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

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Sherry & Hart wrote:
> 
> Way Of The Ray wrote:
> >
> > I wonder if Rick Pitino feels the same way.....
> 
> Who cares, do the C's have the 1st pick.

They could in a Mercer trade or if they get really lucky next Sunday.
It's nice having a big time point guard; I'm sure Philly and Sacramento
echo
these sentiments.
Ray


> >     ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >       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.
> >
> >
> >       Privacy Policy. © 1999 Times Mirror Interzines, a division of Times Mirror
> >       Magazines.
> >
> >