Well after digesting all the freakishly long athletes in the draft, it’s time to run down the worldwide leader’s performance, specifically Jay Bilas, who has plenty of upside.

I went ahead and tallied up all the times Bilas either said “Athlete/Athletic/Athleticism, Long or Length, or Freak”.  We definitely got treated to the grand prize “Freakishly Long Athlete”.  Here are the final numbers, and this was only through the lottery!:

Athlete/Athletic/Athleticism: 14 times

Long/Length: 7 times

Freak: 3 times

Here are some other Highlights of an eventful Thursday night…..

• O.J. Mayo’s suit: A terrific 3 piece suit. His outstanding eyewear and 2 tone dress shoes almost made me forget the fact that his high school agent probably gave him money for his apparel.
• Danilo Gallinari’s nickname: “The Rooster”. Or as my boss (a Knicks fan) calls him, The C*ck. Judging from the crowd’s reaction, I’d call him the “Booooooooo-ster”. The thing I liked most about him was Fran Fraschilla’s breakdown of him: “If you give him a couple years, I think he’ll be good”. Ladies and gentlemen, your New York Knickerbockers.
• Eric Gordon’s suit: The 7th pick of the draft, Gordon was wearing a white jacket with black pants. He looked like a waiter coming over to serve wine tableside. Also, my buddy Tas mentions that he looks like he’s 12. I guess the Clippers are a little lax on the child labor laws.
• 8:26 pm: Charlotte selects D.J. Augustin with the 9th pick. ESPN shows a quick shot of D.J., then pans immediately to Brook Lopez who is……crying? I honestly have never seen a draftee cry out of sadness, and not happiness. Thankfully, Brook gathered himself enough to walk on stage after the Nets immediately snatched him up with pick 10.
• 8:44 pm: Stuart Scott makes a horrible joke. The awesome part: it falls completely flat. Not one other panelist even smiles. I got a kick out of this.
• 9:03 pm: David Stern’s voice cracks announcing that the Sixers select Mar-EEEse Speights. High comedy for a man that is allowing the Sonics to be ripped out of Seattle.
• The amount of obligatory “Let’s show the last poor sap left in the Green Room, AKA the Rashard Lewis Memorial Winner (thanks BSG)” clips. I counted 7 shots on him, with one interview. The worst part is Andy Katz and Ric Bucher talking about a semi-confidential condition on Nat’l TV, and on the arena’s PA system. Um, hello… Darrell can hear everything you’re saying!

My draft winners and losers:

Winners:

1.  Portland.  They got the perfect point guard to go with their already stacked young team.

2.  Minnesota.  After picking up OJ Mayo, they spun him to Memphis for Mike Miller and Kevin Love, effectively ending Memphis’ Gay-Love Era.  McHale’s army also got rid of Jaric’s contract.  Great job by the T-Wolves.

Loser:

1.  Charlotte.  Michael strikes again.  He picks up an undersized point guard at #9, when he needed front court help.  Then he gets from court help from the likes of Alexis Aljinca?  Alexis only averaged 5 and 5 in the French league last year and is “years” away from contributing if he ever does develop…

Until next year, keep reading our freakishly long athletic articles with great upside and potential on www.ondeckfantasy.com. 

J.R. Giddens???Apparently this guy has had some on and off the court problems….we wonder what Danny Ainge was thinking with this one. We’re not the Dallas Cowboys…..Boston is not a city that tolerates players like T.O., Pacman Jones, etc. Giddens was suspended from the New Mexico Lobos last year, which is an obvious case of immaturity (see: Michael Beasley). And why did Giddens leave Kansas to play for New Mexico? We have to wonder about character issues. The Boston Celtics don’t have the drafting ability like a New England Patriots team. Is Ainge trying to take the Belichick approach? Whatever the case, I think Mario Chalmers (the guy who hit the clutch three pointer to tie the NCAA Finals game vs. Memphis) or Chris Douglas-Roberts, a scoring machine, would of been a better choice.

Looks like we have another player drafted to the NBADL (ty for that one, Grubb).

When you think about bad drafts of the past 10 years, two teams come to mind. The Celtics and the Clippers. Now that the Green are basking in all kinds of championship glory and the Clips are back in the lottery, slotted at number 7 of tomorrow’s draft, let’s take a look at how each team could field a team of stiffs over the past 10 to 15 years.

Center: Eric Montross vs. Michael Olowokandi

The Red Flags were up on both of these guys coming into draft night. Montross, a big, plodding white guy came out of UNC with very limited athleticism. Olowokandi was a young man who played against inferior competition at Pacific, and had only played basketball for a few years before he was drafted. The Kandi Man’s 8+ points per game takes it to Montross in this game: Advantage Clippers.

Power Forward: Jerome Moiso vs. Melvin Ely

Pitino loved Moiso’s athletic ability, only problem was that ability blinded the fact that Moiso had no basketball skills or intelligence. Moiso, the 11th pick of the 2000 draft never made a mark on the NBA, finishing his ho-hum career with the Sixers in 2005. Melvin Ely, the 12th pick in 2002, is still a serviceable backup in the league. He has averaged only 6 points and 3 rebounds in a forgettable stint with the Clips, Bobcats, Spurs, and Hornets. Ely would pound Moiso’s fragile frame on the block: Advantage Clippers.

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