Archive for the 'Basketball' Category
This is a bit delayed, but I realized I hadn’t put my feelings about the draft in here. I thought it was wonderful! I was excited to hear them actually announce that Oden was the #1 pick. Their moves after that were again surprising and impressive.
I was hoping Randolph would be traded for Garnett, but that was a bit out there. They instead traded him along with Dan Dickou and Fred Jones to the Knicks for Stevie Franchise and Channing Frye. Channing Frye is a solid young player and will be a great depth addition to the bench. Francis probably won’t stay on the roster, but if he does, I won’t complain. He’s still got some 30 point games in him and can help the team out with his experience.
They picked up a couple of foreign players, including another Spaniard from the Suns, just like in 2006 with Rodriguez. What I think will prove to be their steal of the draft, however, is Josh McRoberts. I didn’t know at the time they selected him, but McRoberts played with Oden in high school I believe. They are great friends and should really help encourage each other in their respective rookie seasons. In fact, the draft commentators mentioned that McRoberts was heavily recruited when playing along with Oden. He seems to thrive when he’s on the court with the big guy. I can’t wait for the 2007-2008 season!
Hot diggity dog am I ever excited! I haven’t mentioned it since lottery day on here, but the NBA Draft is Thursday! Word just got out that my Blazers plan on picking Greg Oden with their very first pick overall. I think that’s good. I’ve been kind of torn between him and Durant, just like everyone paying attention to the draft. But my first idea was for them to pick Oden, and it still feels to be the best pick.
Over the past month I’ve read just about every kind of comparison of the two players. The general consensus is that both will be franchise players. Most seem to think though that Oden will be more likely to be the key element to a championship team, while Durant will be an individual superstar. I didn’t know this until today, but in Greg’s basketball life (since 3rd grade I guess), he’s only lost 17 games. That’s just crazy. He’s such a presence that any team he’s on is leaps and bounds better. Having a guy of his size and ability in the paint gets in the other team’s head and really alters the game.
So hopefully this won’t be another Bowie before Jordan thing, but ya never know. They do have 4 second round picks to play around with too. I’ll be watching the whole time. Go Blazers!
Woohoo! I’m excited for this finals match up between the Spurs and Cavaliers. I don’t like the Spurs, although they are a solid team. The Cavs are fun to watch, and they beat San Antonio both times the two teams played this season, as well as the time before that in the previous season. Cleveland is a pretty big team, and they can slow teams down surprisingly well. I think Duncan will have his hands full with Ilgauskas, Gooden, and Varejao.
I’m really just hoping to see LeBron dunk over Tim Duncan again like he did here.
In hopes that Cleveland will win their first title in their first trip to the finals, I’m going to predict Cleveland in 6, just missing winning it before their home crowd by one game.