'ednesday, June 2'
ma;
fednesdi
lesday, June 27, 2001
Sports
Page 3
THE BATTALION
^ ofsjBA teams prepare for biggest gamble: the draft
o consensus No. 1 for Jordan, Wizards
condom use,t| NEW YORK (AP) — If
-ly to confirm Michael Jordan anc i the Wash-
offer prom H^ ton Wizards decide to keep
■ital herpes ^ i n t h e NBA
or oftheUii* aft ’J amaal " E i ns i e y won’t be
■igton viroloJ^^PPY zards tQ
in w j .ywn so they can choose the
, ■ et ’’f'lowa State point guard in the
~ j n ? n ^ an ^ a fliiddle of the first round, Tins-
' ’ L t at ley will he more than pleased to
- s couples witfUit up f or a team that won only
t nu from 1 ( < \) g ames l as t season,
halt theuninfj “Just seeing him looking at
e women. Oni.fte, it made me go even harder,”
auples reportecMid Tinsley, who held a private
s during the vUorkout for Jordan late last
igh they wereMionth along with a few other
3. Bra ft prospects. “Him teaching
31 people -file things like squaring up and
five men - fiow to come off screens, some-
fiay I’ll tell my kids about it.”
I Jordan is still an icon to the
fioungsters heading into
■Vednesday night’s NBA draft,
|ven if some of the youngsters
ren’t so young compared to the
ther draft-eligibles.
Tinsley is a relative old
ran in this year’s draft. At 23,
le is five years older than sev-
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Among them are teen-agers
Fddy Curry (18), Kwame
irown (19) and" lyson Chandler
(18), who are jumping directly
[from high school to the NBA,
land Seton Hall freshman for-
(ward Eddie Griffin (19).
“I look at it like this: There
I are a lot of 7-footers and 6-11
guys, and big guys are always
I going to be picked first,” said
Tinsley, the top-rated point
guard. “Teams are going to
take a chance.”
That statement couldn’t be
any more true than it is this year,
with 7 5 underclassmen eligible
to be drafted. Last year, a record
18 underclassmen were chosen
in the first round.
The Wizards hold the first
pick and could become the
first team to select a high-
schooler as the overall No. 1
pick, but Washington also
could end up trading the pick
to a team more eager to take a
chance on a teen-ager.
“The one thing you can nev
er get enough of in this league is
talent,” incoming Wizards
coach Doug Collins said. “Get
ting quality big men is critical if
you’re going to have success.
When you’ve won 19 games,
you’ve got a lot of holes. We’ve
got to try to fill those, and we’re
going to do that by maximizing
the No. 1 pick.”
Not too long ago, a tough
player considered the best point
guard in the draft wouldn’t drop
below the eighth or ninth pick.
Five years ago, guards Allen
Iverson, Stephen Marbury,
Ray Allen and Kerry Kittles all
went in the top 10. A year lat
er, point guards Chauncey
Billups and Antonio Daniels
went third and fourth. In
1999, Steve Francis and Baron
Davis went second and third.
This year, only Jason
Richardson of Michigan State,
Tinsley, Joe Johnson of
Arkansas and Joseph Forte of
North Carolina are considered
sure filings to be chosen some
where in the first round. Only
Richardson is certain to be
among file top 10.
Among small forwards,
Duke’s Shane Battier will un
doubtedly be the first four-year
college senior selected, but Se
ton Hall’s Griffin could leapfrog
him in the order of selection.
The top-rated centers in
clude high schoolers Brown,
of Glynn Academy (Ga.) and
DeSagana Diop of Oak Hill
(Va.) Academy. The top pow
er forward prospects include
Chandler, of Dominquez H.S.
(Calif.), and Curry, of Thorn-
wood, Ill.
“The depth in this year’s draft
will be at the power positions,
center and power forward,” said
Marty Blake, NBA director of
scouting. “The power forward
position in particular is unusual
ly strong, with the depth of good
players at that position extend
ing into the second round.”
Following Washington in the
draft order are the Los Angeles
Clippers, Atlanta Hawks,
Chicago Bulls, Golden State
Warriors, Vancouver Grizzlies,
New Jersey Nets, Cleveland
Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.
The Boston Celtics hold the
10th, 11 th and 21 st picks, while
Houston also has three picks in
the first round: Nos. 13,18 and
23. Golden State has the fifth
and 14th picks; Orlando holds
the 15th and 22nd selections.
New York, Indiana, Mil
waukee, Minnesota, Denver
and Dallas do not have First-
round picks, and the NBA
champion Los Angeles Lakers
do not have any picks in the
first or second rounds.
The Milwaukee Bucks are
not scheduled to have a selec
tion until late in the second
round.
ise.
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TAUO
or in Chief
ging Editor
f, Radio Produce'
, Opinion Editot
Graphics Editor
boro Editor
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s, Sports Editor
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ihone: 845-3313. ti
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JUNIOR fiOLF CLINIC
Yt
i
ONT MISS OUT! July 23-27
Ages 8-12 meet from Sam to ! 0am.
Ages 13-17 meet from 10am to noon.
DST: $75 per camper. Space limited to first 20
golfers in each group.
This clinic will cover all aspects of golf including:
Full Swing
Putting
Rules
Chipping
Trouble shots
Etiquette
. yyei
iceshf 1
si#,
ipy free, additional
f the Student Ser*
udent to pick up a s
160 per school year
3 nd $17.50 for the “
arCard, Discover, o'
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leNs IAN Golf durst
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
MICHAEL
BALHOFF
I t is the time of year when
NBA executives and
coaches will gather in
their war rooms and take part
in the 2001 NBA Draft, their
version of pin the tail on the
donkey. This year may be
more difficult to pinpoint
than usual, considering the
large contingent of underclassmen and the lack
of a consensus No. 1 pick.
Teams will have the option of selecting from a
group of 18-year-old high school prospects or
selecting 31-year-old Gulf War veteran George
Evans. With a record 58 underclassmen on the
early entry list, trying to get a handle on this
year’s draft can be overwhelming.
If the past has taught us anything, it is that the
Clippers will draft someone who is vastly over
rated, the Mavericks will surprise everyone by
passing up a known commodity for a European
player, and Hubie Brown will have the vital sta
tistics of every player drafted — no matter how
obscure. In addition to these eternal truths,
there are other intriguing aspects of this year’s
draft to keep in mind.
Recently, college underclassmen have made a
habit of grabbing the spotlight and push
ing the more polished four-year
seniors to the background.
The 2001 NBA Draft
offers a new twist to
this phenomenon.
Six high school
seniors have
crashed the party,
garnering all the
headlines and
hoopla. Wary of
missing a future
Kobe Bryant or
Kevin Garnett, NBA
teams are content to
nurse the likes of Eddy
Curry, "Tyson Chandler and
Kwame Brown until they are ready
to make an impact.
Seton Hall forward Eddie Griffin
and UNC-Charlotte forward Rodney
White also fall into this young and untested
group. After trying college for a year, they now
figure to be chosen in the top five.
Teams are searching Europe for potential tal
ent to uncover the next Dirk Nowitzki or Peja
Stojakovic. Pau Gasol and Vladimir Radmanovic
are foreigners expected to be lottery selections.
For those not counting, that is eight players
expected to go in the first 13 selections that lack
either United States citizenship or the legal right
to drink. They are players that were not even on. ,
the average fan’s radar screen a year ago. Of
course, Duke senior Shane Battier, with PR di
rector Dick Vitale in tow, is also a safe bet to be a
high pick.
What does the infiltration of younger players
say for the prospects of well-known entrants like
Troy Murphy and Joseph Forte? In today’s
NBA, teams will pass on these types of solid
players now for a chance to obtain a player who
may be great several years from now.
At least they can rest assured that their names
will be called on draft night. The early entry list
See Draft on Page 6.
RUBEN DELUNA/Ewf Battalion
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