Like 2005, plenty of Tar Heel interest in this one though not in the “four Heels in the first 14 picks” sort of way.
Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Freaking Green will be hoping their name will be called. In fact I wish there was some way I could get whichever NBA executive is handling the 2nd Round to say: “And with the 47th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft the Minnesota Timberwolves select Danny Freaking Green, University of North Carolina”
That would be awesome.
At present it appears Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson are certain first round picks. The question is whether they go in the lottery.
Wayne Ellington on the other hand might fall to the 2nd round which is where Danny Green is sure to end up. The scenario that will likely piss off the most Tar Heel fans will be if Gerald Henderson ends up in the lottery and Ellington falls to the 2nd round. The reports coming into the draft are that Henderson is not as highly regarded as he once was while Ellington has picked up some buzz. Still, Draft Express presently has Ellington as the 40th pick overall twenty four spots behind Henderson.
It should be interesting to watch. Roy Williams will be in the Green Room. Hansbrough apparently asked him to come and be there. Marvin Williams did the same thing in 2005.
The NBA Draft begins at 7 PM on ESPN.
Consider this an open thread.
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Good luck, GUYS! Hope all of you get big contracts and become big successes. The joy that you gave us is PRICELESS!!
how many ESPN analysts are needed to screw in a light bulb? We’ll find out soon enough…I predict the over/under on talking heads (on locale or off-location) at 9. I hope Fraschilla is on here…since he knows sooooo much
Anyone taking the over…?
if pistol pete had a nephew from Spain, that child would look like Ricky Rubio
If Rubio were actually related to the Pistol, then I might buy into his hype.
Two PGs to the T’wolves??? Bizarre.
I like Flynn, but he is a poorman’s Ty Lawson.
An 18 year old point guard? Human toothpick as well. No coach. $6 million dollar payout.
FOXSports.com had Lawson listed as the SEVENTH best point guard last night; prety laughable.
Remember, Lawson’s knock is that he has Hansbrough and Ellington to dish the ball to, so they inflated his numbers. But at the same time, Hansbrough and Ellington really weren’t that good in the first place.
Doesn’t the media just piss you off sometimes???
The way this draft goes, seems the player is always better coming out early…the more quantification scouts get for your college game the less it seems to matter. Maybe Rubio played in a tough league, but is that really comparable to ACC or Big East style of basketball? I kinda doubt it
Always one method to silence those critics…on the court.
Looks like the Bobcats still want to suck…….
Hansbrough to the Pacers is a bit of a surprise. Actually thought Ty would be better for them. He will be a nice fit for an an uptempo system and alongside Granger.
Did anyone see what Dan Wetzel wrote about Tyler on Yahoo Sports? I could punch him in his fat mouth for spouting that kind of hogwash. Oh well, let the Hansbrough hating continue. Hopefully he’ll make these guys eat crow.
I am offically a Pacers fan now. Time to order a t-shirt! I’m so proud of Tyler!
You know, I actually thought the Bobcats would try to get someone good this time around. Apparently not…
seemed like Tyler got a lot of love from the panel. he’s a LOTTERY pick! how bout that.
I knew he had it in him!
Also a Timberwolves fan now!!!! Good job Ty!!!
weird day today, as Michael Jackson is seemingly on every channel but espn.
his questionable behavior keeps this from being like the day Elvis died for me. at 14, i was clipping articles and bummed.
looks like you have to be a Nuggets fan, uncgirl. if we can just get Wayne and Danny on the Pacers and/or Nuggets.
Don’t quite understand the three PG’s picks from the Timberwolves
I’ll be a fan of any team my boys are on!
Ty in Denver is a great fit.
Hahahaha Teague went below Ty! I shouldn’t be so happy about this… but I am.
The 76ers blundered by taking Jrue instead of Ty. How can you pass on the ACC POY in favor of some guy with “potential”? All I hear about is “potential.” What about guys who actually get it done?
Oh well. Maybe the 76ers can trade Jrue to Denver and get Ty after all. But I doubt Denver is that stupid.
Not with Karl running the show. Ty will backup Billups for a year, then the show will be all his.
At least Larry Bird still knows what he’s doing. Say what you will about Hansbrough’s lack of athleticism. With his character, failure is not a possibility. A lot of NBA players loaf for a considerable portion of the time they’re on the court. You know that will never happen with Hansbrough.
C.Michael — I’m afraid you’re right. What do you think of Jrue? I didn’t see that much of him, but I think he’s risky.
I’d like Jrue better if he had a year or two more of college. Would have liked to see him play a full year w/o Collison, but I think he’s a tremendous talent, but needs to become more polished offensively. He can guard anyone.
DeJuan Blair is falling like a rock. Surprising.
that is surprising–someone knows something.
waaaaayyyyne!
but the Wolves. sigh.
Hmmm… WE to the Wolves is an interesting fit. They could build something there with he, Flynn, and Love.
Glad to see that Bilas pointed out that WE tested better than Hendo.
I hate the Lakers but that is a good pick.
except it isnt for the Lakers. they have no slots for new players.
Yeah, the Lakers sold that pick to the Knicks. Douglas and Hill will be a nice fit in D’Antoni’s system. They may be a year or two away from being watchable!
An interesting fact at TarHeelBlue.com, this year the Heels will have a player selected in the first round of the NFL, the MLB, and NBA drafts. Pretty awesome.
hahahaha–Stu with the zinger!
It was smart of Williams to be there at draft, looking good and complementing the decisions on big three. I didn’t see another college coach with comments like that! It can only help.
i’d agree with that, it can’t hurt.
c’mon, danny! i’m not used to keeping the Draft on this long, if at all.
So much for the Bobcats.
Could the guys running that franchise be any more clueless? I think it is time for Michael Jordan and Larry Brown to hang it up.
After the Adam Morrison fiasco and trying to trade Felton, now Larry the Genius decides to draft Gerald Henderthug, after coaching the Bobcats to a mediocre 37-45 season where they lost every key game down the stretch. They could have had Tyler or Lawson and instead chose the most hated player in North Carolina, a guy who clearly isn’t as good as Wayne Ellington, or Danny Green, for that matter.
I am very, very unhappy with the choices by both the Bobcats and the Wizards, but then why should I expect anything different by these two franchises who refuse to carry enough Carolina players–two each, by my count–and who stay mired in constant mediocrity. Larry Brown has not exactly distinguished himself during the last two of his upteen coaching ventures and I don’t see adding Henderson as doing anything but dragging the Bobcats further down.
yeah, but just wait till that first Pacers game
GH drives the lane…
DFG!!!! Go Cavs!!
Pretty close to that 47th pick THF.
Indiana should be a great place for Tyler, close to his home and where his brother will be playing.
not to mention #33
Lebron, Shaq and Danny Freaking Green? Cleveland basketball just got way more interesting.
4 players in the draft. There are a lot of good players on the Pacers team. But Hansbrough just has that “I have a lot to prove” attitude that is inspiring. So we will see.
I am so delighted that Lawson gets to witness and play alongside Chauncey. I really admire Billup’s mentality, hard work ethic, and competetiveness to the game. His Detroit years were awesome!
Having said that, there is a contrast in style, and I’d like to see Lawson continue to be who he is, and not try to mirror anyone else’s game. Lawson’s crossover, and spacing to get his shot is better than Bilas gives him credit for, IMO.
Will Wayne Elliington be better than McCants was for the Timberwolves? McCants has had some good games, then completely dissapears in other games. What do we hope for in Wayne Ellington? Do we hope he becomes more of a Ray Allen? Or is he more athletic than Ray when it comes to driving the ball?
Just questions to ponder.
And Oh yeah, Im on board with Cleveland now. Let’s hope Shaq has some dominance left in him. Remember, he started last season off looking like a kid again, and seemed to wither at the end of the season. I think Danny could give them a few good minutes. If Wally Sczerbiack can, Danny can as well. I thought Danny Green’s college game looked very similar to Brandon Roy’s NBA game over in Portland.
CM & 52 -
“Sugar Bear” Blair is as dumb as a box of hammers. That is what the selectors knew. If you saw one interview with Blair it would be obvious.
Dumb as a box of hammers and 1 nail! I do like his competetiveness he played with at Pitt. He just may be too short to do any damage in the NBA. I am surprised Hasheem Thabeet got drafted at number 2. He isn’t no Dikembe Mutombo. Thabeet is too skinny and gets thrown around on the block too easily. If the college boys can do that to him, I imagine the bigger pro players will have a field day with him. He will be on many posters in the near future, for those that like to dunk on guys like that.
Welcome to Denver Ty! Please leave me 2 tickets to ANY game at the window!
Having Ty in Denver is a great fit. This team likes to run and they have the horses. Of course Ty is also very efficient in the 1/2 court offense and we look forward to seeing that: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/luke_winn/06/24/nba.draftnumbers/index.html?eref=sihpT1.
Playing alongside Chauncey will be good for Ty. Chauncey is a future coach (IMHO) who gets to call some of the offensive sets and he seems willing to teach. Plus, it does not hurt that Billups was on the floor in Winston-Salem in 1997.
where was Brandon Costner?
As much as we can disparage the so-called experts, I have to say that virtually all of the Tar Heels from the drafts of 2005, 2006 and 2007 have surprised me by their underwhelming NBA performances.
So far, only Marvin Williams and Ray Felton could really be considered better than average NBA players and both are starters, but both are still far from being all stars. McCants has been injured and shows sparks from time to time. Brandan Wright, who showed ability in college equal to, or great than Hansbrough, may finally break through this year, but hasn’t done a whole lot so far. Sean May seems to lack the necessary desire for success in the NBA. Jawad will be fortunate to bounce around and get a pension.
I honestly would have expected all of them, except for Jawad, to be starters in the NBA, and I would have expected Felton, Marvin Williams and Wright to be fringe all stars.
One can only wonder whether the current group of draftees went lower than they would have otherwise, due to the mediocre performance of the guys mentioned above, given that Hansbrough, Ellington and Lawson seemed to have, if anything, better overall resumes than May, McCants and Felton.
Still, we should never forget just how high the level of competition is in the NBA. Look at some of the other guys who have been busts or semi-busts recently: Greg Oden, Roy Hibbert, Joachim Noah….
lol–since when was intelligence a common denominator for the NBA? my guess is it’s related to the knee, and poor work ethic.
I will put myself out there and say it’s extremely disappointing to see the majority of non-AA players coming from other parts of the world. It’s high time imo, for the media to address the racial inequity in this sport, as they have in others.
easy to be a Monday morning QB, but none of those former players you referenced surprise me. Out of this class, I give Tyler & Danny the best chances of being impact players. I said at the time I thought Wright was coming out too early, and never thought McCants had the right attitude. I still think Marvin will be very good, and with the right situations, think Raymond & Ty can contribute. JMO
May has physical problems, and you either have the will to overcome/rehab them or you dont, or maybe they can’t be overcome.
Marvin is coming on some finally now, but he’s had some injuries.
Wright. Hm. i dunno. i havent even SEEN the guy to know how much weight he’s put on or what. he’s still LISTED at 210. maybe the problem is Don Nelson.
Raymond will be around a good while tho who knows if he’ll be special.
I already ordered a Pacers shirt and I’m going to try so hard to get to a game at some point in Tyler’s first season.
I also have relatives in Cleveland so hopefully I can get over there to see Danny.
As for Ty and Wayne, I have no idea how get to see them.
Overall great night for the Heels and the NBA. Except for the Bobcat’s pick of course. Henderthug? Really? Taking the most hated basketball player in North Carolina is not a smart move. Why didn’t they take Wayne? Everyone was saying how he was more impressive at the camps. Geez…
Henderson went to Charlotte for the same reason as lots of relatives of former players were drafted. Brown: “good genes”.