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.
* More from The Baseline, this time reported by the incomparable Chris Littmann: one team exec who interviewed Stephen Curry at the Chicago combine asked the guard who his father was.
* 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.
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.
During the NIT Tournament, we NBA heads hardly ever pay attention. But when Stephen Curry and Patrick Mills hook up, we're watching. Inspired by our daily Doing Lines feature, Drooling Lines offers a summary of what the box scores tell us.
Before we get into the pro prospecting, it needs to be said that St. Mary's College has a killer fan base. That building's bandbox before you add the thousands of maniacal kids screaming full throttle for the benefit of the TV crowd? Well done, Gaels.
Of course, the fans had plenty to cheer for thanks to St. Mary's 80-68 second-round victory Monday. The duel between Davidson's Stephen Curry (26 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) and St. Mary's own Patrick Mills (23 points, 10 assists) lived up to expectations.
Every year, Selection Sunday officially kicks off the beginning of March Madness. Usually, the three-day lull between the release of the almighty brackets and the actual beginning of games is marked by complaining, whether it's Memphis not getting a No. 1 seed -- which is going to end up being the best thing that ever happened to the Tigers, by the way -- the Big Ten or Pac-10 being allegedly overrated, or the dwindling of mid-major entrants. It's always something.
Still, we can put up with that. Debate and discussion are good things. There is one suggestion, however, that is so absurd I'm almost embarrassed to dignify it: Some people, including several predominant commentators, want to expand the tourney field to 128.
Say what you will for Dick Vitale, he's certainly passionate about college basketball. But does his passion get in the way of his ability to analyze the sport objectively? His colleagues Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas seemed to suggest so on ESPN Sunday night.
Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with Matt Boldin shooting a pair of technical free throws after the Gaels' Omar Samhan dunked in warmups.
That turned out to be the highlight of St. Mary's evening.
The Gaels were looking to make a big splash against the Bulldogs on national television and they did. Just not the splash they were looking to make. This game was a worst-case scenario for a team looking to go to the Dance, like an acne outbreak on prom night. St. Mary's made it's case for the NCAA tournament. The only problem was, that case was, "Please don't take us."
Now the only question is, does St. Mary's deserve an at-large bid?
Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with Matt Boldin shooting a pair of technical free throws after the Gaels' Omar Samhan dunked in warmups.
That turned out to be the highlight of St. Mary's evening.
The Gaels were looking to make a big splash against the Bulldogs on national television and they did. Just not the splash they were looking to make. This game was a worst-case scenario for a team looking to go to the Dance, like an acne outbreak on prom night. St. Mary's made it's case for the NCAA tournament. The only problem was, that case was, "Please don't take us."
Now the only question is, does St. Mary's deserve an at-large bid?
St. Mary's moved into the West Coast Conference finals with a convincing win over Portland. But was it convincing enough for the Gaels to get into the NCAA tournament barring Monday's finals outcome? Right now, St. Mary's looks deserving enough to get into the tournament. The Gaels are a much more complete team right now.
Almost as if losing Mills for a stretch made this team better. But St. Mary's looked impressive enough on Sunday night to make its case to be included in the field of 65.
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.
* DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony reports Dallas loves Jordan Hill and 
* The Oregonian's Geoffrey C. Arnold 
FanHouse covers the 
During the NIT Tournament, we NBA heads hardly ever pay attention. But when Stephen Curry and Patrick Mills hook up, we're watching. Inspired by our daily 
Every year, Selection Sunday officially kicks off the beginning of March Madness. Usually, the three-day lull between the release of the almighty brackets and the actual beginning of games is marked by complaining, whether it's Memphis not getting a No. 1 seed -- which is going to end up being the best thing that ever happened to the Tigers, by the way -- the 
Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with 
St. Mary's moved into the West Coast Conference finals with a convincing win over Portland. But was it convincing enough for the Gaels to get into the NCAA tournament barring Monday's finals outcome? Right now, St. Mary's looks deserving enough to get into the tournament. The Gaels are a much more complete team right now. 
