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Sorry about the lack of pots recently. Hopefully today’s post is the start of a new trend—not going two weeks without posting. Also, here’s a little mock mock draft I cooked up—if you’re interested in reading pre-draft coverage after the draft.

Before I get to some specific picks that rubbed me the right or wrong way, I need to mention the apparent inefficiencies in the draft that only team like Portland and Seattle are capitalizing on. Because of the NBDL and the ability to leave players in Europe, every single draft pick is much more valuable that it used to be. In the past if you had a 2nd round pick who was good, but had no roster spot, you had to cut him. Now you can send him to the NBDL and watch him get better. Why would any team not be willing to trade cash considerations in order to take a chance on DeAndre Jordan or Bill Walker in the 2nd round. Isn’t is stupid and naive to say that their potential isn’t even worth giving up nothing for? Ok, on to the picks

1. Derick Rose — Chicago

Not sold on him. He’ll only become a great player if he becomes a great shooter. That’s not a sure thing. I also would have liked to see him get more easy layups in college. When guys like Steve Francis and Jason Williams were in college, they would blow by their men for uncontested layups three or four times a game. Rose can get by his man but it always seems like he’s forced into a more-difficult-than-it-should-be finish.

2. Michael Beasley — Miami

I love Beasley. Maybe he’ll be too small in the end. Maybe he’ll get into trouble. But there’s not a small forward or power forward in the NBA who can guard him.

3. O.J. Mayo — Memphis

Just like with Kobe, LeBron, and Derrick Rose, Mayo development as a shooter will make or break his career. If he turns those 8-25 games he had in college into 12-25 games in the NBA, he’ll be a good one.

4. Russell Westbrook — Seattle

Seems like a reach. He’ll need to become a better shooter, but I love his Monte Elllis drive-and-jump-over-the-big-men potential.

5. Kevin Love — Minnesota

Love is going to have an up and down career because his production will depend on matchups. If he’s against and undersized big man he’ll be able to beat him on the glass and back him down for jump hooks. But he’s going against a guy like Dwight Howard or Brenday Haywood, or a big man who puts the ball on the floor, he’s going to get torched.

6. Danilo Gallinari — New York Knicks

He plays in Europe. Nobody knows how good he actually is.

7. Eric Gordon — L.A. Clippers

I hated Gordon is college and I was ready to laugh at whatever team wasted a high pick on him. He’s a carbon copy of Ben Gordon. All he can do is score. He can’t play defense and can’t create easy baskets for his teammates. Ninety percent of the guys in the NBA can score so what’s the point of having a guy like Gordon? But the more I think about it, every other player on the board is flawed, and Gordon’s ability to score is more impressive than any ability of anybody who was left (other than Anthony Randolph’s ability to not gain weight). The Clippers needed a scorer, and in the end I think Gordon was the right pick.

8. Joe Alexander — Milwaukee

I think the American public will never accept the fact that a white guy can be described as having freakish athleticism. So close your eyes and imagine for a second that Alexander is black. You have a guy with “freakish athleticism” who can shoot the lights out and has a developing back-to-the-basket game. Seems like a pretty good pick.

9. D.J. Augustin — Charlotte

I think Augustin is underrated player. He spent two years getting his teammates involved instead of putting up big numbers. If he’s not to small he’ll be solid. Still, there’s no excuse for not picking Jerryd Blayless.

10. Brook Lopez — New Jersey

A no brainer, but it’s hard to like a 7-footer who can’t even get easy shots in college. It’s nice that Lopez can make a fadeaway 15-footer, but shouldn’t he be backing guys down for dunks? I call this the Adam Morrison Corollary. (It was nice that Morrison was making fadeaway 20-footers, but where were the easy baskets. Oh right, there were none.)

11. Jerryd Bayless — Portland

The Trail Blazers are one of the few teams taking advantage of the increasing talent pool of the NBA draft. Bayless is a steal here. Just give the 2010 Championship to the Blazers right now.

12. Jason Thompson — Sacramento

This pick took guts. Even if the Kings think he’s good, why not wait and trade down? Or just wait until somebody else drafts him 20 picks later and then acquire him for cash considerations. This was not good pick value management.

13. Brandon Rush — Indiana

Bayless was better, but Rush can do it all.

14. Anthony Randolph — Golden State

Again, with the NBDL waiting there, why not? Clearly there’s something about him scouts believe could make him a good basketball player.

15. Robin Lopez — Phoenix

He’s a really really good defender, but I still think it’s not a good sign when your ceiling in Anderson Varejao.

16. Marreese Speights — Philadelphia

Big man. Big body. Big numbers. Solid pick.

17. Roy Hibbert — Indiana

I have the same problem with Hibbert as I have with Brook Lopez. Not enough easy baskets in college for a guy with that kind of physical advantage. Hibbert also looks two calculated in all his movements, like he’s consciously trying to remember the footwork he learned at Pete Newell camp. It ends up looking smooth, but it’s really slow. All in all, I don’t think Hibbert has the athleticism to make it.

18. JaVale McGee — Washington

Hate the pick with J.J. Hickson and Darrell Arthur still on the board. The Wiz blew it.

19. J.J. Hickson — Cleveland

My favorite pick of the first round. Hickson dominated the ACC as a freshman. He shot 59% from the field (Hansbrough was 2nd at 54%), and did it against the front lines of Duke, UNC, Clemson (great frontcourt), and Maryland (with the 2nd and 3rd best shot blockers in the ACC, James Gist and Bambale Osby). Hickson isn’t just a big body. He has inside skills and nice touch on his jumper. I think he can be another David West-Carl Landry-Antoni0 McDyess-type player.

20. Alexis Ajinca — Charlotte

He plays in France. Nobody knows how good he actually is.

21. Ryan Anderson — New Jersey

He played at Cal. Nobody knows how good he actually is.

22. Courtney Lee — Orland0

The Magic need a shooting guard. Lee can score. Good need-based pick.

23. Kosta Koufas — Utah

Who doesn’t need another Mehmet Okur?

24. Serge Ibaka — Seattle

At least him and Sene can hang out on their D-league team.

25. Nicholas Batum — Houston

He plays in Europe. Nobody knows how good he actually is.

26. George Hill — IUPUI

I’m willing to trust whatever the Spurs do at this point. They’re clearly smarter than everybody else. I can judge what the Grizzlies do. I can’t judge what the Spurs do.

27. Darrell Arthur — Memphis

He’s a steal. That’s about all I have to say about that.

28. Donte Greene — Houston

A 6″9 athletic guy who can shoot. Sounds good to me.

29. D.J. White — Detroit

They might have been able to get him later in the draft, but I think White will be a solid NBA Player. When healthy, he physically dominated the Big 10.

30. J.R. Giddens — Boston

It’s always nice to see a guy who transferred from a big program to a smaller program get drafted in the first round. Giddens is freakishly athletic, but he needs to learn how to shoot.

And now a little love for the 2nd round…

34. Mario Chalmers — Miami

I love point guards who can shoot. They change the whole game. Chalmers is the perfect fit for the Heat.

35. Deandre Jordan — L.A. Clippers

Like Anthony Randolph, there’s something scouts like about Jordan. He’s a perfect 2nd round pick.

39. Sonny Weems — Chicago

Weems is big, can shoot, is a lock down defender, and comes off as one of those guys who’s an absolute battler who refuses to let his team lose (you know, unlike Kobe).

40. Chris Douglas-Roberts — New Jersey

He’s a steal here. One reason is that slashers like Douglas-Roberts are really hurt by there not being a semi-circle in the paint in college basketball. They can’t take it to the rim aggressively because somebody will be standing under the basket to take a charge. That won’t happen in the NBA.

47. Bill Walker — Boston

He has a chance to be good. That’s what the 2nd round is all about.

55. Mike Taylor — L.A. Clippers

Here’s what I like about Taylor. He’s already dominated the NDBL when he should have still been in college. I feel like people don’t realize the quality of competition in the NBDL. It’s higher than any conference in college basketball. The NDBL is full of seasoned veterans or guys who were stars in the NCAA. Taylor proved himself against them, and he might soon prove himself against the guys in the NBA.

57. James Gist — San Antonio

Gist has freakish athleticism, was one of the best shot blockers and rebounders in college basketball, has decent post moves, and can make a 20 footer. But he spent four years in college so there must be something wrong with him.

58. Joe Crawford — L.A. Lakers

He just strikes me as the kind of guy who struggles through his college career and only realizes his potential once he gets to the NBA.

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Ok. I’m sufficiently recovered from the Penguins Stanley Cup loss and ready to blog once again. Forcing me to get back into the swing of things was Kobe Bryant’s performance last night. It was hands down one of the worst games any player has ever played in the NBA Finals. And I’m not talking about his offense. I’m talking about Kobe’s defense.

The entire game Kobe was mired in his “I’m a freelancer who doesn’t have to guard anybody” mindset that he had from being matched up with Rajon Rando. That’s the reason James Posey and Eddie House made six three pointers. That’s the reason Ray Allen repeatedly got to the basket.

In the 4th quarter Kobe and Paul Pierce went head-to-head. It was mano-a-mano for game 4 of the NBA Finals. Kobe had no chance. Pierce abused him at will, culminating with a horrendous final-minute blocking foul on Kobe 30 feet from the basket. The Lakers effectively needed a stop to keep the series from getting out of hand, and Kobe couldn’t even move his feet.

Offensively, Kobe was no better. During the 4th quarter (while Pierce was repeatedly blowing by Kobe) he could do nothing. Pierce repeatedly forced him into bad shots which Kobe was all too content to take.

Earlier in the game, it was Kobe’s selfishness that helped fuel the Celtics comeback. The Lakers built up a 20 point lead thanks to great ball movement. Kobe wasn’t being a dynamite scorer, he was a ball-mover and a role player and it was working.

In the second half Kobe decided he wanted to join in on the fun. Expecting to turn the game into an even bigger rout, Kobe started with the 1-on-1 possessions. Unfortunately for him, the Celtics kept playing defense and repeatedly forced him into bad shots. Before Kobe knew it, the Lakers’ once mighty lead had been cut in half.

The result? The remaining games the Celtics need to win to secure a title has also been cut in half.

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Gregg Popovich had a big decision to make. His Spurs trailed by two and the Lakers had the ball with 28 seconds left. Should he play defense and hope for a last second shot, or should he foul and attempt to trim the margin? Popovich decided to play defense. Wrong move.

When you play defense, if the Lakers score the game is over. If they get an offensive rebound the game is over. If you lose the rebound out of bounds the game is over. If the Lakers draw a foul late in the possession the game is over. If there’s a long battle for the rebound your ensuing offensive possession is cut in half. And the Spurs didn’t even try to steal the ball. They just let the Lakers walk it up court. Under Popovich’s strategy the best case scenario was being left with 1-4 seconds in which to tie the game. Not so good.

Fouling would have lengthened the game. The Lakers are a good foul shooting team, but only Kobe and Fisher are automatic. There’s a good chance a free throw will be missed. There’s a good chance you’ll get an easy two. There’s a good chance you’ll get an open look at a three. When you foul, the worst case scenario is that you have to make two straight three pointers. That’s almost as good as the best case scenario when you play defense.

So Pops screwed up, then managed to weave his way through the post-game press conference with dignity. You know he’ll get a slap on the back from David Stern for that performance. On the other hand, the TNT reporting team is sure to get a lump of coal from Stern for their focus on the subpar officiating. So will Phill Jackson. In what proved to be the highlight of the night, Jackson responded to questions about the final no-call by referencing another final minute missed call that went against the Lakers (Jackson managed not to mention the horrendous late lose ball foul that gave Lamar Odom two free throws—Odom clearly held Tim Duncan with his left arm.)

Despite the idiocy of Kenny Smith’s reasoning about the final play (it was a foul, but a good no-call), he’s right. I’m happy a playoff game was not decided with a foul call on that type of play. Barry could have gotten the call if he sold it. He didn’t. The pump fake-draw the foul simply wasn’t a move in his repertoire. He didn’t have the skill to make Fisher pay for his defensive mistake.

It’s now clear the Lakers are the superior team. In both game 1 and game 4 the Spurs gave the Lakers their best shot. Gave everything they had. Both times the Lakers responded. Both times the Lakers turned up the switch and put the Spurs away. You know what I’m getting at. Lakers fans, it’s time to start buying those commemorative 2008 Western Conference Champion mousepads.

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…because you’ve decided to disassociate yourself from your suspected co-conspirators.

The truth is, O.J. Mayo is smart to cut ties with Bill Duffy. As long as Duffy remained his agent, the accusations and questions would continues to pour in.

But now that Mayo has severed the relationship he can play the “it’s in the past card.” Whenever anybody tries to bring up the scandal he can talk about how he just wants to move on with his career. He’ll make sure to mention he did nothing wrong, and that his focus is now on being the best NBA player he can be.

This new development should remove any doubt that Mayo and Duffy engaged in some sort of wrongdoing. If Mayo and Duffy were innocent they would have stood on stage together, proclaimed their innocence, and chastised the media for attacking an upstanding young gentleman. That would have been the savvy PR move…if they were innocent. Instead they did the opposite. They ended their relationship in an effort to sweep the whole thing under the rug. That’s the savvy PR move of the guilty.

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I’ll say it. The Pistons had no excuse losing Game 1 against the Celtics. The way I see it, the Pistons don’t have an excuse for losing any game to the Celtics (well, maybe one or two).

Here are the facts. The Pistons have the best point guard, shooting guard, and center in the series. Their power forward is their best player, and their small forward ain’t two shabby either. The Pistons also have the series’ best big man and scoring guard off the bench.

When the Pistons have their starting five on the floor, nobody can be left open from inside 20 feet. Couple that with the fact that the Celtics must double team whoever Ray Allen is guarding, and it seems the Pistons should have an easy time scoring. The key word there is “should,” because in game 1 the Pistons made a mess of their offense.

The Celtics are a very good defensive team, but I refuse to believe they’re so good they can run a double team at an athletic player who knows how to put the ball on the floor and not surrender at least an open 20 footer.

Tonight the Pistons need move the ball better and figure out how to get that open 20 footer.

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An old criticism of the NHL was that once the playoffs started the referees looked the other way and nary a penalty was called. Now, in 2008, the opposite is happening in the NBA playoffs. For some reason the league decided there will be no excessive contact whatsoever. They will not let the guys play. It’s a decision that’s led to a horde of flagrant fouls, lots of testy chest bumping, and the travesty of Darius Songaila’s game 6 suspension.

My question is, why? As far as I can tell the contact crackdown has two main consequences and both of them are bad.

First, the borderline flagrant fouls are leading to more jawing, chirping, and shoving than ever before because the delay caused by referees deciding whether to call a flagrant only builds the tension. Instead of quickly sending the players to the line and have the game continue, there’s a two minute break for the crowd to get rowdy and players to jaw at each other.

In the cases where a flagrant is called, the other team then has to play the rest of the series thinking “they got one of our guys, we have to get them back.” Obviously blatant flagrant fouls should be called (like LeBron’s elbow to Andray Blatche in their playoff opener. Wait, what? A flagrant wasn’t called on that play? Interesting…), but calling flagrants on clean hard fouls just riles teams up.

The second consequence of these flagrant fouls is that the post-season is being refereed different than the regular season. In general, that’s bad for a sport. The weird thing is this crackdown on hard fouls should eventually lead to better basketball games. When a guy is going in for an uncontested layup you shouldn’t just be able to grab him. Every single foul should be a legitimate block or steal attempt. If a game were called this way (and any kind of intentional foul was called a flagrant) there would be fewer fouls, fewer stoppages, more scoring, and a more fluid game.

David Stern should be working on providing this kind of product, but he should be working on it during the regular season, not during the playoffs (the time when teams are supposed to play tough and games are supposed to have more contact). Clearly Stern didn’t want these NBA playoffs to turn into a string of UFC fights, but a better way to accomplish this would have been cutting down on the hard, intentional fouls during the regular season.

Hopefully the league will continue the intentional foul crackdown next season. At least then some good will have come out of this debacle. It seems like a dream, but perhaps someday, sometime, a poor foul shooter will blow by his man and not get bearhugged on the way to the basket.

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When LeBron pays a visit to D.C. tomorrow night it’s time to step it up a notch. Forget simply booing. In honor of Brendan Haywood’s outstanding thespian performance I encourage all fans to serenade LeBron with their best impression of a 2-year-old’s tantrum every time he touches the ball. You could take it easy with a simple “Waaa, Waaa,” or you could be hardcore and go into full blown toddler wailing.

Ideally, an unique taunting sound will emerge—something along the lines the old Larry Murphy “Whoop, Whoop” turkey call. Every time LeBron steps foot in Washington I want his ears to let him know exactly what city he’s in.

Is LeBron actually acting like a baby? Only slightly. But when a guy lightly hits himself in the face with Darius Songaila’s arm and staggers backward like he just took a haymaker from Clubber Lang, he deserves more than just boos.

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Remember how excited everyone was for the upcoming Western play-offs? Blockbuster trades created a buzz not felt in the NBA for some time. For two months there were great games and constant debate about the best team in the West (remember the Lakers-Suns game right after the Shaq trade?) Every night the ordering of the play-off berths changed. Then play-off time came and guess what happened? Yawn.

Eric was right a week ago when he said that the Western conference play-offs were going to be much less exciting than people thought. As it turns out, the best four teams in the Western conference are… the top 4 seeds in the play-offs. Ho-hum. Only one series has gone to a game 6. Except for the double OT between the Spurs and Suns, no game has been within 4 points (the only decent series, Jazz-Rockets, have had three games within 4 points).

The Suns, with the addition of Shaq Diesel, looked flat and listless against the Spurs. Not that I fault Kerr or D’Antoni. A shakeup was needed. It just did not pan out.

The Dallas Mavericks looked pathetic against the young and athletic Hornets. Chris Paul ran circles against Jason Kidd, who has been a huge disappointment since his acquisition. Nowitzki continues to solidify himself as the softest guy in the league. Looks like Cuban needs to completely overhaul his team (except Josh Howard).

Utah is much better than people have been giving them credit for all year, and if not for the anomaly of a win streak (there was so much hype around this, and after this season it will never be talked about again), Houston would not be this high a seed. This was a mismatch, and (despite the blow-out last night), I think the Jazz will take this.

I don’t know why Denver even bothered showing up. If you are not even going to pretend to play basketball (and it wasn’t just their defense… every offensive possession was a one-on-one with no ball movement), can they just petition David Stern to let them start their off-season early and forfeit the whole series? I know Melo wants to be able to practice his late night drunk driving. Forget ragging on McGrady. Melo is 0-6 in play-off series, and doesn’t even seem to care.

(On a side note, I feel really bad for Allen Iverson. This guy has never had the opportunity to play on a really good team. I wish A.I. could have at least one more championship appearance before his body finally does give out after years of punishment.)

The Eastern conference, on the other hand, has provided us with three good series. The drama between LeBron and the Wizards team has added a little spice to a nice little rivalry. The 76ers and Hawks are showing that young, athletic, and motivated guys can give some of these vets a run for their money. The Celtics and Pistons have had a long season, and their age and stamina might catch up with them. And the best moment of the play-offs so far has to be Zaza getting all up in Garnett’s face (especially with Stern in the audience… he looked MORTIFIED!!)

So after an amazing last three months of the season, where you couldn’t turn on any talk show without hearing how this the West is the best conference in NBA history, the 1st round was a complete dud. However, I do think the second round will bode much better for the West. I think Utah will give LA a run for their money, and the dynasty Spurs versus Chris Paul and the Hornets will be contrasting styles and talents. Onward, ho!!!

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Forget about game one of the Suns-Spurs series. Forget about past and future heroics of Kobe and LeBron. The greatest moment of the NBA playoffs came in tonight’s Boston-Atlanta game.

Just moments after TNT interviewed David Stern (and Stern pretended to be excited about the Hawks strong play jeopardizing his plans for a Lakers-Celtics Finals) Kevin Garnett gave Zaza Pachulia a little elbow. Pachulia did not take kindly to that elbow and jumped in Garnett’s face. Joe Johnson stepped in between them, but Sam Cassell thought Johnson was a little too aggressive and he went after him. Almost instantly all 10 players were jawing and both coaches were on the court trying to clam things down.

Right at that moment TNT cut to a shot of Stern in the crowd. I want that producer promoted. The look on Stern’s face was priceless. You knew exactly what was going through his head. Fuck. Now I have to call TNT and tell them to tell Nike we have to cancel half of their playoff adds because we need to triple the amount of “NBA Cares” commercials in order to make up for this.

Fortunately for Stern the situation was diffused, and the worst thing to come out of the night for him was the Celtics continuing to look old and unathletic.

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Unlike the West, the Eastern Conference playoffs have a chance to be pleasantly surprising (thank you, low expectations).

The other reason the Eastern Conference playoffs will be good? The Washington Wizards. They meet the Cavs in the playoffs for the 3rd straight year and that first round series will be the best in the NBA not involving the Spurs and Suns. The Wizards want to beat the Cavs. Badly. Meanwhile, David Stern wants the Cavs to win. Badly.

Should the Wizards prevail (and I think they will), they’ll take on the Celtics (who will be coming off a closer than expected series against a very athletic Hawks team). Right now handing the Eastern Conference to the Celtics is all the rage, but the Wizards will beat them. (I’d like to be higher on the Celtics, but every time I turn on my TV they’re being pummeled by a short-handed Wizards team.)

For the first time in years all eight Eastern Conference playoff teams have potential.  The Hawks are young and athletic. The Sixers might be playing the best basketball in the NBA.  The Raptors could have won ten more games if they weren’t playing for the #6 seed.  Put everything together and you’ve got the best Eastern Conference playoffs in ages.

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