NCAA Tournament Draft Prospects: South Region
With March Madness now upon us, the NBA is set to take a back seat for the next three weeks. Discussions will shift from LeBron James fourth-quarter mindset and the Lakers’ offensive woes to whether Vanderbilt has the mental toughness to overtake Syracuse in the Sweet 16, or if Kentucky’s freshmen will hold up under the bright lights.
However, the NCAA Tournament offers something for even the biggest NBA fan – a look at the stars of tomorrow. Nearly every year, players use the tournament to boost their NBA stock, putting up big performances on the biggest stage, and with the entire country watching. While many scouts swear they look at the entire body of work for a prospect, and not just a three-week sample in March, there’s no question it’s important for players to step up when it matters most. Leading up to the tournament, The Crab Dribble will profile five players in each region whose March performance could have a big impact – positive or negative – on their draft stock. Here’s a look at the South Region. (more…)
NBA Draft Prospects, 1-10
We’re quickly closing in on the midway point of the NBA season, and it’s likely that a few of the bottom-tier teams have already cast an eye toward the 2012 NBA Draft, which is expected to be absolutely loaded with instant-impact players and franchise building blocks. The Crab Dribble will be tracking the top 30 draft prospects all season leading into our draft coverage in June, keeping tabs on whose stock is rising, whose is falling and who should think about enrolling in classes for another year. Here’s an initial look at the top 10. Follow the links for prospects 11-20 or 21-30, and stay tuned to TCD to see how the last month of the regular season and March Madness impact each player’s stock. (more…)
Thursday linkage: Jan. 12, 2012
Here we go – five-layer link NBA burrito.
* David West – from Xavier University – was offered $24 million over three years from the Celtics last month. The Pacers countered with $20 million over two. West signed with the Pacers. Some critics, including West’s could’ve-been-teammate Ray Allen, called the former Hornet all-star out for a blatant cash grab. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated explains that it’s not quite that simple.
* What do you think of the new Utah Jazz billboard campaign? Personally, they seem a little bit funereal for my tastes.
* Another huge injury situation has a playoff contender scrambling for answers. The Hawks without Horford is like an Arby Q without a bun. Shiz gon get messy.
* I’m sorry if I keep hitting you with Wizards talk. “Why talk about the Wizards?” you ask. “They were irrelevant last year, and they’re even more irrelevant this year.” Fair, fair. I just can’t help it. I’m utterly fascinated by this team’s disastrously awful performance this season. How are they this bad? They have John Wall running point, for goodness sake.
Oh, but they’re bad. Real bad. Sixty-four points last night, guys?
Sekou Smith is the latest to take a shot at sorting it all out.
* Speaking of the Wizards, time to start scouting Andre Drummond, Washington fans!
Ben Walpole is a producer and blogger for The Crab Dribble. He strongly advocates giving Jan Vesely more playing time, in case anyone was interested in how he’d fix the Wizards.
End of the Bench Vol. 19
Well it looks like Alabama has another dominating defense full of future NFL players, while Oklahoma is destined for yet another year of video game numbers on offense. LSU’s defense is not far behind the Tide’s, and any team with Andrew Luck is going to be good, no matter…..wait, what? This isn’t a college football blog? I’m supposed to talk about the NBA? You know the NBA is still locked out, right?
Okay…guess I’ll give it a shot. It’s been a while since EOTB checked in, but then again, there’s not been much to check in on. The players union and the owners continue to meet, and it’s anyone’s best guess as to how much progress has been made, if any. The players who haven’t headed overseas continue to dominate streetball leagues across the country, and Blake Griffin has become the world’s tallest intern at a comedy website. All in all, we’re lucky we’ve at least got college football to distract us. Let’s see what the view looks like from the best seat in the house.
– I can’t be the only one sick of how complicated this lockout is becoming. There’s been talk of de-certifying the union, whatever that means. There are rumors of agents getting involved to help the negotiating process. There’s whispers (or lies, according to David Stern), of rifts among the owners on revenue-sharing proposals. Both sides are now going all out to make it publicly known how unified they each are, as though that’s all us fans are worried about. In short – all of the strategic bargaining ploys and legal jargon are starting to wear on EOTB, who just wants to see some freaking basketball. (more…)
What they’re saying