Winner, winner, chicken dinner. This article is full of crap -- I'm not going to bother to read all the post in between.
If you expand the time frame from more than just last season, you can find a team that took the Lakers to 7 games and beat them.
They have faced only 4 teams since the Rockets loss and they haven't even finished this post season. The Battier and Artest combo was a good defensive combo, but Ariza/Battier is not so tough.
Plus, why would Hakeem do that? To hurt the Rockets' chances of drafting him with the 14th pick? Hell no.
Interesting article on NBA.com about whiteside and Udoh. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/06/01/pacers.workouts.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2 The part that caught my eye is that he is targetting the no.4 - no.13 pick spots... That being said, I have also looked a few mock drafts of late and have found that he is not dropping to 14. Mostly being picked up between 7 and 11. I am high on this guy's potential, but without moving up in the draft he may be out of the Rockets reach. I would be disappointed if we didn't get someone who has length and is a good shot blocker from this draft.
If you take a look at the draft predictions collated on nba.com Here.... Some have him high as 7, some don't even have him in the first 14. That being said, I will review my previous post and agree that no one really has any clue where he will get picked and he is a real wildcard. IMWT...
Dude won't last till 14. We'd have to get into the to 10 to grab him, maybe even further into the lotto.
I like what Morey has said in a number of interviews when talking about overpaying Big seven footers just cause they are seven footers with potential.... "You should have just got a short guy who can play" -as intriguing as it is for the Rockets to draft the Center for the future in this draft, Whiteside is so far away from proving anything that it is a far cry for Morey to go against his belief and draft him at 14.
I don't understand your line of thinking. How is Whiteside farther away from proving anything than any of the other declaring freshmen bigs in the draft? He led the NCAA in blocks AND averaged 9 reb in something like 25 minutes. That tells me Whiteside hustles and is athletic. What has even John Wall "proven"? The only player in the draft who has proven anything is Evan Turner.
5 blocks a game isn't proving anything? DM said that in relation to the fact that most traditional GMs go for the lesser but taller player simply because "you can't teach height". However at the 14th slot Whiteside is just as proven as the rest of the players left at the draft. College stats always have to be taken with a grain of salt, however to block 5 shots a game you need more than height, you need to have timing, anticipation and more than a little bit of athleticism, all of which Whiteside seem to possess.
That consensus mock drafts shows mocks from 2 weeks ago, before many teams got a chance to work him out and the draft combine. If his stock is dropping, it will only show up in the the updated mocks. 2 weeks ago, draftexpress had him at 14th spot 2 weeks ago also.
Whiteside http://www.indysportsnation.com/videobeta/?watchId=5ca7fcaf-0c8d-492a-9298-4a98d653a7d8 Udoh http://www.indysportsnation.com/sports/isn-060110-udoh-orton-pacers-story,0,2332047.story Both working out with the Pacers, but a little hard to see. I kinda like Whiteside from the vids.
It looks like Hassan Whiteside might be available at 14 after all. After his team workouts, Whiteside has dropped out of the the lottery on all mock drafts, except for Hoopsworld. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/05/18/consensus.mock/index.html
