive draft mistake, Williams proved in one year of college that he had potential. Potential is the killer of many young athletes, forcing teenagers to try to live up to the hype. Williams may have talent but he may be one of the most overrated players to hit the NBA in since Shawn  Bradley.

        Welcome to the NBA Draft, the ugly stepchild of ESPN’s draft coverage family.  Because there is no hockey this year, basketball’s annual rite of passage has graduated to 2nd on the sports leader’s pick ’em totem pole, though they’ve still got miles to go before they catch the NFL.  While the folks from Bristol trot out Chris Berman, Mel Kiper, and Chris Mortensen for football’s meat market each April, the basketball-loving public is reduced to watching Mike Tirico, Greg Anthony, Steven A. Smith, Jay Bilas, and Dick Vitale assess the futures of the year’s NBA hopefuls.  Talk about a poorly assembled roster.  ESPN used to be the kind of network that had talent to spare, whose B-league guys could run the draft in their sleep.  This same network could have presented a draft-day lineup of Craig Kilborn, Tim Hardaway, Tom Tolbert, and David Aldridge.  In the words of Steven A. Smith, “whueva is running this netwurk needs to be fiyad!”  I managed to stay awake for most of the evening’s proceedings, despite the fact that this meant missing the BET Awards.  Can someone please tell me if Omarion managed to upset Chingy for “Biggest Living Pile”?  

There were many smiles on display when two of the three Celtic draft picks, Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes were introduced to the Boston media on Wednesday. Everyone already knew that Celtics’ Executive Director of Basketball Operations was excited with his selections on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday he seemed downright giddy, joking about the hat worn by Mickael Gelabale, one of Seattle’s second-rounders.

When Green talked about watching former Celtic greats like Larry Bird and Bill Russell, on ESPN Classic, Doc Rivers quipped, “You should probably say Danny Ainge.”

Green, more than willing to get in on the fun, replied to his new coach, “You can’t leave me alone.” Green then jokingly apologized to Ainge, saying “Don’t be mad at me Danny!” We don’t think that Green has to worry about insulting his boss too much; trading Young Gerald is probably the furthest thing from Ainge’s mind.

It’s finally here, everyone, the 2005 NBA Draft. All the speculation
about who’s coming out and who’s staying in school, all the mock
drafts, all the trade talk. It’s all here. Most of what’s going to
happen will happen tonight. The wheels started turning this afternoon
when the Blazers traded the number 3 pick to the Jazz for their
numbers 6, 27, and a first -rounder next year. My crazy friend `Neal
and I had already made up our mock draft before that trade went down,
and we were forced to change it up once the deal was announced. We’re
positive that this one is our most accurate ever…which really doesn’t
say all that much considering our past performances. Come join `Neal
and I as we give our commentary as the first round unfolds:

Welcome to another round of NBA Roulette, more commonly known as the
NBA Draft. As always, my crazy friend ‘Neal and I get together and
see if we can predict where each player will land in the first round
using team needs, past tendencies and overall guess work that we like
to refer to as “logic.” It’s a lot like throwing darts while
blindfolded without even knowing if you’re facing the target. As if
it’s not challenging enough, general managers everywhere love messing
with our guesses by trading their selections even as the draft is
going on. Last year, we got five out of 30 picks right, and, here’s
the kicker, we felt pretty good about ourselves. So take everything
we say with a grain of salt, especially because `Neal is at his
caffeinated best during the draft. It’s a sight to behold. Trust me.

Like every year, these picks were all made with the assumption that
every team will select in this order, and that no trades will be
made. Also like every year, I’ll slow dance to Lady in Red with the 8- pound piece of machismo that is my dog if that actually happens. Onto
the picks:

By Gabe Kahn

Every year, about three weeks or so before the NBA draft, certain
players, initially thought to

be high first round picks, suddenly find their stock falling further
than Mike Tyson’s. At the

same time, some eligible players rise to prominence and become the
darlings of the dance,

and we begin to hear words like upside, potential, and athletic,
followed by whispers of

promises.

This phenomenon is a yearly occurrence and is happening as we speak.
Once surefire early

first round picks such as Monta Ellis, Jarret Jack and Chris Taft have
to hope they’ll be

selected in the first round. Channing Frye, Roko Ukic and Yaroslav
Karolev, on the other

hand, are all now being talked about as good shots for the lottery.

For the first time in eleven years, the NBA Finals is coming down to a seventh and deciding game to determine the champions of the NBA.  Yes, it has been quite a while since such drama ensued during the Finals, and hopefully drama is in store for this year’s seventh game.  Coming into the Finals, nobody wanted to see the Pistons and Spurs face off when there was a possibility of the Suns and Heat facing each other in the NBA’s final playoff series, two teams that were very explosive.  That is, unless you consider yourself an NBA purist.  However, with everyone believing this series was destined to be all defense, it was anything but.  

ESPN.com’s Chad “The Insider” Ford is reporting tonight that the NBA and the players’ union are near a collective bargaining agreement that would require draftees to be 19 years old by draft night. To paraphrase Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings: Mamas don’t let your babies grow up with their agemates …

Every year a new NBA Champion is crowned. Every year a Finals’ MVP is named. Every year a city throws a tickertape parade for their championship team. However, every year is not this year in the NBA. In a clash of titans between the last two champions, the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs square off in the finals’ first winner-take-all game since 1994. Will tonight’s game crack the top 5? It’s got some stiff competition; take a look at my list.

Well…I thought I could never be bored to the point of hating television and then last night the NBA finals brought me to my knees.

“It’s alright Tony…Stern promised us we’d win in 7”