I was listening to the Chet Coppock Show on 610 and they interviewed Pat Williams, the executive Vice President of the Orlando Magic. Williams was asked several questions about the upcoming draft. He seemed sincere with his answers and didn't sound like he was trying to BS. Besides Orlando doesn't pick until 18 so I don't think he would try to lie about the top picks to have them drop all the way to 18. Anyways this is what he said the top 8 picks were going to be: Ming, Jay Williams, Dunleavy, Gooden, Butler, Wilcox, Wagner, Qyntel Woods. Also he was asked where Amare Stoudemire was projected and he said probably in the top 15 if not then the Sixers would select him 16th. I was surprised when he predicted the Knicks would take Wagner since the Knicks need size more than anything. And they already have 3 point guards. They also discussed Yao Ming. The host, Coppock, said he went to the private workout and came away unimpressed. He said Yao was the tallest shooting guard and that he didn't have a post game and didn't have much of a vertical. Pat Williams said that alot of people agreed with those statements. They went on to say that the history of the NBA has had several freakishly tall players (Manute Bol, Murason, Shawn Bradley, Chuck Nevitt) and none of them had turned out to be anything special.
Man, I am anti Ming, but since we are going to pick him, I have worked very hard on comming to grips with it. I have even started to look forward to it, though with a lot of trepidation. I have decided that he can effectivly hide his defensife shortcommings by fronting his man. I have convinced myself that Ming and Griffin is the fron court of the future. And I remind myself that I do have a lot of faith in Rudy and his drafting skill. You have reminded me exactly why I am against drafting him so high. Square one, it is the place to be - aparently.
You're on the right track. The Rockets are also. Just click your heels, make a wish, and you're sitting courtside at the 2004 NBA finals, watching the Rockets whup ass on the Pacers. Reggie Miller's last game, and Ming the MVP of series.
Knicks need a good PG badly ... sure they already have 3 but unfortunatly none of them is any good ...
I really hope CD and Rudy know what they're doing drafting Ming. It looks like many other GMs don't think he's worth the first pick.
Why would the other GM's say who they wanted to draft with the #1 pick? ... I would guess that some teams would want Jay Williams instead of Ming ... then again maybe these teams target the Bulls draft pick instead ...
Not to discredit him, but Williams traded their number 1 for Roy Henson when he was gm of Philly. The #1 turned out to be Brad Daughtery, 5 time all star while Henson didn't do squat. Didn't Williams break up the most opposing young frontcourt before it got started Webber/Shaq. Williams is just like other gm's who don't have the number 1 pick. Out of all those #1 picks he recieved for Webber, the only one worth metioning in the one from last yr ,Mike Miller and we know the Warriors have been sorry for a while too.
I heard the same interview today. IMO I believe that all this deflation of the hype surrounding Yao Ming is complete BS. If New York or Chicago had the #1 pick, everyone would be praising Ming as the savior of the Knicks, or the missing piece to help Chicago (with Krumbs having to choose between Ming and Jay Williams). Think about it, for the last two years, GM's have been foaming at the mouth for Ming to be available, and now that he is, everyone is down on him. Ming and Griffin are should be viewed as two #1's in a row. Obviously Ming is a #1 pick, however, the Rockets in this position last year would have taken Griffin first. Both of these players are young and have bright futures ahead of themselves, and should be a great frontcourt (hopefully with the addition of a decent defending SF).
You know, I think its amazing, that in essence, Houston has gotten essentially 3 - #1 picks and one lottery pick in the last 5 years, and still have a #1 pick left over from '98 (from Chicago). What I'm referring to, is: 02 - Ming - who we say we will take #1 this year 01 - Griffin - who we said we'd have taken #1 00 - there were only 2 or 3 decent players ... terrible draft. we traded out of the lottery of that one for the ability to draft higher in the lottery the next year... 99 - Francis - who we'd have taken #1 98 - Mobely - probably would be #5, if we picked now... after Nowitski, Carter, Pierce and Lewis... And we've picked up 5 role players in Thomas, Cato, Taylor, Morris, and hopefully our #15 pick... All while letting 3 of the 50 greatest players in the NBA basically retire for almost nothing... you have to admit, its been an amazing rebuilding job. And if we somehow pick up either Butler, Odom or Lewis AND Stoudamire (#15) this summer, good grief ... a good future for the Rockets!
