NBA Lottery Mock Draft

Everybody will get the first two picks right but what about the rest of the lottery? Here's where I'll think these players will go based by team's need:

1. Washington Wizards: Need PG: My Selection - John Wall
2. Philiadelphia 76ers: Need Shooting Guard: My Selection - Evan Turner
3. New Jersey Nets: Need PF-SF-SG: My Selection - DeMarcus Cousins
4. Minnesota Timberwolves: Need SF: My Selection Wesley Johnson
5. Sacramento Kings: Need PF-PG: My Selection Derrick Favors
6. Golden State Warriors: Need C: My Selection - Greg Monroe
7. Detroit Pistons: PF-C: My Selection - Kole Aldrich
8. Los Angeles Clippers: SF: My Selection Al Farouqq Aminu
9. Utah Jazz: Need PF: My Selection Ed Davis
10. Indiana Pacers Needs PG: My Selection - Eric Bledsoe
11. New Orleans Hornets: Need SF My Selection - Paul George
12. Memphis Grizzlies: Needs PF: My Selection - Daniel Orton
13. Toronto Raptors: Needs PF My Selection - Patrick Patterson
14. Houston Rockets: Needs SF My Selection - Gordon Hayward

Tune in Thursday to ESPN for the official Draft selection.

2010 NBA Draft

Thursday marks the annual NBA Draft in Madison Square Garden. My prediction for the top three are John Wall, Evan Turner, and DeMarcus Cousins.

It's late but check back tomorrow as I predict the NBA Lottery and where will Sherron Collins & Jerome Randle will end up. 

Wizards Win Lottery - Conference Finals Recap

Congratulations to the Washington Wizards for winning the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery tonight in New Jersey. This team's 2009-2010 season was not a good one by dealing with the death of longtime owner Abe Polen, trading the core of their team (Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendon Hayword, and Deshawn Stevenson), followed by the season long suspensions of Javaris Crittenton for gun play. The upside for this franchise is that this team is young and now have the opportunity to draft John Wall or Evan Turner. The main question is with this young team do they draft Wall then trade Agent Zero who has a monster contract that no owner wants to touch. My theory is that the Wizards buy him out then let Arenas pursue other interest with another ball club then start fresh with John Wall as their point guard for the future. Wizard's assistant coach Sam Cassell will make sure John Wall learn the lead guard position from an NBA champion guard.

Game 1 of the NBA conference finals are complete as the Lakers and Celtics were both victorious. The Phoenix Sun could not find an answer for Kobe Bryant who dropped 40 who also made Grant Hill fall off this crossover. I'm not upset that he missed the floater but he still should have converted. The almost highlight of the game was Shannon Brown almost dunking over Michigan State alum Jason Richardson but took off too early. I was also very impressed with Derick Fisher's defense on Steve Nash after getting abused by Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams in the previous series. Game two is tomorrow at the Staples Center.

Boston Celtics took a 2 game to zero lead over the Orlando Magic tonight down in South Florida. At one point the Magic had a one-point lead but KG hit a key fade away shot over Dwight Howard (good defense...better offense). After a smart foul on Vince Carter by Paul Pierce which was his sixth, Vince had the opportunity to but his club up one with less than a minuet but the former Tar Heel had a Nick Anderson moment and missed both free throws. At the end, Orlando had to go the length of the court but Jameer Nelson missed a half-court 3 to send the game to overtime.

Both series are over and I'm already prepared for a Celtics-Lakers Finals.

Playoffs or NBA Lottery

With two games left to go in the season I have a dilemma with my Chicago Bulls about tanking the last two games and heading into the lottery or landing the final playoff spot only to face LeBron James in the opening round. Let's view both sides:

Missing the playoffs: If the Bulls miss the playoffs, they end up with a lottery pick and we all know what happened the last time Chicago was in the lottery. ESPN 100 Radio here in Chicago believe the draft that year was rigged because Derrick Rose declared that year and this year local product and potential #1 pick Evan Turner declared this past Tuesday. The potential of having a Turner & Rose back-court would drive ticket sales at the United Center though the roof and they would really compliment each other since they both have excellent handles, great athleticism, and a Chicago swagger that no other city can handle. Not only would this city have the best back-court in the NBA for years to come, we still have plenty of money to offer Chris Bosh or Amaire Stoudamire this summer. Most importantly, they avoid getting swept by LeBron James in round one.

Making the playoffs: Their playoff experience should be better and more matured after last season's seven game series against Boston. Last year Boston didn't have KG but face the Cavs, the Bulls will face Shaq, LeBron, and Antawn Jamison. Those are three miss matches that will pound the undersized Bulls. Derrick Rose will have his way with Sebastian Telfair and Mo Williams but that's pretty much where the Bulls win. Which Chicago Bulls team will show up...the team that lost the the New Jersey Nets twice this season or the one who overachieves on the court at times.

My Verdict: Miss the playoffs even if we don't end up with the top two pick we still end up with a lottery pick with plenty of money to spend come July 1st. 

Underclassmen Declare for 2010 NBA Draft

Now that college basketball is done for this year, the coaching carousel is taking place along with underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft even if they're not ready. This week several notable underclassmen declared for the Draft with the obvious Evan Turner and John Wall headlining this year's class. John Calapari has the toughest assignment as his entire starting lineup declared and will most likely be drafted in the 1st round. Here is my take on the underclassmen that has declared so far:

•  Evan Turner - Unless the Jazz or Hornets, or Bulls land the top pick, he's a lock for #2
• John Wall -  A lock for #1 unless Utah, Chicago, New Orleans draft 1st.
• DeMarcus Cousins - Elton Brand clone is a lock for a top 5 pick.
• Lance Stephenson - Born Ready needs another year in school but will be selected in round one.
• Kole Aldrich - Big body, great rebounder = top 10 pick
• Willie Warren - Undersized shooting guard will get drafted in the late 1st round or early 2nd round
• Eric Bledsoe - Had a great tournament and has moved into a top ten slot
• Daniel Orton - A star on another ball club but took a backseat to Cousins. Late 1st round pick
• Patrick Patterson - Has gotten better each year and is a lock for a late 1st round pick
• Avery Bradley - NOT READY....NEED TO STAY IN SCHOOL
• Xavier Henry - NBA ready....1st round pick but a lock for 2011 top 5 pick had he returned to Lawrence

Championship Week

I can't lie...these mid-major conference games are boring. Bring on the big boys ACC, Big 12, SEC, Big 10 tournaments!!!!! What are these mid-major conferences playing for? The rights for a 12 to 16 seed but every year one of these mid-major schools have deep tourney run. Gonzaga lost to St. Marys in the WCC Title game which means nothing because the Gonzaga Bulldogs were already in the dance.

Illinois went from a sure fire NCAA tourney team to a bubble team after losing to Minnesota, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. This Friday, the ILLINI have a rematch with the Badgers in the first round of the Big 10 tournament. Wisconsin is only playing for a higher NCAA seed but the ILLINI cannot afford to loose or it's hello NIT.

With conference tournament games being played this week, 4 out of 6 POY in BCS conferences hail from Chicago:

• Jerome Randle - California - Pac 10
• Evan Turner - Ohio State - Big 10
• Sherron Collins - Kansas - Big 12
• John Schyer - Duke - ACC

March Madness - Senior Night

I DON'T CARE IF DELONTE WEST WAS FOULED THE LOB PASS TO LEBRON LAST NIGHT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST IN GAME DUNKS IN NBA HISTORY.

Madness is everywhere in the hoops world. Today Missouri Zyar Taylor went Tyus Edney against Iowa State for the game winner to silence the crowd. People in Champaign, IL are growing mad because Illinois dropped another game in the Big 10 against Ohio State hindering their tourney chances. With the loss tonight, Ohio State wrapped up the Big 10 regular season title and Evan Turner played his last game in Columbus. Now it's off to Indianapolis for the Big 10 tourney where I hope ILLINI can win a few games and get into the dance.

Congratulations to UTEP for winning the Conference USA title it's the first time in nine years another team other than Memphis wins the title. Memphis will be back as they have the top recruiting class in the nation coming in next year.

Tomorrow tune into ESPN as two Chicago west side point guard Sherron Collins and Jacob Pullen go head to head as Kansas State plays Kansas. That should be a great game and I know Kansas State will play hard tomorrow night.

Good for LeBron switching his number I agree no ball player should ever wear the #23. LeBron James will wear the #6 next season.

Chicago Guards on TV Tonight

Please tune in to watch Jerome Randle, Evan Turner, and Derrick Rose on TV tonight.

• Jerome Randle (Cal) plays Syracuse on ESPN 5pm central. Without Johnny Flynn I see Jerome having his way with the Syracuse guards.
• Evan Turner (Ohio State) plays North Carolina after the Syracuse/Cal game. Turner has the ball handling ability to play the point and we'll watch him all season long as he plays the 1. Larry Drew II has a tough assignment tonight.
• Derrick Rose - The second game on TNT tonight will feature the 2008 #1 pick as he picks apart Fisher, Brown, Farmer but not Kobe. Pooh refuses to get a haircut until he has a good game. Hopefully he'll be in the barbershop after tonight's game.

Good luck tonight and make our city proud. Congrats to Brandon Jennings for being named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week