http://dynamic.espn.go.com/espn/chat/chatESPN?event_id=1955 -Chat with Andy Katz of ESPN, the Mock Draft Expert @2pm CST: Welcome to ESPN.com's moderated chat room. On Thursday, June 20, senior college basketball writer Andy Katz will drop by to take your NBA Draft questions in chat following the unveiling of his third NBA mock draft. In addition to covering college basketball on a daily basis and breaking news for the site, Katz pens the "Daily Word" and "Weekly Word," popular columns covering a variety topics and issues from around the sport. A regular analyst on College Hoops 2Night, Katz also serves as a reporter for ESPN at the Final Four and other major tournaments. He also contributes to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Radio and provides in-studio college basketball analysis for ESPN and ESPNEWS Network, ESPN's 24-hour sports news cable network. Prior to joining ESPN.com in November 1999, Katz served as the national basketball writer for the Fresno Bee from 1995-99. He also has had stints at the Albuquerque Journal (1990-1995) and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1989-1990) and is a former board member for the United States Basketball Writers Association. Katz hits chat on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. Feel free to drop him some questions now and we'll save them for his arrival.
I have a really funny George Carlin bit on irony versus coincidence, but I can not seem to put my hands on it right now Maybe tonight, I will find it at home and post it
prince is one of the best 3 pt shooters ive ever seen i watched a gmae where he hit 6 consecutive threes he also is a good defender and gets alot of blocks prince/griffin/ming = leading the league in blocks
If it were between Woods and Prince, there is no way the Rockets (or anyone for that matter) would take Prince. He's a nice player and all but he just doesn't have the potential Woods does. However, these are the Rockets we're talking about here. They drafted Rhodrick Rhodes and Jason Collier, so you never know i guess.
Just for the Record I think the Rockets have a damn good draft record... With the addition of Ming the Rockets will have arguably selected the best players in 3 out of the last 4 drafts... Certainly Griffin is better than Brown and Francis and Brand were corookis of the year... Collier was a reach but they new there was not a player that would bring them what they needed at the 8th spot, Pryzbilla was not the answer and they didn't see Magliore as much of and improvement over Cato... So they were wrong a bit with Magliore... So they were smart enough to trade the lousy 8th pick for the 15th and a future first that landed them Griffin... And they got Collier in the process. They were hoping he would be able to open the floor a bit and pull Shaq away from the paint... oh forget it why do I even bother... The thing is the Rockets are looking for some one to contribute now. Woods has a lot of upside but everyone must think he is a project for him to be dropping so fast. I haven't seen Woods play but I have seen Prince and I wouldn't be too dis appointed if they got him. He is a player who can come in and contribute right away. Some scouts compare his game to Pippen. Others say Jalen rose.
Prince just doesn't translate as well to the NBA. It sounds like our 3 choices at #15 are Nachbar, Stoudemire & Prince. Sad thing is that Nachbar and Stoudemire will be gone and we'll probably pick Prince instead of Woods. I've seen Prince play alot of games, however, while not anything of Woods other than hearsay. Prince has the potential to be mediocre in the NBA while Woods has the athleticism and upside to be much more.
Woods is falling so that the Lakers can trade up and get him. It is all part of the NBA-Stern conspiracy. If you don't think there is such a thing, go back and look at the videotapes of game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
lets start an anti-Prince petition/ thread... even though I saw him play in one game last year on CBS and he was lights out... Shooting the trey (3) from like 25-30 feet away, nothing but net, like 6 shots in a row. It was the most incredible shooting I have ever seen. But we need more than that out of a SF!
A recent scouting report on Prince... George Gervin yeah he does have that kind of frame... if he could just learn to finger roll... Oh by the way Katz was asked how he gets his info and he said he just calls the teams and asks and the Rockets must have said they are interested in Prince...
I've heard conflicting reports on Woods' shooting- "I think he has the sweetest stroke in the draft," said the personnel man from that Decent NBA team. Yeah, this kid's a real deadeye. Here's the link, a pretty interesting article- Qyntel Woods Article That scout also says that he has the physical tools to play D, he's just never really been asked, or taught how to use them. If Woods is as talented as all the reports say he is, I don't see how we could pass on him.
I don't have problems with "mediocre." With Yao, we have enough talent on this team already, IMO. What we need is to become a better, more effective team and to acquire players who help us become a better team. Prince doesn't have to be a star for him to be the right pick for the Rockets at #15. He just has to have strengths that complement the players that we have, i.e. - three-point shooting, etc, and minimal weaknesses to hurt us (like poor shooting, no defense, etc.) Consider also that we probably can't afford to pay our starting SF a lot of money, and if you want serious talent at that position, you're probably going to have to pay for it. If people feel like we can get more out of this pick by trading it than taking Prince, fine. But I say don't pass on a player just because he doesn't have sexy 'balla' potential.
Prince has a slow release. Whether he can get his great 3 pt shot off or not will determine if he's an okay player/good role player vs a bust. His height should help with getting the shot off.
OK, I'd rather get Woods than Prince even though I've seen Prince play alot and Woods not at all...Makes no sense, huh? Prince has some skills but alot of the stuff he did in college he won't be able to do here...His shooting is good but definitely overrated...He's left-handed with an odd stroke and likes using the floater in the lane...I don't think he can handle post-up 3's very well, actually his defense is suspect in general against NBA players...too skinny, lateral quickness??? Does have nice wingspan and fundamentals...I question him getting off same shots in the NBA as he did at kentucky I hear Woods has bad defense...suspect background...I'm not sure about all this criticism though...maybe with a good coach he can use his athleticism and skills develop into a good player Immediately I don't think Woods would make a great impact or Prince or Stoudemire...probably only Nachbar doing something similar to Radmanovic...In the future the most promise is for Stoudemire developing into a Ben Wallace type, and Woods I have no idea about, next TMac is jumping the gun just a little...
If Woods fell to the Lakers, it could be more than pure coincidence. It might be irony, in the sense that for the silliest reason, teams made their homework on him and were not sure about him, but are skeptical of the name Woods and think he might be a bust. Can not you tell I am superstitious. Or it could be both coincidence and irony, in the sense that both have the same last name and there is conspiracy theory. Loren Woods fell to the T-Wolves who did not have a first round pick and Qyntel Woods fall to the Lakers the NBA champions. There are many things that could happen behind the scene. It just seems more than coincidence to me if that happened.
Old Man Rock: "The biggest reason I think he didn't show up consistently because there was a lot of turmoil with the Wildcats team plus he was taking 20 hours trying to graduate on time. A task he completed. Also he has an unorthodox shot, he has these humongous hands which make it difficult for him to shoot with his fingertips making his shots look like a knuckleball. But the guy is as good a long range shooter as anyone and the guy is a gamer. He was all-SEC as a junior and never saw single coverage again (well, not 'never,' but you get the idea) so his stats fell dramatically as a senior. Baqui99: "Word is that Qyntel is not a great jump shooter. We already have two slashers in the backcourt. Nachbar would be the perfect compliment. Woods may eventually become the better player, but sometimes you need guys compliment your strengths. Last year it seemed like there were times when we couldn't throw the ball into the ocean." Last year we had KT (a slasher and undersized inside player) at the 4, Williams (streaky) and Morris at the 3, Griffin (a rookie who slammed into the wall at 150 mph), Mobley (streaky outside shooter) at the 2, and Francis (frequent migraines etc.) at the 1. Adding MoT and Rice into the mix will improve our shooting without adding a single draft pick. Getting Woods would be amazing stroke of luck and I think we should take it if we're given the chance. german rocketfan: "I think he's SG/SF,not a PF?????" Kind of makes you wonder about ESPN's mock drafts, doesn't it? You're exactly right. ESPN is wrong. I doubt it was Katz that made the mistake, but I also doubt Woods will fall to #16..... ron413: "I saw [Prince] play in one game last year on CBS and he was lights out... Shooting the trey (3) from like 25-30 feet away, nothing but net, like 6 shots in a row. It was the most incredible shooting I have ever seen. But we need more than that out of a SF!" That was the North Carolina game, I think ... he hit maybe 4-5 in a row and was obviously feeling it. At one point just flung it up from nearly midcourt, as if he thought he could hit anything. It went in. He can shoot, but that's not all of his game. He's smart and plays good team D. But I think he's a bit of a tweener and may be too slow to play 3 in the NBA. LAfadeaway33: "If it were between Woods and Prince, there is no way the Rockets (or anyone for that matter) would take Prince. He's a nice player and all but he just doesn't have the potential Woods does. However, these are the Rockets we're talking about here. They drafted Rhodrick Rhodes and Jason Collier, so you never know i guess." Rhodes was what, #24? And we needed a PG? That was a reach, but anything that late is a crap shoot. Collier was a sweet shooting seven footer in a poor draft, and we got a future first rounder in the deal? Bad, but not awful. Imagine if you traded Collier anda future #1 for Pryz. Think you'd be taking some heat? I like Prince, but if Woods were available, I'd take him at #15 in a flash. He could mature behind Rice and Mobley for two years and then ... who knows? He starts when Rice retires, or we call him a bust ... You take Woods over Prince for the same reason you take Yao over Borshardt: upside. Neither is a sure thing. You take the one with the chance of leading you to a championship. You take the sure thing when you're already a contender and there is a sure thing. Even at #15, there usually isn't.
If Rice really is ready to contribute this year, I'd be more open to snatching up Woods at #15. I want someone ready to contribute at the starting SF spot. If Rice can do the job for two years, I'd be cool with picking up a talent and letting him develop for a bit. If he starts cashing in on his potential, we could always trade him. Maybe we could get an aging Shaq for Woods.
excerpt from George Carlin's book, Brain Droppings Irony deals with opposites; it has nothing to do with coincidence. If two baseball palyers from the same hometown, on different teams, receive the same uniform number, it is not ironic. It is a coincidence. If Barry Bonds attains lifetime statistics identical to his father's it will not be ironic. It will be a coincidence. Irony is "a state of affairs that is the reverse of what was to be expected; a result opposite to and in mockery of the appropriate result." For instance: If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin, is killed by a runaway truck, he is the victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of an irony. If a Kurd, after surviving bloody battle with Saddam Hussein's army and a long, difficult escape through the mountains, is crushed and killed by a parachute drop of humanitarian aid, that, my friend, is irony writ large. Darryl Stingley, the pro football player, was paralyzed after a brutal hit by Jack Tatum. Now Darryl Stingley's son plays football, and if the son should become paralyzed while playing, it will not be ironic. It will be coincidental. If Darryl Stingley's son paralyzes someone else, that will be closer to ironic. If he paralyzes Jack Tatum's son that will be precisely ironic. and now back to your regularly scheduled thread musings ...
