FanHouse EricMaynor

Jazz star Deron Williams had to leave his team on a road trip to return back to Salt Lake City due to a family illness. He'll miss tonight's game in Philadelphia, but the Salt Lake Tribune reports he could rejoin the team in time for the Jazz's game in Cleveland Saturday. Jerry Sloan has named rookie Eric Maynor the starter in Williams's place; Andrei Kirilenko will also hilariously serve as a back-up point guard for the shorthanded Jazz.

Similarly, Al Jefferson is out for two games due to a family illness. The Wolves have been in bad shape with Jefferson, the team's best player, and Dallas figures to be an able foe tonight. If nothing else, Minnesota's second tier will have ample opportunity to prove itself in Jefferson's absence -- especially considering Kevin Love is still out.

* 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.

George Mason started January as a team looking for its identity. Losses to Georgia State and Delaware had them behind the eight-ball in the CAA and the preseason conference favorites were looking like a team with more flaws than assets. Things changed quickly, though. Will Thomas had a career game to stave off an upset in double overtime at Hofstra on Thursday and then Dre Smith shot his way into the record books during yesterday's 96-75 win at James Madison.

Smith made all 10 of his three-point tries to set a NCAA record for most tries without a miss. He finished with 34 points overall, a career-high which was only part of the reason to believe the Patriots are on the right track. They also outrebounded the Dukes by 14 and shot 65% for the game. Delaware lost for the second straight time yesterday, which leaves GMU in a three-way tie behind VCU in the Colonial.

The Rams won 78-68 at Old Dominion yesterday. They don't have the depth of the Patriots but they have two players in Eric Maynor and Jamal Shuler who can go off any night. They each scored 26 points against ODU and each finished with a double-double to boot. Shuler had 11 boards and Maynor dished 10 assists, an overwhelming two-man band.

Vanderbilt and UMass can both put up points in a hurry and they didn't disappoint in Nashville yesterday. Shan Foster hit eight threes to become Vandy's all-time leader in made longballs and the Commodores improved to 15-0 in a 97-88 home win. While the Minutemen couldn't continue the A-10's upset string they did cast some doubts about the long-term fitness of VU.

Ricky Harris, Chris Lowe and Gary Forbes had their way with the Commodore defense and scored 25, 22 and 22 points, respectively. Their drives to the lane were unimpeded and their threes thrown up without a hand in the face, two things the Commodores desperately need to change if they hope to contend for SEC honors. Give Kevin Stallings credit, though, he realized that the one chance he had, with UMass up nine in the second half, was shifting to a zone that forced them to shoot from deep. Harris was 5-of-10 from three but his mates were 3-of-14 and Vandy ran away behind Foster's dead-eye shooting.

It wasn't like the Minutemen weren't guarding him. He was hitting with hands in his face and still finished with 32 points. The defense was keying on him, to its detriment, as A.J. Ogilvy was open inside all day, drawing fouls and finishing with 25 of his own. UMass hung with a good team but their lack of stopping power is going to cost them in A-10 play.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was Gary Williams' 131st nonconference home win in 134 tries. When Maryland hosts Delaware on Friday, he'll take his third whack at number 132. After losing to Ohio, Williams and the Terps got beat in College Park again yesterday by their neighbors from American. That's a pretty rare occurance in the 80 year history between the two schools. The only other Eagles win was in their first meeting, sometime in the 1926-27 season. The exact date has escaped memory, something that's unlikely to happen with yesterday's 67-59 win.

Derrick Mercer won't soon forget his 18 points, for example, and Bryce Simon will always remember his career-high 17. None of the Eagles will forget holding the Terps to five first half baskets nor will they need reminders of the way they outhustled, outrebounded and outdefended their more heralded opponents. For a team that's lost to Fairfield and Loyola (MD), this win came out of left field and will have Williams pulling out his hair in search of answers.

Greivis Vasquez had 28 points and the other guard Eric Hayes had 16 but the rest of the Terps only made four baskets. Maryland was so flat and lifeless, though, that its pretty clear the problems go well beyond shooting. Williams benched Braxton Dupree and Landon Milbourne in the second half, probably the first of many changes in what's looking like a long season.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

The Butler Bulldogs took a week off after returning from Alaska before returning to the court on Saturday for a date with Butler graduate Thad Matta and his Ohio State Buckeyes. Butler's perfect record looked in doubt at halftime, they were down 10 and playing poorly. They missed their first 15 threes, turned the ball over eight times and generally spent the first 20 minutes looking like they didn't belong on the same court with anybody above the community college level.

But the second half was different business altogether. The Bulldogs outscored the Buckeyes 45-16 and ran away with a 65-46 win to improve to 7-0 and win their fourth straight game against a power conference outfit. They discovered a new star in the process. Freshman forward Matt Howard scored 23 points and outplayed OSU's more heralded frosh Kostas Koufos. Howard balanced the late-arriving outside threats of A.J. Graves and Mike Green, the defense keyed up and forced 24 turnovers and Butler proved they can win even on nights they don't have their "A" game. They begin Horizon play this week with dates at Detroit and Wright State.

The rest of the winners and losers are after the jump.