Category: NBA (Page 352 of 595)

      Ty Lawson to enter NBA Draft; Ellington too

      April 23, 2009 /

      It’s official: Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are forgoing their remaining college eligibility and declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.

      Lawson was arguably the best point guard in the country this season and was named ACC Player of the Year. He gutted through a swollen toe in the NCAA tournament, guiding the Tar Heels to a national championship (and f——g my bracket in the process). NBADraft.net has Lawson going #15 (to Detroit, which seems odd considering Joe Dumars has hitched his wagon to Rodney Stuckey), while DraftExpress has him slated for the 11th pick (New Jersey — another odd pairing, considering Devin Harris’ stellar play this season). Both mocks have Lawson behind Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings amongst point guards. Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans, Eric Maynor and Stephen Curry are ranked ahead of Lawson in one mock or the other.

      I haven’t seen much of Jennings, but I think I’d favor Lawson over the other five right now. He has everything you want in a point guard — good vision, quickness, speed, strength, shooting — except for size, and Chris Paul (and others) have proved that you don’t need to be tall to succeed in today’s NBA.

      As for Ellington, I’m surprised to see that NBADraft.net has him going 11th to New Jersey. Draft Express projects him to go with the 30th pick to the Cavs. When I first heard the news that he was going pro, my assumption was that he’d be a second round pick that might sneak into the first round with a series of good workouts. He shot the ball brilliantly in the NCAA tournament and that kind of clutch performance can really boost a player’s stock, but I’d be shocked if he becomes a lottery pick. Wings that can score are a dime a dozen in the NBA, so unless a player has a quality that really makes him stand out — i.e. Gerald Henderson’s athletic ability — they usually end up being late-first round or second round picks. We’ll see.

      College Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, News

      NBA Playoffs Update: TNT can’t catch a break

      April 23, 2009 /

      Two more games on TNT, two more double-digit wins. The Heat beat the Hawks, 108-93, to even up the series at 1-1 and the Nuggets beat the Hornets, 108-93 (that’s not a typo, both games had the same final score), to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the series.

      Meanwhile, NBA TV had the best game of the night (again) with Orlando’s 96-87 win over Philly to even the series at one apiece. Here are a few random observations from Wednesday night’s action:

      – Dwight Howard fouled out with 11 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, but couldn’t catch a break with the refs. Nice job by Courtney Lee (24 points), Hedo Turkoglu (16 points) and Rashard Lewis (16 points) to pick up the slack and get the win without their big man. Howard’s backup, Marcin Gortat, had six rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes.

      – Lee is looking like the real deal. He might be a little small for a shooting guard, but he’s listed at 6’5″, so who knows. He’s averaging 21 points in two playoff games, can knock down the three and can finish at the rim. Not bad for the #22 pick in the draft.

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      NBA, NBA Finals, News

      Tuesday’s NBA action just “so-so”

      April 22, 2009 /

      There were three games last night and the best one was on NBA TV, so nobody saw it. The Cavs beat the Pistons (Cavs lead, 2-0), the Lakers beat the Jazz (Lakers lead, 2-0) and the Blazers nipped the Rockets (series tied, 1-1). Here are a few random observations about Tuesday’s action:

      – It’s a bad idea by the NBA to schedule both 1/8 matchups on the same night. Moreover, TNT aired both games while the best action (Blazers/Rockets) was relegated to NBA TV. The Jazz made a game of it against the Lakers, but could never quite get over the hump. Deron Williams was outstanding (35 points, nine assists, four rebounds, four steals, two blocks), nailing six threes but turning the ball over seven times. Six Utah players scored in double figures, but when you allow the Lakers to shoot 60% from the field, you’re going to have a tough time winning. (Sorry, I just channeled Hubie Brown’s third-person shtick there for a minute.)

      – Where in the world is Jordan Farmar? He played just four minutes last night, and has seen his playing time decline from 20.5 minutes per game in November to 16.1 minutes in April. Year to year, his PER has fallen off a cliff — 15.29 last season vs. 9.93 this season — and he’s being outplayed by Shannon Brown. Farmar is battling some tendinitis, but he’s looking less and less like a future starter and more and more like a career backup.

      – Speaking of Brown, he has played at least 14 minutes in each of the last six games, averaging 8.0 points, 2.2 assists and 2.3 rebounds over that span. Brown is really athletic, plays pretty good defense and has an improving offensive game. Interestingly, he was originally drafted by the Cavs, so if he continues to play well, it might come back to bite Danny Ferry in the bum. Mitch Kupchak acquired Brown as part of the Vladimir Radmanovic/Adam Morrison trade a few months ago.

      – After dropping Game 1, Portland was in “must-win” mode and they got a much needed victory to tie the series. Brandon Roy came up big (42 points, 7 rebounds) and LaMarcus Aldridge posted a nice game (27 points, 12 boards) after scoring just seven points in Game 1.

      – The Rockets will be without Dikembe Mutombo for the remainder of the playoffs (probably forever, actually) after he suffered a knee injury.

      – Greg Oden had a nice follow up dunk, but he’s a fouling machine. He had six fouls in 12 minutes. Wowsers.

      – The trade that sent Rafer Alston to the Magic hasn’t hurt the Rockets at all. They also acquired Kyle Lowry from the Grizzlies and he and Aaron Brooks are providing good play at the point. The two combined for 33 points, six assist and five boards on Tuesday night.

      – The Pistons cut the Cavs’ lead to eight with about four minutes to play, but a Cleveland 9-2 run put the game away. I get confused when I look at the box score and see the Pistons’ best perimeter defender — Tayshaun Prince — only played 26 minutes and wasn’t in any foul trouble. Meanwhile, LeBron goes for 29/13/6 — do you think Prince should get a little more run?

      – In other news, there are reports flying that Derrick Rose will win ROY and Jason Terry will win the Sixth Man award. No surprises there.

      NBA, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

      Four more prospects declare for the draft

      April 21, 2009 /

      Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds, Memphis’ Tyreke Evans, Duke’s Gerald Henderson and Spanish-leaguer Ricky Rubio all plan to declare for the NBA Draft.

      Once John Calipari left for Kentucky, it became clear that the ready-to-bolt Evans was probably as good as gone. Reynolds isn’t considered a top prospect; neither NBADraft.net nor DraftExpress.com project Reynolds to go in the first two rounds. With his superior athleticism and improving offensive game, Henderson is projected by both sites to be a lottery pick, so while he’d definitely benefit from another year at Duke, his stock isn’t going to go that much higher.

      DraftExpress projects Rubio to be the #2 overall pick while NBADraft.net still needs to put him back in their mock. His name was removed midseason when it looked like a buyout would be too expensive, but the increasing financial pressures on his Spanish team have cleared a path for Rubio to enter the NBA sooner rather than later.

      I’m not sold on Rubio as a top 5 pick. He’s being compared to Steve Nash and “Pistol” Pete Maravich, and while he does have similar ball handling skills, Nash and Maravich can/could really score. Rubio’s shot is suspect, so even if he’s the greatest passer in the world, he’s not going to be worthy of a top 5 pick unless he can put the ball in the hole as well. He fared pretty well at the Olympics against Chris Paul and Jason Kidd, but the NBA is a different game.

      We’ll see.

      NBA, NBA Draft, Rumors & Gossip

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