Joseph D'Amico
Info Plays
Larry Cook began betting sports in the early 80's and took his fair share of bumps and bruises before he learned what it takes to win consistently as a sports bettor.
Rocky Atkinson
My Handicapping and Betting Philosophy: I use my own unique power ratings for each sport along with trend analysis, stats and line value.
Jeff Alexander
Jeff Alexander began his career as a college and NFL football Handicapper.
Bobby Conn
One of the sharpest minds in the handicapping business.
The 2011 NBA Draft: Shock, awe, and a hint of malevolence by The Sports Network
Other than the first two picks of the draft, Duke’s Kyrie Irving and Arizona’s Derrick Williams, the rest of the field was pretty much wide open for debate and the selections following the first two was proof that this year’s draft will more than likely be remembered for its unpredictability.
It began with the first big shocker of the evening when the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to choose Tristan Thompson fourth overall. The former Texas Longhorn was listed as a top-10 prospect but for him to sneak into the top- five was completely surprising and it set the stage for how most of the rest of the evening would take place.
For example, the Toronto Raptors appeared to have had Kentucky’s Brandon Knight, a player who could’ve shored up their need at point guard, fall to them at the five spot, but instead they elected to go with Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas, a prospect with good size, skill and potential shot blocking ability, but little in the way of physical strength.
From there, Knight would slide to No.8 where the Detroit Pistons would select him and even though he said all the right things during his interview with ESPN immediately after shaking league commissioner David Stern’s hand, his body language suggested he definitely wasn’t happy to be bumped out of the top handful of picks.
Knight wasn’t the only blue chip who had to wait longer than expected to hear his name. San Diego State’s Kawhi Leonard was supposedly a lock for a top-10 selection but fell to No.15 where the Indiana Pacers drafted him as part of a trade with the San Antonio Spurs.
The move seems like a good fit for Leonard as his athleticism and ability to create offense without needing plays drawn up for him could make him the quick cutting wing that the Spurs wanted Richard Jefferson to be.
Another player who probably waited longer than he should have was defensive specialist Chris Singleton of Florida State. Singleton was selected 18th overall by the Washington Wizards and his talents will go a long way to improve an awful Wizards defense.
The surprise with Singleton was in the fact that the New York Knicks had the chance to take him just before Washington and they, instead, went with Georgia Tech’s Iman Shumpert. Like the Wizards, the Knicks were targeting defense and even though Shumpert is a terrific perimeter defender, he isn’t as versatile as Singleton who showed he was capable of guarding nearly every position on the floor this college season.
By not taking Singleton at No.17, it appears that New York missed in this year’s draft.
Overall, the results of the draft tell a story of teams opting to go with potential over players who are ready to play now. Other than Irving, Williams, Kemba Walker and Jimmer Fredette, the top-10 only has guys that will take a few years before anyone can make a true judgment on them.
Seeing general managers opt to go with potential over readiness isn’t anything new, but quite a few of the players in the top-10 are definitely lacking key elements to their game right now and teams still decided to choose them.
Unfortunately, looking past these flaws suggests that something more sinister is probably driving management staffs around the league – the threat of an impending lockout.
With labor discussions not really going anywhere, it’s not that risky of a move to take someone who still needs to work on things before they’re ready for the NBA because a full 82 games isn’t likely to be played next season.
A great example of this came from the Raptors, who appeared like they selected Valanciunas with the complete mindset of leaving him to develop more with his club team in Europe for one more year before bringing him over in the 2012-13 season.
The danger of an NBA work stoppage is very real and even though draft night is supposed to celebrate new beginnings, based on how everything unfolded, this year’s may have signified the beginning of life without the NBA for a while.
Visit www.aasiwins.com for all your FREE NBA winners, news, articles, and updates.
