DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs
When the draft process first began, DeJuan Blair was regarded as a lottery pick. But then a look at his knees scared off a number of teams and tumble down all the way to the Spurs at pick number 37. He should be a fantastic fit in San Antonio.

DeJuan Blair - San Antonio Spurs (Image: Zuma Press)

Danny Green, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers need some help out on the perimeter and they got exactly that with Danny Green in the middle of the second round. He’s a very sound player who has great fundamentals. If he can prove to be good enough athletically, he should become an NBA player.

BJ Mullens, Oklahoma City Thunder
Mullens is another potential lottery pick who dropped. He was eventually secured by the Thunder at 24. He’s a raw prospect but he has enough natural athleticism and skill to become a good player.

Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers need a point guard for the future and were able to land Jrue Holiday at 17. He’s a couple of years away from being able to help on a nightly basis but his potential is high.

Post from: EveryJoe

Biggest Steals in the 2009 NBA Draft

No surprises on the top three picks (Big Ten only releases top three teams). For 1-11, click here.

2008-09 Top Three Preseason Picks

Team, 2007-08 Final Records (Finish)
1. Purdue 25-9, 15-3 Big Ten (2nd)

2. Michigan State 27-9, 12-6 Big Ten (4th)

3. Wisconsin 31-5, 16-2 Big Ten (1st)

No B.J. Mullens? Blame the media. Or sanity.

2008-09 Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team

Player, 2007-08 Final Stats
Manny Harris, MICH, So., G 16.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Raymar Morgan, MSU, Jr., F 14.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg

Robbie Hummel, PUR, So., F 11.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg

E’Twaun Moore, PUR, So., G 12.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg

Marcus Landry, WIS, Sr., F 10.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg

I’m not positive on if this is a good thing.

Robbie Hummel as the best player in the conference…

Not a good thing.

Please Raymar Morgan, Manny Harris, E’Twaun Moore or hell, even B.J. Mullens, show everyone that this conference is really not as weak as it looks right now.

2008-09 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
Robbie Hummel, PUR

Oh, Robbie will probably have a tremendous season and make me look anything but informed.

Ha.

Some Big Ten Media Day Quotes

Tom Crean (Indiana)

On taking on a unique challenge:
“It’s just the way it worked out. In a situation where there was really no choice, there have been no regrets in any area. From taking the job or the decisions that were made, we just have to move forward. It’s not our players’, coaches’, administrators’ or fans’ fault. It just happened, so we have to deal with it.”

Todd Lickliter (Iowa)

On goals to make NCAA tournament:
“I am not going to sell anybody short, I just don’t believe in it. People say it’s a process, but what does that mean? For some people it may be a process of a day, for others a month. We are going to compete this year and I expect us to be successful. I certainly would not want to sell my guys short and not give them every opportunity. I have never gone into a situation thinking that we are not going to win. I go into every situation thinking that we will be successful. You have to do it that way. The last time Iowa tied for the Big Ten title was in ‘79, but a couple of years ago they were right there. I don’t think anybody is happy with where we are at right now, but I am proud of the things that have been accomplished. I think winning Big Ten Championships is incredibly demanding. It is a great league. We know it can be done and that is what we are shooting for.”

John Beilein (Michigan)

On practice:
“There is an amount of efficiency you can run a practice with that will hopefully transcend to games. I have a checklist of around 100 things that we are trying to do before the first game. Last year we had about 28 down pretty well before the first game. Your first year you are virtually putting in out of bounds plays the day of the first game sometimes. If you coach the only way I know how, which is fundamentally at first. ”

Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

On the emerging leadership of Kalin Lucas:
“I am surprised, but excited because that’s one of the things we really harped on last year. At the end of the year we really talked about it, that if he wants to take another step, he’s got to do a better job of taking other people with him. I think it helped him to go to the Nike camp this year and spend some time there with some of the best point guards in the country, listen to different coaches. It’s always good to get input from other coaches, media members, all the people that talk to him there. I just think he’s done a great job. You have to trust the player and the player has to trust you. I’m starting to feel that we’re getting that trust, that he understands if I’m not happy about something, it’s for him not against him.”

Matt Painter (Purdue)

On the chemistry of the team and whether Purdue has a “best player”:
“We have guys that are all-conference. We have guys that were first-team, second-team, third-team. And Keaton Grant was honorable mention, but he was our team MVP. You can’t really pick one over the other. And Robbie Hummel was Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, but I don’t know if he’s the best player on the team. Now, I’m not saying he’s not, but you can come to our practice and he might look like the best player on the team on Monday, but on Tuesday Keaton Grant will look like the best player. On Wednesday E’Twaun Moore will look like the best player on the team, on Thursday Chris Kramer will look like the best player on the team. So I think that’s a very good problem to have. I think the strength of our team lies in our balance and our unselfishness. I couldn’t even tell you who the best player on the team is. That’s something that varies from game to game, practice to practice. So it’s not something I really worry about. As a coach that’s the least of your concerns. You want your guys to be unselfish and learn to play together. A lot of other people want to establish who’s on first team, who’s on second team, who’s on third team. We just want to win, so those other things kind of get thrown out of the window.”

Bill Carmody (Northwestern)

On the team learning how to win:
“I think a lot of it has to do with the talent level and your preparation. We haven’t gotten to that point where we say, ‘OK, we’ve got to win this big one.’ We’ll see as we go. I just think that the talent level is bigger and it’s deeper. Our rotation could be nine or 10 this year and I’m like a seven-guy rotation usually. There’s not that much of our drop off. Our scrimmages of our first- and second-teams are very close all the time. That’s a good sign.”

Bigten.cstv.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Big Ten Preview

Post from: EveryJoe

B.J. Mullens: Coincidence or habit?

At first glance 7′1 B.J. Mullens reminds me of the classic stiff, the guy who had all sorts of people saying great things about him prior to even lacing up sneakers in the NBA.

Robert Swift, Michael Olowokandi, Chris Mihm, Jim McIlvaine, uhh, maybe not Jimster there, but those first 3 were supposed to be the next really good, even spectacular, pivots, but are the epitome of Muresanian stiffness and Will Perdue blandness.

Beating up on Gheorghe like that isn’t like me, so I’ll say Ostertag stiffness instead.

Muresan had game.

Hoops analysts and geniuses –just about every one of that species—has proclaimed B.J. to be the next Oden type impact in college basketball. He can shoot it like Dirk, dunk it like Dominique, run the floor like a gazelle and can kiss it in off the glass like Mr. Fundamentals.

Just imagine how much more we would hear about B.J. if he was going to an ACC school?

Dickie V. would be saying he’s the number one Diaper Dandy!

Milicic

Is Mullens the next Darko flop?

Does he wow people in solo workouts like Darko apparently wowed Joe Dumars?

I’m not going to sit back and say Mullens will be a total disaster his freshman year.

First off, he’ll play at least 19 games against a disaster of a conference, the Big Ten. That alone should guarantee him at least a double digit scoring average.

Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa probably have enough combined talent to make a run in the NIT if they joined together, but split up that core and you have three downright weak teams.

Penn St. and Illinois won’t turn any heads either.

Indiana, it will be awhile.

Second, Mullens will (already has) easily impress others with his hops on wide open dunks and such, inflating the esteem of the many futile videos that already exist exhibiting his growing heap of skills. With every little highlight play he makes, the koolaid will be traveling more and more.

I’ll be really blunt… there haven’t been any white (American) centers who have taken the NBA by storm in recent years. There have been quite a few who were projected to be real good, like a couple mentioned above. Add on Bryant Reeves and Travis Knight to that list save Kandi Man.

Chris Kaman is the closest definition of a solid white “center” out there now. And by all means, Chris is a valuable player and really had a breakout year in 07/08. He’s a border line All-Star caliber player.

Brad Miller is on the honorable mention list, but he’s never been a back to the basket player anyways.

So this B.J. guy has a lot to live up to and many people he must prove wrong, and also, prove right.

I think too many basketball fans and “analysts” are often overly gaga over an athletic white guy, a smooth white guy, someone who they think can break out and be considered the next Larry Bird or Bill Walton, Rex Chapman, Brent Barry, Kevin McHale, John Stockton, Chris Mullin.

Good American white players are hard to come by lately.

B.J. is a phony as of now.

You can’t teach height.

True.

But you can teach others to be aware of Darko.

Post from: EveryJoe

B.J. Mullens hype machine warm and ready

First off, future Buckeye B.J. Mullens. B.J. is a legitimate 7 footer. Just think if Koufus comes back to Columbus? Though it’s not likely to happen.

scout.com had this to say about Mullens

Big kid with room to grow. The challenge for him will be going from “prospect” to “player.” By that we mean getting into the mix and beginning to accumulate dominating performances. Mullens has the size and talent to make himself into a force. He can step out and play facing the bucket while possessing the ability to dive inside. Putting the pieces together is the final step in high school.

Next up is 6′3 Jrue Holiday, a future UCLA Bruin. Will probably play the shooting guard position his freshman year, but will need to play the point sometime during his basketball career. Playing time will depend on the decisions of Westbrook and Shipp, but Jrue should certainly get his share of minutes in any case.

scout.com had this to say about Holiday

There are so many to like him: character kid, gets better but most importantly there might not be a kid in the class who places a greater value on winning than him. Can score, pass, defend and basically do it all. Adding some PG in his game for the long term. Coachable.

6′9 Devin Ebanks, the nation’s top unsigned player, finally made a decision (May 18th). He went with West Virginia (does Bob Huggins do good work or what). Devin should be a good replacement for Alexander. Or will it be sidekick?

Ebanks reminds me of Rudy Gay a little. Mullens reminds me of Brad Miller/Memo Okur. As for Jrue, I’m not so sure. Maybe Baron Davis.

Post from: EveryJoe

YouTube Highlights of the future stars…