FanHouse Darrell Arthur

Tom Ziller alluded to it in this morning's Essentials, but in case you missed it, the NBA has decided to fine Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur $20,000 for their Rookie Symposium shenanigans. Losing 20 large stings, but the upside is that neither rookie will be suspended.

That's huge for Chalmers in particular since he's competing for a starting job -- the last thing he would have needed would be to let his competition get a head start early in the year. The whole debacle has still been an early stain on the rookies' careers, but Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel has some advice for turning things around:

Chalmers should thrust himself into community initiatives, should provide more than the amount of appearances required by the collective-bargaining agreement (yes, many of those "feel good" appearances actually are contractually bound), should be a keynote speaker at next year's rookie program about how a momentary lapse can lead to weeks of humiliation.

And then, close to the end of the season, the players' association and league quietly should either make the fine go away or make it become a very public chartable donation.

If Arthur and Chalmers really wanted to restore their good names, they could make a public show of doubling their fine, giving the NBA their $20K and giving another $20K to a local drug abuse prevention program. It'd be a small fraction of their annual income -- Arthur will make $977,00 this year; Chalmers, $700,000 -- but would provide priceless PR to help change the negative first impression they've already made with their new fans.

Jerryd Bayless did not have a Darrell Arthur-like plummet in the draft, but he still fell pretty far, relatively speaking. When he finally got taken at number 11 overall, it was easily seven spots later than where he -- and many prognosticators -- thought he would have landed.

And just like the Zero-man before him, Bayless has revenge on his mind for the teams that passed on him because he seems like more of an ill-fitted two than a true point guard.

"I think they are crazy," Bayless said when asked what he would say to people who don't think he can play both guard spots. "That's what I think."

[...]Bayless appeared visibly upset that he went that low, after it was predicted in mock drafts that he could be picked as high as No. 4 by Seattle or realistically No. 7 by the Los Angeles Clippers.

"I have 10 teams to prove wrong now," Bayless told ESPN radio. "I'm going to definitely go out and try to do that. Hopefully everything works out."

Now, of course, Bayless did not fall nearly as far as Gil, who ended up in the second round. And it's also tough for Bayless to be that upset, considering that he landed in a pretty perfect spot, getting to run the point for Portland.

He'll have control of a young, up and coming team with a plethora of weapons and with Brandon Roy in the backcourt with him, he'll have the opportunity to score plenty as well. And if he's teed off and willing to prove that a slew of teams messed up by passing on him, it will only make Kevin Pritchard look smarter.

Jeff Goodman posted the list of NBA Draft green room invitees today, and you best believe that there is gonna be some heartbreak going down on this list. After all, there are 16 players invited ... and only 14 lottery spots. Mu-ha-ha.

Actually, there's a decent chance that no one on this list will get Quinned (read: fall too far), mainly because NBA teams are much more likely to draft based on "best available" than positional need if someone starts to drop, but draft day can always be surprising. Anyway, here's the list of who will be hanging out back while the cameras catch every instance of shock, surprise and tearful regret.

With the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday night, FanHouse's Tom Ziller took a friend's advice and unilaterally decided what teams ought to do in the first round. Think of it as a shorter version of our ongoing Crystal Ballin' series.

1. Chicago -- Michael Beasley, Kansas State. Fan consensus would have the point guard from Memphis here, and it looks like John Paxson will swing that way, too. It looks like a whole lot of Chris Paul-induced "pure point" fervor to me. Beasley, though, is the rare unassailable post presence who also boasts great perimeter skills and extraordinary tenacity on the court. With a team so desperate for points on something other than jump shots, Beasley fits right in.

2. Miami -- Derrick Rose, Memphis. The Heat, on the other hand, has some firepower in the paint, between Dwyane Wade's irrepressible slashing and the alternating efforts of Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem. But Wade needs help running the show. Rose would provide the right engine to push Miami's offensive abilities while offering some backcourt defensive support.

3. Minnesota -- Brook Lopez, Stanford. Like any other basketball aesthete, I have cracked some Brook Lopez jokes. But behind the Cheetah Girls t-shirts, he's a good prospect. The biggest thing he can offer Minnesota in some interior anchorage on defense. Al Jefferson got abused routinely in the paint last season, with nary a partner to help stunt the opponent. Lopez immediately fortifies the effort, maybe not creating a good defense by himself, but at least helping out. Oh, and he can score too.

27 more picks of questionable logic after the jump.

Dallas/Ft. Worth television WFAA is reporting that Kansas University forward Darrell Arthur had grades changed while at South Oak Cliff High School.

But transcripts obtained by News 8 raise questions about whether he was actually making the grade in the classroom during his junior season, specifically in math.

His transcripts show he received no grades at all his fall semester. His final grade was changed to a 70 in September of 2005 with no explanation of why.

If in fact Arthur had failed math that fall, he would not have been eligible to play basketball, and many of his team's victories in that championship season might have to be forfeited according to University Interscholastic League standards.

According to the report, math teacher Winford Ashemore notified the principal and basketball coach that Arthur was not only failing miserably, but not even giving an effort to try. When told that Arthur would receive a failing grade, he was abruptly dropped from Ashemore's class and given a grade of 70 ... which was passing.

It is also reported that the principal signed off on another changed grade in the spring of 2003.

It is D-Day for the Final Four. All four of the #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament have survived ... but two will fall today. The second game this evening pits Kansas and North Carolina in what is now known as the "Ol' Roy Game".

I have been a Tar Heel fan my entire life and know what to expect from UNC. To get prepped up for the game, I decided to chat up with the Rock Chalk Talk blog about the view from the Kansas side of the fence (go here for my take on the game).

Sportz Assassin: You can't start this any other way but with Roy Williams. It's been five years since he's left KU for UNC. What level of hatred can he expect from Jayhawk fans in San Antonio this weekend?

Rock Chalk: It depends on which portion of the fan base actually makes the trip down to San Antonio. Most of the fan base, at least most of who I have talked to, don't have all that many ill-feelings toward Roy, me included. Sure, we wish he wouldn't have left, especially after he promised in 2000 that he was staying until he retired, but I would argue we are better off now for it, and we realize that he was just fulfilling his lifelong dream. So, while there were certainly be some boos cascading down from the Jayhawks section, I wouldn't expect everyone to show disapproval of Roy.