draft trade recap

I have been busy working basketball camps so I have not wrote as much as I wanted to about the NBA draft, now that I have a break till the end of July, lets play catchup.


Trade re cap: in no particular order

Teams: wolvs and griz
Players: Oj mayo, a walker, m jaric, and g buckner for k love, m miller, b cardinal, j collins
Thoughts: Love playing the 5 with jefferson at the 4 is a nice front line for the wolves, not to mention mike miller, is a good shooter, and the only guy in this trade that I could get excited for... well besides walker, but that is only cause I am excited to see how much more weight he can gain and how worthless he can become. Oj mayo is a stud, and will help out the griz, who needs him, I like the trade for both teams
Advantage: wolves right now.. cause they got m miller and got rid of walker


Teams: Nets and bucks
players: R Jefferson for bobby simmons and the chairman yi
thoughts: no picks, but it happened around the draft so I will quickly talk about it.. yi goes to a bigger city, which he wanted, the nets clear more cap space for 2010 when the sign lebron, and pour r jefferson is going to mil.. I feel bad for him
Advantage: nets all the way.. pour richard, he can help them in the short run though

Teams: raptors and pacers
players: J O neal and n jawai for tj ford R. nesterovic M Baston and r hibbert
thoughts: raptors move tj ford who they didn't want to start anymore, and they got j o neal to go along side c bosh, on paper it should work. meanwhile the pacers get a solid pg, plus a young big, who I think will do nothing, hibbert, and a old big who will do nothing, nesterovic
advantage: raptors

teams: blazers and pacers
players: j bayless and ike Diogu for b rush, j jack, and j mcroberts
thoughts: the pacers were busy, sending bayless to the blazers, since they just got tj ford, no need for another pg. But they get jack back, who is more of a scoring, while ford is more of a true point, so that might work. They still need to get rid of jamal tindsley. I love this trade for the blazers, bayless can start at the point, with roy, webster, aldridge, oden, that is a great lineup for a young and up and coming team, plus diogu will add muscle down low and rebounding. A great trade for them, I like b rush as a wing for the pacers, and mcroberts going to the pacers as well, so they could play an all white front line with murphy, mike d jr and mcroberts, which would be fun.. and spend out the d, cause they can all shoot
advantage: blazers
i
Teams: a bunch
players: d arthur, d green, j doresy, n batum, futrue picks, and cash
thoughts: drafted by NO, which was for the blazers, who gave the horents cash, then the blazers trade him to the rockets along with j dorsy for n batum, then the rockets trade him to mem for d green and a 2009 2nd rd pick.. what a long day for arthur, but I see mem being a nice fit for him. batum should stay overseas and help portland in a few years. dorsey will bring toughness to the rockets and green will give them an athletic slasher
advantage: blazers

teams: pistons and sonics
players: dj white for w sharpe and t plaisted
thoughts: don't like dj white, so i am happy with this trade, sharpe will be in the nbadl and has some potential. Plaisted is long and a lefty, and runs the floor well, so I like this trade for my pistons, I am happy with it
advantage: pistons, the sonics need a lot so trading two for one, not the best idea, but with 6 picks, they could do some things, and who knows, maybe dj will lose some weight, get in shape and learn to play harder. When he does, he can be a great rebounder, I don't know about his nba scoring ability however.

there were a lot more trades, but that is all I am going to go in to as of now, maybe more later, when I have more time. In other things, real quick, tigers are continue to play better, so that is good, only 5 games back, we are still fine. I look forward to a fun summer race in the central. And with the draft done, until football starts, baseball is all we got. go tigers. I'm right, you're wrong

A little late

I wanted to do this Thursday with a week to go till the draft, but I went golfing instead. Then Friday and today I was working basketball camps. SO I am getting to my NBA mock draft now. I love mock drafts, so just like the NFl I will be doing two, one with no trades, and another with a lot, the fun draft, as I like to call it.. I am going to do this as quick as I can, since the tigers are just starting against the fathers...

Mock draft one.. no trades:

1) Chi- D Rose- there new coach was a Guard, and he comes from phx.. time to run and gun
2) Heat- M Beasly- they have to
3) T wolves-K Love- they want beasly, who doesn't, once he is gone, they go big
4) SEA- J Bayless- they need a pg.. problem solved.. at least that one
5) Mem- B Lopez- need a big guy, enter brook lopez
6) NY- OJ Mayo- in this mock I have him still here, and I think if he is.. the knicks would not pass on him
7) LA- E Gordon- The clips need a pg, and with westbook left here, they should take him.. meaning they will not
8) Bucks- J Alexander- I like him, more I see him the more I like his game, word is the bucks do to, so why not
9) Bobcats- A. Randolph- They want to go big, but with brook and love gone, where do they go... lets say they go with upside, and take this freak of nature
10)NJ- D Gallinari- he is foreign, so I don't know who he is, or how good or bad he is, all I know is what I read on him, and if chad ford says he will go here, that's good enough for me
11)Ind- R Westbook- he should not still be here, and the pacers need a pg and would love to have him
12)Kings- R Hibbert- They want randolph, but I have him gone, so they take Hibbert, who from what I read, they like... I don't know why.... I am not a fan.
13) Blazers- DJ Augustin- If this works out, You have to think the Blazers would take him.. I mean Dj, roy, webster, Lamarcus, and oden... come on.. too good to be true, they are in the playoffs next year for sure... 7th or 8th seed, write it down
14) GS- B Rush- athletic, talented, swing man, welcome to the bay
15) Suns- D Green- They want rush, they will settle for green
16)76ers- M Speights- they need someone to bang.. nice fit here.
17) Raptors- R Lopez- Big guy, they need. too bad he isn't his brother.
18) Wiz- D Arthur- Tough guy, good for the wiz.
19) Cavs- K Koufos- they want him bad, and here he falls, but most likely will not.
20)Den- A Ajinca- They like him, I don't know him.. great
21) NJ- D Jordan- should have stayed in school. But has a lot of potential
22) Magic- C Lee- better shooter then CDR, better fit for the Magic
23) Jazz- S Ibaka- They go to people I don't know... cause it's what they do.. almost like the spurs, but not as bad
24)SEA- J McGee- they need help now, he falls a little, they take him.
25) Rockets- N Batum- athletic, they like him, again, don't know why, who cares
26) Spurs- M Chalmers- will be the spurs back up pg, and will get minutes and help out right away
27)NO- CDR- I see no reason why not
28) Mem- JJ Hickson- It;s what they need, so why not
29) Pistons- J Thompson- they need a big, best one left
30) Celtics- A Tomic- Will not come over right away, they don't need him yet.

OK, I have missed too much of the tigers game, so I will do my trade mock draft later... lets just say I will switch it up a lot for you. I'm right, you're wrong

tuesday

So five games down and I am still 100% right on my NBA finals prediction. The Celtics need to win tonight for me to be right, and I think they will find a way to do it. Even though game 7 would still be in Boston you don't want the series to go any longer and the Lakers to keep gaining more of the big MO. Not to mention all the pressure would be on the Celtics having being up 3-1 to 2 of the last 3 at home, if they lost it would be a big choke job. So I do feel the Celtics will find a way to get it done tonight.
Moving on to Golf. The US open was great, tiger is sick, and that's about it. Other then that, the Tigers were on a little roll until they lost last night, but they are showing signs that make me happy. Other then that, now that the day has past for underclassmen to take their name out of the nba draft, I will work on my mock draft, and have my thoughts on the NBA draft as well as the 08-09 ncaa season very soon. One quick thing, don't mess with the Zohan is very stupid, but also very funny, if you are a guy, and under 30, and over 15, you should see it for sure. I'm right, you're wrong

so far so good

well 4 games in and I am still 4 for 4. The Celtics have won games 1, 2 and 4, just like I said they would. Not only did I predict it, but I said it the day they beat my Pistons. I stood by it, and so far I have been right. Last night it didn't look good for a while, but having a big lead in the beginning of the game is sometimes the worst thing for you. Number one, there is a lot of time left to be play, the other team just needs to relax and slowly chip away. You make goals for yourself, get it under 20 by then under 15 by then, and so on. Also the team with the big lead tends to stop playing a bit, and instead of doing what there were doing that got them the big lead they take it east and let the other team back in the game. I will stand by my predictions and I like Kobe and the Lakers will find a way to win on sunday and force the series back to Boston. Only to have the Celtics win in 6, again, which is what I said would happen from the moment this series was set. I wonder if this will help some of this "the west is so great and the east is so bad" stuff. Maybe we are seeing the west isn't so great, they just have a lot of good teams, where the east has teams that are so much better then the rest it makes the other teams in the east look bad. I will not go as far as to say the east is better then the west, top to bottom the west is much better. But I think, of course I do I am a pistons fan, that at least the top two teams in the east could beat any team that came out of the west. Which by the way, if you look back at one of my first post, I talk about this in more detail and make the statement that who ever comes out of the east will have a great chance of winning it all. Your welcome.
Other then that not a whole lot happening. I guess the US open if you care about golf, which I really don't. Euro 08 has been good, there have been some good games on. My tigers just finished a sweep of the first place white sox, there lead now is only 8 games, here we come baby. Summer camps started today, so I am actually working basketball camps this weekend, next weekend, and then the 22-25, so it is nice to be doing those camps again. Always a good time, a lot of work, but a good time. Other then that, nothing else to say right now. I'm right, you're wrong

Not so normal Monday

With nothing but baseball yesterday I was thinking it would be a slow sports day, and there would not be anything to talk about. Man was I wrong. So I will just quickly write about each thing that happened then I think is worth mentioning.


Strahan retires- the official news conferences is happening like right now, but it was reported last night, so that counts for Monday's news. He was a great player who helped my team win a super bowl, and for that I will always be greatful for him. He also is the player that I get mocked about the most due to his sack record and how the last sack on Farve looked. OK fine, Farve fell on a play that Strahan wasn't blocked on, and he landed on top of him, fine. But that was still a great season, and he had a great career, one that I think will land him in the hall of fame. Maybe not first ballot, with farve, sapp, odgen, and most likely Larry Allan all being able to go in in 5 years, but depending on how it works out, he could, but he is a hall of famier, and he got to go out the right one, on top as a super bowl champ

Hasek retires- staying with guys hanging it up. Hasek had a great career no question about that and won everything you can win, but I was never a fan. In fact I will say he is a little over ratted. He had terrible fundamentals and would give up goals that a classic butterfly goalie would not. It is true he also would save some that others would not with his snow angle in the crease style, but I never liked him, and he always rubbed me the wrong way. But he did have a great career, and he also goes out a champion, even though he was bench in the playoffs

Benson is waved- I think we all saw this coming. Maybe not after the boat thing, which he still says he did nothing wrong, but as soon as you heard his name again, even if he wasn't over the legal limit and ends up facing no jail time, it just isn't smart and you knew he would be gone. First of all, he isn't that good to begin with, the bears should have never traded Thomas Jones, but they did, and now with Benson gone, they are going to have to take a look at some other options. Garrett Wolf, MAC love, and the other A. Peterson will not get it done. They may look to Kevin Jones, or S. Alexander, or maybe they can pick up L Jordan. As for Benson, he needs to hope someone wants to take a shot at him, and he needs to get someone to drive for him. Just be smart, if I had money, and I knew I was going to drink I would have someone to drive me home, hell, I would have someone drive me always.

Vinny Del Negro takes the Bulls job- Don't know about this one. I don't understand in the NBA why do ex players with no coaching experience get jobs over guys who have coached their entire life and worked their way up. Just because someone played basketball at a high level does not mean they can coach. There are many many examples of ex players who turned out to be terrible coaches, one of whom, Magic Johnson, was almost as bad of a coach as he was a great player. Now yes there are also a lot of former players that turn out to be good coaches, but as a person who loves basketball, never played at a high level, not even in high school, but coaches AAU and High School and wants to be a college coach someday, it really worries me that all these ex players are getting so many jobs. Since I am sure a college would hire one of their ex players to their staff long before they hire me, and I don't think that's right, not just because I am the one who wants the job, but because I have studied film went to coaching clinics, watched practices and worked to try to become the best coach I can, and will continue to do all those things, and I feel that makes me more qualified to coach then an ex player. They could beat me at one on one, but does that mean they can teach the game better, I don't think so.. Anyway, short tangent, sorry, We will see if it is a good hire for the Bulls. I do think this raps up D Rose as the first pick. Del Negro was a guard and I see him wanting to play a much more uptempo style of play that Rose would be perfect in. He has been the assistant GM of the suns the last few years, so I think it makes sense. Draft Rose and run and gun.

Curry named Pistons coach- This isn't news to be, since as soon as flip got fired it was reported Curry would get the job. I don't know if he will do any better then flip, in fact, he might end up doing worse, I am just happy cause it is someone new and it gives up Piston fans hope.

T.O.- big deal, missed a drug test, he has never been testes positive this is not a issue, I just added it to make sure people know how stupid it is that this is news.

Moving on game 3 tonight. I see the Lakers bouncing back and winning tonight. I have been right so far, so lets see if it will continue. I think Kobe will have a better game, and I think Phil has seen enough and will put Kobe on PP. The Lakers have played great at home in the playoffs and I think tonight they will continue to do so, Lakers win by 12. Tonight I will be home alone, since my finance works the over night at her job, so that means I actually will watch the entire game, unless it gets really bad. I will be clicking back and forth as the tigers are playing the white sox, but there will be a beer in my hand and hopefully a smile on my face as I watch some good sports tonight. I'm right, you're wrong

game 2

As game two of the finals approaches tonight, I wonder if I will make it though it this time. I wrote that I just couldn't help myself, that I would watch the NBA finals, well that wasn't entirely true. I watch the first quarter, then my finance came home and I didn't really care enough about the game to stay up and watch it. I have a 6 and 1/2 month old daughter, so I need my sleep when I can get it. Plus having sex, twice, was a better option at the time. I don't feel like I missed anything. It is game one, no big deal. Tonight I think I will watch a little of it, but again, I really don't think I will stay up for the entire thing. I just don't care as much as I use to, or thought I would. Maybe I am still too bitter about the Pistons winning, maybe I am tired of the media talking about how great this series is, or maybe I am just getting a little older, where my life can't revolve around sports anymore, since I have a daughter and soon to be wife. Now don't get me wrong, I am still a big sports fan, and if the Pistons were in the finals you better believe I would watch every second, but if my team isn't in it, why bother? But I will try to see how much I can take tonight. I think the Celtics will win again, and I think we saw why in game one, here in the finals Kobe forget how they got their, and he went back to taking lots of shots, 26 shots for 24 points is not where you want him to be. So I see him getting around 25-30 points in every game this series, but needed to shoot to much to do it, and I am standing by my Celtics in 6 prediction.

Big Brown, let down, I wish I actually did what I said jokingly before the race and put $100 down on the 38-1 odd horse. I would have won $3,800. I could have used that. Anyway I don't really care, it is just one of those things that people want to see greatness, and I think a lot of people though Big Brown was great, and was going to get it down.

Big thanks to the Tigers, not only did they come back and win yesterday vs the tribe, but then minor got it close enough in the 9th for Todd-o to come in and get the save, which my fantasy team appreciates. so thank you Zach minor. Hopefully they can win today and take 2 out of 3, that is all they need to do, just start winning some series, and get back in this thing. I'm right, you're wrong.

to watch or not to watch

As a Pistons fan for the last 6 days I have been going back and forth in my mind, will I watch the NBA finals or not. At first, I was not going to watch, it was just too painful. Then I regrouped and thought, hell, I love basketball, I am a big basketball fan, not just a Piston fan, and if there is going to be a good basketball game on, then I want to watch it. Then on Tuesday ESPN did something that almost made me hate them and not turn them back on for life. They played game 6 of the 1987 NBA finals. Now don't get me wrong, I love watching classic NBA basketball, especially from the 80's, I mean to see all those great players on the court at the same time, is great. But to show a game that happened 21 years ago on prime time on ESPN, not 2 or classic, is a little too far. The worst part, they kept going to the studio and having Tim Lengler, I think, break it down, like adjustments that should be made, who is playing well, what both teams need to do. Did I mention this game was 21 fucking years ago. Who doesn't know who won. If you didn't know the Lakers won this game, and easily by the way, then you should not be watching it. I mean they even used, back to the game, lets see if the Lakers can hold on... I mean come on. I then calmed back down, and today I just can't help myself, I am going to watch the game tonight. I mean I have to. It is the NBA finals. I want to see what will happen. Will Kobe get it done without Shaq, or can KG finally win a title, now that he has better then a bad JV team around him. I don't know if I will watch the entire series, but I will be watching game one.. If it is anything like the series in the 80's I might not watch it for long. Most people forget this, but it isn't like there were 7 games series with 7 close games, there were some big blow outs, some over 30 points. Which brings me to another point, unless you are a Celtic or Laker fan, why would you care more about this series then any other. Cause after this year, they will have 31 of the 62 titles. Wouldn't that make you sick of them? Or is it because all the media does it talk about how great the rivalry is, WAS BTW, and it was only a good rivalry cause the teams actually hated each other, and so did the fans, it was the rich west cost vs the blue collar east cost. The Celtics and the Lakers have no rivalry right now. The Celtics have not been to a finals in 21 years, and none of the players hate each other, in fact, kobe and Kg are good friends, and get along great. Anyway, that is another topic all together I guess, how the media treats teams differently that effects the way the nation sees them. So maybe that will be for another time. Right now I will be watching game one, and hoping for a great series.

On another note the Wings won the cup last night, I am not a big hockey guy, and I am not going to pretend like I am a wings fan, but a lot of my friends are, so I am happy for them, and also playoff hockey is great, that is really all I have to say... on to the NBA finals.. again, Celtics in 6, winning tonight, game 2, 4, and 6. I'm right, you're wrong

ok, lets look at it

As I typed about a hour or so ago, flip has been fired as the coach of the pistons, and I am happy about that. To some people this might seem odd. I bet most fans would love if a coach for their team went 176-70 in 3 years and got to the conference finals in all three years. But that isn't good enough for us, right now. In sports these days you have a very small window in which a team that you have put together can be successful as is. This window is quickly closing for the pistons, and getting to the conference finals just is not good enough. Especially when we feel we had the better overall team on paper. Now was is all flip's fault, of course not, and you know, it might not make a difference at all, but it is a lot easier to fire a coach then get 12 new players, and at least this way it gives us hope again. We have a fresh start. From reports I have read thus far, it looks like Michael Curry and Terry Porter are two leading candidates, both are current assistants, which I am not sure about, but at least they know how it works here, they know that winning 50 games and getting to the playoffs every year is not good enough for this team right now, so I would be fine with either one of them. The other name in the article was Avery Johnson, now even through I do think he is a good coach, and has a great record, what else does he have, being up 2-0 in the finals and loosing 4 in a row, and winning 67 games and then loosing in the first round. Which is basically everything we don't want, and everything we just got ride of. Flip is not a bad coach, if he wants too, I feel he will have no trouble getting a job, but his time ran out here, 3 years and no NBA finals appearances, when the coach before you was here for two years, and got to the finials both years, winning one. Hopefully the new coach, who ever he may be, be it curry or porter will be what the teams needs to refocus and win a title next year, or at least make it to the finals. There is no question the Celtics just wanted it more, we had a 8 point lead going in to the 4th at home, in a game we needed to win to continue our season, and we got outscored by 16 in the 4th. The Celtics are a good team, and deserve a little credit for that, but a lot of that is on the pistons, so a change was needed, and I am glad it was made.

The question is will it be the last change. I am thinking no. I would like the team to stay in tact for the most part and give it a run with a new coach, but sheed only has one year left which does make his contract easier to move, so he might be gone. I love him, and will miss him a lot if he goes, but as I wrote before, I am a piston fan first, and I must support what is best for the team. I would love somehow to get josh smith, if we could work that out, that would be great. We shall wait and see what happens the rest of the year.

Real quick, two other things, one, I am not a big hockey guy and I will not pretend to be a red wings fan just cause they are one win away from the cup, I hope they win due to so many of my friends liking them, but I really don't care one way or another. But last night, reminded me how much I love playoff hockey. Hockey might not be one of my favorite sports, but playoff hockey is. It is wondering, there is nothing better then OT hockey in the playoffs, especially in the finals. What a great game, Flury played the game of his life, 55 saves, un real. We will see how much they have left now as they go back to Pitt for game 6 tomorrow. But I am looking forward to it. And another thing, I have no problem saying this, I like college softball. Yeah that's right, I have really enjoyed the college softball world series, which could be over tonight if asu wins, but I am kind of rooting for A&M to win it and force a 3rd game tomorrow night. I like college softball much more then college baseball, I really do, I find it to be a very entertaining sport. Maybe it's just me, but I like it. I'm right, you're wrong

don't let the door hit you on the way out

It has happened. Today is such a great day, I am happy again. Flip has been fired, he is gone, no more flip. This makes me so happy. I know this might seem mean to some, and again if you look at his record you might wonder why piston fans hate him so much, I will talk about it later, with a longer post, but right now, I just wanted to type it, cause I saw it on the bottom line and my smile was too big to hold back.... What a great day, more about this later. PISTONS IN 09. I'm right, you're wrong.