Archive - May 2011 - Article

By Ian Powers

Rising

After last week's combine and athleticism testing, Derrick Williams has moved back into first on our mock draft. Here's an updated look at our extended first round mock draft.

By: Michael Lewis Visenberg

Davis Bertans is one of the most intriguing International prospects in this year's draft. Just 18, Bertans is possibly the top pure shooter in the draft (Fredette included). He is shooting 57% from 3 on the season, averaging 8.9 min per game and 4.1 ppg. He impressed scouts at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland Oregon in April. A soft spoken 18 year old, Davis has a strong focus and desire. I conducted this interview on May 27th, with Davis' team heading into the Slovenian league finals against first place Krka Novo Mesto.

NBA fans have heard the phrase “it’s a point guard’s league” ad nauseam over the past two years. Rules changes eliminating hand-checking have greatly benefited smaller players with explosive quickness. Not to mention some of the most talented players to enter the draft over the past six years have precisely fit this mold. The Miami Heat maybe the only team in the league that doesn’t need a true point guard due to the ball-handling and playmaking abilities of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

Last week we witnessed Dan Gilbert and his adorable son luck up and score the 1st and 4th overall picks in the NBA draft lottery. Keep in mind the term "luck up" is fairly relative, considering we aren't even a year removed from the festivities in South Beach. Anyway, possessing two of the top four picks in a draft will be mighty useful for the rebuilding efforts of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As many of you already know, the Cleveland Cavaliers – still recovering from being caught in a tidal wave called LeBron’s ego and washed up on the island of futility – landed the 1st and 4th overall picks in the 2011 NBA Draft. The possibility of drafting two all-star caliber players is a decent consolation prize for losing arguably the best player in the NBA.

The NBA combine took place on Thursday and Friday with players being run through shooting plus 3-on-2, 2-on-1 full court drills, and combine measurements and athleticism testing.