Fox's year 2000 NBA draft notes. Round by round: 1. No big surprises except for DD claiming and benching Latrell with the third pick. So, Christmas comes early for Mags who gets KGarnett, maybe the best roto player in the league without considering position. 2. A little early for the Admiral? Maybe he wouldn't make it back to Hans in Round 3, but you gotta wonder how many minutes he'll log. Then again, its that pesky center position. All the other picks are sound. 3. Early on, a run on point guards. Then Mags and Jack each grab one of the "new" centers, a round or two earlier then they would go if positions didn't have to be filled. No problem with that. I take a shot at Dikembe, having read that his illness is no big deal - now I wonder if that's the party line trying to sell tickets. 4. Wish I had taken Brand instead of Mutombo. Hans got a great #22 there. He'll go in the first two rounds for many a year to come I think. I think its too early to take Ewing, but what do I know. Gotta fill those Center spots. 5. Now all of a sudden it gets tougher. Everyone has done a good job of picking through the superstars. So, who'll find the diamond in the rough? Hint: It won't be Andy. Stackhouse will score but watch that shooting percentage. He couldn't cut it in Philadelphia for god's sake. Nowitski? An up and comer. Rose? Out a month and a reach even if healthy ... but he's on Jack's favorite team, so what the hell. Turning the corner there is a mini run on guards with 6 taken in 7 picks. Overall, not bad. It doesn't get real ugly until the next round. 6. Love the Bibby pick. Hope Theo will stay healthy. I think it was the right time to take the rookie. But Penny, Donny, and Christy L. Puh-lease. Andy had held his own until this round I think, but it all falls apart here ... Laettner, Mercer, Olowokondo, Stojakovic ("great numbers in Greece"), Fundebewith, Sabonis???? Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. This is what happens when you get distracted by a World Series. 7. Now we are all reaching and hoping a little. An old Stockton. An injured Van Horn. A couple more bodies at center. I have a brain fart and take AHouston when I don't need guards, but forwards. And it was probably too soon for AH anyway. 8. I think Hans has had a great draft, but the chink in his armour is at Center. I do NOT like Divac at all. He can disappear big time. And Gabes, Coleman is a cancer on society and on his team. Pat Kroce, the greatest owner/manager in sports today, rode him outta Philly on a cheesesteak. Fat asshole Coleman. 9. Still some big names left. Reggie! One dimensional Reggie. I'm happy to get Cliff R. considering some of the centers that have been taken already. Gabes rolls the dice with Ilgauskas ... the epitome of fantasy tease -- great potential at a low price because of an established injury history. "He won't get hurt on my watch." A second rookie taken. Thought there might only be one to go in the entire draft. Now last year - that was a rookie class (Odom, Brand, Francis). 10. A lot of fat guys went in this round, led by that whale Kemp. Talk about potential being scewered at the dinner table. 11. Some nice guards are still available and are snapped up. 12. Wow. How the mighty have fallen. Pippen, Kukoc, Baker, Steve Smith, and Hakeem the Dream are all taken in the 12th round. Maybe they will recapture former glory? And if they don't, bleep em - its only a 12th round pick. 13. Uglier and uglier. Five bad Centers are taken. A run on bad centers! 14. Only one bad center taken in this round. Some decent Forwards still are there for the taking. After the first 15 all the forwards start to look alike anyway. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- And by team, in order of projected finish: 1 Gabes - Love this team through the first 7 picks and figure that Gabes can control the damage done in rounds 8 and onward with some careful managing 2 Hans - Love many of the players here: Webber, Brand, Bibby ... \ but I wonder about the Center position. 3 Fox - Big questionmark/gamble is Mutombo. If he gets over his sickness quickly then watch out. Otherwise, those rebounds and blocks are hard to replace. With DM a nicely balanced team, category wise, finishing high in all categories. Coulda done a better job with position management. 4. Mags - Looks solid but big ?'s in Ewing, Penny, Hughes. Too many look alike guards? 5. Jack - Just think there were too many reaches for players who were picked a little too early. But a solid team and with good health could finish anywhere. 6. Andy - How far can those first four picks carry this team? 7. Dave - Well, you all know what he did for the sake of decency ... but coming out of the first two rounds with just Michael Finley - compared to, say Shaq and Karl? All of the above is pure conjecture and opinion of course. Good health to all! Fox