2008 CelticsBlog draft board.

[Roy Hobbs]

I have no idea what the Thunder are doing. Not saying they have the worst team just saying I don't understand what they're doing.

The thing I like about the Thunder is that they have a clear star to build around, in Beasley.  They won't win a ton of games this season, but Beasley could be huge in a year or two.

[RebusRankin]

If i may, i thought Roy was just being playfull sarcastic to my sarcastic remark about PORTLAND being the worst team in the league. I chose POR b/c (a) they're actually pretty good and (b) as an active poster he seems good natured enough about getting made fun of.....

I do think that we should assess the rosters as that -- rosters in a game... i see this all as an exercise in debating talent/fits within the NBA, as well as WICKED FUN.  And certainly reasonable people can reasonably disagree about the nature of these FAKE nba teams 

FWIW -- i just sat down with the rosters for the first time.. in the East i like these 8 teams as the playoff teams thus far (remember this is just 1 GM's opinion):

First 7 seeds in order.... Toronto / Charlotte / New Jersey / Detroit / New York / Atlanta / Milwaukee / ...... Orlando is in the top 8 but i don't want to rank my own team yet. 

I think teams can still rise/fall if they get or don't get the guys to fill holes in their rosters...  ubuntu, y'all!

Do the West

[JSD]

Superstar league.


I still have Detroit 4th in the East after the Knicks, Magic and Nets. 

Top 3 in the East?!?

Yoouuuuuuuuuuuurrr Orlando Magciiiiiiiiiiiicsss!

Those three teams are listed alphabetically.


All three teams are close.  All three have a superstar.  All three have solid players that fit. 


Though I never trust an AI team where he has to share. 

"You can't win without a superstar"

"this team has no  a superstar they aren't legit"

Please Wdleehi, You sound like a broken record and I don't have a problem taking you to task.

How about this, after the 1st round 15th pick of this draft all of the teams that don't end up with a "superstar" just give up right then and there? Why even play!?  

How are these superstars made anyway? Do they grow on trees? Was D -wade considered a "supa stah" when he won a championship? or did that championship validate him?

I have a good idea? Why not put this notion that "you need a superstar to win a title" to rest as the Detroit Pistons did in 2004?

Yeeeaaah

[Roy Hobbs]

I think the most interesting thing is to see how differently we all view different rosters.  For instance, to see G.C. rank Toronto #1, when so few other people have them on their radar, was eye-opening. 

It's a neat exercise, and I do think we should repeat the "G.M. press conferences" of last year, where on a given day GMs answer questions and critiques about their team.  This year, I'd recommend doing it by Division, with a poll at the top asking people to vote for which team is best.

[Steve Weinman]

Da Bullz select Sasha Vujacic

I guess Kobe needs someone he can cry with.   

How can any self-respecting Celtics fan pick Vujacic after this year's finals...that guy is in the Laimbeer class of loser crybabies.  Seriously i think i could give you 30-60 guys i'd take before that louse. 

(i realize Steve W. is a busy guy and contributes a lot to this site and i think gave Wdleehi his list, but c'mon Commish.... if ever you should have exercised a Commisioner's veto, this was the time!!!)

I feel bad for Leon Powe, Jerryd Bayless, Joe Smith, Jeff Foster and Nazr Mohammed for having to play with losers like Kobe and Vujacic 

Ah, Gainesville...hitting me with the sweet talk even while unabashedly ripping on me...that's definitely the nicest possible way I've ever had the implicit "Are you really a self-respecting Celtics fan?" dropped on me before 

As you've surmised, I haven't been by the computer all day, so my apologies for not catching the comment until now when I was reading back in the thread....but thanks for giving me a nice laugh with that one...I'll be comin' back atcha sooner or later...

-sw

[Gainesville Celtic]

can't just yet.....  i'm about to start a phone bank.....

One team to keep in mind --- which i thought of as i was trying to think why i wasn't as high on the Nets (soldi playoff team, not quite title contender) is the 2003-04 Mavs .  I"m not saying the Nets are just like them in makeup, but they had Nowitzki, Nash, Antoine Walker (c'mon he was a good player), Antawn Jamison, a younger Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels, along with Najera, Delk and Fortson.... They won 52 games but lost in the first round of the playoffs and were broken up after 1 year.  A team can have *too much* talent if it doesn't fit together (now granted DAL also didn't have a center, but i don't think that was their major flaw).

And remember we're all doing this to ahve fun 

[wdleehi]

Superstar league.


I still have Detroit 4th in the East after the Knicks, Magic and Nets. 

Top 3 in the East?!?

Yoouuuuuuuuuuuurrr Orlando Magciiiiiiiiiiiicsss!

Those three teams are listed alphabetically.


All three teams are close.  All three have a superstar.  All three have solid players that fit. 


Though I never trust an AI team where he has to share. 

"You can't win without a superstar"

"this team has no  a superstar they aren't legit"

Please Wdleehi, You sound like a broken record and I don't have a problem taking you to task.

How about this, after the 1st round 15th pick of this draft all of the teams that don't end up with a "superstar" just give up right then and there? Why even play!?  

How are these superstars made anyway? Do they grow on trees? Was D -wade considered a "supa stah" when he won a championship? or did that championship validate him?

I have a good idea? Why not put this notion that "you need a superstar to win a title" to rest as the Detroit Pistons did in 2004?

Yeeeaaah

The one exception since Seattle did it in the late 70s.  Did it through great defense.  I don't see that team out there.




It is a broken record within the NBA.  The teams with the stars are the one that almost always win the titles.  

I didn't make up this rule.  Blame David Stern.  

[Gainesville Celtic]

I think the most interesting thing is to see how differently we all view different rosters.  For instance, to see G.C. rank Toronto #1, when so few other people have them on their radar, was eye-opening. 

It's a neat exercise, and I do think we should repeat the "G.M. press conferences" of last year, where on a given day GMs answer questions and critiques about their team.  This year, I'd recommend doing it by Division, with a poll at the top asking people to vote for which team is best.

Oooh.... i LOVE this idea... i think that will be great.  And TOR was definitely one of the teams i was thinking of when i said teams could go up or down depending what they do in the next few rounds....

[Steve Weinman]

Superstar league.


I still have Detroit 4th in the East after the Knicks, Magic and Nets. 

Top 3 in the East?!?

Yoouuuuuuuuuuuurrr Orlando Magciiiiiiiiiiiicsss!

Those three teams are listed alphabetically.


All three teams are close.  All three have a superstar.  All three have solid players that fit. 


Though I never trust an AI team where he has to share. 

"You can't win without a superstar"

"this team has no  a superstar they aren't legit"

Please Wdleehi, You sound like a broken record and I don't have a problem taking you to task.

How about this, after the 1st round 15th pick of this draft all of the teams that don't end up with a "superstar" just give up right then and there? Why even play!? 

How are these superstars made anyway? Do they grow on trees? Was D -wade considered a "supa stah" when he won a championship? or did that championship validate him?

I have a good idea? Why not put this notion that "you need a superstar to win a title" to rest as the Detroit Pistons did in 2004?

Yeeeaaah

The one exception since Seattle did it in the late 70s.  Did it through great defense.  I don't see that team out there.




It is a broken record within the NBA.  The teams with the stars are the one that almost always win the titles. 

I didn't make up this rule.  Blame David Stern. 

Without getting too invested in this one (I really enjoy watching most of the fireworks on this draft board; it's the most fun part of it for me), I'd like to register that Wade was absolutely a superstar prior to the championship.  His 24.2-6.8-5.2 the season before, his playoff performances in 2004 and 2005 and his high stock from his NCAA tourney run his final year at Marquette all enabled that to be the case.

-sw

[Roy Hobbs]

"You can't win without a superstar"

"this team has no  a superstar they aren't legit"

Please Wdleehi, You sound like a broken record and I don't have a problem taking you to task.

How about this, after the 1st round 15th pick of this draft all of the teams that don't end up with a "superstar" just give up right then and there? Why even play!? 

How are these superstars made anyway? Do they grow on trees? Was D -wade considered a "supa stah" when he won a championship? or did that championship validate him?

I have a good idea? Why not put this notion that "you need a superstar to win a title" to rest as the Detroit Pistons did in 2004?

In wdleehi's defense, since 1980 how many teams have won without a superstar?  One?  Almost every other team has had at least one, and usually at least two, Hall of Famers on it.  (The only teams without two or more Hall of Famers were the '94 Rockets, and perhaps the recent Spurs champions, assuming neither Parker nor Manu makes it).

So, I think there is something to the "stars win" theory.  It's not a be-all-and-end-all, but often, teams that lack that one big star come up short.

[bucknersrevenge]

Superstar league.


I still have Detroit 4th in the East after the Knicks, Magic and Nets. 

Top 3 in the East?!?

Yoouuuuuuuuuuuurrr Orlando Magciiiiiiiiiiiicsss!

Those three teams are listed alphabetically.


All three teams are close.  All three have a superstar.  All three have solid players that fit. 


Though I never trust an AI team where he has to share. 

"You can't win without a superstar"

"this team has no  a superstar they aren't legit"

Please Wdleehi, You sound like a broken record and I don't have a problem taking you to task.

How about this, after the 1st round 15th pick of this draft all of the teams that don't end up with a "superstar" just give up right then and there? Why even play!? 

How are these superstars made anyway? Do they grow on trees? Was D -wade considered a "supa stah" when he won a championship? or did that championship validate him?

I have a good idea? Why not put this notion that "you need a superstar to win a title" to rest as the Detroit Pistons did in 2004?

Yeeeaaah

my first couple of days in the draft i was trying to get my feet wet and then i missed a chance to move up in the 1st rnd to get a superstar because the draft happens when im normally asleep cuz i work nights. that said i knew without a proven superstar id have to go this route. try to find defenders at every position in hopes that perhaps a stifling d might also pose a problem. putting together a roster like this and the speculating is most definitely a subjective process because in real life there are so many variables that cam come into play with putting a team together. while the pistons id say have proven to be the exception to the rule about needing a top flight star to win, the fact that they do exist and that it DID happen means you cant rule it out as a possibility that it could happen again.

[JSD]

"You can't win without a superstar"

"this team has no  a superstar they aren't legit"

Please Wdleehi, You sound like a broken record and I don't have a problem taking you to task.

How about this, after the 1st round 15th pick of this draft all of the teams that don't end up with a "superstar" just give up right then and there? Why even play!? 

How are these superstars made anyway? Do they grow on trees? Was D -wade considered a "supa stah" when he won a championship? or did that championship validate him?

I have a good idea? Why not put this notion that "you need a superstar to win a title" to rest as the Detroit Pistons did in 2004?

In wdleehi's defense, since 1980 how many teams have won without a superstar?  One?  Almost every other team has had at least one, and usually at least two, Hall of Famers on it.  (The only teams without two or more Hall of Famers were the '94 Rockets, and perhaps the recent Spurs champions, assuming neither Parker nor Manu makes it).

So, I think there is something to the "stars win" theory.  It's not a be-all-and-end-all, but often, teams that lack that one big star come up short.

I just wanted to point out that it has been done and it can and will be done again.

I have five legit #2's on my team with Shaq and Finley on the bench. You can't dismiss my roster by simply saying "no superstar". I've worked way to hard and won't allow it.

Because someone has a top ten pick they beat me at this game? No way.

Also, Kevin Martin could very well be a #1 in this league in the near future. and Who's to say this roster and winning doesn't catapult him into that status? The guy AVG 24 PPG shooting 45%

[Gainesville Celtic]

Jsaad ---- i agree that a team with no "stars" can win... especially in the FAKE NBA world that we're all talking about....

but just like with getting Josh Childress back over here, you have to have a compelling reaason why/how.... here's the main 2 issues i have with the ROCKETS (lest anyone think i live in a glass house or anything, i'm very interested in criticism of my team, the ORL MAGICS):

first, is the issue that we disagree on of who gets the final shot, but you may be right, Kevin Martin could very well be ready to be that guy.

second, and more of an issue now that i look at your roster, is you have 10 guys all but Ty THomas (who at this point probably thinks he *should* be a starter) have been starters for the bulk of their careers.  Can they all adjust their games? 

The positive, of course, is that if Wallace or Bogut goes down again, you've got depth behind them, but what if they don't can your coach really find enough minutes for everyone?  Odom, Wells, Wallace and Thomas have all had issues over the years either not accepting roles or fading when they were needed to step up. And Bogut criticized the NBA lifestyle not so long ago.  A couple guys like that is one thing but is Shaq really ready to give way to Bogut? 

Finley & Martin of a great example of this *working* on the other hand.  Finley knows Maritn's the future and would be willing to get 15 mins/gm behind him and mentor him.... teaching him what tricks he's learned in his 13 NBA sesasons...

Just my 2 cents

[Lucky17]

I'm finally back, to help move things along again. Sorry for the hold up.

With the 30th pick in the 7th round, the Atlanta Hawks select Craig Smith.

We'll be posting our next pick shortly.

[Lucky17]

With the first pick in the 8th round, the Hawks select Thabo Sefolosha.