NBA Draft Live Blog

Let's try to do this, I will mostly just comment on picks and my thoughts on them.

7:16pm: Apparently some big names have been traded today. And if you put Bilas, Mark Jackson and Van Gundy on a team with LeBron and Shaq they'd win a title. He's already annoying me, any way we could have Stuart Scott switch places with Michael Jackson right now?

7:22pm: 9.8ppg for Rubio. They shouldn't even show international players stats, they are just embarassing.

7:26pm: We are about to hear from Dick Vitale. I guarantee when they wake him up after the draft to recap, he will yell about some good college player falling to round 2 and international players getting taken too early.

7:39pm: Obvious #1. Glad there is one Clipper fan there with an itchy chest. I guess Yuraslov Koralev wasn't available?

7:42pm: Oh god I forgot they have fun facts. Thabeet's should be something like "Fun Fact: Has never actually played basketball."

7:47pm: So glad Thabeet went to Memphis, where we don't ever have to see him and he can learn how to play from Marc Gasol. Somewhere Jim Calhoun just passed out.

7:53pm: An asthmatic who has bad workouts and disappears in big games, James Harden have fun in Oklahoma City. Actually I think this can be a good pick, Russell Westbrook didn't want Rubio around.

7:57pm: Who knew Bilas loved Tyreke Evans this much? Maybe he took his SATs for him. I guess Rubio is going to Minnesota? Also why does it look like he's wearing so much makeup?

8:06pm: I'm sorry but I already love this guy. "I'm Ricky Rubio I don't play like anybody else". Sounds like something Starbury would say.

8:09pm: Love the draft cam. All the people in the Timberwolves draft room were just staring at the TV! Damn I was hoping to have Jonny Flynn as a Knick in case Curry wasn't there. I guess I have to hope that Golden State passes on him and goes Jordan Hill. Applause from the Timberwolves draft room.

8:16pm: I'm slightly crushed. I was really thinking we had a good shot at Curry falling there. Jrue Holiday? Jordan Hill? DeRozan?

8:23pm: Jordan Hill - you better not be the next Channing Frye. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm a little disappointed, but he seems like he could fit in with the team ok. I'm glad it's not Gerald Henderson though.

8:28pm: No surprise with the Raptors pick of DeRozan. I'm more surprised I haven't heard Bilas say the word "long" yet as a description. He wants to say it so bad though, I can feel it.

8:34pm: Did Fran Fraschilla/Nathan Lane just say that "the experiment has worked"? A guy who people thought could have been top 3 or top 5 falls to 10 and that's good? The experiment failed.

8:39pm: Could the Nets be one of the more fun teams in the NBA? Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Skip To My Lou, goofy Brook Lopez, asian Yi Jianlian (ok that was a stretch he sucks), CDR who never plays and now T-Will.

8:41pm: T-Will just made a slight dig at Bilas. Awesome.

8:50pm: Psycho T joins Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy in Indiana. That seems like a good idea to me. Did you know he's an unbelievable competitor with a great work ethic?

8:56pm: Brandon Jennings crashes Earl Clark's party. The experiment worked!

9:03pm: I like Daye on the Pistons. Reminds me of Tayshaun Prince.

9:06pm: Can we just stop having Vitale on the NBA Draft? All he does is champion the winning college players every single time.

9:13pm: For some reason I really like Jrue Holiday, I think a lot of it is because I thought the Knicks would end up with him and I talked myself into him. But I saw him a good bunch and he showed flashes. The sixers I think are kind of a mess though.

9:19pm: Are you kidding me? The T'wolves pick another PG? There has to be a trade. Rubio or Flynn should be a Knick.

9:26pm: So Lawson goes to Denver and now Atlanta picks Teague which makes sense. Time to open some party mix.

9:40pm: Any chance the Blazers said "DeJuan Blair" and someone misheard as "Victor Claver". Probably not. Also, sad that on the Blazers "Potential Depth Chart" Greg Oden is listed as the third key reserve.

9:45pm: That was a better reaction for Omri Casspi going to Sacramento than there was for Jordan Hill drafted by the Knicks.

9:49pm: For a second I thought there weren't even highlights for BJ Mullens. "He needs to learn how to play." I think says it all. He'll be in the DL for a while.

9:54pm: Did people forget about when DeJuan Blair destroyed Hasheem Thabeet? How has he not gotten picked? Someone is going to be really happy to have him fall to them. Maybe my Knickerbockers?

10:13pm: Some internet problems going on there. Still no DeJuan Blair or Sam Young. Can the Knicks please take one of them?

10:15pm: I liked you Q Rich, but we don't really need your contract any more.

10:16pm: Toney Douglas! I'm cool with this at 29. Still would have liked Blair who now goes to the second round?

10:31pm: Adam Silver gets his own chant from the drunks at the start of the second round. Deno's Party House USA is going to be on fire tonight. Dallas and Oklahoma City officially make one of the most meaningless trades in NBA history.

10:41pm: Great reaction by Adam Silver as he reads off the Q Rich/Darko trade. These fans are overpowering him. There better be a Stephen A Smith puppet asking for cheetos on YouTube tomorrow. Also, Dante Cunningham somehow gets drafted before Blair and Young. Um, these guys were the main cogs in a #1 seed.

10:46pm: If Summers gets his act together he can definitely be helpful for the Pistons.

10:51pm: If healthy an outright steal for the Spurs with Blair. They are really fucking smart amidst all the stupidity.

11:15pm: Once Chase Budinger gets picked is when I stop blogging. Later.

11:28pm: I couldn't resist. Do the Suns love having the suckier brothers of better players on their team?

My NBA Mock Draft 2009

Feel free to mock it

2009 NBA Mock Draft

1) Clippers – Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
2) Grizzlies – Hasheem Thabeet, UConn
3) Thunder – Ricky Rubio, Spain
4) Kings – Tyreke Evans, Memphis
5) T’wolves – James Harden, Arizona State
6) T’wolves – Stephen Curry, Davidson
7) Warriors – Jordan Hill, Arizona
8) Knicks – Jrue Holiday, UCLA
9) Raptors – DeMar DeRozan, USC
10) Bucks – Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
11) Nets – Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
12) Bobcats – Terrance Williams, Louisville
13) Pacers – Brandon Jennings
14) Suns – James Johnson, Wake Forest
15) Pistons – Gerald Henderson, Duke
16) Bulls – BJ Mullens, Ohio St.
17) 76ers – Jeff Teague, Wake Forest
18) T’wolves – Earl Clark, Louisville
19) Hawks – Ty Lawson, UNC
20) Jazz – Austin Daye, Gonzaga
21) Hornets – Toney Douglas, Florida State
22) Blazers – Omri Casspi
23) Kings – DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh
24) Mavs – Eric Maynor, VCU
25) Thunder – Taj Gibson, USC
26) Bulls – Sam Young, Pittsburgh
27) Grizzlies – Nick Cathaletes, Florida
28) T’wolves – DeMarre Carroll, Missouri
29) Knicks – Jack McClinton, Miami
30) Cavs – DaJuan Summers, Georgetown

NBA Season ends - NBA Season begins

The Lakers won the NBA title. Good for them I guess. I think we did, or at least I did, learn a few things in this year's NBA postseason.

- We had a little bit of out with the old guard this year: Tim Duncan out in the first round. Detroit Pistons an 8 seed and destroyed by Cleveland. No Shaq at all (besides Twitter).
- Cleveland needs more than just LeBron to win apparently. Like a real coach.
- Stan Van Gundy is only a slight embarrassment not a complete one. Maybe we all looked past Orlando when we thought Cleveland were going to be this next great team? Dwight Howard and their shooters really came through and you have to give them credit.
- Denver was the second best team. I know that there were a couple of close games in the Lakers/Magic finals, but Denver seemed to play them better to me. I never really thought Orlando would beat the Lakers, but I did think there was a chance of Denver winning. Billups really did make that much of a difference as did the extra gear that 'Melo went to in the playoffs, which was encouraging to see.

Now it's time for some more fun with the NBA Draft coming up on June 25. The NBA Draft is one of my favorite sporting events, even though it doesn't actually involve playing anything or any type of athleticism. Also, we get some nice NBA trade rumours! One of my favorites going on right now is basically the theme of "What can the Cavs do to get better?".

Pretty much every trade that you see rumoured with the Cavs is going to involve Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. I think Shaq to the Cavs is pretty much dead at this point, but even still it sounds like a terrible idea to me. Shaq will be injured, and not be able to be active and will slow them down. What this team needs is a dependable player who can either shoot or create on their own, and maybe can show a little leadership. That's why the Antawn Jamison to Cleveland trade idea makes a lot more sense to me.

NL Preview

Told you I'd be late with this. It's been a rough week.

NL East
1) Philadelphia Phillies - Great hitting and pitching should hold up enough to hold off the Mets (unfortunately).
2) New York Mets - Definitely improved and should get the wild card this year.
3) Florida Marlins - Hanley Ramirez is awesome.
4) Atlanta Braves - So glad they don't seem like a powerhouse anymore.
5) Washington Nationals - Dukes, Milledge and Zimmerman could be a good core but not this year.

NL Central
1) Chicago Cubs - Still the most balanced team in the division.
2) St. Louis Cardinals - Shaky bullpen could hold them back.
3) Cincinnati Reds - Could be better if young pitchers improve.
4) Milwaukee Brewers - No CC Sabathia, no playoffs.
5) Pittsburgh Pirates - Finally out of the basement?
6) Houston Astros - Another SP besides Oswalt would really have to step up to make them better.

NL West
1) Arizona Diamondbacks - Solid rotation, solid hitters, bullpen question mark.
2) Los Angeles Dodgers - Keeping Manny keeps them in the mix.
3) San Francisco Giants - One of the best rotations in baseball keeps them this high, if only they didn't have a Molina as their clean up hitter.
4) Colorado Rockies - Remember when they were in the world series two years ago?
5) San Diego Padres - Stink.

NL MVP - Hanley Ramirez, Florida
NL Cy Young - Johan Santana, NY Mets
NL Rookie of the Year - Cameron Maybin, Florida

MLB AL Preview

Look I know it is opening day, and most games are already over, but I'm a bit of a slacker ok? Might as well offer my baseball predictions now - better a little bit late than never. I'll have my NL Preview even later - like tomorrow or something. Trust me, I'm not taking today's games into account:

AL East
1) Boston Red Sox - Rotation is just too deep and I think Papi has another year in him.
2) New York Yankees - Big fat CC Sabathia will make the difference and the Yanks are the Wild Card.
3) Tampa Bay Rays - Young and will be good just not as good.
4) Baltimore Orioles - Never heard of most of their pitching, but that lineup looks dangerous.
5) Toronto Blue Jays - Roy Halladay and nobodies.

AL Central
1) Chicago White Sox - Still think with this balanced team they are the best bet.
2) Minnesota Twins - Hopefully Joe Mauer is ok.
3) Kansas City Royals - Will hang in tight with the White Sox and Twins all year.
4) Cleveland Indians - Your rotation stinks.
5) Detroit Tigers - Possible fire sale by July.

AL West
1) Oakland As - Surprise team that somehow makes it work in a shitty division.
2) Los Angeles Angels - It's just about time they don't win this thing right?
3) Texas Rangers - Just enough to not be in last.
4) Seattle Mariners - Ken Griffey Jr of 15 years ago would have to come back to make a difference.

AL MVP - Grady Sizemore, Cleveland (I know that's crazy since I think they finish below the Royals, but I just don't see that many good candidates. Teixeira? Matt Holliday? Pedroia? I just don't see it.)
AL Cy Young - Zack Greinke, KC
AL Rookie of the Year - Matt Weiters, Baltimore

Robo Recap - April 4, 2009

The thinking is that this feature would be called "This Week In Robot News" but the odds of me actually being able to do this every week are not very good. To sum up my idea for what this optimistically weekly feature is, well, robots are fucking awesome. Let's talk about what is going on with them.

- Little known movie Exterminator City has an awesome robot sword fight scene that I have recently found on the internets. Seriously, one of the robots is wearing a fucking trenchcoat! Check it out:


- Ok, I watch that Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles show on Fox. I honestly don't know many people who watch it besides me, but they are missing out. Maybe it was kinda stupid at first, and yes, it can be ridiculous at times. The acting is not always the best. But there are robots, and there are cool fight scenes, and the whole overall story of what is going on is actually pretty good. You know the deal, let's stop Skynet from making robots. Well, the last couple of weeks have been especially good - and (spoiler alert?) they've killed off like three characters in the past month. One of those characters being John Connor's uncle, Derek Reese, played by the underrated (yes, I said it) Brian Austin Green. Well the weird thing about it was the way they killed him off - it wasn't even at the end of the episode like what would normally happen. There was a fight with a terminator and he just shot BAG right in the head and kept going. Like he didn't even matter. I guess that terminator represents America.

- Speaking of Brian Austin Green - his ladyfriend Megan Fox is in the new Transformers 2 coming out this summer, and the new trailer is now available. Check it out here. I did like the first one - of course, it had robots fighting and Megan Fox, what more do you need (I won't go into my unwavering support of Shia LaBeouf, which goes back to Even Stevens). It had it's problems - nonsensical plot, too many characters, me not being able to tell which robot was which, but I ended up looking past those faults. The movie didn't take itself too seriously and had a good bit of humor which makes me think i will end up seeing the sequel in the theater.

- Japan is looking forward, as usual, and is aiming to have a robot walk the moon by 2020. I'm not really sure what the point is other than just being able to say "we had a fucking robot walking on the moon, suck it world!". I guess the robot can do some kind of scouting? Maybe they can colonize up there and build a robot community? Robot world on the moon. I'd visit.

I miss you Predator

Last night was another bad loss for the Knicks as they lost to the Nuggets 111-104. At least we got to see an old friend, Renaldo Balkman. Or as they used to refer to him as on the old Max Kellerman radio show "The Predator". The nickname was well earned - the pronounced features of his face and crazy hair make him look like the Predator, but also the way he went after the ball and went after defenders - he was frighteningly pesky and fast. There's a chance that he still is but I don't really get to see him. He was without a doubt my favorite Knick last year.


I am a fan of Mike D'antoni, but there was no need for him to go after Balkman the way he did yesterday. It was just reacting to him saying that the Knicks regretted trading him, which they clearly don't - but why kick a guy when he's down? He's got great passion for the game, I mean he has the fucking words "Hustle" and "Harder" tattooed on his legs! I know he wouldn't really fit in with the Knicks now since he has no jumpshot, but maybe he can work on it? Eh, probably not. Well, at least his current teammates appreciate him.

I for one miss you Predator, and I want you to know that I would have bought your jersey if it was ever available for purchase.