By Paul M. Banks and David Kay
Wayne Chism is a GLARING omission from your mock draft, not to even mention him not being on your list of prospects which is laughable. It’s not just y’all though. NBAdraft.net finally put him on there at #47 overall. Apparently someone needs to let you and everyone else know about Wayne Chism. The oversight of this fella is not acceptable. In case y’all didn’t know, he is on national TV all the time. You and every other site should hire someone to watch his every maneuver out there on the court. Get to know him, because obviously you have turned a blind eye which would be classified as bias, ignorance perhaps?
Oh by the way he had 30 points last night. He also kept the team together when 4 of our top 8 got suspended. So, not really sure what you or anyone else is looking for in an NBA prospect, but Wayne Chism has got what you need
–David S.
Quite the contrary actually, I personally am a big fan of Chism and his sweet headband rocking and have been impressed with him as a college player since he lit Marquette up last season. I wrote in my latest stock report that I was buying his stock because I have been impressed with what he’s been able to do this season and just added him to my latest 2010 mock.
My biggest concern with Chism was his lack of a true position at the next level. He is sort of in that 3/4 mold where he isn’t athletic enough or a good enough ball handler to be an ideal 3 and not physical enough to be a true 4, but I am coming around to the fact that he should find a home somewhere even if he is not drafted.
Are you Wayne’s relative by any chance? Because you really took my “bias, ignorance” of his “GLARING omission” to heart.
Yea there was nothing personal there. I live in Nashville and drove up to Knoxville on Saturday to watch the South Carolina game. After going through about 5 mock drafts and seeing Wayne Chism mentioned once, I feel like I have to speak up for him. I wish Wayne was my cousin. I will just leave it at that.
Y’alls draft has Hopson going in the 1st round next year, so I definitely give you credit for that. I just feel like Wayne has played his way into the conversation. I know that he may be a “tweener” but he is just better than a lot of folks that are on mock drafts. That’s the only issue I have.
I appreciate the email. I emailed another mock draft site a few weeks ago and never heard back from them. I used to email Aran Smith of nbadraft.net and their site has just become terrible in my opinion. They haven’t even updated a lot of their prospects files. Tyler Smith’s analysis was written in the summer of 2007. I told them they might want to update it and they never did. So definitely with this response and the fact that y’all have taken notice of Chism and you have Hopson in next year’s first round, I will definitely pay close attention to y’all’s website more than the others. So I may have written a potent email about Chism but it all worked out. Y’all take care.
We appreciate your Southern hospitality. I was seriously considering moving to Nashville with my ladyfriend this fall, but then things between us got uglier than Bruce Pearl’s recruiting of Deon Thomas in the early 90s, so it ain’t gonna happen now. Bummer I really wanted to see that reconstruction of the Parthenon you guys have. Re: NBA Draft.net, I take the high road when it comes to dealing with our competitors- because the low road seems pretty crowded already! Lots of our competitors are currently going that route now.
I enjoyed your draft perspective; can’t say I would be unhappy with the pick either. I would rather my team just be bad all year but I guess we can’t all be New Jersey. I was wondering why the Rockets didn’t have a second round pick. Have I missed a trade??
–Billy V.
Minnesota owns the Rockets’ second round pick stemming from a trade in Feb. of ’08 that sent Gerald Green to Houston for Kirk Snyder, a second round 2010 draft pick, and cash considerations.
I have been following WalterFootball.com for the past two years or so and love the site and your contributions. I’m also a big basketball fan. The only gripe I have with your mock is how early John Henson is drafted in the 2011 draft. As a UNC student, I have been continuously disappointed with the much hyped freshman and our team as a whole. I have friends who work with the team and have heard from fairly reliable sources that Henson has a serious physical problem gaining weight, and cannot possibly contend in the NCAA and definitely not the NBA with his current frame.
He cannot gain any weight during the season, i.e. he has lost 8 pounds since the season started, and can only gain weight during the off-season, which is still not going to be substantial. Knowing this I really can’t see Henson leaving here for the draft with his current frame, and considering he cannot physically do much to improve this makes me believe that he’ll be here for all four years trying to reach his enormous potential.
–Jeffery P.
Interesting insight; we’ll keep an eye on Henson’s weight fluctuations and see how it affects his development.
I read over your bracketology and was wondering why you didn’t think Wichita State was worth even a mention for the bubble teams? They are 22-6, with quality wins against Texas Tech, Northern Iowa, and a 19 win Illinois State team. There is also the chance of a win against Utah State tonight in the bracketbuster. I just can’t see how they aren’t in the bracket.
–Nate M.
This year I don’t think the MVC is strong enough to be a two-bid conference, unless someone other than Northern Iowa wins the MVC tourney. The wins you mentioned are good, not great wins, but the Shockers also have a loss to the worst team in the league, Evansville which is a bad loss. Their RPI is typical of bubble teams at 53, but their 145 strength of schedule hurts them. I used to have them in my “Wrong Side of the Bubble” but that loss to Evansville dropped them. I just can’t make a real argument to put them in the tourney over any of the last at-large bids I have in there.
James Anderson will be the Big XII player of the year and you have him only as #6 on your rankings for the draft. In fact you have four players from the Big XII rated ahead of him at this position.
Hard to understand your rating. I am curious as to why you rate him this low.
–Jimmy G.
First off, the rankings you referred to are about a month old and when I re-do them, Anderson will be moved above the 6th spot. And there are only three Big 12 players ahead of him. While he is one of the contenders for Big 12 Player of the Year (you could make a case for James, Collins, and Aldrich as well), success in the collegiate ranks does not always translate to being a highly rated NBA Draft prospect. Look at Luke Harangody, he is 20-plus points, 10 boards a game for the past three seasons and a former Big East Player of the Year, and he will be a second-round pick. Jon Scheyer may be a first team All-American and could not be drafted at all. The players listed above Anderson on that list are considered better prospects at the next level, not necessarily better players currently than Anderson is.
Do you think Anderson will go in the 1st round? I watched OU/OSU Saturday in Stillwater. Tommy Mason Griffin, OU plays the point as well as anyone I have ever seen in person other than Pete Maravich. He is incredible, the faster collegiate player I have ever seen. Watch him in person if you ever have the opportunity.
I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question. It speaks well of you.
–Jimmy G.
Yes, in our latest mock we have Anderson going 17th overall, in the first round to Chicago.
In terms of the fastest college players I have ever seen: Tyus Edney, T.J. Ford, Dee Brown, and now Kalin Lucas come to mind first. They all zipped across the TV screen like when you would play the old John Madden EA sports football game on Sega Genesis and you were controlling Randall Cunningham or Barry Sanders.
Pistol Pete? Wow! that’s high praise right there, I can’t think of anyone better than Steve Nash during the two years that the NBA hand-checking rules were geared in his favor to win MVP, and he just happened to be the perfect chef to cook the feast that was that was Phoenix’s 2006-08 offense. All the ingredients were there, and no one else knew the recipe quite like him.
And, if I could be a ridiculous homer for a minute: Deron Williams running the Illini motion in ’05 was ridiculously good as well.
