6/22: Is There An NBA Draft In Here? (Part II)
11:30 a.m.
• So last week I picked my Top 5 in Cena's NBA all time draft event over in the Sports folder. Don’t know what I’m doing? Peep this.
Red Auerbach is off the board. I really haven’t thought of a coach yet, but since chemistry is such a factor Rudy Tomjanovich might be a good pick. However, that’s a few rounds down the road. I have a few ideas about my first few bench players. I will probably go more for a guard because my Power Forward can also play Center if need be. We’ll wait and see. There goes Michael Cooper. There goes Mark Price. There goes Mitch Richmond. There goes T-Mac.
Round 6: Jeff Hornacek
I had about a half-dozen guards from the last 10-15 years that I’m considering. Several I don’t think will be around much longer (Jeff Hornacek, Mookie Blaylock) while there are others I think I can get in a later round (Alvin Robertson, Jeff Malone). There are a few others, but I’ll mention them once they get picked. I went with Hornacek first because I was surprised of his high steal average. He was as better scorerer than Mookie and was a terrific free throw shooter.
Gert picked Wade. I like Wade, but he’s still too young for something like this. Oakley. I liked him, too. I didn’t think he’d be around much longer. Shit. Alvin went before Mookie. I was going to take Mookie first. David Thompsoin. I forgot about him. Wait a minute -- isn’t he the one with all those kids who hate him? There is Ralph Sampson. I was curious to see where he would fall. Daugherty was on my short list for big men. There goes Mookie.
Round 7: Bill Laimbeer
I was hoping for a defensive guard like Mookie and Alvin but they are taken. I guess now I should look for a defensive forward. I have two from my generation: Bill Laimbeer and Horace Grant. Oh man this is tough. I have yet to look at stats but I’m sure Grant is the better of the two. Wow, Bill has a higher average per game in points and rebounds. YES!!!! I get my all-time favorite player and an absolute asshole on the court. He also has a good free throw percentage so the Hack-a-Shaq strategy won’t work here.
And Horace gets picked with the next selection. It’s hard to go wrong with him. I forgot all about Drazen Petrovic, but I remember when the Nets were on a station in my market (WWOR?) and I watched quite a bit of him. Great shooter, although I have another scoring guard in mind. And Bill got taken a few picks later.
Round 8: Dolph Schayes
I was thinking of going another way with this pick, but he was still around so I had to take him. Along with being one of those “all 50 year” people, his size could put him in the small forward spot and relive Alex English when I need some more rebounding, which he has plenty of experience dong.
Gert took Fat Lever. Nice pick. I actually thought of him when making my list of Point Guards, but because I already took Alex English I didn’t want to take tandems in this event. Besides, with Fat and English, Denver didn’t really do much in the 1980s other than score a whole bunch. Bill Sharman was taken. I was wondering if someone was going to get him. Hell, I would have selected him with my next pick if he was still around. I thought about Chambers but I didn’t’ feel he’d fit in chemistry-wise. Smits was another good selection; it’s a shame the guy was hurt a lot of times. SHIT~! I was scrolling down too fast and looked at Gert’s pick before making mine. I was thinking Rudy Tomjanovich as my coach, but I didn’t think he’d get picked for another round or two. Because Gert took him and I saw he was selected before making my choice he’s off the boards for me.
Round 9: Paul Arzin
Uh, oh. There are no more Top 50 of all time players. Now who am I going to pick? Wikipedia says he’s a 6’4” forward. Now that’s a SMALL forward. I just realized that my four bench players are all white. I’m liking this team more and more.
Camby was a good selection, along with Strickland although Rod was at the bottom of my short list for guards. Drat. Mark Jackson was at the top of that same list.
Round 10: Terry Cummings
I remember this guy from the early 1990s with the Spurs, but his stats really shined in the 1980s with the Bucks. This shores up my forward reserves. I was thinking about going for a much-needed backup point guard, but I couldn’t pass Cummings up.
Gert went with Jermaine O'Neal, who I considered at one point but decided against it due to chemistry reasons. Much like Petrovic, I remember Kevin Willis when the Hawks were always on TBS (or was it TNT?). Kirilenko was another Jermaine O’Neal situation for me, although he hasn’t been around as long as I would have liked him to be. I was thinking of taking Bowen just to pair him up with Laimbeer. Michael Finely was taken, which makes my one upcoming selection easier – provided he’s still around. Majerle was one of those I was thinking about but could never pull the trigger.
Round 11: Doc Rivers
I was torn between him and Mike Bibby, but I went with Rivers although I give the edge to Bibby. The reason I went with Rivers is because I’m considering Doug Christie for a later pick. If I go with Bibby, I probably wouldn’t select Christie due to them having played together for a time.
LOL – Gert went with Paul Arzin and mentioned his stint with the Marines. I might as well just pick a coach in the last round considering I think most everyone else took one already. Shareef Abdur-Rahim – like that terrorist will be getting a spot on my bench. I didn’t think of PJ Brown, drat.
Round 12: Doug Christie
Yeah, I know it’s dumb to impose this rule on myself, but what’s the point of doing an “all-time” draft if you’re going to pick players that were teammates for a while?
Reggie Theus – forgot about him. World B. Free is another great pick.
Round 13: John Kundla
Well, with who I selected I don’t need someone to do much coaching. My first pick of Rudy T. was already taken, so after doing some research, I figure this guy will do. He’s a hall of famer, won 5 titles in 6 years and knows what to do with big men (he had George Mikan on his team).
So there we go. I’ll do a recap of my picks in a future entry.