NBA Draft thoughts

With the NBA draft tomorrow here are my thoughts on who I'd like the Jazz to take or not take

WISHFUL THINKING LIST:
Joe Alexander WVU 6'8 SF
Kevin Love UCLA 6'9 PF
Unless the Jazz made some sort of blockbuster trade they aren't getting anywhere near either of these two guys and they would be playing positions where there are already too many players on the roster. I really like Alexander's long term potential and game. Some draft websites call him Matt Harpring with athleticism. Harpring is clearly on his last legs and maybe has a year or two left. Love is just a great basketball player with a head for the game and I think would be an instant Jerry Sloan favorite.

BIG GUYS WISH LIST:
Roy Hibbert Georgetown 7'2 Center
The #1 option for the Jazz in my opinion. He's the most NBA ready and could possibly contribute by mid season. Is very smart and understands how to play around the basket. Is a good defender and developing on offense. Knock on him is that he isn't athletic enough for the NBA, but he's not going to be asked to run a lot so that doesn't bother. The Jazz need a player that can step in and play center for short periods of times when Okur is on the bench or the Jazz need more of a defensive presence. He's the ideal fit

Jason Thompson Rider 6'10 PF/Center
Thompson is a project and didn't play against a high level at Rider College but is a very good rebounder and a good defender. Much more athletic than Hibbert but needs a lot of polish on his offensive game. If the Jazz take him he's going to need to spend at least a year in Orem before he will be up with the big team so don't look for instant impact.

Omer Asik Turkey 7'0 PF/Center
Omer is a bit of a wild card because mock drafts have him all over the board. Right now he's being projected end of the first round on NBAdraft.net and Draftexpress has him more middle of the 2nd round. He's a work in progress, and would probably be better slotted for a 2nd rounder but given his Turkish ties I think he might get extra consideration from the Jazz. He's really the inverse Memo, not much of an offensive game, poor FT shooter, limited range but good shot blocking and much better defense.

Alexis Ajinca France 7'0 PF/Center
Has the size and is a good shot blocker and rebounder (the two things the Jazz need most from a backup center). Doesn't have a lot of polish on his offensive game and will probably spend some more time in Europe or go to the NBDL before making it to the Jazz. Staying in Europe could be a plus though as the Jazz don't have a lot of roster spots to go around right now (1 open with CJ Miles situation yet to be determined)

NO THANKS:
Robin Lopez Stanford 7'0 Center
The other Lopez twin wouldn't be an awful pick but I just would rather see a gamble with one of the other players first. Doesn't have a very high ceiling but will probably be a Jarron Collins type, a guy who can come in and play some defense and might score a bucket or two when left alone right below the hoop.

JaVale McGee Nevada 7'0 Center
Has a freakishly long arms and could be a force with a little work, but after seeing him up close and personal a couple times against the Aggies I just don't see it happening. Easily gets frustrated when things aren't going right, doesn't show a lot of effort on the defensive end of the floor and watching him against the Ags I didn't see a lot of offensive game, mostly scored on put backs and garbage buckets.


PREDICTION:

1st round: The Jazz take someone completely off the board like Chris Douglas-Roberts and then trade him and a second rounder or future considerations or something for Roy Hibbert who will be taken a few picks earlier. If the Jazz don't make a trade I'm going with most of the mock drafts and think that Jason Thompson will be the guy.
2nd round: Foreign player who they can keep in Europe for a year or two with so little room on the roster its almost a must to either trade one or both of the second rounders or take a couple of Euro's.

I'll give an update on how I feel about the Jazz draft and the draft in general later, after I've talked myself into whoever the Jazz took.

Quick Thoughts

Finals Thoughts:

So I was very wrong about the NBA finals. The Lakers don't look like they belong on the same court and losing a 24 point lead is pretty deflating. They are toast and I'm pretty happy about that.

Also maybe its just me but I expected more from the Finals. After being bombarded with flashbacks of great Boston-LA finals of the past I'm waiting for these teams to raise their game to another level for the finals. It seems more like just a regular season game rather than a NBA Finals game.

Jazz Thoughts:

The Jazz are probably about halfway through workouts leading up to the NBA draft. I still think Roy Hibbert is the best possible solution if available at #23. They have also worked out Jason Thompson who wouldn't be a bad option, but would be more of a developmental prospect and Trent Plaisted who would be a bench warmer for the Flash and should never ever play for the Jazz.

Utah State Basketball Thoughts:

"Rat Ball" is starting up for the summer. You can read some excellent recaps of what went down and how we are looking for next year on the Utah State Message Boards.

Assistant Coach James Ware took a promotion to be the top Assistant at Santa Clara. Ware did a fantastic job for the Aggies the last two years especially in the area of recruiting. Hopefully they are able to replace him with a good coach and good recruiter. And the Refraction wishes him all the best in Santa Clara.

Quick Sports Book Review

Over the last few days my boredom has lead to a lot of reading so here's a couple of recommendations:

God Save The Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (and How We Can Get It Back) by Will Leitch.
This is a real good read. The chapters on Athletes and Media are both excellent and humorously point out a lot of the problems with sports today. Some of the innerworkings at ESPN that he uncovers are hilarous. the owners and fans chapters have some good parts but overall aren't as strong as the others. Overall its a quick read and great for any sports fan.

Can I Keep My Jersey? 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond- Paul Shirley
This book contains diary entries from Paul Shirley a basketball player that is just good enough to not quite make the NBA. In his travels he goes from Greece, to Spain, to Russia, to the ABA, CBA and NBA. Finding out some of the innerworkings of a team from an insiders perspective was really interesting and Shirley has a very dry sense of humor that comes across well. A good book for any basketball fan.

Dear ESPN

Hi ESPN,

Long time fan. I'd just like to kindly ask you to quit ramming stories down my throat that I couldn't give less of a shit about. Why on gods green earth would you think anyone cares that Big Brown got new sutures on his hoof and waste space on the bottom line informing me that Big Brown ran five furlongs. Its a friggin horse. A lot of people are saying that Big Brown is the savior for horse racing after everyone was saddened by the euthanization of Eight Belles (except the fine people at Elmers!) but guess what nobody cares about horse racing to begin with except for jockeys, and gamblers who don't have anything better to bet on this time a year.

Also while we are on the subject I don't need an hourly update on how Pacman Jones is doing (unless he makes it rain again, in which case please interrupt whatever re-run of trick shot pool you are showing and wake up Bob Ley for a special Outside the Lines). What's lost in the whole Pacman Jones saga is that he is really not that great of a football player. In 2 years with the Titans he registered a whopping 4 interceptions! This isn't like Champ Bailey shutting down one side of the field, its a slightly above average CB with a taste for strip clubs and guns. Whoopty do. Let me know when Pacman practices by running five furlongs with Big Brown and then I might be interested.

Thanks,

Kraig

I hate the Lakers, but they are going to win a title

After some soul-searching after the Jazz were eliminated from the playoffs by the Lakers I've come to grips with how good a team they really are. Between the much talked about theft of Pau Gasol helping give them a legitmate big man (even if he still is pretty soft and flops a bunch) and the leadership, defense and steady play Derek Fisher gives them I think they are just too much for the Celtics. The Celtics too often this post season have had their weaknesses exposed. They can't create offense on a consistent basis, they have no go-to guy in the clutch, the bench is thin and can't be relied upon for a consistent contribution and even Carlos Boozer thinks Ray Allen has had a pretty tough post season. The Lakers on the other hand never had a problem with any team they played so far (and it pains me to say that). Fisher should have Rondo on lockdown, Odom's length should be a problem for Pierce, and Bryant should easily be able to take away Ray Allen but I can't imagine Allen staying with the MVP. The only advantage the Celtics have is KG but as well documented he shys away from the inside in the clutch and tends to settle for jumpers when he could take guys like Gasol to the woodshed. Considering the finals is a 2-3-2 format I'm thinking the Lakers take it in 5 or 6 and Bryant puts gets a finals MVP to keep his regular season MVP company, and the scary part is they will be better next year with a healthy Andrew Bynum and Chris Mihm.