Lombardi's_kid_brother

On defense, it's pretty much either going to be a blocked shot or dunk, I think. Seriously, you can't play them at the same time, can you? I like the Singleton pick. He would be able to play 15 to 20 minutes for a good team.

Seriously? You just asked that.

Kanter seems like the only guy in this draft - outside of Irving - who could be a home run. (He could be a slow grounder back to the pitcher too). I would be tempted to move up to get him just because every other option at 6 sounds like the 8th man in an 8-man rotation. Kemba Walker seems like the type of undersized combo guard who never plays significant minutes in the NBA.

You can do a lot of stuff with Jason Kidd because he is Jason Kidd. He's become a deadly three point shooter. He's always had a great post game. He is still remarkably good at creating a decent shot when the shot clock is expiring. Basically, the Mavs can let Barea do Barea stuff for 12 seconds and then run a real offense for 12 seconds, because Kidd is still Kidd. Asking a 20 year old Wall and a rookie to do that seems to be a reach.

The biggest problem I see in boxing right now (besides the disaster that is the heavyweight division) is the poor quality of the referees. Granted, Jones was fighting in Russia and God only knows how refs are chosen there. But the Hopkins' fight was horribly officiated. And it seems to be a common theme over the past few years. They were showing highlights of the Moore-Foreman fight and seeing Joe Cortez really brought it into focus how poorly the fights are officiated now.

I don't get why Jones is doing this. He seemed like the one boxer who watched his money and who had a life outside boxing.

That was the most exciting Bernard Hopkins fight I've ever seen. Someone needs to take his genes and study them.

I have no earthly idea what Minnesota does. I have no earthly idea what Minnesota's plan is. The two picks that make sense for them are Williams and Kanter. But aren't those guys redundant on that roster? Isn't Kanter the same as Darko? Isn't Williams the same as Beasley? At some point, Minnesota has to trade somebody and get older. I've just spent ten minutes staring at Minnesota's roster, and I don't see how you can add a lottery pick and come up with a rotation that makes sense. I'm not even sure what Kahn is pissed about. It's not like he is lacking in point guards.

Translate that into English please and I'll respond.

Like I said, my vote is take the money 98 percent of the time. And I think Sullenger probably should have come out. His game is NBA ready now, and I don't see it getting any better in college. This draft, though, scares me. You are going to have 19 and 20 year olds going deep into debt off loans from agents as they wait for the league to start who knows when. I would like to see the top 20 draft picks undergo some kind of endurace test on the day of the draft and then see how they do in that same test on the first day of training camp - whenever that is.

Generally, I think you should enter the draft as soon as you are guaranteed to be a lottery pick. But this year....I don't know. I think a lot of these younger players are smarter than they were 20 years ago and know that they are going to end up sitting on their ass until January or February and they be after thoughts for the coaches who aren't going to spend the two weeks they have to get ready for a shortened season getting some rookie up to speed. If you are drafted this year, there is a good chance that you will not play meaningful minutes until November of 2012. You probably won't even have a meaningful practice until training camp 2012. And you won't be seeing any money until 2012 regardless. If you aren't going to see your big payday until February 2012, you might as well wait until June 2012 and get another college season in. ---------- Post added April-18th-2011 at 09:55 AM ---------- That's some ridiculous expectations.

How dare you call them belts? Vince McMahon would fire you for that.

I just don't see anyone wanting to trade into the lottery this year. Do you really think any team is sitting there and thinking that Kyle Irving is the answer to all their prayers? What's his ceiling? The sixth best point guard in the league over his career? I would draft one of the international dudes. You can at least con the fans if you do that.

I see no big difference between picking 8th in this draft and picking 4th. I'd rather have two shots at underwhelming players than one. This is going to be one of those drafts where two or three stars will emerge from players that were barely on the radar.

If I'm running this team, Blatche is gone so...there you go. If you go PF in the draft, I think you still need another big. (I'm of the opinion that you can never have too many bigs as 2s and 3s seem to be the easiest thing to find).

The more I think about it, doesn't Landry bring you everything that Blatche does - except with more efficiency, consistency, effort, and intelligence?

There's nothing on that list that really jumps out at me - except maybe Carl Landry who I really really like and who was adored in Houston. What are the C's going to do with Big Baby? I'd be willing to overpay for a guy with his attitude and work ethic. I also think he could score 15 points a game on a bad team. If I'm running the Wizards, I'm probably more interested in brining in "good guys" as vets right now while trying to build through the draft. Both those dudes would qualify - and both are still relatively young.

I have two problems with this rebuilding plan. 1. I'm not convinced Wall is the guaranteed all-world player you are making him out to be. Operating under the assumption that he is going to be as good if not better than Derrick Rose is a little dangerous. I think he's good. I think he's talented. But he is really really raw in my view. And the idea of having a raw talent on a bad team for a few years worries me. This is how you end up with Stephon Marbury instead of Russel Westbrook. 2. I think Sullinger is probably the safest pick in the draft, but I think he is going to be a player like Paul Millsap - except slightly more grounded. He just strikes me as the dirty work power forward that good teams need, but I don't know if you want to spend a top three pick on him. I'm big on value. And I know, someone has to go in the top three - it's a rule. ---------- Post added March-16th-2011 at 11:04 AM ---------- I only knew of this because Deadspin linked to it and called it the Second Worst Triple Double Ever. Ricky Davis is never losing the title for the worst. You would have to block your own teammate's shot and then jam in the rebound to beat Ricky.

I can't name five players who would have done that.

I'm late to this conversation, but why on earth would you want more top ten picks in what may be the weakest draft class in decades that is going to occur before a near certain lockout. You are going to get two okayish players who are going to sit on their asses until February. I'd almost be tempted to trade out and wait a year.

The Wizards move is kind of innocuous. I think they are better off but I don't see it making them a playoff contender. Maybe they find a sixth man or something.

Is anyone the least bit excited about this upcoming draft class? That's the big cocern I would have. What can you get with a late first round pick in a draft filled with dog poo?

The NWA basically died - even though it never really went away. And the remnants of the old Charlotte/Crockett territory were bought by Ted Turner...who paid a fee for the NWA name for a years and then realized that he was wasting his money for no apparent benefit. The big problem the NWA had was that Vince McMahon was one guy making every decision while the NWA was 10 or 15 guys who couldn't agree on ****. So, McMahon could divide and conquer. It also helped that all the old promoters were stuck in the 60s. I've always thought that it Fritz Von Erich and Bill Watts had merged early on and gone national with ESPN behind them, they could have at least been a long-term viable #2 - if not over-taken the WWF. The Von Erich boys could have easily been as popular nationally as Hogan for the simple fact that they would have drawn young girls to the arenas. Have you ever watched old WCCW shows? No wrestler has ever gotten the response that the Von Erichs got. Good 16 year old Baptist girls were grabbing them and trying to make out with them on their way to the ring. On top of that - aside from Mike - they could all work. Granted, by 1997, everyone in that locker room was dead or dying from drugs...but they had a chance damn it. Crockett could have survived too if he had more business sense. For some reason, he felt obligated to buy all the dying territories. All he had to do was let them rot and then buy the talent he wanted for 10 cents on the dollar. Instead, he ended up with all of the UWF and CWA and Florida debt to go along with his own. If Crockett had just bought the talent he needed, kept his base in Charlotte and run tours in a territory marked by Baltimore, Miami, New Orleans, and St. Louis, he might still be in business.

Bret was never all that popular in the US. He was champion when US business was way down because he was a huge draw in Canada and overseas. His window as one of the top guys was surprisingly small (1992ish to 1997ish). If you are a guy like me in his mid 30s, it would have been very easy to miss Bret Hart's prime completely. I pretty stopped watching wrestling in high school early 90s and picked it up again late in college (1996). I know Hart was the champ, but it didn't really register with me. Hogan in his prime was a legitimate world-wide celebrity. People who never watched a wrestling match in their lives knew who he was. He also was #1 draw for about 8 years and one of the top five top draws for about 15 or 16 years. Also, when I stopped watching wrestling he was huge, and when I came back to wrestling he was huge. Flair is strange. He's nowhere near in Hogan or Austin or Rock's league in terms of worldwide popularity. He was really only ever a major draw in the Southeast. As NWA champion, his job was to put on a good match with the local babyface. It was the babyface's job to sell the tickets. In other words, he may have sold Texas Stadium or Reunion Arena when he faced the Von Erichs, but it was the Von Erichs job to get the people in the arena. Yet, he is in the DNA of pro wrestling to a degree that no other wrestler is. If you hit someone with a chop, the crowd will say "Whoo!" even if they don't know why. It's probably because he has been on national cable tv pretty much once a week since 1982. He's like Ron Popeil. He also was on both sides of the early to mid 90s wrestling downturn.

Why would the average 15-year-old WWE fan have any clue who Bret Hart is? He hasn't been relevant since 1997. It would be like me watching WWF in 1986 and getting excited over - I dunno - Bobo Brazil.