My Seal of Approva... oh, forget it... I like these guys...

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm trying to look at guys who could be there for us at 16 and/or 20 and
come up with some favorites based on the limited times I've seen them play
or scouting reports heading into the draft (very dangerous). I wish I could
say there were some big guys I was excited about, or more point guards, but
I haven't found them yet. As it stands today, I'd be pleased if the Celts
came away with Pavlovic/Khryapa/Hayes at 16 and Williams or Diaw (as a PG)
at 20. Anyway, here are my guys:

1.	Mo Williams, PG, Alabama... Haven't seen him enough, but the buzz
about him seems to be growing. Sounds like a guy who would have been a
lottery pick a year from now. Here's his description from NBAdraft.net:

NBA Comparison: Mike Bibby 
Strengths: A natural floor leader and playmaker. Shoots the ball well, can
create off the dribble, and has good leadership qualities. Strong
competitor, with good work ethic. Makes good decisions and can shoot and
distribute the basketball. Good size and strength.
Weaknesses: Inexperience. Must improve defensively. Passing and ball
handling are good, but can improve. Not overly explosive leaper. 

Notes: Was an All American pitcher in high school with Major League
potential. 

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Strengths: Superb handle...Dribbles effortlessly with both right and left
hands, can cross over with ease, and drive into lane either way almost at
will...6'1, with decent strength...Solid shooter with excellent mid range J
and floater...Excellent fade-away off drive, very good at shooting off
dribble from 20 feet in... Easily gets into the lane, and excellent
vision/passing once there...Good passer on the perimeter...is improving
defensively...Good feet, willing to take charges, and quick
hands...Excellent FT shooter...Willing to go after defensive boards...Good
leader, will take control of game...Can really work the pick and roll.

Weaknesses: Still has a ways to go on D...Needs better range/consistency
from 3, but can hit deep ball...Very poor at catch and shoot. 
2.	Victor Khryapa, SF, Russia... Again, I'm going off of buzz, scouting
reports and what we've seen from Euros recently... This guy has been
compared to countryman Andrei Kirilenko, and that's good enough for me. AK
is a player. From NBAdraft.net:
Positives: He's very long and a very fundamentally sound player. Khryapa
gets a lot of comparisons to Andrei Kirilenko. Both players are long and
mutli-dimensional. Khryapa's a good shooter with NBA 3 range. He's a strong
rebounder, especially on the offensive glass and he's a great shot blocker
for a small forward. He's a pretty good defender thanks to his long arms.

Negatives: His playing time has been sporadic this year. Some feel that he
became enamoured with playing in the NBA and it went to his head. He's still
not a big threat offensively and he doesn't have the lateral quickness to
guard smaller, quicker small forwards.

Summary: Helped himself tremendously at the Euroleague Final 4. His defense
on Dejan Bodiroga (the Euroleague Final 4 MVP) was impressive. He won't be
able to come to the NBA this year because of contract issues. That's a minus
for some teams and a big plus for others. With all that said, most teams
still consider him a great prospect. He'll likely be a late-first-rounder.


3.	Aleksandar Pavlovic, SF, Serbia... Same as Khryapa. Some might say,
why swingmen on this list? You can't reach for a point guard or power
forward if a Kirilenko or Stojakovic level talent is on the board. Plus,
they do have a need at small forward, where Eric Williams and Walter McCarty
continue to log far too many minutes. Anyway, here's the lowdown from
ESPN.com:

Positives: Pavlovic is a 6-foot-7 swingman who some scouts are comparing to
Peja Stojakovic. He's a good mid-range shooter and he's also effective
putting the ball on the floor and getting to the basket. He's got great
leaping ability and is an above average athlete. Likes to be the "go-to" guy
with the game on the line.

Negatives: He struggles as a defender and has a streaky 3-point shot. He can
be too agressive at times. He needs to get stronger in order to finish more
consistently around the basket. 

Summary: His stock has been on the rise since Decemeber. He's very confident
and, at times, got big time minutes for a Euroleague team. A few strong
workouts and he could slip into the late lottery.

4.	Jarvis Hayes, SF/SG, Georgia (the college, not the Russian
republic)... Yes, another swingman. I'm just looking at the early draft
projections and who might be there when the Celts pick. I've said for a
while now that the available point guards targeted for that range don't
excite me, and neither do the big men. If you get a chance, check out Hayes'
stats. Great shot selection. Improved from year to year. Looks rock solid.
In many ways, reminds me of a poor man's Paul Pierce-remember, ball-handling
was a knock on Pierce coming out of Kansas. From NBAdraft.net:


Strengths:  Very smart player and superb scorer...Moves extremely well
without the ball, coming off screens and making cuts into the
lane...Excellent at catch and shoot...Great form and rotation on his shot
with soft touch and very deep range...Excellent mid range jumper...great
leaper who can finish around the hole and hang in the air on his J...Solid
FT shooter...Solid rebounder and defender...Has all the tools to be an
excellent defensive player...Good passer, doesn't get hazardous with the
ball and make stupid plays...Good at taking one or two dribbles into lane
with either hand and either finishing at the hole or pulling back for
fade-away...Has some post moves, based around strong fade-away.

Weaknesses: Not effective one-on-one trying to make his own shot...Really
needs to improve ball handling to be an NBA guard-but has size and strength
to battle at the small forward...Seems almost limited to two dribbles, then
immediately looks to pass or shoot...Does not appear very comfortable at all
handling the ball...Not as good as he could be defensively, really needs to
step up his effort and focus on the defensive end...Does not always look for
his shot when coming off screens seems to get tired sometimes late in games,
may need to improve conditioning.

Notes: Pulled a rare collegiate double feat by being Southern Conference
scoring champ as a freshman at Western Carolina, and then becoming
Southeastern Conference scoring champ in his sophomore season at Georgia in
2001-2002 after sitting out the mandatory season for NCAA transfers...Has
the prototypical body and athleticism for an NBA two guard, with the
strength to play the 3 if necessary...Excellent athletic ability-very quick
and great leaper.


5.	Boris Diaw, PG???, France... First, let me say I'd have to do some
serious checking on this guy to make sure he's not Joe Johnson all over
again. The knock on him is he's passive. But things are weird in Europe.
They have "systems" that hide things. Some players considered lottery picks
for the NBA never get off the bench in Europe. It's weird. So I'd like to
know more about Diaw. What everyone seems to agree upon is he's extremely
unselfish, a tremendous passer, a good athlete and very, very smart. That's
a good start. Can he handle the ball well enough to play point guard? He's
6-9, but he's long, lean and athletic. He has a point guard's mentality.
Could he do it? I'd find out before I throw a pick away on Reece Gaines or
Luke Ridnour. This guy was the MVP of his French league, and he was on the
same team as Pietrus, his more highly-rated countryman. From ESPN.com:

Positives: A big-time prospect who's been overshadowed by the emergence of
teammate Mickael Pietrus. He's very smooth and one of the best passers
ESPN.com has seen in the draft. He has a real point guard mentality and is
very unselfish. He has a nice body and is a good athlete. Diaw was the
French League's MVP this season.

Negatives: The only question with Diaw is aggressiveness. He can be too
passive on the offensive end of the court. He just rarely looks for his
shot. Some scouts believe that will change when Diaw gets out of the system
he's playing in and gets more familiar with the NBA. 

Summary: He's really a 6-foot-9 pass-first old school point guard. He'll
never average more than 12 to 15 ppg in the league, but he'll get you five
or six rebounds and five or six assists per game. He's probably a
mid-to-late first-rounder.