[Quasi-Quasar]

I have been looking at clips of basically all of the unknowns and X-factor players the last week or so and this is how I see it now:
(also these are my predictions for draft spots)
1.Washington (could be Denver as well)- Lebron James, 'nuff said.
2.Denver- Rickey Paulding, a year by his lonesome proves himself.
3.Chicago- James White, has the potential and fits right in
4.Golden State-Kendrick Perkins, easily top 8 center.
5.Cleveland- Carmelo Anthony,no Caron but is better than Murray.
6.Memphis via Houston- Malick Bidaine,dang he got game...SF/PF/C nice.
7.Detroit via Memphis- Chris Duhon, solid Piston mold PG.
8.New York- Jarvis Hayes, Caron Butler of this draft easily.
9. Atlanta-Reece Gaines,bad move to keep Terry at SG.
10.Phoenix- Zoran Planinic, perfect PG for Starbury to score with.
11.Utah- Luke Ridnour, Stockton with some White Chocolate.
12.New Orleans- Chris Marcus, tree trunk,NO food turns him into Jerome James before he lost 120 lbs.
13.Indiana- Kirk Hinrich, solid leader for rowdy bunch.
14. Milwaukee- Carlos Delfino, DGad+Haislip+TT+Redd+Delfino= contender in EC.
15.Seattle-Pape Sow, fills their gaping head wound.
16.Philadelphia- Anderson Varejao, adds bang to the banged.
17.Portland-T.J. Ford, he drops but it's predictacble but wont start any time soon.
18.Miami-Boris Diaw-Riffiod, he plays Riley grinder bball
19.Sacramento via Detroit-Zaur Pachulia, adds another Turk to the mix of things, and a Vlade replacement.
20.Toronto-David Harrison,smart pick,but he's more of a Lafrentz than an Olowokandi.
21.Boston-Dwayne Wade, he drops because of Desmond Mason syndrome but becomes PG of Celts' future.
22.New Jersey-Christos Topoutos, they wanted him in 02 got him in 03
23. Dallas-Eduardo Sonseca-Hernandez, a Spaniard joins the
international crew.
24.Orlando via L.A. C- Nick Collison, adds strength at PF
25.Minnesota-Christjan Drejer, Wally without problems perhaps.
26.Orlando-Sani Becirovic, gives good combo G to start with Hill at the handling positions (Hill will play point forward).
27.San Antonio-Mickael Pietrus, he joins Manu and they form a new international 1-2-3-4 Parker Ginobili Pietrus Duncan.
28.Orlando via Sacramento-Brian Cook, EC center with great O skills but needs work on D.
29. L.A. L-Luke Walton, he fits right into to a Kobe,George, Kareem,Shaq lineup at a point PF that suits him perfectly.

30.New York via Denver-Marcus Moore,Bozeman is the better old school PG but at 6-6 Moore is a nice fit in the crowded Knicks back-court.
31.Philadelphia via Golden State-Darius Rice,sad he dropped
32.Washington-Troy Bell, unfortunately he is a shorter Dixon type.
33.Chicago-David West, how did he drop...unfortunately gets traded for his Elton Brand hard-work ethic.
34.Cleveland-Andrew Glyniadakis, only Cleveland would take another center when they already have 6.
35.Houston-Mario Austin, fitting name for a Rocket, and he will eat his 6-8 280 lb frame to 6-7 340 and change his undersized center's name to Pig "I can't beleive I ate the whole thing" Miller.
36.Memphis-Marcus Hatten, he is a lot like Juan Dixon, so J-Dub likes him and finds a way to rid himself of White Chocolate.
37.New York-Derrick Zimmerman, Knicks always need another PG.
38.Atlanta-Doug Wrenn, undersized but athletic 4.
39.Chicago via Phoenix- Xiu Yuyang, another international big fat center.
40.Utah-Britton Johnsen,a Ute for the new light skinned Jazz.
41.New Orleans-Brandin Knight, adds a backup for someone..but not BD.
42.Indiana- Mike Sweetney, his big fat a$$ is smaller than Austin but he takes up space and CAN play 4 for short periods.
43.Milwaukee-Ratis Grafs, he and DGad clean up the inside.
44.Seattle-Holis Price, solid scoring G
45.Philadelphia-Josh Howard, a solid swing man.
46.Portland-Jason Kapono, he WILL end up a Laker though.
47.Detroit via Miami-Dantay Jones, athletic 2
48.Detroit-Taj Holden, solid 4/5 with range
49.Toronto-Jason Gardner, with Jefferies at 2 Gardner fits.
50.Boston-Brett Nelson, backup PG too small
51.New Jersey-Ronald Blackshear, Kittles is gone
52.Dallas-Jules Camera, check Senegal off the list
53.L.A. C-Florent Pietrus, Bo Outlaw has been cloned
54.Minnesota-Steve Blake, T-Wolves may have a steal here.
55.Atlanta via Orlando-Ebi Ere, small 3 but athletic like Ricky Davis.
56.Portland via San Antonio-Theron Smith, one more headcase.
57.L.A. L-Keith Bogans, should fid his way to Portland in a swap of sorts for Kapono.
58. Sacramento-Herve Lamizana, another big.

didn't declare: Emeka Okafor,Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thomson, Evan Burns, Andre Patterson, Luke Jackson, Channing Frye, Hassan Adams, Sean Dockery, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Jamar Smith, JJ Reddick, Amit Tamir, Rick Rickert, Blagota Sekulic, Kresimir Loncar, Yaniv Green, Yotam Halpurn, Ronney Turiaf, Deng Gia, Jackie Butler, Travis Outlaw, Leol Deng, Ndudi Ebi, David Pagett.

 

[Brick]

i believe Malick Bidaine is deciding between 2 or 3 prep schools with one of them being oak hill academy.

 

[Damian Necronamous]

You think that the Clippers would be higher than the Mavericks in the Playoffs?!

Also, there is no way that the Wizrads win the lottery:no: .

 

[Quasi-Quasar]

I simply am predicting the passing of the torch from MJ to Lebron and it is possible if MJ is playing a reserve role because the Wiz that got Kwame #1 are basically the same Wiz this coming season. Also about the Clippers do any Baron Davis trade and they are there but I've been hearing, Olowokandi, Dooling and Harold Jamison for Davis,Moiso and Campbell. But lets not get off-topic judge the Mock not the predicted order.

 

[pharcyde]

Malick Bidiane?

I made the post about him below, but I've done some more reading and the reason he was impressing people so much is because he was an unknown. In reality he was rated about the 24-30th best prospect at the adidas camp. I HIGHLY doubt you've ever seen him play, and there is just not enough information about him available right now to put him that high in the mock.

I also think you have James White too high and Rickey Paulding won't come out. Paulding has given absolutely no indication that he'd leave early. He may leave early, but I doubt it. It may depend on what they do in the postseason. In his senior year they will have 5 seniors on the team, at least three of them will be drafted and I wouldn't be surprised if all four of the starting seniors get drafted. Plus they'll have some good depth with Jeffrey Ferguson and Najeeb Echols being juniors and Jimmy McKinney and Kevin Young being sophomores. They're in with a lot of top recruits as well, such as Olu Famutimi, so they should have some very good freshmen as well. If they all return for their senior season they should be early favorites for a final four birth. I've given my reasons about White in the amateur forum.

 

[Quasi-Quasar]

what I saw of him was the replay of the Senegal Global Games game and some ABCD camp footage. In the GG he looked good but more like Keon Clark than KG, but in the ABCD camp (which he was rated 3 best big) he looked very good. Although he didn't always look good in the camp he shined at moments and for a 17 year old that's enough, I personally think his potential is higher than Chandler,Curry,Brown, and fellow countryman Diop. He showed NBA 3 range and great athleticism, also he blocked shots a lot and if he has the motivation and developes the fire he COULD be like Garnett except he's already bulkier and in my opinion is almost more of a 5 because he is soooo nice in the post. I really see the Hakeem comparison when in the camp he on 2 plays (3 plays within eachother) posted his man baseline and hit The Dream's trademark fadeaway, but the move of the camp for him was something out of Lamar Odom's playbook. He took a jab step and a studder dribble took a step back and busted a 3. Regardless of how ready he his, he will be good and merits a high pick just as much as a Rodney White or any of the high schoolers or Skeeta or Nene. But I personally think HS rank (his is #8 at ESPN, #7 on the AP) has little to do with draft position, Omar Weaver was the #1 prospect over Kobe, but Kobe is a superstar and Omar is fighting to get on a summer team, T-Mac wasn't even AP top 10 and he suceeded, and Diop was not even top 10 also but he was picked #8 in a realatively strong draft. I think for the first couple of years though Bidaine will look a lot like Eddie Griffin, because he is going to get his block and rebounds but he will be scoring mainly outside and from the perimeter until his strength is at the lovel of other 4/5s.

 

[STING]

Originally posted by The X Factor
You think that the Clippers would be higher than the Mavericks in the Playoffs?!

Also, there is no way that the Wizrads win the lottery:no: .

How is there no way???

They suck, i'm sorry about being so subjective :uhoh:

But really, they have as much chance as anybody with the roster they have now

 

[STING]

Right, so concerning the mock draft.

This soon before the draft, I will almost never bash anything, mainly because of my respect for the poster getting so much info so early, and because it is so unsure what will happen.

But I think for the most part, you did very well. But I really don't think Collison will slip to 24. Thats my only gripe. Great job though!

 

[STING]

Re: Malick Bidiane?

Originally posted by moTIGS
I made the post about him below, but I've done some more reading and the reason he was impressing people so much is because he was an unknown. In reality he was rated about the 24-30th best prospect at the adidas camp. I HIGHLY doubt you've ever seen him play, and there is just not enough information about him available right now to put him that high in the mock.

I also think you have James White too high and Rickey Paulding won't come out. Paulding has given absolutely no indication that he'd leave early. He may leave early, but I doubt it. It may depend on what they do in the postseason. In his senior year they will have 5 seniors on the team, at least three of them will be drafted and I wouldn't be surprised if all four of the starting seniors get drafted. Plus they'll have some good depth with Jeffrey Ferguson and Najeeb Echols being juniors and Jimmy McKinney and Kevin Young being sophomores. They're in with a lot of top recruits as well, such as Olu Famutimi, so they should have some very good freshmen as well. If they all return for their senior season they should be early favorites for a final four birth. I've given my reasons about White in the amateur forum.

With all due respect, I think you might be in denial if you think Paulding will stay, most players won't make the decesion until after the season is over, and if Ricky Paulding lives up to his expectations, it would take ALOT of self control to not go for the money. :yes:

 

[Quasi-Quasar]

Paulding was very close to declaring this year, but with no more Kareem and Clarence Gilbert, Rickey will be catching alley-oops from Wesley Stokes all day, also people under-rate his shot (49% FG, 42.7% 3FG). The only players who are expected to declare who I think will not are:
1.Emeka Okafor- because his fall back plan is to be a professor like his parents
2.Cedric Bozeman- he could be a top 8 pick by the end of the season, but he hangs at the UCLA arcade and from what I here around him is that HE beleives he is just too young.
3.Romain Sato- he's an undersized 2 who could work his way up like Juan Dixon if he stays all 4.
3.Channing Frye-if Arizona is unsucessful in the Tourney I expect him to stay because Tac Minor will be a frosh in 03 and Minor,Hasan Adams,Salim Stoudemire,Isiah Fox, Willy Bynum, and the crew will influence Frye to stay. Also having watched many almost every Pac-10 game I can tell you with a straight face that until the Pac-10 Tourney he was lost and didn't even start.
4.Dijon Thomson- he is actually more likely to declare than Bozeman becuase he could be top 15 if he has a solid year by virtue of his awesome silent athleticism and combo G skills.
5.Blagota Sekulic- word is in Europe that his GG showing may have convinced him to declare in 03 but he could get himself into the top 20 in 04.
6. Jackie Butler- he hadn't taken the SATs or ACT going into July but he finally registered which is a sign he's given up his dream of jumping straight to the L.
7.Travis Outlaw- after being pushed around at the camps he decided college and weight is necessary for the L.
8.Yotam Halpurn- a severe ankle sprain will prevent Yotam from playing much in the next 6 months, so he will wait until 04 at least
9. Jeff Varem- I know most think he is better than Deng or Ebi but he will have to develope a perimeter game before he tastes sweet sweet American cold hard cash.

also on the Collison point, I think that West has a very good chance of going ahead of Collison, but Nick is hampered by being undersized and not so athletic although his footwork is great. But when Kansas lost to UCLA I saw Collison dominated by TJ Cummings and Andre Patterson both on offense and defense. On another off-topic thing though, I think Wayne Simian has more potential than Collison.

 

[pharcyde]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I quit reading your post after the first few words. Catching lobs from Wesley Stokes?!? HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Now don't get me wrong, I love Wesley, he's one of my favorite players, but no one will be catching lobs from him THIS year, because he's been forced to sit out. Why you ask? Well, because he transfered, so he has to. Wesley is now playing at SDSU. He wanted to be closer to home, and MU signed a juco pointguard and a freshman point from St. Louis, so he felt like he wouldn't get as much time as he should. And I would like to know why you think RP was close to declaring this year. He didn't have that great of a year until the very end. He only averaged about 11 points a game. Last year he was never the focus of the defense and had a lot of open three point attempts. I think he's a great player and a good shooter, but he wasn't going to enter the draft after last season. This team has two very good college post players, a very good incoming juco pointguard, and Paulding on the wing. There really aren't any weaknesses in the starting lineup. I doubt he leaves early, and I know he wasn't close to leaving after last season.

 

[pharcyde]

One more thing

If you think Arizona's good young players will be able to convince Fry to stay, why wouldn't Mizzou's players be able to do the same? They're going to have a very good recruiting class this year who will be freshman in Rickey's senior year that could include Olu Famutimi, Malick Bidiane(Mizzou's been on him much longer than anyone and I don't think he'll go pro right out of highschool), Pooh Day from KC, and many others, maybe even Loul Deng. They could potentially sign the top class in the country, but in the top 5 or 10 would be more realistic. They've got to be the favorites to land Olu now though, because Arkansas just had a basketball scholarship taken away because of an NCAA violation, and 4 of their 12 official visits were taken away as well.

 

[sMaK]

darius rice wont fall that far down:no:

 

[pistons_ecchamp]

Houston will not have a worst record than Memphis.

 

[Quasi-Quasar]

First of all about Houston and Memphis: Houston is going to have a lot of players taking a lot of shots at low percentages and none of them play D, think about it Grffin,Mobley,Franchise,Rice,Mo Mo Money Taylor, The Wizard, Moochie, and Ming when he plays do not play D and shoot a lot from the perimeter at bad %s. Also Memphis is grossly under-rated, Gasol,Gooden,Battier,Wright, are a solid 4 and Earl Watson might be their starter and he is very solid and a great defender. Gasol,Gooden,Wright,Battier,and Watson should combine for 72 point, 29 rebounds, 6 blocks, 7.5 steals, 12 assists and they all are decent on the perimeter.
But as I posted above like twice my standings are IMO and not debatable....just critique the Mock.