FanHouse AustinDaye

New Jersey hosted a massive workout over three days, inviting a whole slate of first round prospects and just about every NBA front office. Who stole the show? Austin Daye's fat lip. Or bloody lip, actually. Israeli prospect Omri Casspi reportedly manhandled the twiggy Daye in 5-on-5 competition. DraftExpress reported Daye ended up with a cut lip requiring stitches.

Wait ... a European player ... out-toughing an American? Mon dieu! Apparently, Casspi is doing the same thing at every stop. Not drawing blood necessarily, but throwing down the stereotypes that all Euros are stuffed with down and darned with straw. First the Gasols, now Casspi? Our world will never be the same.

FanHouse's Matt Steinmetz attended the big NBA draft work-out in Oakland, Calif., on Monday and Tuesday. Gonzaga's Austin Daye had bad, bad athletic testing numbers at the Chicago combine, which makes work-outs like this critical in holding on to his first-round draft stock. Daye briefed talked to the media after Tuesday's batch of fun. This is the transcript.

Q: What did you do well today?

A: I shot the ball well. It always helps when you make shots. Yesterday I wasn't making many shots. I was creating space but I just wasn't knocking them down. Today I did a good job of that.

Q: Did any of the players in your group stand out today?

DraftExpress has added the official athletic measurements from the 2009 NBA Draft Combine to its comprehensive (and addictive) database. In addition to the size measurements that came out last week -- height with and without shoes, wingspan, standing reach -- the results include 3/4-court sprint times, body fat percentages, bench press, agility numbers and everyone's favorite, the vertical.

Despite claiming to have lost 40 pounds since the end of the college season, DeJuan Blair still has the second-highest body fat count (12%) among those measured. Florida State's Toney Douglas, Patrick Mills of St. Mary's and UCLA's Darren Collison rate as the fastest first-round prospects. (Austin Daye would be the slowest. Yes, even B.J. Mullens and Blair beat him.) Jonny Flynn is the only cat to break the 40-inch mark on the max vertical. DeMar DeRozan is almost five inches behind Vince Carter. The real shocker might be the incredible similarity in numbers between top pick Blake Griffin and ... Tyler Hansbrough. Guh.

* President Obama endorses the candidacy of Tyreke Evans for the Kings at No. 4. (Seriously.)

* Joey Whelan of DraftExpress talks with French guard prospect Nando de Colo, who has the opportunity to go in the late first round with some good work-outs.

* ESPN's Chad Ford visits Jonny Flynn, who is getting some lottery heat.

* Meanwhile, the Bulls conducted a "secret" work-out involving Flynn and Patrick Mills. Not a very good secret, though!

* The Oregonian's Geoffrey C. Arnold talks to various GMs about Ricky Rubio's leverage. Meanwhile, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal's Ronald Tillery reports the Grizz met with Rubio agent Dan Fegan in Spain Saturday. C-A columnist Geoff Calkins practically begs Memphis to draft the Spaniard.

* TrueHoop's Henry Abbott investigates the tape on Rubio to get fans' toes a'tingling while splashing a pot of cold water.

* Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman talks up the potential of a Clippers-Thunder swap involving Rubio and Blake Griffin. Steve Perrin of Clips Nation attempts to pour cold water on said rumor.

FanHouse covers the 2009 NBA Draft.

All mock drafts are not created equal. And why would you want them to be? That'd be awful boring, just reading lists of names over and over. At FanHouse, we emphasize the commentary -- so in our mocks we'll (try to) explain why we think certain players fit in their theoretical slots. We will also project our own biases (positive and negative), of course.

At this early stage -- and let's be honest, at every stage -- this is 5% homework, 5% supreme divination, 90% guesswork. (A great endorsement, no?) After the jump, a full first-round mock draft for your amusement bemusement.

This week, FanHouse is taking an early look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted Zach Bell and Max Mandel of the The Kennel Report to break down the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Gonzaga has become one of the most recognizable college basketball programs in the nation. During his tenure, Mark Few has elevated the small, Jesuit institution to the forefront of college basketball. He's had guys like Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf, and Dan Dickau but the talent he has for the 2008 season is the best he has ever had at Gonzaga.

Every year Cinderella captures our hearts in the NCAA Tournament. They begin fittings for their glass slippers in November, though. They Do Not Come From Nowhere introduces you to the teams that will be busting brackets nationwide come March.

Our first potential Cinderella is no stranger to the Big Dance. Mark Few has taken the Bulldogs to the ball in each of the last nine seasons. They no longer have to remind people how to pronounce the school's name or rely on the memory of John Stockton to tell people that they've been around a good long while. Still, they play in the West Coast Conference and are thus consigned to mid-majordom.

They return two talented guards in Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin which means they won't miss departed leading scorer Derek Raivio all that much. Throw in Micah Downs and you have a typical Few team. They fill it up from the outside, move the ball well and put up points in bunches. Typically Few's teams also struggle defensively and that may be where this year's version surpasses recent versions.

The freshman Austin Daye is 6'10" with a 7'5" wingspan and could make life difficult on the perimeter for shooters used to open looks at the Bulldog hoop. He has eight blocks in his first two games and adds a new dimension to their defense. He's their leading scorer to boot and could be a major factor come tournament time.