Clippers take Griffin with top pick
Basketball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers selected Oklahoma standout forward Blake Griffin as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-10 Griffin was coming off a spectacular sophomore season as he led the Sooners in scoring and rebounding, averaging 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds in 35 games. He also had a team-best 41 blocked shots and finished third on the squad with 80 assists, while shooting 65.4 percent from the field.
Griffin established an Oklahoma record with 25 double-doubles during the regular season and set a Big 12 mark with 13 games of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds.
The move for the Clippers figures to help them in an area where they've had plenty of talent, but that hasn't transferred to making the postseason. In fact, the Clippers have won just one playoff series since moving to Los Angeles in 1984 and recorded an minus-8.75 average point differential per game last season, worst in the league.
"I'm not worried about what's happened in the past," said Griffin. "I'm only looking forward to the future. We're not going to think about what's happened in seasons past. I'm just excited about the opportunity to make the best out of whatever situation that I'm put in."
Memphis took Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet at No. 2. The 7-foot-3 Thabeet averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks over 36 games in helping the Huskies get to the Final Four this season. UConn, which lost to Michigan State in the semifinals, finished with a 31-5 record.
The native of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, started 63 of 64 games over his freshman and sophomore campaigns, averaging 8.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game. He becomes the first NBA player born in Tanzania.
"The last year I remember I was at my house and watching the NBA Draft and today I'm here," said Thabeet. "It's just great. There's a lot of kids dreaming to be in the position I'm in right now."
Among his many accomplishments in 2008-09, Thabeet was named First Team All- American by the NABC and was the Big East Co-Player of the Year. In addition, he was the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year and Big East Defensive Player of the Year in each of the past two seasons.
Oklahoma City selected Arizona State guard James Harden as the third selection. Harden is coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged a Pac-10-best 20.1 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. The 6-foot-5 Harden was also named Pac-10 Player of the Year after garnering first-team All Pac-10 honors as a freshman.
"I'm not the fastest guy, I'm not the most explosive guy," said Harden. "But I get from point A to point B. (I just) want to go in there and help those guys out, like Kevin Durant and Russell (Westbrook). It's going to be a great honor."
Sacramento also took a guard at No. 4 in Memphis' Tyreke Evans, who left after playing just one season for the Tigers. He averaged 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists this season. The Chester, Pennsylvania, native finished 2008-09 first on the Memphis all-time freshman steals list with 77 takeaways, which was the eighth-most on the Tigers career list.
Minnesota will pick fifth and sixth with one of those selections coming after the Timberwolves finalized a trade on Wednesday with Washington, a deal that sent guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Wizards.
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Teams that should be in: Stanford
Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds | |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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