FreeDarko Presents: The Disciples Of Clyde NBA Podcast

 

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Dan is joined by Ken, who was first on an old computer and then on an old phone.

Ken says he used to have good equipment, but that his dog ate it.

This dog:

Anyway, they still managed to get in a good discussion of the Bucks playing defense, Brandon Jennings playing point guard, the Thunder playing defense, the Knicks playing decently, Nate Robinson playing, John Wall playing incredibly, the poor play in the Kentucky-Louisville game, and Gilbert playing with guns.

No playing!

Songs from the episode:

“Brand New Day” - Dizzee Rascal
“Great Expectations” - The New Year
“Tron Man Speaks” - Antipop Consortium
“It Ain’t Nuthin’ (The Chapter Remix)” - MF Doom
“Freaks in Charge” - Superchunk

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1. Blake Griffin
2. Brandon Jennings
3. Tyreke Evans
4. Ty Lawson
5. James Harden
6. Omri Caspi
7. Jrue Holiday
8. Johnny Flynn
9. Ricky Rubio
10. Stephen Curry
11. Toney Douglas
12. Jordan Hill
13. Rodrique Beaubois
14. Tyler Hansbrough

A few notes:

• I didn’t consider team need, just the merits of the player (exactly like the teams should do).
• Is it too soon? Nope. NBA skills are binary: either they exist or they don’t.
• The most difficult choice was between Jennings and Evans for the spot behind Blake Griffin. Jennings looks to be the most likely player to be part of a playoff winner, but how long can a 165-pound player stay healthy? Ask TJ Ford what happens when insanely fast objects run into power forwards. Is a more explosive and less douche-baggy version of Kenny Anderson really possible over the long term? If so, then he’s Isiah Thomas Jr. in a few years once he learns to defend and a well rounded team organization is put around him; if not, then Evans should be the man because he’s going to be getting lay-up after lay-up after foul shot for a long freaking time.
• The biggest surprises are Lawson and Caspi, both of whom look like playoff-caliber contributors. John Hollinger absolutely nailed Ty Lawson and I think his draft rater needs to be a bigger deal moving forward.
• Laugh all you want at two Knicks being included in this list. Seriously, laugh at me. I deserve it. Nonetheless, Toney Douglas can score and defend; the only frontier is passing. He’s at least a worthy and valuable third guard, possibly more. Jordan Hill, meanwhile, hasn’t gotten the opportunity from the fickle Mike D’Antoni, but it’s difficult to look at the size, the motor and the jump shot and not see some actual reasons for hope. Check out his advanced stats and imagine what he’ll be once he learns to not foul 8 times per 36 minutes. Where else but early in the draft do you routinely get 6-10 contributors? No, he isn’t Brandon Jennings, but that won’t actually be a federal crime until Shoals is named Attorney General for Obama’s second term.
• A few of these players (Hill, Holiday, Beaubois) have flashed good (and unmistakable) physical tools in brief spurts, mostly in garbage time. Nonetheless, NBA garbage time is a pretty good indicator because if it walks like a duck then it is often a duck. Again, ask John Hollinger.
• Psycho T rebounds and gets fouled, all while working his ass off and firing up home fans. That ALWAYS translates. Why wasn’t it valued more?
• Yes, I realize that the previous bullet point expresses an ironic sentiment since I’m ranking Hansbrough a spot lower than he was actually drafted.
• The mock draft I wrote in mid-June seems to have been rendered as a complete and total pile of bull-plop.  I’m as surprised as you are.
• Hasheem Thabeet, not listed, would be a great pick in the mid-teens. I actually like him because he really competes. Yes, he’ll get dunked on, get pushed around, look ridiculous, and lose individual matchups. But with some seasoning and the right parameters in place (20 minutes a night, two years from now) he’ll still block lots of shots, get enough boards, and affect field goal percentages in a good way for his team. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
• Dajuan Blair was a tough omission. It was somewhat of a coin flip between him and Hansbrough. I wonder if the somewhat expected good play from Blair means more in practice then it did in theory back in June. It seems to me that people will conveniently forget about his potential knee problems when he’s putting up double-doubles in the Western Conference Finals. Who in the NBA doesn’t have potential knee problems?
• Personally, I think Steph Curry is going to be a better, slower Earl Boykins. That doesn’t seem like such a big deal.
• Jeff Teague was tough omission from the lottery. I like where his career could go because he has skills that can’t be taught.
• Again, please don’t disregard this entire blog post because of the two Knicks. I swear they can each be good. Or maybe I’m just an asshole. Either way, thanks for reading the entire thing.