Links to the Present: March 28, 2012
2012-03-28
“My less-quick thoughts would be that this season is about to get hard. I know that I’ve been calling for the Cavs to lose games to optimize their draft position, but watching crappy performances every night is going to wear on me/you. Nobody really performed all that well and since April is going to be an absolute nightmare schedule-wise, Byron Scott isn’t about to waste Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson in games that are well out of hand. When you have to save guys since you’re playing 16 games in 23 days, you end up with games like last night. You’ll have the bench playing even more extended minutes. You’ll have Luke Walton and Omri Casspi on the floor at the same time. It just becomes hard to watch, but I guess I brought it upon myself when I asked for the team to tank.” [Conrad Kaczmarek]
“The tape may be out. Forty-two games in to his NBA career, opposing defenses are starting to clamp down on rookie point guard Kyrie Irving. The result, at least if we are using ‘win total’ as a guage, has not been pretty with the team dropping four straight contests — seven of their last eight — with the most recent being a double-digit loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.” [Scott Sargent]
Jeremy Lamb is expected to declare for the draft soon.
Boobie Gibson is likely out for the year with a torn tendon. The backcourt grows thinner.
Yesterday, Bassy Pruiti released the 11th edition of his Rookie Rankings. Irving’s still at the top, and TT has managed to claw his way into the top 10.
I would definitely not put a lot of stock in mock drafts right now. There will be guys who rise and fall with workouts. This time last year, i don’t think T.T. was anywhere in the #4 discussion. Derrick Williams probably shot up 5 slots with his game against Duke. Kawhi Leonard and Bismack Biyambo probably weren’t on most people’s radar. Heck, Knight was considered a lock top 5 pick. I actually go off draftexpress a lot more than I go off Ford, who I appreciate, but who seems to be really over-effusive in his evaluations sometimes (his comical impressions… Read more »
I consider Ford’s interactive lotto to be more entertainment than educational. I think NBA Draft Net does the best projecting players’ draft range. I remember them having Derrick Williams in the top 3 way before the other sites caught on. They also have Arnett Moultrie really high, so I’d like to see if they turn out to be right about him, too.
I wouldn’t put much stock into Ford’s draft boards. It’s usually off the mark, even more so four months prior to the draft. Sullinger at 13 seems like a reach.
Brendan Bowers had a good article on how our “natural” tanking isn’t all that bad. It’s worth a read. As far as our draft position is concerned, I feel that #8 puts us right outside of the top 3 tiers of players. I consider the first to be Anthony Davis, the second to be MKG and Robinson, and the third to have Beal, Drummond, Barnes, and one of Cody Zeller/Sully. If we do move up to #7 or #6, it would give us a really good chance of snagging one of our top targets. Plus, if we wanted to move… Read more »
Did anyone see Chad Ford’s mock 2.0? It has the Cavs taking PJ3 and Jeff Taylor. I mean just kill the franchise now. Obviously a lot will change but a player like Jones is one we want no parts of. I just see them missing on someone elite stuck at 8 and not ending up with any impact players to pair with Kyrie. I fear this is going to be a long process, maybe I have lived in Cleveland too long lol.
Boobie’s gone. Time to bring in Blake Ahearn.