Too much thinking risky in NBA Draft
Weekly summer thoughts …
There isn’t much difference between those running an NBA Draft war room and a group of teenage girls gossiping. Too much analysis. Discussing every rumor at length. Wondering if this guy likes that girl or, well, a person can walk properly without anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees, much less be a successful pro basketball player.
Simple. People think too much.
“I would totally agree,” San Antonio Spurs summer league coach Don Newman said. “Or they just see a guy too much. But after a guy gets it done for a few years, at some point you have to say, ‘Hey, this is who he is.’ “
DeJuan Blair is a rebounder. He is as aggressive to the ball as Holly Madison is to a camera. He also doesn’t have any ACLs, which was revealed during a pre-draft physical and apparently caused general managers to view his worthiness as if infected with swine flu. They looked five years down the road and panicked.
It was a laughable overreaction to the level of the Luxor signing Carrot Top through 2015.
Blair fell to the Spurs at the 37th pick and began his journey of trying to prove countless others wrong in a summer league game at Cox Pavilion on Sunday.
It took him 10 seconds to grab the first of what would be 10 rebounds. He also scored 13 points in just over 22 minutes in a win against New Orleans, but his is a summer challenge to collect rebounds and learn how to properly defend a pick-and-roll. Teams at this level will look at his offense as a July day here in the 90s. Not expected but certainly appreciated.
“First time out with the lights on and people in the gym,” Newman said. “I thought he did well. He’s out to prove a point.”
The 6-foot-7-inch Blair also didn’t have any ACLs when he earned consensus All-America honors at Pittsburgh and led the country in offensive rebounding, when he twice dominated the draft’s No. 2 overall pick (Hasheem Thabeet), when he didn’t miss a practice or game the last two years.
He is playing in Las Vegas without a contract, the result of being a second-round pick now expected to prove his worth and earn his keep.
“I’m trying to show people what they missed out on,” Blair said. “I always play with a chip on my shoulder, so this is no different.
“I bet fans out here don’t know who got drafted or where they were drafted or when they were drafted. I’m planning on being a Spur a long time.”
Drafts are critical for several teams. Millions of dollars are attached to them. First-round picks can be guaranteed contracts up to four seasons. It’s foolish not to give background checks and medical records due diligence.
But there is such a thing as making the process too detailed. Such a thing as thinking too much.
Sometimes, that’s best left to the teenagers …
Former Indiana University coach Kelvin Sampson is coaching Milwaukee’s summer team. Good news for Sampson: It appears cell phone reception is strong inside Cox Pavilion …
From the need-to-get-a-life-department: Sitting in the stands and heckling former UCLA point guard Darren Collison. Check that. Sitting in the stands and heckling anyone during summer league …
Memo to Thabeet on the Mohawk: Looks good on you, though …
What the apology of Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar after his victory against Frank Mir and postfight antics Saturday night means: The UFC really has entered a mainstream existence, which is to say image first, last, always. Which is to say disappointing …
Let’s get this straight: Authorities in Brazil have accused the wife of Arturo Gatti of killing the former boxing champion because, in part, she couldn’t explain spending 10 hours in a room with Gatti and not noticing he was dead. Take out the part about killing, and it sounds more like marital bliss …
What do you know — Donte Stallworth has been released from prison for his DUI manslaughter charge that resulted in the death of a pedestrian. Doesn’t it seem as though Stallworth went to jail just three weeks ago? Oh, wait a second. Well, as long as he is sorry and all …
I have pledged never to watch the Home Run Derby again until Russell Martin is invited, which pretty much locks me in for life …
The Padres scored 10 runs in a game Sunday. There isn’t any significant reason for such a note, other than I enjoy typing sentences that are factual once every decade or so.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can also be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on “The Sports Scribes” on KDWN (720 AM).
