Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the 2000 NBA draft.  It's interesting in 
Michigan for one reason: Jamal Crawford.  He played 17 games as a 
Michigan freshman, and for a number of reasons, declared himself 
eligible for the draft.  He's projected to go in the first round now, 
due to successful appearances at pre-draft camps; when he declared, he 
was projected as a likely 2nd rounder.

The interesting part is this: will he be drafted before Michigan State's 
senior Mateen Cleaves, who led the Spartans to the NCAA national 
championship?

I don't understand the NBA at all.  I'm a college basketball fan.  I 
watched Michigan State's Shawn Respert 5 or 6 years ago, and thought I'd 
never seen a better shooting guard.  But Respert never made it in the 
NBA.  "Can't shoot," they said of him.

Cleaves was a far better college player last year than Crawford, but 
Cleaves was a senior on a team built around him, and Crawford was a 
freshman who played in only half his team's games.

I don't know which will be picked first, but that's why I'm interested 
in the NBA draft.  It's Michigan vs. Michigan State!

13 responses total.

The Pistons should draft Lew Alcindor out of UCLA.  Wait - is it too 
late for that?  ;-)

Isn't Lew Alcindor the birth name of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

Very good, you're awarded 35 points!  :-)

I've seen two mock drafts now that have the Pistons picking Mateen 
Cleaves.  The latest report is that they're trying to trade up.  Jamal 
Crawford says they're trying to get the #10 pick (they currently have 
#14), and that they're going to select him.

Jamal Crawford was picked *8th*!  That's really amazing.  He was the first
player from the Big Ten picked.  He's going to Chicago.

Mateen Cleaves was picked #14 by the Pistons.  Morris Peterson was picked
#21 by Toronto.  So far, one other Big Ten player went in the 1st round;
Joel Pryzbilla from Minnesota was picked #9 and is heading to Milwaukee.

No other Big Ten players were taken in the 1st round.  From the 2nd 
round:

#32 (Chicago) A. J. Guyton, guard, Indiana
#43 (Milwaukee) Michael Redd, guard, Ohio State
#44 (Detroit) Brian Cardinal, forward, Purdue
#57 (Atlanta) Scoonie Penn, guard, Ohio State

Cincinatti had the most impressive showing for any college; #1 Kenyon 
Martin went to New Jersey, #6 DerMarr Johnson went to Atlanta.

10 of the top 11 picks have not yet graduated from college.  This does 
not bode well for the future of college basketball.  It looks like 
several of the guys who stuck it out for their senior year in college 
would have went higher if they'd gone in the draft last year; 
particularly Mateen Cleaves, Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd, guards from 
the Big Ten.  (At least those are the ones I'm most familiar with.)  A. 
J. Guyton wouldn't have been a 2nd round pick last year.  Neither would 
Khalid El-Amin of Connecticut.

It is unfortunate but factual that college is merely a proving ground for kids
to go to the NBA.

Maybe the NBA just needs a minor league and not bother with college.

It's hard to blame Jamal Crawford for leaving college and striking it 
rich.  I think he wouldn't have left if the NCAA had given him any 
option.  He had to repay a big pile of money to his mentor in Seattle, 
and he had no way to do it.  He had to leave.  It turned out to be a 
very fortunate thing for him.  I don't think he would have been the #8 
pick in the country if he waited 3 more years and graduated.  
Congratulations to him, and best wishes.

For the record:  Crawford was not *drafted* by Chicago.  He was traded there
later in the draft.  I believe he was picked by Cleveland.  Maybe Atlanta.

jep, in the interest of having fewer, more active items, could you use
backtalk to retitle this item something like "2000-2001 NBA season - from
draft through playoffs" ?  I'm going to add non-draft "drift" to this item
in any case...

It looks like continued lean times for the Pistons, as Grant Hill has left
to sign with Orlando.  Sour grapers can take some solace in the fact that 
Tim Duncan decided to stay with San Antonio instead of joining Hill with the
Magic.  Orlando did manage to sign Tracy McGrady away from Toronto; the Magic
management appears to be willing to wait a year to get all the pieces they'll
need to compete at the championship level.

In the mean time, there is a school of thought that the Pistons didn't win
*with* Hill, so they can't do much worse without him.  But that is bunk.
With better front office motivation and handling, the right players could 
have been brought in to support Hill.  I'm afraid that Joe Dumars moved to
a position of power (?) too late.  Plus owner Bill Davidson seems to be
complacent, resting on "his" 1989-1990 laurels.

I agree that losing Grant Hill is going to mean a lot more losses for 
the Pistons.  He's one of the top 3 or 4 players in the NBA, according 
to most of the people I've heard from.  Losing him is going to improve 
the team?  I said that about the Lions and Barry Sanders, too, but 22-30 
guys play on a football team, and 5 play in a basketball game.  It's a 
different thing.

(I retitled the item; good idea.)

Thanks, jep!  :-)  You're right about 1 player's impact in basketball vs.
football.  But even Michael Jordon didn't win instantly with the Bulls. 
However, "something" seems to have happened, as by adding the right players
often enough, the Bulls won 6 championships in 8 years.  Bring back Jack
McCloskey!

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