Zach, Tyson

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

What's the deal on Zach Randolph suddenly being a top ten pick in some
people's eyes? He's the fourth scoring option on Michigan State, fifth
in minutes played, and averages all of one assist and 0.7 blocks. He
didn't get a lot of minutes because his defense is still poor. In
highschool, scouts said he had the least athletic "upside" among the top
power forwards, but that his game was the most advanced. One thing you
can say about him, he looks a bit like Antoine with the round, baby fat
face. I don't know why he'd declare for the draft at this stage. He
hasn't accomplished a thing at the college level yet.

BTW 7-0 Tyson Chandler announced he'll enter the draft yesterday, coming
straight out of Compton (Dominquez HS).

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Chandler Goes Pro
By Jeff Goodman
http://www.schoolsports.com/

"league sources have told SchoolSports.com that he won't even be the
first high school player chosen in the draft. Glynn Academy (Ga.) power
forward Kwame Brown and legitimate centers Eddy Curry (6-11, 295) of
Thornwood High (Calif.) and DeSagana Diop (7-0, 305) of Oak Hill Academy
(Va.) may go ahead of Chandler if they choose to bypass college.

Chandler is a defensive presence, but his slender 220-pound frame is
more suited for the perimeter in the NBA. He is projected as a power
forward in the NBA and may even play small forward.

Chandler won't make the trip to North Carolina for the March 28
McDonald's All-American Game, and the reason for his absence won't
necessarily be because of his ankle injury.

"Tyson is one of the top players in the country, and it's disappointing
that he has decided not to play in the game," said Sports America
communications director Kevin Foley, whose company is in charge of
organizing the event.

There has been speculation that Chandler may be healthy enough to play
in the McDonald’s Game, which is still more than a week away, but he
does not want to risk injury or hurt his stock for the NBA scouts.

"It's impossible to say where he'll be drafted because you don't know
who else is coming out yet," said Ryan Blake of Marty Blake and
Associates, a scouting service affiliated with the NBA. "So you don't
know what to predict at this point."