FanNation | Best Vets on Fannation | Thursday Thoughts- 1st Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to what will become my weekly blog here at BVOF. Thank you for checking it out.

Lets start with the NBA Draft, which will take place today at 7/6 CT. My Bulls have the top pick, and will almost for sure pick Derick Rose, the point guard out of Memphis. He is already drawing comparisons to Deron Williams and Chris Paul. The Miami Heat pick second, and are again almost assuredly picking Michael Beasley, the great scorer out of K-State. He led the nation in rebounding last year despite being only 6-7, and also averaged over 20 points per game. He has rumored character issues, but I doubt they will affect his play. Every coach he has ever had has loved him.

But the rest of the lottery picks to me, dont look very good. While Rose and Beasley are looking like they will be All-Star caliber players for years to come, everyone else in this draft to me has significant negatives. Let's take a look:

OJ Mayo- This guy didnt quite live up to the hype built of for him at USC. He can sure hit the jump shot, but he doesnt really have a position. He is not a true point guard (he averaged more turnovers than assists per game) and he is a bit too short at 6-4 to be a shooting guard. He didnt show great leadership or maturity at USC (he got in a fight with another student) and he hasnt shown the ability to drive to the lane.

Brook Lopez- He is a big player and showed he can score at Stanford, but I dont know if he has the athleticism to succeed at the NBA level. He always looks a little awkward running, and he is not the best athlete.

Eric Gordon- He is too small to be a shooting guard, but has not shown the passing skills to be a point guard. He was very inconsistent at the end of the year, and turned the ball over a lot. He sometimes seemed to lose control of the game. His height really worries me.

Russell Westbrook- He didnt play much in college and will need to adjust to the NBA workload. That gives him a certain level of unpredictability. He also isnt very strong and might get beat up in the NBA.

Jerryd Bayless- He has to get stronger to play regularly in the NBA. He has been plagued by injuries his whole career, so he must improve his durability. He also will need to improve his passing ability if he expects to be a point guard.

Joe Alexander- He is known as a scorer, but does not have great range. He was fairly inconsistent in college, with seven single-digit scoring games. He is also just an average ball-handler; he has his fair share of turnovers.

Kevin Love- He is short for his position, at 6-9, which will leave him at a disadvantage on the boards. He also isnt too in shape. He is pretty slow and tires quickly. He isnt a great rebounder, and isnt very athletic.

Danilo Gallinari- He is European, and that makes his future fairly unpredictable because of the much tougher level of play. He isnt very athletic or strong. He is just an average rebounder, and he’s a poor defender.

Anthony Randolph- He is very, very skinny and may get beat up on the post. He is very raw and there is a high risk he will be a bust. He has some maturity issues, and isnt very mentally tough.

DJ Augustin- He is very small at 5-11. His height and weight leave him at a big disadvantage against bigger, stronger pro guards. He is also just an average athlete. His defense is not great.

Brandon Rush- He has a good jump shot, but that’s just about it. He cant drive to the lane, or ball-handle well at all. He is not the best passer either.

Kosta Koufos- He is not a good rebounder for a seven footer, and will need to rely on his jump shot to succeed in the NBA.

Now, on to some baseball thoughts.

First of all, the idiot known as Shawn Chacon. I’m sure you have all heard, he grabbed his own general manager BY THE NECK and threw him to the ground. My question is, why would they sign this punk in the first place? He has never been a great pitcher, and with an attitude like that, I would leave him to be someone else’s problem. He deserves to be suspended for a long, long time.

Next, the NL West’s return to the worst division in baseball. The Diamondbacks currently lead the division with the mediocre record of 40-39. Thats right, one game over .500. They would be in 5th place in the AL East right now. And the funny thing is, no one can seem to pass them.

We have the Dodgers, who’s mixture of youth and experience cant put it together enough to win consistently.

There’s the Giants and their 2-11 $100 million man, Barry Zito. These guys were terrible last year, and didnt do much to improve the club since.

There’s the Rockies, who are very injury plagued, and have few quality pitchers on their roster.

And the Padres, who have no hitting at all except Adrian Gonzalez.

Last year, the West may have been the best in baseball with the best-record-in-NL D’Backs, NL Champion Rockies, 89 win Padres, and above .500 Dodgers. Now, they are returning to their 2005 form, when the division was won by the 82-80 Padres.

And for my last baseball thought, I gotta go homer and say the Cubs-Sox series was one of the most entertaining I’ve seen in a while. The Cubs averaged 3 homers a game, including 4 by Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez hit a towering walk-off in game one. In game two, the Cubs had a monster inning: 4 HR’s, 2 by Jim Edmonds, twice went back-to-back, five straight singles. Game 3 they closed out the sweep easily.

My last thought of the week is that the EURO 2008 is VERY entertaining. The power outage added to the intensity of a great Germany-Turkey semifinal. The momentum changes were outrageous. I cant wait for today’s Spain- Russia game.

That’ll do it for this week. I hope you enjoyed it.

Comments (6) Add A Comment

June 26, 2008 05:01 PM ET

Report Abuse | QUOTE

I'll read the rest when I get home, but'll certainly be an interesting night!

Ghost.

Miami, FL

Total Comments (14560)

June 26, 2008 09:36 PM ET

Ur really underrating Augustine, still solid blog

Civardi

Seaside Park, NJ

Total Comments (17394)

June 26, 2008 09:51 PM ET

Great blog. Shawn Chacon is an idiot, and I can't believe that he did that to his OWN team's GM. It shows that he has some problems he needs to deal with.

Dyhard:Homecoming…

Germantown, WI

Total Comments (32489)

June 26, 2008 10:14 PM ET

Great blog. Shawn Chacon is an idiot, and I can't believe that he did that to his OWN team's GM. It shows that he has some problems he needs to deal with.

dyhard needs two Lambos | 06/26/08, 09:51 PM

I didnt even see that, ill read the rest of the blog now