Chicken Littles: Sky done fell! Draft Thread 2011

[doclinkin]

Arias of unquenchable doom have you convinced. All is lost! Might as well get a jumpstart on squinting into the future, peering through the Katrina event of rain, hoping for a waystation where we can rest and kindle small hope...

When questioned if he ever played with a cat as proficient as JaVale in funnelling errant balls to the basket John Wall instantly responded he played with hyperathlete CJ Leslie. Curious, I had to take a look. Kid has antigravity boots:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daflJ_K2hL0[/youtube]

And notice. He's already got JVMcGee's signature salute down pat.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYLbHRJPjyQ&NR=1&feature=fvwp[/youtube]

Razzle. Dazzle. Kid is fun to watch. Keep your eye on NC State next year.

Remember the Teddy Dotcom longterm plan has nothing whatever to do with instant improvement, but instead stockpiling young talent, creating a base of support, a foundation for a playstyle, an attitude, a cultural shift to a winning method, and ultimately building durable success at the upper echelon by constant evaluation and incremental improvement. Steady Teddy. Progress is the watchword. Championship the reward, dynasty the goal.

Every year there are startling talents that become available. There's a danger in improving too quickly and getting stuck as a 'pretty good' team. That way you miss out on adding peak talents. Miami is irrelevant to the plan as far as I'm concerned. Some scientists theorize the development of human beings foresight and conceptual genius found genesis in our hunting habits. Not from superior tools alone but from our stamina. Only dogs, wolves and humans hunt by running their prey to death. We're distance hunters, endurance hunters. Sight the prey out from long range then run them down with superior stamina and teamwork. We don't overheat, we sweat.

So put in your sweat work here with your advance scouting. If we can't outsmart 'em, out-start 'em. Get the work done early.

[Hoopalotta]

After starting in on petty name calling in the Bron thread, I've been thrashed, so I thought I'd try and disguise the 2011 draft thread amidst this cowardly drive by of a sand castle as I can't put together even a modicum of a counter argument that halfway makes sense.

Sweet, no arguments there.

[doclinkin]

After starting in on petty name calling in the Bron thread, I've been thrashed, so I thought I'd try and disguise the 2011 draft thread amidst this cowardly drive by of a sand castle as I can't put together even a modicum of of a counter argument that halfway makes sense.

Sweet, no arguments there.

Alright. Nice, you've now been here a minute and feel sassy since you've survived a dust-up with our boy barelyawake who never ever gives up on an argument. (And believe it, he never does. That will come up again and again). Feel like a big boy baboon willing to hoot and bluster for alpha status. No more hiding behind the pose of twee self-defecating humor and limpwristed smirking behind your hands and coy too cute metaphors. You want to throw bolos, get in a good old anonymous internet dust-up, get your digital macho on.

Fair enough. My week in the hospital dealing with family illness and loss may have seemed like I'd ceded your point that somehow we were utterly derailed by the fact that Pat Riley once again managed to swing a deal. As if that were totally unprecedented. I can see how you might have swole with pride that you hooted a gruff and convincing hoot.

But If you want to have a little knockdown here, nice, I'll make you my personal mission, can't promise I'll be here every day, but I do promise I'll stalk you every minute I get. If you've decided that it's best for me to personally dislike you, excellent, it's been a while, but I think I could manage to sustain a surfeit of wrath in your honor:

In this case let's talk it over. Some how you want to make cowardice seem a virtue. A carefully considered position. In fact the only reasonable position. That your Thaddeus Young masterplan was utterly devastated by LeBron's defection from contention for top-dog on his own team ---

--[much less contention for MVP/Best-ever in his mano-a-mano tete-a-tete with Kobe. He quit on his team blamed them for his shortfalls; by contrast Kobe won the hardware (despite a finger so badly torqued that he will never again play with out arthritic symptoms). LeBron's best retort then was to run away and hide behind DWade. He doesn't have to 'carry' a team when quite frankly he only plays the game because he wants to be with his friends]--

--and therefore we are doomed. No hope. And so on. Ad nauseum

I'd grant you a post or two in that vein, but at some point, sister, it's enough. Salvage a little dignity.

Bullet fans have been through long decades of utter hopelessness. Longstanding fans have suffered through so much suck we've passed the event horizon and come through the wormhole to a dimension well beyond despair, into something sublime: the utter confidence that the worst somehow manages to happen but so the f_ what, you survive and move on. And somehow, a few games a year, or a few seasons per decade you can play giant-killer and win a few improbable victories against the leagues' toughest teams.

But there's no medal given for the first guy to run away, to quit, to roll over, whimper and say 'I told you so: we suck! We're doomed!'.

I say: F- no. And I'm tired of the act. Fact is what we have developing in front of us is a young and exciting team with the promise and hope of a future. We're developing depth and attitude and the institutional support for potential decades of success at a high level. I'm personally grimly excited to watch this thing play out. I respect the heck outta DWade, I like Chris Bosh pretty well. LeBron is clearly a supertalent, and I'm thinking: so why am I not scared?

They will win exactly one championship. That's my belief. It won't happen this year. Maybe next year. Certainly by year three. But I get the feeling they won't sustain it. There's something fragile there. Health, depth, durability, LeBron's self-importance, Riley's tendency to burn out players. I don't see it sustaining. It's a gut feeling. They will contend, they will be tough as all get-out, if hey land Chris Paul then it's even worse. Teams will set out to choke them out, freeze them out of traded assets, etc. But they will be good, no question.

But all the while the implicit pressure to instantly succeed is diffused. This team, here, gets leeway from notoriously fickle fans (looking squarely at you here) to simply put good product on the floor and play hard. The squad gets margin of error to develop. Nobody expects you to win. And in lowered expectations (despite landing a superlative talent) you get opportunity to quietly dig in, build a team from the bedrock up. To do things the right way. Opportunity to follow through on your original plan: do it the right way, remain patient.

Opportunity in a new CBA to angle for a better D-League system, a true minor league, allowing stars to rehab at a lower level, etc. allow a deeper roster perhaps. Build local ties to siphon some of that BMore/PG County talent, build a local team, not a Gulag team in exile of North Dakota. Create brand loyalty by reaching out to area high schools and AAU traveling squads, and their coaches.

Meanwhile teach the team system and philosophy at all levels. No more of the idea that we can't send players to the DLeague because our Princeton offense is too difficult to learn and radically different from what is taught at that lower level. Our defensive concepts. Whatever. Instead we can send down Sammy and develop him as our Bruce Boudreau.

Opportunity to stockpile picks, to buy them outright, to bow out of this insane free agent period, where teams are spending cash on mediocre freeagents simply because they have cap room and their fans wish to see movement for it's own sake.

We have a billionaire owner who has proven to be patient. Confident. Far-looking. No need to whore the team to sell tickets to out-of-town fans. We've got opportunity to pare away weak anti-fans and boil down to a core of diehards, convert the moneyed and powered transients to become honorary locals. Brand fandom.

And meanwhile, develop the talent we have: an uptempo, creative, deep, energetic, strong, athletic squad with catalyzing synergy.

Who was expecting us to win a championship in the next 3 years? Michael Freakin Jordan didn't win until his 6th. LeBJ still hasn't. Wade won, but he had Shaq and a depleted league and an opponent in Dirk crumpled and crashed like Charlie Brown's kites. But meanwhile we get to watch the one of the longest fastest most athletic young teams in the league learn how to get tough, feisty, fierce from people like Sammy, Kirk, or young peers like Booker.

We got the number one pick in the draft, consensus best player at the 2nd hardest position to fill. Kid is damn good. We'll be really really excited to have him. Quite frankly now is not the year to tear our shirt in dismay and cry that the Heavens hate us. You're allowed to get happy every now and again, even as a Bullets fan. Sometimes the improbable happens in your favor. What in history has suggested to you we get or deserve instant gratification. Personally I'm pleased as Jim Jones' punch that LeBJ revealed himself to the world as a fraud and a coward. I will only feel that much more vindication and righteous glee when our squad manages to supercede that team.

Fight in the shade.

EDIT -- spellin sucks at 4AM. f-- it.

[Hoopalotta]

And before you go through the trouble of offering some kind of sweet rejoinder, I'll just get it out of the way now that I don't care.

If you'd wanted to have a discussion, we'd have had one before. Instead, you start the whole thing off by paraphrasing me by “Waaahhh, waaaahh, waaaahhh!” and saying I should go ahead and root for some front running team as a master of panic. But, I don't take the bait and instead offer a relatively staid answer that delves into specifics of the what and why. Clinical and balanced like scale at the doctor's office. And, plenty to tear into should you so fancy, but you instead let that sit out in the sun like pickled lemons. Fine. I offer more tangible analysis in the trade thread. No counter strokes there.

And then what, you'd actually been brooding for two days, side step all that and launch into a deliberate mockery of me personally in a thread title that you plan to be stickied at the top of the front page for a year? We're really no longer discussing basketball. We're talking about you're proclivity for cheap shots.

Fine. None of my specific views on things is even at odds with the bite size abstract slogans you've started off the thread with here other than the idea that we can somehow ignore Miami. Actually, I think I already pretty well took those balls and ran with 'em. Infallibly? Maybe not, but again, that would be more of an issue if we were talking about basketball.

So anywho, I'd not at all, no I surely wouldn't, like to start talking about basketball now.

My pertinent views on the “as now it be” is well deployed in the trenches of pages 90-93 of the trade thread and then page 98 of the Bron thread. You think Miami's immaterial, I think they're a silverback munching on our mango tree and I'd not like to swack 'em with a toothbrush. Whatever. Others might take exception with my view and yet, I find myself talking about basketball when they do so.

But you and I are not talking about basketball. Oh boy, we sure aren't, huh? You have already set that up with your choices from jump, so don't blame me if your dander's all a lather and your sherbet won't scoop.

[doclinkin]

And then what, you'd actually been brooding for two days, side step all that and launch into a deliberate mockery of me personally

My wife's mother died. You're not that important.

Even on here I'll re-edit this thing tomorrow am when I wake up to get it back to a Draft thread, not about you.

Actually If I had a spare minute to type, or read the board much, I probably would have, but figured I'd let it go. You just got caught in my nausea at LeBron's auto-proctology by buying into the hype. Caught fallout. But I'm happy to be personally unpleasant to you right now as needed since old habits die hard when I'm pissed off about other things other than you. Mostly I'm a pretty good guy. Not today.

[Hoopalotta]

Alright, sorry man, I totally understand. My Apologies and under the circumstances, whipping boy status would be accepted stoicly on my part, possibly even eagerly and likely with slashes in the back of my shirt so as to make the lashes more biting (I'm at least halfway serious with the details, fully sincere in the sentiment).

I know you're a good bloke and I respect you a lot, especially as a writer, so that actually hurt a bit, but obviously my maneuvers here are well on the periphery of importance (that's a compliment).

All the best Doc, terrible news. I'll edit my guy tomorrow, but I must confess I'm quite reticent to destroy the sherbet line (that's a selfish and poorly chosen ending; I might edit that too).

My thoughts with your family.

[Hoopalotta]

Hmmm, hadn't seen the middle post until just now. Looks to be halfway talking about basketball, give or take.

[willbcocks]

I think we all agree the Wiz ain't winning championships during these next few years of rebuilding and climbing the ladder. Is the debate here just about the steepness of the learning curve? F'ed vs super f'ed?

What happens with the draft if there's a lockout? If it's a full year lockout, is the draft cancelled? Done with the same order as the year before?

Also, is it really not in prospects interest to declare for the draft? They'll get higher on the salary scale and can go play ball overseas for a year. Seems better than competing against 2 years worth of prospects so you can play an additional year in college instead of one overseas. Then again, I'm a traveler...

[B-easy]

Damn! the ending in the second video was EPIC.

Also i didn't bother reading the posts, too long. lol.

[Hoopalotta]

Is the debate here just about the steepness of the learning curve? F'ed vs super f'ed?

Debate?

[montestewart]

This makes the random thoughts thread look like a precise grid.

By turns tense, abstract, poetic. Two of my favorite posters.

With Webber/Howard/Strickland, they weren't going to beat the Bulls, but I was excited for the future. And here again.

Pardon the intrusion.

[montestewart]

People are so much more important to me than basketball. I'm sorry for your loss doclinkin.

[dobrojim]

Me too

Doc, so sorry for your loss. This is not to make you feel
better. I just got back from NC from a gathering of
musical friends that's been going on for 10 years now.
One of the longest tenured of the attendees just had
a husband diagnosed with cancer. The close friend
(fr Philly) that I travel down to the affair with is
on the verge of losing a mother-in-law. Finally
I arrive home last night to read that an online
friend that I've known (more online than off)
for probably 15 years just lost his mother 2 days
ago. Way too much sorrow in the world.

Be strong in your remembrances of all the
wonderful things and times surrounding
your mother-in-law. In that way she
will clearly live on forever. Hopefully
that will help you and your family as
they look to the future.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My wife's mother died.

My condolence to you, your wife, and family, doc.

Friends of mine lost their dad to cancer this week.

On my end, I've been very down about things I can't do a thing about but continue to fight on.

Hang in there, doc. If you have someone who loves you, be there for her.

[go'stags]

Didn't see all of the above posts. Sorry if my last post was rude. My condolences.

[doclinkin]

So uhh, yea, I like the the fact Jan Vessely is tough and will have already played in a lot of big, pressure packed games by the time he gets drafted next year at age 20 or whatever.

Uh right. Back to basketball (condolences appreciated, I was intending this to be an actual Draft thread, before the tangent-- not sure how to go back and edit so it isn't awkward and makes any sense now, too tired now, maybe I'll untangle it tonight).

Agreed on Jan Vesely, it bodes well in the notoriously picky Euroloeagues that a young puppy was able to seize a starting role on a team as storied as Partizan. They don't allow minutes to young players unless they are fundamentally sound and can follow instruction. His reputation as a defensive stopper is a real positive.

The NBA is a bit quicker, more athletic. I always have questions if a Euro defensive specialist can translate. They allow much more leeway in clutching hacking grabbing in the international ball, so many Euroballers have to overcome a foul-happy reputation, retrain their instincts. Oberto is a prime example, he risks fouling out of every game, but in Europe they'd never blow a whistle except for the obvious deliberate hatchet jobs.

If Vesely develops a consistent and reliable three ball over the next year then I'm especially interested.

[Kanyewest]

--and therefore we are doomed. No hope. And so on. Ad nauseum

.....
Fight in the shade.

By no means should the Wizards give up, but it's hard not to see the writing on the wall. Miami has a damn good core and will only get a better core with additional trades and ring-grab and suck up to LBJ free agents.

I agree that the Wizards were not going to be contenders in the first two years or three anyways. It's time to sit it out and see what the Wizards have in what's already on the roster instead of going for quick fixes i.e. Ike Austin, Randy Foye, or Josh Childress.

But given the makeup of the star officiated NBA, do the Wizards even have a chance? I could see LeBron James and Dwayne Wade rumbling and bumbling 3-4 steps and drawing free throws. Perhaps LeBron will teach Dwayne Wade the crybaby face to draw even more fouls. Do the Wizards have to settle for mediocre like they did in 2006- "well we could've won if they called traveling on LBJ", or "perhaps we would've stopped LeBron inbounding the ball if the Queen didn't foul out Butler and Jeffries".

I also see the Heat getting players that do some hugging and tugging of the Wizards opposing players. Getting ultra annoying defensive players like they did in the past with Alonzo Mourning or gets away with crap that your team can't.

Lots of unknowns about the Wizards. It's hard to get excited about guys like Booker and Seraphin.... yet. Even if someone like Booker plays well in summer league, there's no way telling if he can matchup with Mr. James until we see some of it in the regular season. Yes someone like Booker has all the tools to guard LeBron, although I want to see if he can make LeBron work on the defensive end.

With dismal hope comes great opportunity to become a hero. John Wall has the chance to try to outsmart and manage the Wizards to a victory much like Rondo did against LeBron in this past season. But he needs help. That's why Wizard fans are hoping for the injury riddled Gilbert Arenas- public enemy #2 (after LBJ) to step up . But some of us don't have the imagination (or delusion) to see that working.

Basically, it's hard to get excited about the core of Wizards and follow them on a nightly basis as they "struggle" to get it and find out which pieces either fit or don't. Although I guess Wizards fans need to support it because that's the best way for the Wizards to climb to the peak.

Although I would like to attend to Heat/Wizards game, just to see the local fans get pumped up in a fervor against LeBron. Too bad, not all Wizard fans can bring that same energy to the Phone booth every game.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

For the 2011 draft I will still like Kenneth Faried and Jimmer Fredette.

One is a freakish rebounder and the other an instant scorer off the bench. Fredette is the pure shooter this team lacks. Guys like Korver, Redick, and Morrow signed big deals. Fredette should be a good shooter in the NBA.

JuJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel could be cutting down the nets next season. I like them.

One HS to NCAA name I'll be following are CJ Leslie. Human highlight reel part II. Thanks again to whoever posted the YouTube vid of Wall's former teammate. That guy's amazing.

Been reading about Harrison Barnes and Jerod Sullinger. Both look to be super stud athletes. Sullinger seems like a scoring PF, about the size of Seraphin.

Vesely and Motiejunas, I dunno. Are they tough enough? Motiejunas looks puny to me. He and Vesely seem mighty frail, but they are each young at 20. If they're skilled and shoot well at PF, I can't see where it would hurt to pick one to start behind Blatche.

I think whoever the biggest true C is will be in demand on draft night 2011.

[rockymac52]

Just wanted to throw a name out there early on because I think he's the perfect player for our organization.

Kim English

- almost definitely not going to be in the draft this year, will stay at school for senior year and enter the 2012 draft
- 6'6" 200 lb shooting guard for Mizzou (yes I go there, and yes, I'm probably very bias)
- born and raised in Baltimore, trains in the DC area a lot with other local products, has trained with Sam Cassell from time to time since he came here last summer
- a true student of the game, his life is basketball and he's always playing
- exceptional leader and the perfect teammate, keeps his teammates focused and always puts the team first and his own personal achievements second
- great jumpshooter who can hit from midrange and from three, can make his own shot if needed, though in NBA would likely thrive coming off screens
- doesn't need to be the star, perfect attitude for a role player
- still improving on defense, but he's in the right system to learn how to be an exceptional on ball defender and help defender (Mizzou plays the "fastest 40 minutes in basketball" and does a full court press the entire game, in which all of its players need to be able to guard any opposing player, and must be in exceptional shape)
- as far as basketball players go, he's incredibly intelligent and doesn't let his local fame get to his head
- studies basketball through watching film of himself and his team as well as the NBA's best
- needs to bulk up his thin frame, and needs to become more consistent on the offensive end (hard to do in Mizzou's system, but he should improve in the next 2 years)
- likely will be a late 2nd round pick, or could even go undrafted
- he'd be the perfect end of the bench type guy, he'd embrace his role, he would stay focused on becoming the best player he possibly can be, and would keep his teammates focused on winning a championship
- is incredibly friendly and talkative with strangers, a perfect role model who does a lot for the local community, and is a great representative of our organization


Basically I think his skills are solid, and he could develop into a nice shooter off of screens, which is what Flip wants to have. He's also a leader and a great teammate who is a class act, which is exactly what Ted wants to have. Maybe he can develop into a solid rotation player, but even if he doesn't, he won't hurt us, and he'll be a great asset to the organization and would be loved by the fans.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/englishscope24
Recent interview: http://www.columbiatribune.com/weblogs/ ... th-kimmie/
Mizzou profile: http://www.mutigers.com/sports/m-baskbl ... kim00.html

I highly suggest you read up on him. You'll fall in love with him before even seeing him play basketball. He used to sleep in Mizzou Arena before his freshman season because he wanted to play basketball as soon as he woke up, and he still does this from time to time. Basketball is his life, and he has the right mental approach and the desire to be the best he can be and win while doing so that will help him succeed in the NBA.

[willbcocks]

I asked earlier, but how would a lockout affect the draft and draft positioning?