Friday, June 27, 2008 - NBA Draft Night

-Get ready for an All-NBA Draft blog.
-Derrick Rose goes #1 to the Chicago Bulls, which creates a log jam at the PG slot for the Bulls, meaning Chris Duhon or Kirk Hinrich will be expendable.
-The Charlotte Bobcats will make the NBA playoffs next year - pending the health of Emeka Okafor, Sean May and Adam Morrison. They selected my boy, DJ Augastin out of Texas to back up Raymond Felton, Kyle Weaver and France's Alexis Ajinca, a 7'0-er with a 7'8 wingspan.
-Can't go wrong with either Brook or Robin Lopez. Although you can make the argument for who is in the better environment. Brook will be getting more PT in New Jersey, but Robin will get the opportunity to play behind Shaquille O'Neal and alongside Amare Stoudamire and Steve Nash.
-Dick Vitale is a little too enthusiastic for my liking...
-So, the Heat select Michael Beasley, even after Pat Riley's negative comments. Once again, we will have to wait and see if he stays a Heat.
-Joe Alexander becomes the first Taiwan born player to be drafted.
-Kosta Koufos will fit in well with the Utah Jazz, playing behind Mehmet Okur. Good selection by the Jazz.
-The Seattle Supersonics once again draft another project big man, selecting Serge Ibaka, who will try to stand out among the other young prospects: Saer Sene, Robert Swift, Johan Petro and Jeff Green.
-The New York Knicks went out of their comfort zone and drafted international player Danilo Gallinari out of Italy at #6, who experts say won't be ready for at least a few years. Not good news for Knicks fans.
-Holy sassy molassy, Stuart Scott actually makes a solid point. Forget Rose, Beasley and Mayo, last years' overall #1 pick Greg Oden is the favourite to win ROY.
-The Portland Trailblazers will be downright scary next year, with Greg Oden making his debut and all-star guard Brandon Roy. They added Jerryd Bayless, Nicolas Batum and Brandon Rush from the draft to their already loaded bench.
-The Pistons know how to draft. Joe Dumars' recent draftees? Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Affalo and Jason Maxiell - all solid rotation players. Some less recent draft picks include: Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet Okur. Other than Stuckey, all of the players were selected from 23rd overall to the second round. This year, Dumars selected DJ White out of the rough with the second last pick in the first round, but traded the pick to Seattle for their pick and a future second rounder.
-Huge surprise, Chris Douglas-Roberts falls all the way down to 40 - where the New Jersey Nets selected him. Side note, one more pick and he could have been in a Raptors uniform. Raptors end up taking Australian, Nathan Jawai, who probably won't end up being a rotation player. Still feeling really bitter that CD-R was one pick away...
-Stopped watching after the 41st pick - as the second round is usually a crap-shoot anyhow. But don't tell that to Gilbert Arenas, Carlos Boozer, Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili etc.

Thursday, June 26, 2008 - Missile Command Jones

-Joe Dumars is a Top 5 GM in the NBA without question, but firing Flip Saunders and replacing him with inexperienced Michael Curry was a step backwards.
-Hockey may be the sport that I know the least about; however, I do know that giving Vincent LaCavalier a whopping $77 million dollar contract was not a smart move financially.
-Village idiot of the week goes to Don Imus...wait, Shawn Chacon has just stolen that crown. The guy is a complete moron for his latest impression of Latrell Sprewell.
-For the second consecutive game WNBA's Candace Parker threw down a one handed dunk.
-Dontrelle Willis has really fallen off the baseball map.
-Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose will most likely be selected by the Chicago Bulls tonight. Can't go wrong with either of them in my opinion, strangely Pat Riley doesn't feel the same way about Beasley. Could this be Riley's poker face fooling us all in an attempt to snag Mikey-B, or does he really think Beasley's a bust? Tune in to tonight's NBA Draft to find out...
-MLB umpire Brian Runge has been suspended one game after his bump on Mets' manager Jerry Manuel.
-Jim Rome burns on the Cowboys' Adam Jones wanting to drop the nickname Pacman, "I never thought that I would say this, but you're going to have to earn the right to be called by your given name. You gave that up the second you started lighting up strip joints and breaking the law, that went out the window when you insisted we refer to you as an 80's video game, and when you put P. Jones on the back of your jersey. But if you want to change your name to Galaga Jones, or Frogger Jones - I'm cool with that. I'll even call you Missile Command Jones if you want, but let's not get crazy with Adam."
-Kevin Love's favourite Beach Boy's track is California Girls, this useless tidbit comes courtesy of PTI.
-Hey Derrick Rose, Lebron James called - he wants his cockyness back. No way you're getting MVP.
-Odds Tony Romo dumps Jessica Simpson at the beginning of the season, to prevent distractions and pre-conceived notions of off-field distractions? 83%.
-Safety wise, MLB should seriously consider banning maple bats.
-Sources reveal that Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons has been traded to the Nets for Richard Jefferson. If this trade goes down, Yi will team up with Vince Carter and Nenad Krstic to form one of the softest frontcourts in the NBA.
-Fairly recent news - Leonardo DiCaprio will star as video game legend Nolan Bushnell in the biopic "Atari".
-Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova were upset in the second round at Wimbledon by 40th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 154th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva.
-ESPN has reported that both the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers have agreed on the Ford et al. - Jermaine O'Neal deal.
-Stephen Colbert is now raising awareness for "face violence"