Re: DeCourcy (TSN): Baron Davis Should Be The First Pick In The Draft

[Sherry & Hart <hartleyo@ix.netcom.com>]

Way Of The Ray wrote:
> 
> I wonder if Rick Pitino feels the same way.....

Who cares, do the C's have the 1st pick.
> 
>     ---------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>       Baron should be first pick
>       MAY 12, 1999
> 
>       Mike DeCourcy
>       The Sporting News
> 
>       Perhaps the only thing Baron Davis does not do quickly is make up his
>       mind.
>       It is hard to believe it could take him 60 days to arrive at what was
>       clearly a foregone conclusion, but he at last announced his entry into the
>       NBA Draft.
>       He says he did not reach this decision until two days prior to holding a
>       press conference to proclaim he would leave UCLA, although it was
>       impossible to find a mock draft or list of top prospects that did not
>       include his name.
>       It also was impossible to find a mock draft with the name of the Bruins'
>       sophomore point guard at the top, but that is where he ought to be.
>       The team that wins the lottery ought to spend its luck on Davis. Just as
>       we said Vince Carter was the man to take in last year's draft, Davis is
>       the best player college basketball is sending to the pros this season.
>       There is much to say on behalf of Rhode Island's Lamar Odom, who is
>       remarkably versatile and will use his ballhandling and passing skills to
>       become a wonderful NBA player.
>       There is much to say for the athletic ability possessed by Maryland
>       product Steve Francis, although not so much to say for his production
>       under pressure.
>       Elton Brand of Duke was college basketball's player of the year, not that
>       this means a lot to NBA scouts, but he's also the one power player who
>       figures to have an immediate impact.
>       Odom is a hit-and-miss type of shooter, though, and is not the dynamic
>       sort of athlete who ordinarily dominates from a wing position. Francis is
>       to be a point guard in the pros. He did not play much at that position in
>       college, and tended to disappear when games became important.
>       Brand will fall a spot or two or more because he is an undersized post
>       player, and pro scouts keep disrespecting these guys despite the dramatic
>       success of Sacramento's Corliss Williamson and Denver's Danny Fortson.
>       There are fewer legitimate questions about Davis, unless they involve his
>       knee, which was injured in the second round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament
>       when he landed after slamming home a dunk.
>       At 6-3, 210 pounds, Davis is as quick, powerful and creative as an NBA
>       team could ask its point guard to be. Michael Bibby was taken No. 2 in
>       last year's draft and was talked about as a possible No. 1 pick. The
>       league seemed more enamored of point guards then. Now that there are
>       several available in this year's draft and a few very good ones staying
>       behind in college, they seem less precious.
>       What Davis can bring to a team, though, should not be dismissed. With his
>       size and speed, he can penetrate a defense. With his speed and passing
>       ability, he can lead the break. He is a consistent jump shooter who hit
>       .481 from the floor last season and was 35-of-102 on three-point shots.
>       Equally important, he made shots at crucial times.
>       On a team whose top nine players were freshmen and sophomores, Davis never
>       retreated from taking the big shot and so often made the ones he took. The
>       Bruins played nine games against NCAA Tournament teams after January 1. He
>       averaged 19.8 points in those games.
>       UCLA was hardly shocked by Davis' departure and has been planning for the
>       eventuality he would need to be replaced. Junior-to-be Earl Watson, who
>       ran the point while Davis recovered from knee surgery early last season,
>       is the obvious choice to take over.
>       Watson was UCLA's second-leading scorer with 13.3 points a game and led
>       the Bruins with 142 assists. He is capable enough to keep the Bruins among
>       the college elite if JaRon Rush develops into the wing playmaker he ought
>       to be and if coach Steve Lavin will either force forward Jerome Moiso to
>       play with some game sense or not play at tall.
>       This is still an extremely talented team, with guard Ray Young and center
>       Dan Gadzuric both capable of making significant progress as sophomores. It
>       will be essential that the Bruins mature.
>       That principally involves Rush recovering his sense of how to attack a
>       defense with the drive, Gadzuric playing aggressively and Moiso not merely
>       throwing whatever shots he wishes as the goal.
>       Davis was not on the court at the close of UCLA's 56-53 loss to Detroit in
>       the first round of the NCAA Tournament, having fouled out with 16 points,
>       four assists and two steals. Before he left, though, he gave the Bruins a
>       chance with some clutch shooting.
>       There is an explosive quality to Davis' play that would seem to make him
>       the prototype NBA point guard. If you wanted to think of him as Jason Kidd
>       with a jump shot, that might be optimistic, but it might also be accurate.
> 
>       Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
> 
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