Assani is just thankful he no longer has the most injury prone squad.

haha

just barely

Gerald Wallace was awesome... two years ago. I'm not picking *anyone* with recurring concussions.

ouch, didn't know this. december 04, november 05, november 06, concussion february 08

scary ****. pretty injury prone even aside from this as well (ankles iirc)

i want more picks

gay

Well done.

He also gets migraines (perhaps as a result of his concussions)

what the hell, sammykid is up.

I sent him 2 PMs as well. oh well maybe if/when he logs on next we might get lucky

I'm going with Kurt Thomas

In New York, where he was able to showcase his abilities, he was a guy who blocked lots of shots, shut down opposing 4's and 5's routinely, and rebounded the basketball well. Over 100 defensive win shares in his career and a reliable mid-range jump shooter as well as a PER hovering around 15 during his time with the Knicks during his prime.

With opposing post men worrying about Yao on the block (as well as Melo and Finley who are strong on the boards for those positions), Thomas will be a monster on the boards for me...he'll provide tough interior defense to round out the starting five and solidify the frontcourt, and left alone (as he will be much of the time on the offensive end) he will be an effective scorer who can get me 12-15 per game with ease.

For the times he's in position, he's also a good free throw shooter at over 76% for his career (my team's a beast on the line, as 76% is the lowest FT % on the team thus far).

Anyway, I think Thomas helps Yao anchor down low more than anything. He's a great shot blocker this late in the draft and he can cause disruptions in passing lanes and board and still isn't a liability on the offensive end.

Clearly, my team is still not what you'd call Strong defensively...but I think especially with the right coach that sky is the limit offensively.

Team so far:
PG - Mike Bibby
SG - Michael Finley
SF - Carmelo Anthony
PF - Kurt Thomas
C - Yao Ming

Sweet, glad a pick is made. Kurt thomas for whatever reason completely slipped my mind. Very underrated defender. The problem with Kurt tho is @24/25 he sucked. For whatever reason he played no minutes, and in those minutes, was very unproductive. He fouls a lot though. (4.7 per 36) interesting team for sure. fanmail is up!

yeah these late peakers are really ****ing me up in terms of where to draft them. and bobbo is your sleep schedule really THIS ****ed up?

Played an all night sesh, so yeah, it really is that messed up. I am not tired, I don't know if I should drug myself and goto bed or stay up all day.

standard, i'm in the same boat. i didn't even get to grind last night (brownout ftl, 10 hours into it, enough juice for the modem, router and lappy, not enough for the desktop) i think i'm going to go to the driving range and see how i feel after that.

G Wallace is an excellent pick this late in the draft, altohugh injury problems are a concern. Like Kurt Thomas as well.

Re: Kurt Thomas. Good value, but I don't know about the fit. I know you drafted him for his defense (and you did need a good defender), but offensively, you now have three players who like to shoot from about the same spot on the floor (the high post area). Also, while Thomas really is an excellent defender, it's pretty inaccurate to say that he blocked lots of shots. He averages under 1 bpg for his career, and his single season high is 1.2 bpg.

I wrote the full writeup for my guy. I will be pretty disappointed if he gets selected.

pick coming in less than 5 minutes

Byron mutha ****in Scott yos

Round #5/ Pick 192 via tdarko Danny Ainge


http://youtube.com/watch?v=u2HW-EpbzUk

Danny Ainge was once called the "fiercest competitor ever" by none other than Larry Bird. This is a guy who is an incredible athlete (was a professional baseball player for a little while) incredibly smart (has won executive of the year) and an all-around winner. (With the Celtics, obviously) I needed a token white guy AND a Boston Celtic on my squad, so with this pick not only can I feel those miscellaneous needs, I feel the obvious need of "best player available" as well. I'm going to do what I've done with Danny Ainge (or "Danny") that I've done with everyone else: List accomplishments, show stats, and explain his role.

Team BobboFitos:
PG - Terrell Brandon (5'11)
SG - Danny Ainge (6'4)
SF - Eddie Jones (6'6)
PF - Derrick Coleman (6'10)
C - Shaquille O'Neal (7'1)

Danny Ainge was a 6'4/175 lbs. SG from BYU. Danny played 14 productive years, most notably with the championship Celtic squads. (Also played for the Suns, Trailblazers, and Kings) Danny made the All-Star game as a 28yr old in 1987-88.

Danny's first 3 years (22, 23, 24) he received little playing time (10, 25, and 16 mins per game respectively) and luckily for me, these are wiped clean. Beyond this, Danny's PER was fairly consistent. (14.2, 13.6, 15.2, 15.9, 18.0, 16.1, 17.0, 15.4...) Please note that the two major strengths that Danny possesses (outside shooting and physical defense) are both underrated by PER, and even in spite of this, with a long career, his mark of 14.7 is pretty solid. Rating-wise, Danny was incredibly efficient, maintaining a 114 ORtg career (with 2 120+ seasons @28 and 33) and 108 DRtg career. (Fairly solid, note that this was hurt when he left the great Celtic teams - his poor defensive seasons were at the age of 34, 33, 30, and 35 - all non Celtic team) If I do chose to start Danny, he will likely draw the "easier" wingman assignment as well, since i have defensive ace Eddie to take on the tough assignment.

Going back to Danny's competitive blaze, ("intangibles") he will only help fuel my team's desire to win. He won 2 championship rings (83/84, 85/86) and also hit one of the greatest shots in NCAA March Madness history against Notre Dame in 1981. His coast to coast drive with only a second remaining gave the Cougars a one point win - he is able to take the "clutch shot" if needed. Health-wise, Danny played 80+ games 6 seasons, and never seriously missed games. (As a rookie, age 22, he got several DNP-CD which led to just 53 games played) So, I do not need to worry about his durability.

Defensively, Danny is a normal sized 2 guard, but typically will be undersized if matched up with a large 3. It's possible I'll be able to play "big" with Danny at PG for a short time, and Danny can handle PGs defensively as well. Danny was slightly above average about forcing TOs (almost as many spg as topg) and was not a big fouler. (Modest 3.3 per 36 career, his poor years were again age 22-24 where he fouled too much but "got the hang of it")

Offensively, Danny is the 5th option. Best part about this is not only is he incredibly efficient, but he never had an ego about "requiring" the ball. His career usage was 18.5%, and with the championship Celtic teams dropped to ~15% mark, so if he needs to share the ball, this is peachy. Further, his major strength is of a terrific outside shooter. He was top 5 in 3-Pt makes 5 times in his career, all the while top 6 in 3-Pt% 3 times. For the record, he shot 2.5 3s a game at 37.8% clip, 4 times had a % > 40%, and stretched out per 36 made nearly 2 a game. For those TS% fanatics, Danny has a career mark of 55.5% (quite solid) and it looks even better when you remove his first 3 years (.439, .519, .498 wiped clean - .570 the next year!) I can't ONLY mention his outside shooting here, as well - Ainge was very smart with the ball, averaging fewer than 1.5 TOPG, all the while from the 2 spot averaging 4 APG. His rebound rates are very consistent with other 2 guards, so he wont hurt or help me in that department. Oh, I almost forgot to add he was a career 84.6% FT shooter!

Alright, let's start to examine how my starting 5 looks. I've got the most dominant post player of all time as my #1 option; another very effective post player who can hit the midrange; a slasher at the PG who can create for others; and 2 elite (yes Clark, EJ and Danny are elite!) sharpshooters at the wing. I've said all along my plan was to run the triangle, since all my guys are adept passers who don't turn it over much AND I have the personnel (i.e. shooters) who spread the floor for my inside-game. Note that between Shaq, DC, and Tee Bee, my team draws an incredibly number of fouls.

Going back to my overall philosophy (balance) I think Danny at this spot offers me an elite 3pt threat, a guy that can play PG for spurts, and will bring the intensity night in and out. Danny does a decent job forcing TOs, so my defensive backcourt of Tee Bee, EJ, and Danny will allow me to push the pace when available.

Tbach, you are on the clock!

I def looked at Ainge too.

haha, yeah, scott was on my list. but celtics >> lakers in my eyes always...