With no surprise and being on the clock since winning the draft lottery, the New Orleans Hornets drafted Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. Davis was last years AP Player of the Year, leading his Kentucky Wildcats to a National Championship victory. Davis will look to help the Hornets regain some confidence after a rough 21-45 season. Although Davis is defensively NBA ready, he will need to develop his offensive game to help make a bigger impact on both ends of the court.

The second pick of the draft belonged to the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats finished the 2011-2012 season with the worst winning percentage in league history. With their pick, the Bobcats drafted another Kentucky star, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. This was the first time ever that the top two picks of the NBA draft were from the same school.

Washington was able to land Florida guard Bradley Beal with the third pick in the draft. The freshman guard has been compared to current NBA star and future Hall of Famer, Ray Allen.

Cleveland, who had their eyes on Beal, settled with Syracuse sophomore guard, Dion Waiters. This was a shock to some, considering Waiters did not start a single game for Syracuse last year, but should have an immediate impact for the Cavaliers.

Sacramento fans should be thrilled after drafting Kansas forward, Thomas Robinson. Through all the off court tragedy Robinson dealt with, he still led the nation with 27 double-doubles averaging 17.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds.

Guard Damian Lillard from Webber State was drafted 6th by the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard averaged 24.5 points per game, 2nd in the country. Lillard faces a tremendous amount of scrutiny based on the college competition he encountered. However, the 6’3 guard will look to make a quick impact for the Blazers.

Harrison Barnes, North Carolina forward, was drafted 7th by the Golden State Warriors. Barnes led the Tar Heels in scoring last season, averaging 17.4 points per game.

The second surprise of the draft was the Toronto Raptors’ 8th pick, Washington sophomore guard Terrence Ross. Ross, an excellent shooter, was not expected to be drafted so early; however, he can definitely make an impact on the Raptors 28th ranked offense.

Detroit decided to go big with their pick, drafting Connecticut center Andre Drummond. There is concern about Drummond’s youth, being only 18. Also, it was a bit of a surprise considering Detroit already has a young center, Greg Monroe.

The Hornets were back on the clock with the 10th  pick of the draft, and added Duke guard Austin Rivers. Rivers led Duke in scoring an average of 15.5 points per game. Rivers will likely play an important role off the bench behind current Hornet, Eric Gordon.

The Hornets can easily claim to be this year’s draft winners. Combining Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers with Eric Gordon gives the Hornets hope for a very bright future.

July 1st marks the 2nd day of excitement for organizations to make a push from being a good team to becoming an elite team with free agency.

Check out the rest of Round 1 and Round 2

Image Courtesy of  Anthony Davis

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With preseason finally over, and Monday nights opener against the Dolphins waiting on the other side of the weekend, the New England Patriots seem once again poised to make another promising run at the Lombardi Trophy.

Already loaded with offensive firepower, the Pats spent the off-season beefing up their d-line with the additions of Albert Heyensworth, and former jets defensive end Shaun Ellis; moving from a predominantly 3-4 based defense to a 4-3 in hopes of finally adding the all-elusive pass rush to their arsenal.

But with last year’s quick playoff exit to the Jets still fresh in fans minds, and the sting from a playoff romping at the hands of Baltimore in 2009 still palpable, there are certainly questions about the 2011 New England Patriots that go beyond personnel acquisitions and schematics.

Consider this; the Patriots haven’t won a playoff game since beating the Chargers in the 2006 AFC Championship game. Furthermore, their last three playoff exits have not been easy defeats to swallow; in three losses to the Giants, Ravens, and Jets, Belichicks teams looked weak, confused, and perhaps most concerning of all, under prepared.

What’s troublesome about this is that while the Super Bowl teams of 2001, 2003, and 2004 were all extremely skilled, they specifically prided themselves on always being defensively strong, mentally sound, and extremely well prepared. Perhaps these first three Super Bowl victories spoiled us all, letting us believe that no pressure, no situation, no one game was too much for the unflappable Tom Brady and his stoic puppeteer Bill Belichick.

But three Lombardi trophies and seven years later, has the allure been lost, the mojo run out? At whatpoint does the “Patriot Way” become not what it was from 2001-2004, but what it has become from 2007-2011? One also has to wonder what this season means to the legacies of Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck.

A Super Bowl win would undoubtedly secure Brady’s spot in the greatest of all time debate, making him only the third quarterback ever, along with Bradshaw and Montana, to win four Lombardi’s. For Belichick, another Super Bowl victory would give him six rings over all, with four as a head coach, tying him with Chuck Noll for the most by any head coach. But another playoff loss?

Without a doubt, both Belichick and Brady will go down as some of the best ever at their respective positions; no one can argue that. But a failure to win one more big game together could tarnish the twilight years of Brady’s career, leaving his lasting image as someone who won early, but faltered late.

Most importantly, if neither Brady nor Belichick win another ring, each will have a clear superior: Brady behind Montana and Bradshaw, and Belichick behind Noll. This season is not just any season for the Patriots; resting in the balance are the legacies of coach and quarterback, a prospect which makes Monday nights debut against Miami that much more exciting, as if it needed to be.

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This year’s NBA draft was an interesting one. Much of the talk going around was that it was a terrible draft in terms of talent. That being said, nobody will really be able to judge any of these players until they are playing in the league for a while, or not playing for that matter.

The draft was also overrun with foreign players compared to any draft of the past. For some reason, people initially give less credit to these players since they haven’t been exposed to the American fans very much. Realistically, we may look back on the 2011 draft as one full of sleepers, but we’ll have to wait for that.

As for now, it seems as if a few teams stood out with the moves they made on Thursday night. Excluding just giving teams credit for being terrible and having top picks, here’s who I thought did the best job on draft day, and they may not be who you think.

Portland Trail Blazers

For me, it all starts with Portland. Far and away the best job on draft day adding players that will immediately have an impact on a team who was already poised to make a deep run in the Western Conference. If not for injuries, Portland may have already found their way to the top of the conference, but now they have some serious firepower. Andre Miller and Rudy Fernandez were shopped in a three way trade with the Nuggets and Mavericks. Though both of those players contributed well to the team for years, Portland will be okay without them. Raymond Felton is a great point guard in this league, one that is incredibly underrated. He is a tough defender, great outside shooter, and just flat out knows how to run a team. He brings youth to the point guard position and actually can be a solid two-guard if necessary as he proved last season with Denver. Portland also added Duke guard Nolan Smith and Ohio State guard Jon Diebler in the draft. Smith was one of my favorites in the entire field, and for the life of me I can’t understand why he fell so far. He won a championship at Duke, was a great team leader, and can score the basketball almost as well as any guard that was taken this year. Diebler is deadly from the outside. A Kyle Korver clone, he won’t give you much on the defensive end, but if he gets hot from three, opposing defenses will be in trouble. Not much growth needed here, he’ll be an immediate impact player off the bench. Portland filled in spots that they really needed, got younger, and though they didn’t add any size really, they put pieces around their budding star forward LaMarcus Aldridge to propel them to one of the best rosters around the league. Now they need to do it on the court.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks were disappointing last season to say the least. In 2010 they were able to not only make the playoffs, but make noise there. “Fear the deer” was a motto that was lost last year, but could come back soon after the moves they made. The Bucks made probably the biggest splash of the day by landing Stephen Jackson via trade with the Charlotte Bobcats. Corey Maggette was sacrificed, and though he is a very talented offensive player, he has become somewhat of a trade pawn the past few years. The Bucks were dead last in scoring last year and were absolutely desperate for a shooter to stretch the floor as well as another slasher who could get to the rim and allow Brandon Jennings to be open for more outside jump shots. They got both in Jackson, as well as a great defender. He will prove to have a huge impact on this team, and barring any setbacks, the trio of Jennings, Jackson and Bogut should easily grab a playoff spot. Milwaukee also added Tobias Harris from Tennessee, and Jon Leuer from Wisconsin. Harris is very versatile and should be able to fill in anything they lost in Corey Maggette. As for Leuer, he falls into a similar category as Nolan Smith for me. Not as far as play style goes, but for the intangibles. He found himself in deep runs into the NCAA Tournament with Wisconsin in his years there, and just strikes me as a player who will find his role and contribute in a pro system. I don’t expect either of these guys to be all-stars, but good role players to put around an already solid lineup. Fear the deer next season.

Charlotte Bobcats

So here’s my curveball. Let’s think about this rationally for a second. The Bobcats weren’t going anywhere at all with the team they had. Michael Jordan knew this, and made some of the best decisions in his much criticized front-office career. They traded Gerald Wallace last season, leaving the team destined for a terrible ending to the season. I would have to assume that Jordan had been looking to shop Stephen Jackson for a while now, and only on draft day was he able to find a suitor. Did they get value back for him? Immediate it doesn’t seem so, but let’s look deeper. If a team is trying to completely rebuild for the future, what do they want to do? In the NBA you have two tasks. Get some solid young talent at the hard to find positions, and clear cap space to give yourself some leverage for free agency. They were able to do both in one trade. Corey Maggette is still a solid player in the league, and will at least give fans something to watch for the next two years as their young players develop. Also, he will remain as a trade pawn for them, and an expiring contract in the future which will allow them to have some money to work with coming into a year where the exact cap rules are uncertain. They picked up the number seven pick which they used on Bismack Biyombo from the Congo. He most definitely is all raw athleticism. Standing at 6’9 with an absurd 7’7 wingspan, he will have no problem blocking shots and grabbing rebounds in the league. The Detroit Pistons never minded very much that Ben Wallace couldn’t score the ball when he was winning defensive player of the year awards, and the Bobcats shouldn’t worry either. Maybe it’s a bit early for that comparison, but if he works out, he could be a very nice role player to develop. Now we get to the most underappreciated player in the 2011 draft: Kemba Walker. I can’t say enough about this kid. Talent, heart, quickness, leadership, the list goes on forever. The best player on the best team in the country, and one of the best scorers in the nation to boot somehow slipped to ninth in a so-called weak draft. I will never understand how that happened, but Michael Jordan and the Bobcats will be thanking the top eight teams in the future. He can play on both ends, and will have plenty of time to develop in Charlotte without any unfair immediate expectations. Charlotte was also able to sell their 39th pick, Jeremy Tyler, for cash considerations. Everyone likes cash right? Charlotte is bad for now, but made significant progress on draft night, and now has a definite plan for how they want to go. It’s only a matter of time.

Neither I nor anybody can say who will be good or bad right now in the draft, but speculation is what makes it all fun. These three teams may not be the best in the league, but improved the most in just one night. As I said, time will tell…so long as there is a season next year.

Marty Ellis / Shutterstock.com

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Michael Szego: As of late, the top college basketball stars that have declared to enter the NBA draft have had to deal with constant ridicule and proposition that this may be one of the worst draft classes talent-wise that we have seen in a very long time. Whether it be because of unfamiliarity, biased opinion, or just good old dislike for some of the players, it seems as though that have obtained an unfair reputation before they have even gotten a chance to showcase their skills in a professional game.

Many of the players showed tremendous skill and personality at the recent NBA Draft Combine, and yet even before then, countless analysts were writing this class off. All of this talk is a bit early and unwarranted, and I truly believe that this class is going to surprise people in a big way.

Some players we have never heard of, or overlooked because they “couldn’t handle the transition to the pro game” (a phrase that is so horribly overused) will prove to have very productive careers in this league, and the 2011 draft class could instead go down as one of the most surprising classes of all time, rather than the worst.

Clodel Remy: As of right this moment, this draft is and should be considered one of the worst in recent history. We all know every incoming draft class will be scrutinized and compared to that of the 2003 class in which there are 2 future Hall of Famers for sure and several all star players… But this draft does nothing to stand up to that scrutiny and no player is really a game changer.

You’re absolutely right some of these players will have productive careers and some will have all star appearances on their resumes, but a draft without names is not a good draft; not memorable. There are many factors that plague this class which we will go into but that is not our fault as sports fans.

It is not my job to market these players and as far as the combine goes, it means absolutely nothing because what did it tell us that we don’t already know. It is hard to name 2 dynamic players in this draft that I would want to build a team around… this is a very bad year to have this number 1 pick and Cleveland will be right back in the lottery next year.

Michael: A big part of the problem stems exactly from what you just said. “A draft without names is not a good draft.” I can’t sit here and say that’s a false statement, but I can say that it stems from an altogether bigger cultural problem.

If a fan see’s a mock draft, and begins to decide which players would make the best fit on their favorite teams, majority of them immediately have more faith in an American player that went to a prominent university in the United States, than one from another country. Regardless of whether they have ever seen the international player play, or know where they are from, they often get discounted right off the bat. This season more than most, offers seven or eight foreign-born players that could be picked in round one.

Enes Kanter, a center from Turkey who was disqualified from playing at the University of Kentucky because of broken eligibility rules could be a top-five pick. Kanter stunned scouts at the combine showing that maybe some of these unfamiliar names are more valuable than we had previously thought. This unwarranted ignoring is part of what I like to call “The Darko Effect.”

Darko Milicic of course was the second overall pick in the incredibly 2003 draft you mentioned before, and is often referred to as the biggest draft bust in NBA history because of the eventual stars that were picked behind him. People now expect this to happen with international players, and refuse to believe that they could be just as productive as their American counterparts.

Look for players like Jan Vesely, Donatas Motiejunas, Bismark Biyembo, and Jonas Valanciunas to all be picked early, and have immediate impacts on their teams in their transition to the United States style of play.

Clodel: You see that’s exactly the problem with this year’s draft, not only the lack of names but also the amount of foreign players. I have nothing against players who were not schooled in the United States but how many of these players realistically you see making an impact year in and year out.

Dirk is the best European player in the league right now but we all knew what he would be capable of at an early age, so there was little left to discover. Excitement and expectation plays a large role in the overall perceived level of success a draft class has. The transition to the league is difficult and you can’t honestly expect these players to make that transition and actually contribute; not likely.

Aside from that, let’s not focus on what these players will do once in the league… let’s talk about what we know from watching college basketball this past season and what history has taught us. First off we know nothing about these players because they didn’t play in the U.S so the expectations are at ground level. History has shown us that big men take a while to develop in the league and all the guys you mentioned are big men so I see bust written all over them until they prove me wrong.

Michael: We could dispute talent levels all day long, but when it comes down to it, NBA teams want one thing and one thing only: championships. Owners and scouts look to draft proven winners that can show initiative and leadership as soon as they step on the hardwood with their new club.

I have four specific players in mind in this class that possess these valuable qualities, and yet for some reason are still being overlooked.

First we have Kemba Walker. I can’t say enough about this guy. Leading UConn to a Big East Championship and an NCAA Championship, rattling off countless pro-level performances in a row and bringing new meaning to the phrase “heart of a champion.” People are concerned about his size, but Allen Iverson seemed to do pretty well for himself at around the same height. Look for him to have a chip on his shoulder for not being drafted higher.

Next I look at two players from the 2010 National Champion Duke Blue Devils. Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have proved over their years in Durham that they are born leaders and can flat out ball. Teams will surely get value out of them late in the first-round.

Lastly, don’t overlook Naismith Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette. He undoubtedly has the range to shoot the basketball from anywhere, and thus could be a impact scorer off the bench in his rookie season.

I am very excited for this years draft, and will be attending in Newark, NJ at The Prudential Center to watch these future NBA stars prove everybody wrong on June 23^rd..

Clodel: This draft is not worth the price of attendance and these players don’t bring out a high level of excitement as I stated before. The biggest name all year in college basketball was Jimmer Fredette and watching him get exposed as nothing more than an undersized gun slinging guard who doesn’t know what the word defense means changed my opinion of him.

Fredette was the great white hope and a poor man’s version of Stephen Curry. I like Brandon Knight and I think he has the potential to be a really good all star player in this league because of his shooting and his quickness but not a player to start my team around.

Now everyone has Duke freshmen point guard Kyrie Irving as the number one pick…I wouldn’t disagree with that rating but it is only by default. To be a number one pick, I would have liked to see more from Irving; he may be capable of being great but at the end of the day that dynamic playmaking is not present as of yet.

Players like Nolan Smith prove my point about this draft… He has been at Duke for a couple years and is very polished and I would love to have him on my team but only in the latter part of the draft. He like all these players will not be a star in this league. Kemba Walker has reached his ceiling and what he is now is what he will always be. He is a good player and at 6″1′, he is as tough as it gets as he proved during the tournament. But if he is the best the draft has to offer in terms of star power than I rest my case. He is no Iverson.

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We saw 4 quarterbacks taken in the first round of the draft and it was somewhat surprising to say the least.  Now the work officially begins, the problem is that the work has not begun…not for the coaches nor the players.

The fact that the league has canceled the rookie symposium does not bode well, but this may be just a way for the NFL to show how serious this is and hopefully try to scare the players into doing something; who knows.

The league has praised this mandatory activity in the past, a stage in which they speak to rookies about how to manage themselves in the NFL and tips on managing their money, so this comes as a surprise.

The larger issue in terms of football is the impact this lockout or negotiation will have on the players and the level of football being played if in fact football is played at some point.  These four quarterbacks all underclassmen have been drafted to play sooner rather than later; aside from Blaine Gabbert who will most likely back up Garrard until he is given the reigns in Jacksonville.

This will not only affect the young signal callers, every rookie will be affected and their impact will be limited.  The NFL is hard enough already for seasoned veterans who have played in the same systems for years, so the learning curve will be even steeper for players who must learn more in limited time.

One thing we forget about is the undrafted guys who make this league… along with free agency, this is how teams are built and while this portion of the offseason is postponed so to speak the business of the NFL and the teams is left unfinished.

Also these players are not given a fair opportunity to make a team and do not have a realistic chance to play and make a reasonable impact on the game.

I strongly believe that there will be games played this season and the season will start on time but the game might suffer for the first few weeks.  Veteran quarterbacks like Alex Smith and McNabb will benefit from this steep learning curve for rookie quarterbacks and we most likely will not see a player like Sam Bradford this season.

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Scouting is nothing new to the NFL and the process is long, hard and there remains no real blue print.  There is no exact science when drafting players, there is no way to determine how good a player will be.  Some organizations put a lot of stock into a player’s “character” or lack thereof, some don’t… Some would rather choose players mostly off of their measurable.

I don’t know exactly what works and I would hate to be in that position.  Ok on second thought, I would love to be in that position.  I mean really, I can’t be any worst than Mel Kiper who makes his career off the talent of others.

Was I wrong to say that? Maybe but let’s move on.

This brings me to exactly what I had in mind when deciding to write this; the idea of quarterbacks but mainly two quarterbacks who baffle me somewhat because I’m just not sure about them.

I never thought highly of JaMarcus Russell… ok not entirely true, I was curious as to what he would bring, but that same thing that happens every year during the draft process happened. Character issues started to float around and not necessarily about him being a bad guy, but stories about work ethic and wait issues.

Now that wouldn’t be enough to scare me from a guy especially a 6’5” strong thrower with a real cannon for an arm but the fact that the raiders had that number one pick didn’t help my confidence in his development.  It didn’t start out so bad and he managed a very good year for a quarterback his second year In the NFL but that was where it ended.

It’s been 3 years and we all know what happened… As of right now JaMarcus Russell is nowhere to see seen and might one day might hold a clipboard somewhere but it may be too soon to tell.

When I see Cam Newton, for some reason I think JaMarcus Russell… Yeah I know what you are thinking; their nothing alike and he has the work ethic that JaMarcus Lacked.

Yes your right about that, I believe the Cam works hard but that is not where my issues with him lie.

Cam was a special player in college, but let’s not get blinded by the glare from his Heisman trophy.

The guy has had his issues as well, no not the fact that he may have taken money to play at Auburn.  To be honest with you I can care less about that. But the laptop is a legitimate concern to rise because it speaks to his maturity as well.

There is a level of arrogance with Cam that is alarming, as a signal caller it is impossible to be great leader and successful without confidence, but his comments don’t inspire such confidence; especially from someone who has yet to achieve anything in this league.  Like Russell, Cam lacks the maturity to be responsible and treat this new chapter in his life as a job.

As he said himself, he wants to be an “icon,” I hate to say this because I can’t stand the guy but you would never hear Tom Brady say anything like that especially before ever completing a pass.

The Raiders never learned from their mistakes in terms of draft picks but you would think that the rest of the league would learn from them.

Athletes will only get you so far if the mental aspect of the game is absent.

I may be wrong but I don’t think Cam gets it, at least not at this stage in his career.  I’ve heard many people say that Carolina had no choice, if they pass up on Cam Newton and he becomes what everyone thinks he will then a lot of people would lose their jobs.

To that I say, how many people you think lost their jobs in the NFL because of the decisions to draft JaMarcus or any other bust at quarterback.

Black Russian Studio / Shutterstock.com

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The NBA lottery happened tonight which means the draft itself is a month away. I could care less about ping pong balls deciding the future home of future ball players, but this actually got me thinking about the state of the NBA right now; The young talent in the league right now is exciting and to be honest I’m tired of these who older players who don’t seem to want to retire, mainly half of the Celtics and Lakers roster.

So this idea of young talent leads me to ask myself this very important question, a question that can divide a house whole of sports fans.

Lebron, Durant or Rose…Yes that is the question and I’ve been going back and forth trying to decide which of these superstars I would build my team around if the draft were today and I somehow owned a basketball franchise.. Who knows, it could happen.

But after what seemed like hours of research which turned out to be just minutes and relentless debate which I probably lost, I came to the conclusion that I really didn’t know. To make things easy I tried to eliminate one player right off the bat.  That didn’t work either so it was time to use what I know and what I can prove; you can’t argue numbers so here we go.

When you think about the numbers, age becomes a big consideration and that automatically puts Lebron at a disadvantage in this tough argument giving the fact that he is the grizzled veteran at 26 years old.  An old 26 when you also consider he has been in the league for 8 years out of high school.

Yes the mileage is there but the body of work brings him back into the argument because of what he has accomplished and his lack of any serious injuries.

I can make a great case for young Rose as I’m sure my younger sister who knows little to nothing about sports can.  The fact is he at 22 became the youngest MVP in NBA history, which alone can make him the wisest choice to lead my imaginary team.  He has led a team with no offense besides his constant assault on guards to the eastern conference finals.

Most importantly, Rose came in the league with no jump shot.. His weapons of choice were a quick first step and a relentless will to get to the basket.  This past season his shooting improved dramatically and opposing guards can no longer afford to give him space.  The guy works hard at his craft and that is more important than any other factor in sports.

Kevin Durant is a 6’11” guard slash forward and at 22 years old has led the league in scoring for two straight seasons also becoming the youngest scoring champion in NBA history.  Now that’s nothing to sneeze at, he also has improved his game and his quickness allowing him to play the guard position while also getting stronger which will benefit his longevity in the league.

So where does that leave us..In a guard driven league can I really pass up on a 22 year old MVP guard? , Can I pass on a 6’11” forward like Durant? The answer sadly is yes to both questions.

My pick will not be Derrick Rose or Kevin Durant.

I have to go with Lebron James, the most hated man in Cleveland; in fact they should be happy after the lottery tonight.

To be honest with you The Man who calls himself King James offers more to me as an owner.    He is Durant and Rose in one. He is Magic Johnson in terms of his abilities on the floor because of the versatility he brings.

Yes there are better shooters, smarter players, stronger, quicker and those with bigger hearts in willing their team to wins, but no one offers the package that this 6’8” 250 pound small forward brings to my franchise.  No one is more consistent on the court, averaging 27 points 7 rebounds and 7 assist every season with relatively no help up until the past two seasons.  I see many more MVP’s in his future and 2 or 3 championships to cement his hall of fame career.

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