My name is Chris but all of my buds call me Dozer. Long story short, my buddy Mike thought I needed a nickname when I started hangin' out with the Brew Crew. So, after much deliberation, he selected Dozer for several reasons.
Anyway, this blog is my blog away from blog. I post my blogs on Myspace more often than not. But sometimes I want them to have a much more broad range than I want to put on my personal account. So here we are. In my blogs, we'll cover everything from sports, gaming and such to politics and current news stories. I'll try to keep this at least a weekly blog if not more often. So, without further ado, let's get this thing started.
THE NBA DRAFT
Well, Thursday was the 2007 NBA Draft. This year, I didn't get to watch it and I actually had wanted to. I enjoy the draft shows for Basketball and Football. I don't care so much about Baseball and Hockey. Probably because these leagues have actual farm systems. You watch a guy for 2-4 years and then they will probably disappear for at least a year or two while they prepare for big league play. There are exceptions, but not many. The NBA and the NFL use college as it's farm system. Guys come straight out of college and, while they may not start, they are on the team. They travel with them, they compete for first string jobs right out of the gate. So it's more exciting to see who gets what because it has a much bigger chance of impacting the playing field in the upcoming season.
The drama in '07 is whether Greg Oden, the big softie from Ohio State, or Kevin Durant, the slick swingman from Texas, would be chosen number one overall by Portland. The days leading up to the draft seemed to answer that this year and, as the rumors had suggested, Oden was taken first. Seattle selected Durant with the two pick. Seattle, it should be noted, in no way got slighted by not getting Oden. In fact, Durant may be a bigger pick in the long run. It's certainly more likely that Oden will find the center spot in the NBA while Durant, only a scant two inches shorter, may end up at forward. It is this that may give Durant the edge over Oden. The forward position can range a bit more than the center and should give Durant more opportunity to use his explosiveness more than Oden can muscle people near the rim.
Right now, Oden reminds me of a young Dikembe Mutumbo. As a starter, Oden is going to bring in 15-18 points a game this year. But where his presence will really be found is on the other end of the floor, much like Mutumbo. Oden isn't going to get the easy, back to the basket stuff he got at Ohio State where he stronger and bigger than most of his opponents. In the NBA, every team has a seven footer just waitin' to lay a hard foul on ya. Where Oden will live or die is his aggression. If he develops that killer instinct, his PPG will rise from 15-18 to 25-27. He has that much potential. But he can't stand around and wait for his teammates to pick it up like he did at OSU. He has to be aggressive and go to the hole. He has to get up in the face of the defender and put one over him.
Durant, on the other hand, is much more likely to contribute on the offensive end more quickly. I'd almost expect 20 points per from this kid right out of the gate. Now where Oden is a better defensive player, Durant is a scorer. This may hurt him long term. Even Michael Jordan learned to play defense by the end of his career. This has proved difficult for some NBA stars as the glamour goes to the guys with the gaudy PPG. Look at Allen Iverson. The guy is one of the most prolific scorers ever. Has he ever sniffed the Finals? Sure once. "The Answer" averaged 32.9 PPG during the 00-01 playoffs. His career playoff high. They lost to the Lakers in 5.
So who was the better pick? Does it matter? Absolutely it matters. But the answer is that time will tell who won and who lost. The trades made by the teams before the draft all have the same problems that you suffer every time a player makes a move; will they continue to perform? The answer here is only going to be known in the future. Personally, my money is on Oden. But he needs to buck up and be the man, otherwise, he's just going to be another smooth center who doesn't get it done. Just like Zdrunas or Vlade.
Well, Thursday was the 2007 NBA Draft. This year, I didn't get to watch it and I actually had wanted to. I enjoy the draft shows for Basketball and Football. I don't care so much about Baseball and Hockey. Probably because these leagues have actual farm systems. You watch a guy for 2-4 years and then they will probably disappear for at least a year or two while they prepare for big league play. There are exceptions, but not many. The NBA and the NFL use college as it's farm system. Guys come straight out of college and, while they may not start, they are on the team. They travel with them, they compete for first string jobs right out of the gate. So it's more exciting to see who gets what because it has a much bigger chance of impacting the playing field in the upcoming season.
The drama in '07 is whether Greg Oden, the big softie from Ohio State, or Kevin Durant, the slick swingman from Texas, would be chosen number one overall by Portland. The days leading up to the draft seemed to answer that this year and, as the rumors had suggested, Oden was taken first. Seattle selected Durant with the two pick. Seattle, it should be noted, in no way got slighted by not getting Oden. In fact, Durant may be a bigger pick in the long run. It's certainly more likely that Oden will find the center spot in the NBA while Durant, only a scant two inches shorter, may end up at forward. It is this that may give Durant the edge over Oden. The forward position can range a bit more than the center and should give Durant more opportunity to use his explosiveness more than Oden can muscle people near the rim.
Right now, Oden reminds me of a young Dikembe Mutumbo. As a starter, Oden is going to bring in 15-18 points a game this year. But where his presence will really be found is on the other end of the floor, much like Mutumbo. Oden isn't going to get the easy, back to the basket stuff he got at Ohio State where he stronger and bigger than most of his opponents. In the NBA, every team has a seven footer just waitin' to lay a hard foul on ya. Where Oden will live or die is his aggression. If he develops that killer instinct, his PPG will rise from 15-18 to 25-27. He has that much potential. But he can't stand around and wait for his teammates to pick it up like he did at OSU. He has to be aggressive and go to the hole. He has to get up in the face of the defender and put one over him.
Durant, on the other hand, is much more likely to contribute on the offensive end more quickly. I'd almost expect 20 points per from this kid right out of the gate. Now where Oden is a better defensive player, Durant is a scorer. This may hurt him long term. Even Michael Jordan learned to play defense by the end of his career. This has proved difficult for some NBA stars as the glamour goes to the guys with the gaudy PPG. Look at Allen Iverson. The guy is one of the most prolific scorers ever. Has he ever sniffed the Finals? Sure once. "The Answer" averaged 32.9 PPG during the 00-01 playoffs. His career playoff high. They lost to the Lakers in 5.
So who was the better pick? Does it matter? Absolutely it matters. But the answer is that time will tell who won and who lost. The trades made by the teams before the draft all have the same problems that you suffer every time a player makes a move; will they continue to perform? The answer here is only going to be known in the future. Personally, my money is on Oden. But he needs to buck up and be the man, otherwise, he's just going to be another smooth center who doesn't get it done. Just like Zdrunas or Vlade.
