All right, class, what kind of things do we look for in an NBA draftee?
A player who's proven, or one with oodles of upside? A guy coming off a spectacular college career, or one coming off the bench for his Serbian club team? A player who's shown constant improvement, or one who mysteriously fared worse as a senior than a junior?
No, Kiki, put your hand down, it's the first answer to each of these questions, not the second.
Yesterday the Nuggets picked 20th in the first round, selecting Julius Hodge, shooting guard/small forward, out of North Carolina State. College fans will immediately recognize his name, as Hodge was the ACC Player of the Year as a junior. Unfortunately, he just finished his senior year, which was marked mostly by a dip in his scoring numbers (he developed a sudden inability to hit free throws or threes) and a punch to the groin by Wake Forest guard Chris Paul.
Hodge is mostly a mid-range and slashing-type scorer, kind of like the more-than-sufficient small forward we already have. (Actually, saying Hodge is effective from mid-range is pushing it-he shot 25.5% from the close-in college three-point arc last year.) I guess he fills Rodney White's spot as the Carmelo-like backup to Carmelo who won't mesh well with Carmelo, and who, therefore, will get few minutes. Also on the negative side, he's 6-7, 202 pounds and has the hairline of a man three times his age.
However, Hodge is a competitive guy and provided some of the best college trash talk in recent memory. So he has a chance, though he doesn't fit in with the team.
Well, what did the Nuggets need? An up-tempo point guard would be nice, and so would a low-post scorer. At that point in the draft, however, we're most likely to find someone to fill our most glaring weakness: an outside shooter (again, unless you think Voshon is some kind of cure-all).
At the 22nd pick, the Nuggets wised up and might have filled two of these holes by taking junior guard Jarrett Jack of Georgia Tech. He's got size (6-3, 202 lbs., the exact same listing as Chauncey Billups), outside shooting ability (three-point percentage rose each year, topping out at 44.2% this season), and big-game experience (a national title game appearance a year ago, and increased scoring each year in ACC play). Granted, he was awful in that title game (one-for-eight, five turnovers), but it's the 22nd pick in the draft.
Great pick!
Almost.
Of course, the Nuggets' braintrust couldn't resist the urge to tinker, so we sent Jack to Portland for the 27th pick and the 35th pick, with which we picked...drum roll, please...Linas Kleiza and Ricky Sanchez!
Again, that far down there are no guarantees, but it seems like even the undersized Salim Stoudemire or undermotivated Chris Taft has a better chance of chipping in.
And while Carmelo is young and Kenyon Martin is signed for years to come, the Nuggets are not in a position to build for the future. For one, we're barely squeaking into the playoffs as it is, so we need help now. Second, you don't make long-term arrangements around Marcus Camby's health, you know?
Nevertheless, we gave up on Jack, who will probably be decent and unspectacular pretty quickly, for two youngsters who might not make it to training camp.
I'm particularly intrigued by Kleiza, as the Denver Post was clearly scrambling for nice things to say about him. Directly from the Post's capsule:
"Strengths: Hustler whom coach George Karl compared with Eduardo Najera. Nickname is the Vanilla Gorilla. Losing 20 pounds opened the Nuggets' eyes. Weaknesses: Did not dominate in Big 12 in his two years with Tigers. Some were surprised he left early."
One of his strengths is his nickname? That's the best we can do? (Not only that, "Vanilla Gorilla" sucks. I think I saw it on the menu at Ben and Jerry's.)
Coach Karl compared him to a player already on our roster (Najera, so he doesn't fill a need), and Vandeweghe compared him to Matt Harpring. Harpring and Najera have nothing in common as players, so we're clearly not wasting too much time scouting these guys. And there's a reason the charge-drawing types often go undrafted-because there are a million guys willing to sell out their body to play in the NBA, and wise teams don't invest any value in them.
As for Ricky Sanchez, he's 17, 6-11 and 205, and is versatile for a man his size which, as always, is code for "can't rebound." Finally, late in the second round the Nuggets selected the Belgian assasin, Axel Hervelle! I don't know if he really goes by that nickname, but if he can't stick at forward, at least the Nuggets have a new lead guitarist. Rock on, Axel!
19 comments:
potential belgian nick names up for sale...
muscles from brussels - i'm sure van damme won't mind
the waffler - i'm sure kerry won't mind giving that one up either
the fighting flem - flemmish is sort of a dead language, isn't that right?
I think Ax is going to end up with something more fitting, like "Waiver Wire".
I think Sanchez is heading to the NBDL...brilliant...that league has definitely developed players, just like it was intended. Like Chris Andersen, and, um, uh, did I say Chris Andersen already? And since he was the first call-up a few months in he barely counts.
it's drafts like these that make me think it's not worth going beyond ten picks.
the rest of the guys should just be up in the air, free to sign with whoever wants them the most.
john, i took the shot at jfk because it was such an obvious one, belgium waffle, the waffler, come on? As an nascent wordsmith, it's my craft to take advantage of any combination of pop-culture references available to me.
unfortunately... bush & co. are doing a great job at convincing me to be a party loyalist for a long, long time.
"but what are we to do when our party heads leave so much to be desired?"
John... you raise a good question.
I'm not convinced there's a cure all for this situation, but it seems to me that there are a couple of things that could be done among the general populus.
1. I think the lack of good leaders available (obviously includes the dems too, i mean come on, the best we got is a stiff socialite, a moderate jew who looks like death hit him with a sock full of nickels, and a socially awkward hick who solves fiscal problems with lock boxes) is indicative of the wrong type of people getting involved in politics. I wish there were a refiner's fire of sorts, beyond the primaries. I really feel there is just a lack of good prospects out there. And the ones who are good (mcCain, salazar?) have/would get sabotaged by the big money players. It doesn't pay to be a moderate in the primaries... that'll get you smoked. But then, once you become triumphant... then you pull back to the middle. So i think there needs to be some rectification of the myopia that is involved in primary electoral behavior. We should really emphasize national electibility, not those who are saying exactly what we want to hear. It's totally a double edged sword, but i think moderate presidents are much less likely to pull boners of iraqi-proportions. Just a thought.
2. I think the american people also need to take some credit for these crappy guys. I mean, they voted for him/them. The american voter has a long way to come as far as being informed, and being able to understand what sort of characteristics make a good candidate (beyond having a familiar last name, lots of money, and a cushy ivy league education handed to him on a silver platter).
Johnny, not until our ticket comes to fruition in 2020 will there be any candidates worth showing up for.
we'll revolutionize the world.
Hey Mike, if you wrote about a subject that was worth discussing; I could trash talk a little more... Orange Julius? Now what the hell am I suppose to say about that? Let's get it together maaaaaaaaan.
What I meant to say was that the draft is boring. May I be the first to suggest that you write an article on politics? I realize this is a sports blog, but let's face it, no real sport is in season. I guess I'll do the honors, and say that I hope Bu$h is impeached ASAP. By the way, Pogs, tell your mom I'll have her money by next Tuesday. And jmgore, your momma's so poor, she can't even pay attention!!
:-)(-:
And jmgore, you're so fat that when you go to the zoo the elephants start throwing YOU popcorn!! And I almost forgot to ask, why are you so attracted to Bu$h physically? Do you like a man who sends millions of Americans to death for a lost cause?
hell yeah... alexis is back!
and in rare form i might add.
mike, john, should we flip for rebuttal rights?
hmm.. i'll at least address the barb directed toward me
"By the way, Pogs, tell your mom I'll have her money by next Tuesday."
alexis, fortunately for you my mom is in the the bail bond business... and she was the only one who would foot you the cash on your 7 counts of indecent exposure and sodomy case. Some might call your behavior "habitual."
so i'll tell my mom you'll have her money. perhaps... on the way to your next "elite business conference" you can pan handle to make up the difference.
but back to sports -
mike... may i suggest a topic on a detailed critique on the rockies organization? My boss, who's pretty keen on baseball, thinks that that the monforts should sell the team to someone who's willing to spend more cash and reel in some big names. he figures we need at least TWO more big bats to put around helton. Only then, could we even have a chance.
even in the glory days of the blake street bombers, the year we had 5 players with over 40 home runs... did we only go 82-80. Clearly we need some sort of revolutionary formula. Right now, we are sort of trying to rip off the a's and twins model.. invest in young talent from within... build around a few veterans. The problem is... our key rookies get injured or suffer from low morale.
on the upside, we do have 6 rookies in the running for rookie of the year, quite impressive.
if barmes hadn't injured himself, he'd be among the elite for sure.
and alexis,
i'm shocked to find that there are things you actually know less about than sports.
that would obviously be current affairs and politics. I don't like president bush, but you are doing nothing for the cause.
i question whether you even got a GED sometimes...
I guess I can't respond to what Alex said to me directly, except that I am not going to write about the draft again, but you probably could've guessed that. And the bail bonds thing was great.
What do you mean you have nothing to say about the draft? How about "Jason Maxiell is the best player in world!!! RIp Hamilton plus Maxipad will lead to Pistons 3dr straight champeenchip next year!" Oh, wait, I guess they lost this time, my bad. And yes, I definitely had to look up whom Detroit drafted.
OK, Bush should definitely be impeached if you think so, Al. I didn't realize the death toll was up to the millions...I gotta start following the news.
Were you talking about Ken Salazar, Pugs? I hate that cheesy dweeb, don't ever mention him in my blog again. I'm serious-anyone who thinks he can appeal to my state loyalty by wearing a cowboy hat deserves a swift and orderly public flogging. Wow, he's got my best interests at heart!
I've been avoiding baseball all year long, since it's all we got for a couple months starting now, but that's definitely my plan for this week, Pugs, so stay tuned.
mike,
yes, ken salazar.
He's a good man. And the best senator that colorado will have in a long time.
it makes me cringe to think that you voted for pete coors?
the freaking guy didn't even know who the prime minister of canada was... you know, canada, the US's largest trade parter? Yeah, i really want a spoiled brat old money silver spoon up my butt businessman representing colorado.
give me a freaking break.
You really think Salazar will out-perform 1/156th Native American Ben Nighthorse Campbell and the only veternarian in Congress? (Yes, that was a joke, but Allard did get mentioned in the Onion, which is good enough for me.)
I couldn't care less if Salazar's a "good man", whatever that means. And I've pretty much accepted that a lot of politicians have had easy lives, at least financially, so that doesn't bug me.
Who cares who the prime minister of Canada is? Now if Salazar actually had a working relationship with him, that would be an important difference, but knowing the guy's name...you're forgetting an important distinction: The guy's a Canadian! He's NOT FROM AMERICA! Sorry, zoned out there for a sec. Gimme props, Alex.
I did vote for Coors...trust me, I wasn't thrilled about it, but I'll die before I turn into a wallflower independent ("The whole system's corrupt."). I would have much rather had Kerry win than Salazar for purely personal reasons of distaste.
mike.
you have absolutely lost all credibility with me in the political realm.
on to sports.
i think i'd rather listen to alexis pontificate.
the canadian bit... by the way... is about knowing things that a representative of a large body of people should know. Being a statesmen.
and considering canada is our largest trade partner, and here in colorado we get a lot of beef, etc from canada, it might be something you'd care to inform yourself about.
look outside the freaking box man.
Besides, that's just a microcosm for a host of issues that petey pablo had no idea what he was doing.
just a rich spoiled brat, inherited a business, with a big money name... trying to stick his nose where he doesn't belong.
who cares. salazar won.
Ouch.
Cold-blooded.
Yes, I was kidding. Knowing who the PM of Canada is is relevant for a senator of any state. Just trying to win points with my biggest fan.
So Coors was a rich brat, I think we got that. So what? I don't see how that alone makes someone unfit for office. How tough should one's life have to be to qualify for the Senate? I really don't think growing up rich and having things handed to you makes someone not "belong" in the Senate...if anything, wouldn't that make him fit in more?
I'm not here to defend Coors; like I said, I didn't like him all that much. I thought I made it clear that I didn't vote for Coors because I like Coors; I voted for him because I don't like Salazar.
I just don't agree with the jump from "Salazar ran against a spoiled newcomer" to "therefore, Salazar is the best senator we'll have for years to come", no matter how well we can all insult Pete personally.
You already know you'd probably have more fun discussing this with John, who sadly doesn't seem to make the comments section of this blog an important staple of his daily Internet diet...I care a lot less about politics than he does. Or you and Alex do, for that matter.
brothers gore.
thanks for reminding me why i swore off talking politics with youg guys.
i couldn't disagree with you more...
i'd rather keep the civility (on my side at least) towards you and save my hostility for mo-town homophobes.
oh and mikey... you can continue to postpone your treatment of baseball... cause now you have bronocos mandatory mini-camp to discuss/dissect, right?
john.
i always have more.. you know that.
i'm just reminded of an oath i made where i decided that the friendship of one john gore was more important than coming off victor in political debate.
it's kind of pointless...
especially online.
however, alexis, while he's at his mary kay, nuskin, amway meetings, i'm stuck here in denver being a consultant. man, i wish i had his lifestyle
I am shocked that Pugs broke this off in the name of friendship, if only because he compared me to Alex and found me lacking.
This job is so easy, you'd think an Ohio State booster helped me find it, so that's not it. However, I will fill you in on local happenings shortly.
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