
The fascinating thing about the days leading up to a NBA Draft is the “experts”, the movers and shakers in many franchises’ war rooms, start to believe the hype around the young adults that they are about to make very rich. No matter if you are Blake Griffin, Eric Maynor, Wayne Ellington, or Brandon Jennings, the team that selects those players are drafting as much on potential as anything else. In essence, the word potential is the optimism that all 30 teams have at the start of training camp. Title contenders feel they have the potential of winning it all, while some very bad teams feel new players and a new attitude can equal the potential of having a special season. Our latest, and next to last Mock Draft(last one on Thursday, just hours before the actual one), shows little movement at the top, however some players are starting to see their names bounce in and out of the lottery.
1. Clippers – Blake Griffin – The only drama surrounding this pick is whether being named to be the coverboy for NCAA 2010 video game will cause a Madden-like curse. [click to continue…]

LayupDrill.com College Basketball Power Ten: Week One
Words by Jonathan Lintner
1. North Carolina: Minus Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard, UNC showcased some young talent against Penn last week. A blowout win over Kentucky should solid solidify the Heels’ position at no. 1.
2. Louisville: The Cardinals stayed idle in week one and won’t play until Nov. 22, but returning four starters and bringing in freshman hopeful Samardo Samuels is enough to help Louisville stay at no. 2.
3. Connecticut: As an ESPN headline read last week, “They’ve Got Thabeet.” The Huskies opened with a gimmie against Western Carolina, showcasing Hasheem Thabeet’s returning talent as he scored 23 and pulled down 17 boards.
4. Pittsburgh: Levance Fields returned to the court for the Panthers, but it’s DeJuan Blair that makes Pittsburgh a potential Final Four team. A common opponent in Miami (OH) with UCLA will be a interesting match-up to watch this week.
5. Michigan State: Sophomore guard Chris Allen led the Spartans to the most dominating win seen last week, a 100-63 beating of the Idaho Vandals. Tom Izzo played 15 different players and shot 60 percent as a team. [click to continue…]