Wednesday, April 4, 2012

2010 NBA Draft Redux

If we had to do a redraft of the 2010 class right now, Jeremy would be a sure fire lottery pick (top 14). He would most likely be a top 5 pick. Here are the current top ten from this draft in my eyes, with where they were drafted in ( ):

1. Jeremy Lin (UD)
2. Demarcus Cousins (5)
3. John Wall (1)
4. Greg Monroe (7)
5. Paul George (10)
6. Derrick Favors (3)
7. Gordan Hayward (9)
8. Evan Turner (2)
9. Trevor Booker (23)
10. Jordan Crawford (27th)

Also, here is the final list of 7 candidates for Mr. Basketball of California in 2006 (per Mark Tennis) and the college from which they received a basketball scholarship:

1. Jeremy Lin (None)
2. Taylor King (Duke)
3. Chase Budinger (Arizona) Mr. Basketball 2006
4. James Harden (Arizona State)
5. James Keefe (UCLA)
6. Ryan Anderson (CAL)
7. Tre'von Willis (Memphis)

Did not make final list:

Russell Westbrook (UCLA)
Brook Lopez (Stanford)

Do you see a funny pattern in the two lists?

35 comments:

  1. Looking back it was a crime that Lin did not get drafted. But it also worked out fine in the sense that Lin did not need to be struck in a lottery team with bad teammates like most of those lottery picks. Especially as a PG it is always better to have more talented teammates to work with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But Lin WAS stuck with a lottery team in the 2010 draft.

      Lin signed with Golden State who selected Epke Udoh with the 6th overall lottery pick.

      Delete
    2. Lin was not DRAFTED by the Warriors. He was signed by the Team Owner, Joe Lacob, the GM, and the coach did not have anything to do with it. Which leads many Warriors fans to suspect that Lin was signed only for publicity reasons and was not going to play any meaningful minutes.

      The contract Lin had signed with the Warriors was only partially guaranteed in the first year, and had clauses that made it easy to waive him without taking any financial hit in the 2nd year.

      In other words, Lin was a nobody on the Warriors bench, despite getting contract offers from the Dallas Mavs and the Lakers.

      If the Warriors had drafted Jeremy Lin (Even as a 2nd round) things would have been different. This would mean that both the GM and the coach recognize that Lin is a player. They have to give him some minutes in the rotation. And that the Warriors would be more invested in him since they used a draft pick on him. He would at least be where PG Charles Jenkins is now....

      Delete
  2. @Cara: a crime? that's some funny stuff...

    It's always interesting to look back and do a redraft. We know Ben Wallace and John Starks, two of the most celebrated undrafted players, made the all-defensive teams. I wonder if Jeremy could take it to another level, maybe the All-NBA team?

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is how I saw the 2010 draft at the time, without regard to need:

    1. John Wall
    2. Omar Samhan
    3. Landry Fields
    4. DeMarcus Cousins
    5. Greg Monroe
    6. Jeremy Lin
    7. Evan Turner
    8. Solomon Alabi (I like his game A LOT but he may need better coaching)

    9-60 nobody caught my eye, not even Derrick Favors who I thought wasn't even a better player than 2nd round teammate Gani Lawal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about this self reply.

      If I did my 2010 draft order for TALENT that I saw at the time, it would look like this:

      1. John Wall
      2. Omar Samhan
      3. Jeremy Lin
      4. Solomon Alabi
      5. Greg Monroe
      6. DeMarcus Cousins
      7. Evan Turner
      8. Landry Fields

      Delete
    2. Since you've already done it twice, why not giving it another shot, KHuang?

      What would you have done if you were to redo it again, as of today?

      Delete
    3. I think he would put samhan up there still.. LOL

      Delete
    4. Well, if I did it today I'd draft by need.

      1. John Wall. Washington made the right pick here.

      2. Omar Samhan. Philadelphia was and still is set at every position but center. Samhan is way better than Spencer Hawes and can score in a way no current Sixer including Evan Turner can. A single summer of NBA conditioning would get Samhan physically ready for the NBA.

      3. Evan Turner to the Nets. Despite questions surrounding his lack of a midrange game, Turner is the best do everything candidate to play alongside Devin Harris in the backcourt.

      4. Jeremy Lin to the Wolves who desperately need a guard with a pulse that can play on both ends. Lin quickly coalesces Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, and even Darko Milicic into a TEAM.

      5. Greg Monroe to Sacramento. The steady and professional Monroe provides a healthy dose of unspectacular but clean role play to allow the Kings perimeter players to fly up and down the court. Coach Paul Westphal manages to build a cohesive TEAM around Monroe.

      6. DeMarcus Cousins to GS. The Kings grab the best available talent even though they are inexplicably obsessed with Epke Udoh's offenseless game. Cousins is adopted by coach Keith Smart and becomes a productive but occasionally volatile center.

      7. DeMarcus Cousins. Attitude problems drop him to Detroit despite his immense talent. After violently feuding with the Detroit head coach and tearing the team apart, veteran Ben Wallace growls ENOUGH and adopts Cousins as a protege. Cousins suddenly becomes docile after the All Star break as Detroit's veterans accept him.

      8. Larry Bird is enamored of Derrick Favor's athleticism and Paul George's length and Gordon Hayward's tall white guyness, but his unpaid unsolicited fake adviser KHuang tells Bird that Tyler Hansbrough is a far better player than Favors, George plays like he's 5'8" and not 6'8, and Hayward simply can't shoot well enough. The Pacers select Landry Fields and he immediately cracks the starting lineup.

      Delete
    5. Big mistake.

      6. Solomon Alabi, not Cousins. Alabi provides the same things that actual 2010 pick Udoh provides, only with legitimate center size and some previously unrecognized scoring ability. Coach Keith Smart adopts Alabi, and Alabi is compared favorably to Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert.

      Delete
    6. Another big mistake:

      8. Landry Fields to the Clippers, not Indiana.

      Fields still would have been a better Indiana pick than Paul George.

      Delete
    7. Or:

      8. Wesley Matthews to LAC. The unheralded Matthews comes off the bench at 3 positions for LAC.

      Delete
    8. I better stop. I'm getting DUMBER as I keep going.

      Delete
    9. Thanks a lot, KHuang, it's always interesting to see things from your perspective. John Wall is extremely athletic and gifted, but really, he NEEDS to learn how to play as a facilitator instead of a scoring point guard.

      Delete
    10. You're welcome Hans. Sorry about my increasing dumbness on this topic.

      I think John Wall would be an extremely good facilitator if he weren't surrounded by that weird Washington team.

      That said, I like Lin more now than I do Wall. I think Lin could've taken a guy like Javale McGee and turned him completely around. The same goes for Nick Young who would have a JR Smith like effect beside Lin. I even think that Lin could get Rashard Lewis going as Washington's outside shooting version of Steve Novak.

      John Wall is a superb pg talent who will mature him into a magnificent veteran PG who can create for others as effectively as Lin can. Of the young pgs in the NBA, I consider Wall as the only true rival for Lin. I do NOT rank the less athletically gifted Kyrie Irving as a rival for either Wall or Lin.
      I currently consider Lin the best player by far from 2010 with John Wall as a very distant 2nd.

      Delete
  4. 2010 was generally considered a "Weak draft" class.

    Normally, the #1 Draft pick is a 7-footer like Andrea Bargnani (2006), Andrew Bogut (2005), Dwight Howard (2004), Greg Oden (2007) ....

    Only recently have NBA teams focused on Point Guards for their top picks: Kyrie Irving (2011), John Wall (2010), Derrick Rose (2008)

    Maybe it's a shift away from teams being built around low post players. Or maybe those teams were specifically in need of a point guard.

    Odd thing is, the New York Knicks had 2 picks in 2010, Andy Rautins (Who was a Major bust) and Landry Fields. If Jeremy Lin had gone to Stanford with Landry, maybe the Knicks would have picked him.

    Knicks were also thinking about drafting Jimmer Fredette out of BYU that year. But instead they got another shooter who lacked athleticism in Andy Rautins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, Andy Rautins was a 2nd round draft pick. To me, there is no such thing as a 2nd round draft bust. But the Knicks could have used that pick on Jeremy Lin and started Linsanity a year earlier.

      Delete
    2. I also like Jimmer Fredette very much.

      Fredette is extremely athletic. His uncle is a professional athletic trainer and has worked Jimmer hard since he was 5. As a result, Jimmer Fredette had very good athletic testing scores.

      I have not seen enough of Fredette to really evaluate him, but he reminded me of Mark Price as a high energy but controlled scorer who could bomb away from outside and finish with twisting athletic shots in the lane.

      I'd like to see the Kings start Terrence Williams at 3 (looks REALLY GOOD to me for the Kings), put Tyreke Evans back at the point, start Francisco Garcia at the two (sort of like Landry Fields), and bring Isaiah Thomas AND Jimmer Fredette off the bench together.

      Delete
    3. "Fredette is extremely athletic"

      LOL. You've written a lot of stupid things, but this one takes the cake by far, and it's not even close.

      Delete
    4. I warned you, TVN, that I'd come after you if you came after me.

      And now it's MY TURN to expose you as a dumb little flameboy who posts here only because you HATE Jeremy Lin and his fans.
      Jimmer Fredette tested out at the top of his draft class in lane agility (10.42, 3rd quickest score) and in modified lane agility (5.11, 2nd quickest score). According to bleacherreport, only Norris.Cole was more agile than Jimmer in 2010.

      In strength, Jimmer Fredette pressed 185 lbs 14 times. That placed him at the top of guards in strength and a single rep away from being in the Top 10 of his entire class.

      Overall Jimmer Fredette ranked 12th out of 53 athletes in the 2010 draft. He was the 2nd most agile player and the strongest guard. Draftexpress wrote that Fredette tested "extremely well" while bleacherreport wrote "I don't know why people were surprised at the athleticism Jimmer showed at the NBA predraft camp".

      TVN, explain to us why Fredette is not athletic despite the numbers I just posted here. I see a guy who is quick AND strong, so much so that he was probably the most athletic guard in his draft class.

      You have used Lin and now Fredette to flame me and others here. I just PUNKED YOU with actual statistical facts. So c'mon, flame me some more so that I can expose your ignorance further.

      Delete
    5. Fredette is stuck to the King's bench a.k.a. Coach Keith Smart's dog house. So either he hasn't gotten a chance to shine (Sound familiar) or his skills don't translate at the NBA level.
      Right now he plays the role of a spot up shooter in the final minute of quarters.

      Sacramento Kings fans love Fredette as a character guy, but he hasn't lived up to the draft day hype. He is a good player, but I doubt he should have been drafted as high as he was. Especially when Kings could have picked Kawhai Leonard, Marshawn Brooks, Iman Shumpert, etc. Sacramento did luck out on their PG Isaiah Thomas, the last pick in the draft, he is like the next Nate Robinson with passing skills.

      Delete
    6. I totally understand that a lot of people are disappointed in Fredette.

      All guys in the NBA are drafted on potential. Right now Fredette has not shown anything yet. It's possible that he can turn things around, but it is also ppssible that he washes out too.

      I have in my mind a vision of how Fredette could be playing. However, that is fantasy and not reality. Over time, we'll see what Fredette actually does in the NBA.

      Delete
  5. Hey guys, there's a fan made Jeremy Lin gaming app on the apple app store named as "Linsanity Rush". check it out.

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/linsanity-rush/id514803088?mt=8

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is my pick
    1. Evan Turner
    2. Demarcus Cousins
    3. Greg Monroe
    4. Jeremy Lin
    5. John Wall
    6. Paul George
    7. Derrick Favors
    8. Gordon Hayward
    9. Avery Bradly
    10.Ed Davis
    11. Ekpe Udoh
    12. Trevor Booker
    13. Jordan Crawford
    14. Wesley Johnson
    i will still give wes a chance because those lengths and athleticism is not that easy to come by

    ReplyDelete
  7. Based on liking their game:
    1. John wall
    2. Jeremy lin
    3. Greg monroe
    4. Jordan crawford
    5. Gordon hayward
    6. Paul george
    7. Demarcus cousins
    8. Evan turner
    9. landry fields
    10. Andrew goudelock
    Sorry had to throw it in there. Lol. But seriously he's a rookie 3point specialist with a running floater who can be something special given more minutes ala Jeremy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The "pattern" question posed by Jlinfan#1 seems to me that Lin gets the least rewarded for the most stellar performances.

    That is standard treatment for Asian American males in American society. No matter how great an Asian American male is, it doesn't translate into career success or respect unless it's in a highly academic field.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I wonder how the NBA will treat Chris Tang 6'3" guard out of Hampton Roads Academy, he's a sophomore right now, so I see him being eligible for the draft no earlier than 2015 when he turns 19.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgex4vALrm0

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OEitS-vJpk


    Does the story of Jeremy Lin improve Chris Tang's draft chances ? Will he be a top 10 pick based on his race alone ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whitman,
      Thanks for sharing the links. This kid has an incredible way with the basketball. Check out the highlight video at 46 seconds. Did I just see Tang dunk from an alley-ooop?

      Delete
    2. He's okay, he needs more explosiveness and practice more on fundamentals. His competition is weak, I would like to see him compete against better teams.

      J Lin Palo Alto skill level was higher than Tangs. If Tang works hard and keeps improving then maybe he can have a chance.

      Delete
    3. Hampton Roads Academy is an elite basketball school. Most of the top college powerhouses like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, etc. recruit from these academy schools.

      Chris Tang has an advantage in getting more scouts attention, because he's playing for a well known high school program. Also, he's slightly taller than Jeremy Lin was at age 15, he's already 6'-3", so he'll probably be 6'-6" or 6'-7" by the time he turns 19 (Minimum NBA draft age).

      So yes, he will probably be recruited more than JLin was. Maybe go to an top basketball program, and be a one -and-done player and enter the NBA draft in 2015.

      Delete
  10. Chris Tang plays for a really low division:

    A
    AA
    AAA
    VISAA 1
    VISAA 2 (Tang's Division)
    VISAA 3

    Will have to see him compete at the next level to see how much he has improved and if he can handle the speed and size of higher divisions.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Another thing about Chris Tang vs. J Lin:

    J Lin lead Palo Alto High School to a 32-1 record and beat a nationally ranked Mater Dei for the CIF Divsion II state title.

    He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year, ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.

    That said, if JLin didn't get recruited, what makes it more likely that Chris Tang will get recruited in a VISAA 2 division?

    Don't get me wrong I want Chris Tang to become successful. But like I said before the competition he's playing against is weak, he needs to go to a D1 of D2 school or lead his team to a better record & compete for a title (which currently his team's record stinks). Otherwise, yes he may get recruited, but he might have a hard time adjusting at the next level since he played all 4 years in a weak division.

    ReplyDelete
  12. True, that's probably why he looks so good in the Youtube videos. And how he scored 42 pts in a game. That might sound like a lot, but against weaker HS teams, it's really not that great.
    I heard he has done well in international competitions like the FIBA Under 17 team.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Saw him on another youtube vid. Playing against aau competition whatever that is. His skill level is fine, has very good form on shots, but he seems lazy and not very forceful. Did not demand the ball on an inbounds but rather waited to see if his teammate will throw it to him. I think therein lies the difference betw. Lin and Tang. Because Lin grew up playing bball here he is mega times tougher than Tang. Lin is a hardnosed player overcompensated with will, determination, and smarts. Tang is a finesse player with better skills but lack the killer instincts.

    ReplyDelete