Posted by:
gwoelfel on
April 14, 2009 at
12:15PM CST
BY GERY WOELFEL
PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- The Milwaukee Bucks won't be in the NBA playoffs, but they will be in the Draft Lottery -- for the third straight year.
The Bucks, who wrap up their season Wednesday night on the road against the Indiana Pacers, would have 10th overall pick if the draft was held today.
With that in mind, nine NBA general managers and player personnel officials attending the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament last week were asked to select their top 10 draft prospects.
A total of 18 players received votes, although only five of them were unanimous selections.
They were power forward Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, center Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut, point guard Ricky Rubio of DKV Joventut, shooting guard James Harden of Arizona State and power forward Jordan Hill of Arizona.
Guard Tyreke Evans of Memphis also came close to being a unanimous choice. While a Western Conference scout felt Evans was a top 10 talent, he left him off his ballot because he felt Evans wouldn't fit in well with his team's style of play and couldn't make a perimeter shot on a consistent basis.
Of those aforementioned six players, Griffin was a unanimous choice as the best player. Rubio and Thabeet were regarded as the second- and third-best draft prospects.
Rounding out the top 10 best players were forward Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest and guards Stephen Curry of Davidson, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest and Ty Lawson of North Carolina.
Each received five votes. Just missing being a top 10 selection was forward Earl Clark of Louisville, who had four votes..
Seven other players drew top 10 votes, led by point guard Jonny Flynn of Syracuse, who has yet to declare for the draft, with three votes.
The other players were power forward DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh, combo forward James Johnson of Wake Forest, center B.J Mullens of Ohio State and point guard Brandon Jennings, who is playing for Virtus Roma in Italy – all with two votes – along with shooting guard Gerald Henderson of Duke and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan of Southern California – with one vote each.
* Guard Wesley Matthews of Marquette University seemingly solidified his chances of being drafted in the second round with a quality showing at the PIT.
Matthews was one of 12 players chosen to the All-PIT team.
* PIT officials were hardly happy about Marquette's Dominic James' absence.
PIT officials were told James wanted to compete in the event and were willing to find a spot for him.
According to Mahlon Parker, the chairman of PIT, he and other tournament officials made repeated calls to Marquette coaching office concerning James but didn’t have any of their calls returned.
* The prevailing feeling among NBA officials in attendance was that James’ chances of being drafted now were slim to none.
* Another Marquette draft prospect, Jerel McNeal, declined an invitation to play in the PIT.
McNeal is generally regarded as a mid-second-round pick, although there are a couple of teams that have him rated as a late first-round selection.
* While Wisconsin forwrd Marcus Landy didn't make the all-tournament team at Portsmouth, he did acquit himself well.
Landry exhibited a nice all-around game and showed he’s capable of hitting the outside shot, something some NBA scouts had questioned.
Landry said the Houston Rockets have already talked to him about a pre-draft workout. Landry’s brother, Carl, is currently a backup forward for the Rockets.
* The Bucks were well represented at the PIT with general manager John Hammond, assistant general manager Jeff Weltman and player personnel director Dave Babcock in attendance.
Posted by: Brett Favre on April 15, 2009 8:31AM CST
How can the Bucks be in the lottery again when you told us at the beginning of the year they would make the playoffs? Oh that's right, they stink again as usual. Remind me again when the NBA draft is because the NFL draft is being held next week. I think I'd rather hear you blast TT about not taking the player you want then to hear about the sorry Bucks again.
BFavre - The Bucks actually looked good early in the year and I would have expected them to make the playoffs. Then their best 2 players were finished with season ending injuries. Redd and Bogut out completely changed the team. i do have some hope for next year.
Playing with draft in mind Friday, April 15, 1994 3:00 AM CDT Bucks take aim at No. 1 in June By gery woelfel
My favorite Gery article is from one year ago: http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/04/15/local_sports/doc4804395a907de008679141.txt GERY WOELFEL: MU shoots air ball in hiring of Williams BY GERY WOELFEL Journal Times Tuesday, April 15, 2008 6:28 PM CDT
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