March 29, 2005  ...Chris Webber was given a loud ovation at ARCO Monday night in his return to Sacramento. He handled himself with class, and grace, as I expected he would. I think Chris represents far more good things than bad. A wise Webber understands that re-hashing negatives are no good for anyone. He could have gone Olden Polynice and hated the fans of Sac who booed him after his return from a serious surgery. Instead he took the high road and left everyone warm and fuzzy.  ...The Sixers need to involve Kyle Korver more. ...Brian Skinner was fantastic last night.  ...I enjoy Lasalle Thompson on the Kings pre and post game shows. “Tank”  has no ego and he comes across like a cool big brother on TV. His knowledge of the Kings and their franchise history gives him huge amounts of credibility with me.

 

March 28, 2005 ...I urge all talent scouts to re-evaluate Michael Harris from Rice. I don’t see him on many, if any, mock drafts but I'm sure he can play. He is Rice's all-time leader in scoring and rebounding. ...2005 - All WAC First Team ...2004-05 WAC Pre-season Player of the Year. ...He shot 60% from the field for his college career. Named to CollegeInsider.com's All-American team. ...Scored 25 points and grabbed seven boards in a loss to Connecticut as a junior. On the day he became the career leader at Rice, he scored 30 points and pulled 24 rebounds to lead the Owls to an 80-61 victory over Hawaii.  ...Harris is the very definition of a guy too small to play in the post, yet he does. Super quick reactions and hands allow him to give fits to the bigger guys he guards. …And he is a back-to-the-basket player. He doesn't move well without the ball. He CAN stick a set shot from deep, and certainly has the athletic ability to get much better at his face-up game. NBA body, lean and muscular. 73% free throw shooter for his career. Gets a lot of boards from good position because he doesn't always box-out. Most of his FGA's are from within 10 feet of the basket, including dunks. Calm, and cool demeanor. He just works.  He is from Hillsboro, which is between Waco and Dallas, and is a sports management major.

 

March 22, 2005 ...The NBDL is expanding. I applaud that. A rough outline could have 15 teams in the development league with NBA teams sharing an NBDL squad as the their minor league affiliate (according to reports I read). For giggles—lets say why not 30 teams? I can see the headaches for the NBDL team that is playing 3 guys that are property of the Knicks, and 2 guys that are property of the Nets.  So  - 30 teams. Where? Well, for Sacramento, I could think of no better place than Chico. The Warriors could try San Jose. How about a Lakers farm team in Bakersfield? The Clippers could go back to their roots in San Diego. (I know they came from Buffalo). The Suns might have a problem. Tucson is taken by the great college program at Arizona and after Phoenix, and Tucson, what is there? Flagstaff?  I don’t know. : )) ...Tim Duncan’s injury opens up a whole new race for the title from where I sit. The Spurs with a healthy Duncan would be my favorite but knees are tricky. 

 

March 19, 2005  ...My new top 30 players for the 2005 NBA Draft. (Only those that are draft eligible or likely to enter the enter the draft are listed) ...1. Ersan Ilyasova. 6’9” 210  -  SF  -  Turkey.  2. Danny Granger.  6’8” 225  -  SF  -  New Mexico.  3.  Michael Harris.  6’6” 225  -  SF  -  Rice.  4. Drago Pasalic.  6’11”, 231  -  PF/SF  -  Split (Croatia).  5.  Dusan Sakota.  6’10”  PF/SF  -  Panathinaikos.  6.  Marvin Williams.  6’9” 230.  SF.  North Carolina.  7. Wayne Simien. 6’9”, 255.  PF  -  Kansas.  8. Ryan Gomes.  6’8”, 248.  SF  -  Providence.  9. Francisco Garcia.  6’7” 175, SG  -  Louisville.  10.  Andrew Bogut  -  7’0”, 245.  C.  Utah.  11. Johan Petro  - 7’1” 255.  C.  Pau Orthez.  12. Spencer Nelson.  6’8” 225, SF  -  Utah St.  13.  Marcin Stefanski  -  6’7”  SF, France.  14.  Erazem Lorbek  -  6’11”, 243.  PF  -  Skipper Bologna.  15.  David Lucas.  6’7” 210.  Oregon St.  16. Mickael Gelabale, 6’7”, SF/SG  France.  17.  Joey Graham, 6’7”, 217.  SF  -  Oklahoma St.  18.  Ivan McFarlin, 6’8”, 240.  Oklahoma St.  19. Mindaugas Katelynas, 6’9”  225, SF/PF, UT-Chattanooga.  20.  Omar Thomas, 6’5” 205, SG, UTEP.   21. Jamar Howard, 6’5”, 184.  SG.  Wichita St.  22. Martynas Andriuskevicius, 7’2”, 240, C. Lithuania.  23. Matt Nelson, 7’0” 245, C.  Colorado State.  24. Taylor Coppenrath, 6’9”, 245 PF/SF.  Vermont.  25. Odartey Blankson, 6’7”, 220.  SG. UNLV.  26. Nate Robinson, 5’8” 170, PG.  Washington.  27.  Channing Frye, 6’10” 235, PF, C. Arizona.  28. Chevon Troutman, 6’7” 236. PF/SG/SF  -  Pittsburgh.  29.  Damir Omerhodzic  -  6’10” PF, Croatia.  30.  Deng Gai.  6’9”, 218.  SF/PF.  Fairfield.