May 24, 2006 ...So the NBA Draft Lottery was held a few hours back and the Portland Trailblazers watched in ‘horror’ as the Toronto Raptors won the deal. I have been working in the background on the next BasslineSpin draft list—which will be released soon. But I will happily share some pertinent thoughts here with regard to some of the stuff I’ve read while doing research. First up is Mardy Collins from Temple. I read one mock draft where he was a lottery pick. I strongly disagree This guy shot 39% from the field for his NCAA career. That doesn't translate well to the NBA. ...On the underrated side—how could Hassan Adams slip into the second round? Adams is a baller. I feel like Saer Sene, and Oleksiy Pecherov are two talented international players that could be mentioned in the breath of LeMarcus Aldridge, and Adam Morrison. ...There is plenty of time to change my mind but right now if I were in charge in Toronto I would select Tyrus Thomas. ...Food for thought; J.P. Batista has a higher efficiency rating than teammate Morrison at Gonzaga. ...Who is in the draft that is PROVEN and fits their position profile?

 

·          Shelden Williams from Duke is a proven power forward.

·          Hassan Adams from Arizona is a proven scoring guard.

·          Mike Gansey from West Virginia is a proven shooting guard.

·          Adam Morrison is a proven small forward.

·          Ronnie Brewer from Arkansas is a proven competitor.

·          Kevin Pittsnogle is a proven three point shooter.

·          J.J. Redick is a proven shooting guard.

·          Steve Novak is a proven shooter.

 

May 16, 2006 ...Think you can win championships without efficiency and great players? Wrong. Consider these regular season Efficiency Rating FACTS about the remaining eight NBA Playoff teams: League-wide Phoenix has the #1 rated Point Guard (Steve Nash), and #4 rated Power Forward (Shawn Marion). ...Miami has the #1 rated Two Guard (Dwyane Wade), and the #3 rated Center (Shaquille O’Neal). Cleveland has the #1 rated Small Forward (Lebron James), and the #4 Center (Zydrunas Ilgauskas). The Clippers have the #2 rated Power Forward (Elton Brand). Detroit has the #4 rated Point Guard (Chauncy Billups). New Jersey has the #5 rated Point Guard (Jason Kidd), and the #4 rated Shooting Guard (Vince Carter). ...Dallas has the #3 rated Power Forward (Dirk Nowitzki), and the Spurs have the #5 rated Shooting Guard (Manu Ginobili), and #5 rated Power Forward (Tim Duncan). The conclusion of this analysis is that if you don’t have a player in the top-five at his position on your roster—you can’t be among the top eight NBA teams. …That means that the following teams do not have a player on their roster good enough to lift that team to elite eight status… Sacramento, Indiana, Portland, Seattle, Utah, Golden State, New York, Chicago, Toronto (Bosh is sixth at PF) and Milwaukee. ...For giggles—what top five players at their respective positions did not make the post season at all? Yao Ming (#1 Center) Allen Iverson (#2 Point Guard), Chris Paul (#3 Point Guard), Paul Pierce (#2 Small Forward), Kevin Garnett (#1 Power Forward). ...Gerald Wallace does not really have a position—he could be a two-three– or four. If you say he is a THREE—he would rank third—and Charlotte obviously did not make it to the Playoffs. ...The BasslineSpin.com picks for post season awards are… All-NBA—First Team - Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming. ...Second Team: Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Shawn Marion, Elton Brand, Shaquille O’Neal. ...Third Team: Chris Paul, Gilbert Arenas, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, and Marcus Camby. ...All-Rookie Teams… First Team - Paul, Raymond Felton, Charlie Villanueva, Ike Diogu, Channing Frye. ...Second team: Sarunas Jasikevicius, Rashad McCants, James Singleton, David Lee, Andrew Bogut. ...Most Improved Player: Boris Diaw. ...Coach of the Year: Phil Jackson. …MVP: Wade.

 

May 10, 2006 ...The Kings and Rick Adelman agreed to call it quits. I feel badly though that all the assistant coaches are history too. Bubba Burrage is a young assistant that worked with the Kings during my brief stint in the mid-90’s. He’s been there ever since—ascending positions to being the fourth assistant coach behind Elston Turner, T.R. Dunn, and Pete Carrill. I think Bubba will get a gig because everyone loves him and he will come as highly recommended as one can be. But I do feel bad that Bubba and his wife and kids will most likely have to move. If only Sac State had a budget to work Bubba in somehow. …If I were the Boston Celtics I would be trying to figure how to get Adelman and his entire staff.  Sorry—Doc Rivers. Adelman’s offense is what Boston needs. ...The Kings as I mentioned a few days ago might have a short list of Michael Cooper, Terry Porter, Eric Musselman, and Mario Elie.