TDR Scouting: Brandon Rush Articles Monday, 12 May 2008 Name: Brandon Rush Position: SG/SF Height: 6-6 Weight: 210 College Team: Kansas Jayhawks Nationality: American Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri Birthdate: 7/7/1985 Class: Junior High School: Mount Zion Academy Strengths: A smooth athlete who fits the NBA standard size at the shooting guard position with exceptionally long arms … Has the ability to shoot off screens with some regularity … Excellent finisher in transition where his athleticism enables him to finish with some flair … Rush is blessed with solid court vision and, most importantly, shares the unselfish demeanor to pass the ball to open teammates … READ MORE Weaknesses: A mystery on many levels as Rush has yet to be consistent in how he approaches the game … One game he will play confident and use his talent to dominate, the next he is quiet and unaggressive … Ball handling is suspect - although he is capable of using one or two dribbles for drives, he rarely uses the dribble to create scoring for himself … READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Sean Singletary Articles Thursday, 08 May 2008 Name: Sean Singletary Position: PG Height: 6-0 Weight: 185 College Team: Virginia Cavaliers Nationality: American Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Birthdate: 9/6/1985 Class: Senior High School: William Penn Strengths: Tremendous shooter off the dribble from mid-range or the three point shot … Demonstrates maturity and leadership qualities, which weren't apparent as a junior … Savvy player who has a great feel for the game … Quality passer in transition where he shows decent court vision in recognizing where teammates are on the floor … READ MORE Weaknesses: Singletary lacks the ideal stature that NBA teams covet - standing at 5-11 to 6-0 there will be match-up concerns against the NBA’s bigger point guards … Can get a little too carried away and single minded in scoring instead of involving teammates, but to his credit this issue has somewhat improved this year … Shot selection is a work in progress … READ MORE No comments for this item   Mock Draft Update: 5/08/08 Articles Thursday, 08 May 2008 There's movement on the board. View the TDR mock for the latest changes. No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: DeMarcus Nelson Articles Monday, 05 May 2008 Name: DeMarcus Nelson Position: SG Height: 6-4 Weight: 200 College Team: Duke Blue Devils Nationality: American Hometown: Elk Grove, California Birthdate: 11/2/1985 Class: Senior High School: Vallejo Strengths: Possesses an NBA body that is blessed with excellent upper body strength … Has improved quite a bit on ball handling since last season … Very good athlete with great quickness and leaping ability … Has legit NBA three point range that he should be able to make with regularity … READ MORE Weaknesses: Nelson has been a little injury prone throughout his career at Duke, which could leave some to question his durability … Standing at 6-foot-3 he lacks the ideal height at the shooting guard position … Tends to over penetrate, which often forces him to pick up his dribble when the lane is congested … READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Alexis Ajinca Articles Friday, 02 May 2008 Name: Alexis Ajinca Position: C/PF Height: 7-1 Weight: 240 Pro Team: Hyeres-Toulon Nationality: French Hometown: Saint Etienne, France Birthdate: 5/6/1988 Class: 88 International High School: N/A Strengths: Ajinca is a physically intriguing prospect with his 7-1 size and tremendous wingspan … Despite his size he can catch the ball in the high post and then use his ball handling ability to get to the rim … Possesses soft touch around the basket on jump hooks or bank shots from the low post … Provides a shot blocking presence thanks to his length, timing and wingspan … READ MORE Weaknesses: Even though Ajinca has noticeably added more weight since last year, he remains 15-20 pounds away from the size he needs to be … Gets pushed around and bumped rather easily … This contact sometimes appears to bother Ajinca, which raises questions about his toughness … Lack of body strength often prevents him from establishing good position in the post without getting pushed out … READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Drew Neitzel Articles Thursday, 01 May 2008 Name: Drew Neitzel Position: PG Height: 6-0 Weight: 180 College Team: Michigan State Spartans Nationality: American Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan Birthdate: 5/7/1985 Class: Senior High School: Wyoming Park Strengths: Fundamentally, there is little that Neitzel does not do by the book … Does an excellent job of moving around without the ball in his hands … Has a tremendous grasp on using screens to create space for catch and shoot opportunities … Neitzel's quick release enables him to convert shots with little time needed to set-up … READ MORE Weaknesses: Defensively, Neitzel’s lateral quickness makes him vulnerable to being able to effectively guard athletic point guards … Because of this he is rarely able to get good separation from his defender as he lacks a quick first step … A great passer, but lacks the exceptional court vision that many of his fellow peers at the point guard position possess ... READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Maarty Leunen Articles Thursday, 01 May 2008 Name: Maarty Leunen Position: SF/PF Height: 6-9 Weight: 220 College Team: Oregon Ducks Nationality: American Hometown: Redmond, Oregon Birthdate: 9/3/1985 Class: Senior High School: Redmond Strengths: Despite his size Leunen has legit three point range when his feet are set … Solid ball handler who has no problem putting the ball on the floor to create drives to the basket … Fundamentally sound player who has a good understanding of the game … Versatile in that his ability to shoot from the perimeter often creates mismatches when facing opposing forwards … READ MORE Weaknesses: Viewed as a tweener in many regards due to his skill level, which doesn’t exactly fit either forward position … Lacks the back to the basket skills and size to play the power forward position, while also lacking the athleticism and ability to consistently create off the dribble for the small forward position … READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Davon Jefferson Articles Wednesday, 30 April 2008 Name: Davon Jefferson Position: SF Height: 6-8 Weight: 225 College Team: USC Trojans Nationality: American Hometown: Lynwood, California Birthdate: 11/3/1986 Class: Freshman High School: The Patterson School Strengths: Owns the prototype body for the NBA small forward position with tremendous athleticism … Creative slasher when driving to the basket thanks to his leaping ability and body control which allows him to maneuver in heavy traffic … High energy player who never seems to tire … Moves decent without the ball in his hands … READ MORE Weaknesses: After half a year of virtually not competing in organized basketball there were times when Jefferson looked lost on the court … During this time he seemed to rely more on his athleticism than fundamentals … This was often the reason for his inconsistency during the season, which made him look great in one game and struggle in the next … READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Michael Sturns Articles Wednesday, 30 April 2008 Name: Michael Sturns Position: SG/PG Height: 6-5 Weight: 205 College Team: Holy Family Tigers Nationality: American Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas Birthdate: 7/20/1986 Class: Senior High School: North Crowley Article: Michael Sturns: A Notable Prospect on the Division II Landscape Strengths: Physically, Sturns is blessed with an NBA ready body and good upper body strength … Moves well without the ball in his hands in that he understands how to utilize screens to get open … Has three point range on his jumper off the dribble or when his feet are set … Despite being an excellent scorer Sturns remains an unselfish player that looks to involve teammates … READ MORE Weaknesses: Athletically, Sturns is a solid athlete but lacks explosiveness … Because of this he doesn’t always get full separation from his defender … After his initial first step opposing defenders will recover to follow him in the lane … Could stand to use his left hand more as 80 percent of his drives are to the right side of the basket … READ MORE No comments for this item

Mock Draft Update: 4/28/08 Articles Monday, 28 April 2008 There's movement on the board. View the TDR mock for the latest changes. No comments for this item   Early Entry Update: 4/28/08 Articles Monday, 28 April 2008 Get Matthew's take on the decisions of the latest players to enter the draft: Josh Carter, DeMarre Carroll, Lee Cummard, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Davon Jefferson, Ty Lawson, Leo Lyons, Josh Shipp, and Kiwan Smith on the EARLY ENTRY PAGE. No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Javale McGee Articles Monday, 28 April 2008 Name: Javale McGee Position: PF Height: 6-11 Weight: 235 College Team: Nevada Wolf Pack Nationality: American Hometown: Flint, Michigan Birthdate: 1/19/1988 Class: Sophomore High School: Notre Hales Franciscan Strengths: Has the NBA size and, most importantly, the athleticism for the power forward position … Runs the floor exceptionally well for a player his size … Has the body type to add necessary weight without sacrificing any athleticism … Shooting touch from mid-range is decent 15 feet from the basket … READ MORE Weaknesses: Physically, McGee must continue to add more upper body strength and weight to his body … Because of this he seems to struggle to establish position when attempting to post-up … Doesn’t do a good job of getting his body wide - guards will often have to lob difficult passes over the defense to get him the ball … READ MORE No comments for this item   Kevin Love = Larry Bird…Heresy! Articles Friday, 25 April 2008 Unfortunately for Kevin Love, it appears he has inherited the basketball version of “The White Man’s Burden”. I’m not referring to the 1899 Rudyard Kipling ode to imperialism, but the inevitability of a skilled, white player being compared to Larry Bird. Perhaps Kevin, Michael Smith, Danny Ferry, Tom Gugliotta, Keith Van Horn, Austin Croshere, and Mike Dunleavy Jr. can start a support group. Hey guys, how about WALL (We Ain’t Larry Legend) – an acronym that would clearly indicate your inability to match the heroics of Mr. Larry Bird. Bottom line, any comparison of Kevin Love and Larry Bird is an absurd one. First, I can simply give this one the “eyeball test”. Bird and Love are very different players merely based upon having seen both of them play. Some glaring differences: This item includes 2 comments Read more...   Early Entry Update: 4/24/08 Articles Thursday, 24 April 2008 Get Matthew's take on the decisions of the latest players to enter the draft: A.J. Abrams, Antonio Anderson, D.J. Augustin, Mario Chalmers, Robert Dozier, Danilo Gallinari, Jamont Gordon, Kosta Koufos, and Ante Tomic on the EARLY ENTRY PAGE. No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: Goran Dragic Articles Tuesday, 22 April 2008 Name: Goran Dragic Position: PG Height: 6-4 Weight: 180 Pro Team: Union Olimpija Ljubljana Nationality: Slovenian Hometown: Ljubljana, Slovenia Birthdate: 5/6/1986 Class: 86 International High School: N/A Strengths: Highly effective in the open court where he shows decent speed in pushing the ball up the court … Does a great job controlling tempo and possesses decent court vision … Has shown the ability to hit three point shots when his feet are set … Possesses the ability to create off the dribble when pulling up from mid-range … READ MORE No comments for this item   TDR Scouting: D.J. White Articles Monday, 21 April 2008 Name: D.J. White Position: PF Height: 6-9 Weight: 251 College Team: Indiana Hoosiers Nationality: American Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Alabama Birthdate: 8/31/1986 Class: Senior High School: Hillcrest Strengths: Despite being undersized for the power forward position, White’s body has several physical traits that help him offset his average size with long arms and a short neck that enable him to maximize his body length … Decent runner of the court … Does an excellent job establishing position in the post … Gets his body wide to give his teammates a big target to pass into … READ MORE No comments for this item   Early Entry Update: 4/21/08 Articles Monday, 21 April 2008 Get Matthew's take on the decisions of the latest players to enter the draft: Darrell Arthur, Chris Douglas-Roberts, C.J. Giles, Kevin Love, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Derrick Rose, Brandon Rush, Lorrenzo Wade, and Russell Westbrook on the EARLY ENTRY PAGE. No comments for this item   If It Ain’t Broke; Don’t Fix It: The NCAA Tournament Articles Friday, 18 April 2008 “March Madness” serves as the recognizable 2-word description for what is hands-down the premier sporting event in the month of March, the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. The entire tournament, from the 1st Round games, to the Final Four, creates a tremendous amount of interest for both casual and die-hard basketball fans. This is all for one very good reason – the tournament is EXCEEDINGLY entertaining. The 1st 2 days of the tournament may just be my favorite day to be a sports fan, as I can watch significant portions of anywhere between 4-16 highly competitive games in a glorious 12-13 hour span. The bone I have to pick is this – I cannot remember the last time I’ve heard so many suggestions to fix (huh?) the best event in sports! I’m not talking about the Pro Bowl, NBA All-Star Weekend, or the NHL…this is March Madness, the darling of office pool organizers and underdog lovers throughout our great country. Nobody NEEDS to fix it. The primary argument that I’ve heard a number of different incarnations of is that the NCAA Tournament is “flawed”, primarily due to the fact that the “best” 65 teams are not represented, and there is no objective way to choose these 65 teams. I would now like to eviscerate a couple of the primary suggestions I have heard to “fix” what is, arguably, the greatest event in sports. No comments for this item Read more...

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