High school is much shorter than college. I can remember making 3s from literally one step in from half court in HS gyms when I used to come home from college for the summer....oh the glory days.

NBA and NCAA - '94 long x '50 wide

High School - '84 long x '50 wide (this is the cited optimal dimensions of a HS court per the NFHS hand book but it can be smaller or larger)

Jr. High School - '74 long x '42 wide

So SHARK DOCTOR hasn't been online in 4 days, and the longest ban he's had is a 2nd offense (which is 2 days IIRC), so he isn't banned. Anyone know him outside of the forum?

uggh gonna have to wait yet another day to pick!

This is why we need a text message phone tree!

there has been a ton of these good ideas, including sending a list, posting if you're going to be gone, having email notification of either PMs or posts in the Draft-only thread, etc.

however, they don't work because the people that these apply to don't read the entire thread. they log on once every few days and just check the Draft-only thread, or maybe the last handful of posts in the discussion thread. the discussion thread is just too massive, and semi-full of OT stuff that it's intimidating.

so these messages get lost on those who they apply to

FWIW, Shark Doctor seems active generally between now-ish and 12 hours from now, so whoever is next: be ready.

ok - its my turn...just give me a lil time to think about who to pick and I'll post it right away.

Ive got a good 3 guard in mind and a good defensive center in mind.

with Terry Cummings and Vin Baker on my roster - it gives me flexiblilty....so Cumming can either play SF or PF and Vin can play PF or C....so Im just weighing my options and my pick will be up shortly.

he better be a center named Tonic

I WILL BREAK YOUR NOSE KIDCOLIN! I WILL BREAK IT RIGHT OFF!

More picks less jokes imo

your momma

Round 5 Pick 171

Theo Huxtable Ratliff



Its clear who Ive picked here - and what he brings to the table...I really dont find any need to explain this pick....but here goes anyway...

Seeing some of the previous picks - Im surprised some of these other Centers went before Theo. He is clearly a defense-first, team-first guy and is arguably one of the top Defensive Centers in this league. Hes got that shot-changing presence like not many do.

Ratliff has had a pretty consistent career - but it is clear that he played his best seasons when he was logging about 32 mpg with the Iverson-led 76ers...and averaged a decent 12 and 8...but more imporatantly - never dipped under the 3 blocks per game level. That is sick! He is about a 15 PER career guy and peaked at 17 PER...he is a One-Time All Star, 2 Time All Defensive Teammer and has always had a very good defensive rating every year. Top 5 in BPG in 7 consecutive seasons (1st 3-times) and is 4th among active centers and 9th in NBA History! ...and this is all without even touching his PER 36 MINUTES STATS!

When utilized correctly (like he was with the Iverson-led 76ers)....Theo will play a similar role on this Chris Paul-led squad. He will be the anchor for my defense...and everything will be funneled through him. He will not take many touches away from my already offensively-gifted squad (though he can finish very strong around the basket when need be).

Also with this addition - Vin Baker gets to move to the 4 spot and work his magic from there and Terry Cummings can move to the 3 spot (given his versatility it doesnt matter where you put him). This just about rounds out my starting 5...and feel like Ive got a very well rounded team that is very good offensively and not getting enough love defensively.

My Roster:

Chris Paul
Richard Hamilton
Terry Cummings
Vin Baker
Theo Ratliff

ok seriously enough with the jokes now pick

A couple of random thoughts...

1.) I feel that people have generally overrated the importance of offensive effeciency stats on the whole. I would make the argument that it's easier for dominant scorers with average efficiency to be more effective in this format than super efficient role players to extrapolate their #'s by playing more minutes. A lot of these guys just played on really medicore teams where they were the only option and should really be much more efficient when surrounded by a lot of talent. I admit to not being super knowledgable about all of these stats, but I have a pretty good feel for them and just think they make some very good players seem less appealing than they should be because they didn't play on well rounded teams.

2.) I love Bobbo's team, and disagree with all the hate for Derrick Coleman in this thread. He had a solid career and was a pretty versatile game for a PF. His midrange game was pretty decent from what I recall, and he could handle himself in the post. I also love the way this team is built. Shaq in his prime is going to command sooo many double teams. Eddie jones will help spread the floor a lot and can knock down the open jumper all day while being a solid defender. Aside from Karl Malone, Shaw never really played with another decent big man. I think having two legitimate post presences (one of whom is probably the most dominant post player in NBA history) is going to be very hard to defend. I also think this will make someone like Coleman much more efficient than when he was playing with the Nets or Sixers, since those teams didn't have anyone else who needed to be guarded in the post.

3.) I also feel like people are being to hard on steroid boys team, and expect them to do better than people are thinking. This team can score the ball, they have some very compentant scorers for the 1-4 positions. (Terry, MJ, Smith, and Howard are all good-excellent offensive scorers, and I expect some of these guys to be more efficient than their career stats suggest since they won't have to always be the #1 or #2 option) This team is also pretty stellar defensivley. They are a bit undersized and this could pose some match up problems against some of the bigger teams, but they are still a formidable defensive team!

4.) I don't think the Hakeem/West/Odom/Rice/Strickland has been analzyed correctly. Odom and West fit in great with this team IMO. They are big and athletic, and they have big men who can spread the floor very well! Hakeem has great range and is a man in the post as well. (Remember he MANHANDLED Shaq when they met in the finals!) West also has a good midrange game and is an athleic 4 spot. Odom is super versatile and can spread the floor as well as most people playing the 3, but can still some crash the boards and better than average post presence for someone playing small forward. Rice fits in well here because this team will get him open jump shots. He wasn't super efficient because he shot the ball well but was a bigger guy who couldn't really get the hoop and finish in traffic, so when he played on weak offensive teams where the scoring load was on him, it was hard fot him to be efficient as he was fairly one dimensional. This team caters to his strengths offensivley and is big enough and quick enough inside to help out when he gets taken to the hole by smaller and quicker 2 guards. The one thing I HATE HATE HATE about this team is having Rod Strickland at the point. What you want here is a super unselfish distributor to get ball to your other premier scorers and who can shoot the ball well. Strickland's strength offensivley was getting the hole and finishing pretty well for a PG, but this team is huge and the middle will be congested. If this team had someone who could help spread the floor well and distribute the ball well, I think they would be Very Very good.

hahahah i came in here to post this.

I must be wrong but I would have swore Theo Ratliff had been picked already. I be trippin yo!

D

Shark - Ratliff seems like a good fit on that team. I think people have given you a hard time, mainly for picking CP3 11th overall. That may be high, but his ceiling >>> Stockton's. Anyway, I like your starting 5. At a glance, the biggest problems are outside shooting and Gin.

gg,

re: point 2. He traded up and took an alcoholic who was on a steady decline ~27 years old and had a lot of trouble staying on the court. he could have saved the trade and had someone like AK, Odom, Okafor, Shareef, Hot Rod, etc. Hell even A.C. Green would be amazing on this team (probably more than the other dudes, actually). I really think the pick is unjustifiable. And yeah, his team is still awesome because the rest of the squad is nice. Which is why it makes sense to just go safe and pick a guy you can rely on for a while.

point 3. Don't see how you justify taking Josh Smith that early. Like someone else said, I prefer taking someone like Detlef in the 2nd round, but I can see the appeal of Camby. And Terry is in probably the best situation he could end up in. But Smith is rough.


poing 4. good post. Like Assani and I said, it'd be really interesting to see a real-life team of Odom and West at the 3/4 spots. They're pretty similar offensively, though West is better.

my main beef with Shark's roster is Gin Gin. I feel like if we're ignoring the off court problems of Gin, Coleman, and to a lesser degree guys like Kemp, we're basically making up new guys.

Both he and Bobbo picked severely troubled dudes when solid guys, even some better options, imo, were picked after they made those risky deals.

Vin Baker's "magic" - he can make his career and talent disappear by drinking his secret elixir!

D

PS Celtics' money disappears too!

Be more specific. Name players.

If mixing cocaine and heroin is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Agreed. Ppl can talk about how they will preemptively counsel players to avoid trouble, but Vin's gotta see that bottom coming up at him before he quits drinking. /wirereferences

Seriously though, you gotta take the good with the bad - Vin's gonna peak at 25 and be done by age 29 and it doesnt matter what coach you draft.

D

Yeah did we resolve the coaching issue?

My pick will be up in about 10-15.