RETRO: quick 05 draft thoughts

I was thinking that there was a conspiracy going on to get the Lakers high schooler Gerald Green, considered a top five pick and possibly the best player in the draft, as far as potential goes. The Raptors made everyone say “What???” and I figured David Stern had instructed them to let the Lakers pick up a steal at ten, just as Caron Butler and Paul Pierce had been before. To my amazement, the Lakers instead took another high schooler, one who wasn’t supposed to go in the top 20 by most experts. So….. what gives? Green eventually fell to the Celtics at 18, and even though they don’t really have a place for him now, they’re quite happy.

The Villanueva pick ensured the Raptors don’t really know what’s going on. They’ve needed a real point for a while and they still don’t have it. The Hawks don’t have a place for Marvin Williams, so maybe there’s something happening there. They need to make some moves or figure something out. Bogut may or may not turn into something, but a good center is worth the risk. I actually think the Lakers did okay as far as positioning, because they had no place for Green anyway, and Chris Mihm is not the answer at center. The Sixers got a high school guard late who was considered a potential first rounder, so that might be nice. Their last couple second rounders have worked out good.

Teams seem to be more scrutinizing of high schoolers and foreigners in the first round. Tshkitvilli or whatever, you have cost a lot of your fellow Europeans a shot at fooling teams into drafting them high. Enjoy their rage.

RETRO: ripping the tv out

If you've been watching the NBA finals (not a good series to see if you don't truly love basketball), you might've noticed these sappy halftime segments on the players and the rough situations they grew up in. It was one thing to see Ginobli and his family struggling in the streets of Argentina, now so famous in his own country that they have to hire bodyguards to prevent constant kidnapping. But tonight, they had a segment on Rip Hamilton and Coatesville.

Coatesville is, if you don't know, next to Lancaster on the train route to Philly. I spent half a summer working there. It's got some rough parts, but ........ it's not the bane of existence they made it out to be. Even better, they had Jamie Foxx narrate these things. "Coatesville is a humble town. Here, they respect Rip and his work ethic." I guess, even thoguh he's not the only person to ever come out of there. You wouldn't know that from watching this. They then had pseudo-interviews with old white guys who worked in the steel mill, which they kept showing over and over again. They were all really, really, really proud of him.

Anyway, it was funny to see them play up the town as a third-world wasteland. It's not NEARLY that bad. And a lot of towns in Pennsylvania, and other places, are reeling from the steel mill industry heading overseas. This isn't the worst. If they wanted a better local angle, they could've gone with Rasheed, who grew up in North Philly, which makes Coatesville look pretty damn nice. Maybe they're saving that for game 4. Sigh........