FanHouse Davon Jefferson

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.

With all the name going around about who was staying in the NBA Draft and who was going back to school ... there were a few names that may not be as household that are keeping their names in the draft.

Some may have made a mistake. Just as Josh McRoberts, JamesOn Curry, Von Wafer and Alex Acker made mistakes in the past few seasons ... some could be doing the same now.

Guys like UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Mbah a Moute probably won't be drafted (and if he is, it will be very late in the second round). If he had stayed in school, he could have become the rare guy to go to four Final Fours in his career. Despite losing some big-time talent, the Bruins still have a good shot at getting back.

Or there is USC's Davon Jefferson who probably won't be drafted either. Jefferson left school as a freshman and almost immediately signed with an agent. He made this move without even discussing it with the Trojans' coaching staff. When they have "testing the water" discussions in the future, they might want to have him talk to the class.

How about IUPUI's George Hill? Ya know, good ol' George? No? Yeah, he didn't have a household name or, really, no hype around him to warrant heading into the draft. He may not have the skill, either. He probably will be drafted, but not until the second half of the second round.

Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon really never had a second thought about coming back to school. I mean, he may go late in the second round. Not bad for a guy that no one knows what position he'll play.

After last week's two controversial calls that helped give UCLA a weekend sweep and the conference title, you'd think that this week's Pac-10 Tournament would feature better officiating -- or, perhaps more accurately, a lack of anything but the most obvious whistles in a particular situation. Of course, if you think that, then you don't know the Pac-10.

Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph was whistled for an over-the-back call on a huge follow-dunk with 16.9 seconds left that would have tied the game at 57-57. USC's Davon Jefferson was right under the basket on the play and Pendergraph clearly went for the ball and barely touched him, but that didn't stop the whistle. Jefferson hit his free throws at the other end, and the Trojans eventually won 59-55. To get an idea of just how bad this call was, one need only listen to FSN announcers Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini in the video above. At first, they rightfully praise the play, then try to decide if the whistle was for goaltending, and then finally understand that it was a foul call.

One thing's for certain: the conspiracy theories won't hold here. ASU is squarely on the bubble and needed this game to put them in the NCAA field. USC has a bid locked up and is really only interested in seeding from here on out. This call was just a case of gross incompetency on the part of the officials. Frankly, it's even hard to say this was a shocking turn of events.

The real shame is that calls like this one make this game -- and, by extension, the league -- look bad. This was a great game, with All-Conference freshman guards OJ Mayo (23 points) and James Harden (16 points) facing off in a terrific battle of future NBA lottery picks. Unfortunately, the quality of play will go largely untouched, and we'll all focus on how arguably the best conference in the country has the worst officials around.