I use to be overly excited for NBA draft night, just so I can see where the power players from college were going. Last week was no different, except some deserving people didn't get drafted and some power players went later in the draft than expected.Every player has its weakness and strengths and the analyst on June 23,2011 made it clear what those were after the players were drafted. Not only did they make sure they stated more than once that Markieff was better than his brother Marcus Morris (both formerly Kansas Jayhawks, they made sure to point out what "Good" players were still undrafted. I watched Josh Selby play last summer at the Carmelo center durning summer league and one thing I can say about him is, he is cocky. At that time I thought he had every right to be, because Josh would take the ball straight to the paint and put up numbers. Now, every player has their off game so not every game last summer was perfect but it was good enough for me to patiently wait with the rest of the world for him to come off his suspension and play in his first college game on December 18,2010 (if I remember correctly, feel free to google it). I watched the draft and kept saying, " Josh name is next...Josh name is next...Josh name is next!" I am not sure how long I did this before I started saying, "I hope Josh gets picked...I hope Josh gets picked." As I watched player after player get called I was completely ignorant to who they were, watch foreign players (who cant play for another 2 yrs) get chosen and I watched Josh name keep moving up the "Best Available" ticker o the screen go from #10 to #3. Then the commissioner finally calls #49, Josh Selby, drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. Josh gets to join fellow Baltimorean Rudy Gay this season. I watched Josh play this past year at Kansas and that spark I seen durning the summer was just a small flame. I think i expected too much of Josh this year at college and I felt sometimes he was overshadowed by the Morris twins-but it is what it is. I just knew Kansas would be my favorite team again (it hasn't been since Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins ran that court, I am still in Love with..*ahem* Duke. Congrats to Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith). Congrats to Josh, and though the Grizzlies don't get ESPN coverage, I am sure I will follow the record.
One thing about this year's draft that puzzled me is, Why Malcolm Delaney went undrafted. According to RTs from Malcolm's twitter ( @foe23)he has decided to take his talents to France this upcoming season. I know things do not always come easy and Malcom seems to be looking at the glass half full, and still in "grind mode". I think everyone was a little puzzled as to hoe players who were averaging .7ppg were being picked over the former Hokie (who graduated this year),who not only owned whichever college floor he was playing on,he averaged 18.7ppg. And yes we all know you need more than points than the other team to win a game but you also need to know how to get those points, and Malcolm was a complete package. I honestly thought he would have been a high draft pick, and I don't think I was alone on that thought. I am nute sure exactly how VT will manage without the 6'3 Guard also from Baltimore, but I wish them well. They have been snubbed from March Madness even having Malcolm the last year, so they are going to have to find a Guard who can deliver in the post, command the floor and make an all round impact on the team. Though VT only had a 22-12 record this 2010-2011 season, they had a 9-7 record in the ACC conference. I honestly wish him the best in France and maybe this will be the best way to show the NBA what they missed out on. Congrats to Malcolm.
