Seeing as how there are too many players in the possibility list a new style for Round #2 selections will be taking place which will seek to name the #5 player by eliminating the players one by one. This is....
NBA DRAFT SURVIVOR
First, lets learn a little about our contenders for the 10-5 slots of the Top 10 NBA sophomores.
Now that our players are out its time to being the weeding process with a series of tribulations which will reveal who is the greatest 5TH BEST SOPHOMORE PLAYER IN THE NBA!
Trail #1
The Googlinator
The Googlinator
Method to Madness: Any good player will have some sort of decent professional picture to be found on google's picture search.
Participants - Paul Millsap and Rodney Carney
While Paul Millsap had some action shots they were never any great amazing things to display for him except a simple head shot. On the other hand, Rodney Carney did not seem to have any pro pictures that did not involve him getting taken to the rack by someone.
Loser: Rodney Carney
While Carney posted good numbers for the 16th pick in such a weak draft, an 11.38 PER in addition to being surrounded by Andre Iguodala and the incoming Thadeus Young does not look well for the future of this NBA player. His per 40 minute rebounding (4.4) and assists (.9) are atrocious for any NBA player which leaves his only desirable ability to be his scoring which is only 15.1 per 40 in his rookie year. He is a decent shooter at 35% from 3 for the year, but other than average 3 point shooting and above average athleticism his offensive skills are not so impressive that the 76ers will feel inclined to play him a great deal with so many other young players around. Unlike many of the other top rookies who managed to put together good stretches of games, Carney best double digit scoring streak was 3 games despite not bringing much to the table other than his scoring ability.
Rodney Carney, you are the weakest link goodbye.
Trial #2
The PERactometer
(picture is fuzzy due to John Hollinger's big foot like penchant for evading photography)
The PERactometer
(picture is fuzzy due to John Hollinger's big foot like penchant for evading photography)Method to Madness - If your PER is low, you gotta go.
Participants - Adam Morrison, Thabo Sefolosha, Daniel Gibson
Loser - Adam Morrison
Morrison not only posted a lower PER than his fellow below 10 dwellers, but he did so with the team geared towards helping him play his best. Morrison was given amble minutes throughout the year to show that he deserved to be a top 3 pick in the draft and by every statistical measure he proved he doesn't deserve to play at all. He shot only 37% overall, 33% from 3, had a rebounding rate of only 5.9, had a true shooting percentage of 45%, and despite all of his gunning he still only averaged 15.7 points per 40 minutes. There is little reason to believe all of this will change as other players much lower payed players, like Matt Carroll (free agent) and Walter Herrmenn, have proven they simply are better at what Morrison does than he is. Factor in the fact that his defense is horrible, he is not athletic, and is now playing with Jason Richardson who will help take away some of Morrison's remaining touches, and you have a recipe for an NBA wash-out.
Adam Morrison, please leave the Big Brother house.
Trial #3Back-Up BOOM! (sponsored by Ace, the friendly hardware place)
Method to Madness - Whether stuck behind a superior player or in the dog house of a coach not starting the game or playing significant minutes will surely put a damper on a players overall production and development.
Participants - Paul Millsap, Renaldo Balkman, Marcus Williams, Sergio Rodriguez, Thabo Sefolosha
Loser - Thabo Sefolosha
Stuck behind the Bulls strong young backcourt of Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng Sefolosha will likely not recieve the playing time neccessary to continue to develop his game enough or put up strong enough numbers to move into the rankings this year. Despite a strong defensive performance in the series sweep of the first round of the playoffs and strong 3 point stroke (35% for the year) Sefolosha is simply not strong enough offensively to even warrant the neccessary increase in playing time for such a simultaneously strong but young team. With a PER of only 8.52, a true shooting percentage of only 46%, and an average of only 11.8 points per 40 minutes Sefolosha is not nearly ready to be a heavy offensive contributor in the NBA. At only 22 years old Sefolosha will likely to continue to develop both his already strong defense and currently weak offense, but at this current time in his current situation that growth will likely be slower than maximum and not as obvious statistically. At his current skill level and team positioning it is simplely not possible for Sefolosha to do the neccessary things required to break into the top 10 of his draft class at this time.
Disqualified For Attempting to Steal My Computer During The Competition- Marcus Williams
On the other hand, Marcus Williams is hamstrung by playing behind one of the top 10 point guards in NBA history, Jason Kidd, who is aging remarkably well as well as his apparent lack of skill. Marcus only managed to play 16.6 minutes per game last season and there is no reason to believe with him playing behind Kidd and Vince Carter that his playing time will creep above 20 mpg. That is probably a good thing though for the New Jersey Nets as Marcus Williams shots a Morrison-esque 39.5% from the field last year and only 28.2% from 3 point range and used 26 possessions per 40 minutes despite that fact to get his woeful respective to usage 16.3 points per 40 minutes. His PER for the year was only 11.55, his true shooting percentage was only 47.5%, and he only averaged 5 rebounds per 40 minutes on a team lacking in great big men. The only light shining in the tunnel for Marcus is that he averaged 7.9 assists per 40 minutes, so if Marcus could at least bring his shooting up to an acceptable level (43% overall, 33% from 3) he could on possible move onto the list into the future if he receives enough playing time to prove his further developed skills.
I'm sorry, Thabo and Marcus, the correct answer was starting and not robbing the host. But you'll still walk away with a few million dollars for your trouble...
With those contestants eliminated its time to move on to Round #2 of our Survivor match where the games get tougher and the final members of our top 10 are named. Get ready as our tough competitors are thrown into new perilous games of chance and skill to determine our winner tomorrow on NBA DRAFT SURVIVOR!
Will my biases for and against UK players play a factor?
