RE: MOCK DRAFT - NBA MOCK DRAFT - InsideHoops.com

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

Mark,
I agree entirely. That's the beauty of this draft for us;
that we can get a solid player like Haywood and also roll 
the dice on a Gasol or Johnson.

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2001 10:54 AM
To: 'j.hironaka@unesco.org'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: Re: MOCK DRAFT - NBA MOCK DRAFT - InsideHoops.com


This is a good point, Joe. Everyone wonders why so many guys go pro early,
but look no further than a guy like Brendan Haywood. He was a high school
mega-stud, a la Dasagana Diop. If he were a high school senior this year,
he'd probably be a lock for a top-five pick. Instead, he went to school in a
program noted for turning out great, fundamentally sound pro players. He
played there four years, started the last three years, and put up solid, if
not spectacular, numbers in arguably the toughest conference in the country
(while also taking a team to the Final Four), even though the offense was
designed to revolve around a talented shooting guard. He hasn't had an
injury or off-the-court problem. Now, he's projected as a mid-to-late
first-round pick. Would anyone be surprised-or even disappointed-if Diop
went to college and had the same kind of career Haywood has had? The only
real problem with Brendan Haywood's game is the time pro scouts have had to
dissect it. He lacks the mystery-the "home run" hope-of the high-schoolers
(or even some small-school longshots like Olowokandi or Chris Marcus).
They've seen enough of him to know he's not Shaq. Fine. Get past Shaq,
Mourning, Robinson, Mutombo and Divac and name a 7-footer with the
combination of skills, measureables (height, weight and strength) and
pedigee of Brendan Haywood. Might Haywood turn out to be a bust? Sure, but
that's not the point. It seems if scouts have too much time to look at a
player, they stop seeing all the things he can do and focus on all the
things he can't. (I'd also love to see the Mike DeCourcys of the world
mention Brendan Haywood once in a while when making their case for the evil
NBA luring these innocent kids away to certain doom.)

I'm getting off on a tangent here, but anyway... I tend to focus on Haywood
because I get frustrated with the idea that if we can't get an "elite"
center, we're better off sticking with what we have. What a crock. Where
would Robert Parish fit in that philosophy? He certainly wasn't an "elite"
center, but he was a hell of a lot better than Tony Battie or Vitaly
Potapenko and he was a crucial piece to three championship teams. If a guy
like Haywood turned into a 12 ppg, 9 rpg center who played great defense,
wouldn't he be worth just about any draft pick? Is it so unrealistic to
think that might happen? Tell me this... when do you think we're going to
get another chance, drafting late lottery to mid-first round, to pick up a
skilled, 7-foot, 275-pound center who has received the coaching and
experience in big games against quality opponents that Haywood has? I just
think we're making this a little too complicated. Centers aren't sexy, but
they win. Even if they're not considered "elite."

Mark



***********
Joe Hironaka wrote:

What I'm talking about is how NBADraft.Net ranks Chris Duhon as the 10th
best pro prospect, while Loren Woods and Shane Battier don't even make
the top-25! Next comes Troy Murphy 40th, Richard Jefferson 36th and
Forte/Haywood 55th and 56th respectively. On the face of it, it seems
completely nuts. But if you read all the cut&paste hype about these
underclassmen and high schoolers ranked above them, you can only
conclude that the only reason these NCAA stars rank so low is they don't
have a handy, recent press clipping describing their McDonald's All Star
game exploits. Thus the site currently ranks two prep players (Florida
recruits David Lee and James White) higher than Shane Battier.
Puh-lease.