Big Lead Sports Bar

6/26/2009

UMMMM....



The city of Pittsburgh, myself included, is pretty much speechless with the outcome of last night's NBA draft. Dejuan Blair, rumored to go as high as 10th overall, slipped to San Antonio at 37. Sam Young, also thought of as a potential first-rounder, went a pick ahead of Blair at 36 to Memphis. If not for the sudden death of Michael Jackson, this certainly would've been the most shocking news I heard yesterday.

In following a recent trend of Pitt athletes leaving early, the results ended up being much less than anticipated. Lesean McCoy, one of the top running backs in college football last season, went a disappointing 50th to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL draft.

I'm searching for answers as to why Blair fell so far, and the best I can come up with would be his knees, which were operated on twice while in high school. Still, he got picked behind a guy from the Congo and a guy who needs a liver transplant. I guess NBA GMs must not have seen Blair dominate #2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet twice last season.

As for Young, his age (24) apparently did him in, sending him to the basketball Siberia of Memphis, Tennessee, where careers to go die. I mean, at least Blair gets to play with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, etc. Young is going to a team that was 24-58 last year and is most famous for helping the Lakers to the Finals last year and the title this year by gifting them Pau Gasol. Good luck with that.

Now, these two young men have to earn their contracts and their PT. There are no guarantees. They literally lost millions of dollars last night. For their sake, I hope they both attach super-size chips on their shoulder immediately. If not, they can give Chris Taft a call and compare stories of whose draft-day story was worse.

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17 comments:

BurressWithButterflywings said...

This was disappointing, but I would like to have a discussion regarding the most recent chapter in the saga of Ian Oquendo.

The legend himself REQUESTED to be demoted but there is nothing wrong with his pitching! No, it is the fans' and the media's fault for being so negative towars poor picked on Ian. Mind you this is coming from a guy who has been a true ray of sunshine himself over the last couple of years.

OH yeah, I forgot to mention he is 2-8 with a 5.63 ERA and is making $3.2 million dollars this season.

If you are reading this Ian, YOU SUCK! Now you will have someone to blame for your inability to harness your talent.

NickDawg said...

absolutely speechless. this was supposed to be a big day for the Pitt hoops program. Sam young was probably the most NBA ready player minus griffin. DeJuan will be a beast on the boards and ultimatley will learn a lot from a great team and franchise in the Spurs which will help him out in the long run. I think they will both make their teams and get paid but for them to fall that far is a bad day for the Pitt hoops program.

Steve said...

Snell is right up there with Derek Bell to me but instead of blaming the team and not playing at all, Snell is blaming the fans and collecting his even bigger paycheck while playing AAA ball.

I think not being able to cope with being told you suck at age 28 is going to a reoccurring problem for years to come from athletes that were brought up in the over-coddling world of t-ball soccer Mom's and the "everyone's a winner" mentality.

I'm sure in 2 years he'll suddenly discover he's gay too.

Crackhead said...

Someone needs to start looking into who is giving these kids from Pitt all of this 'good' advice. McCoy, Blair and Young all were drinking the First Round-flavored Kool-Aid and it bit them all in the @ss.

It can't be a coincidence...either they are getting bad advice or something is going on at Pitt that is driving them out.

Real McCoy said...

For Blair and Young let's hope they prove the GM's wrong and go on to great careers.

Like this former Pitt QB.

http://www.dolphinsinfo.com/marinop.htm

Do you think the Jets would have liked a 2nd chance on that choice?

Steve said...

"I would never be caught living in Pittsburgh. It's not my type of city." - Ian Snell

I guess the candy ass panzy from Dover, Delaware of all places, would prefer Philly, or even San Francisco perhaps?

Here's hoping ther door hits you in the ass real hard Ian, just the way you like it.

Chip said...

Speak for yourself. I'm not shocked where Blair and Young went in the least.

Blair is a good kid and I wish him well but he's a one dimensional player. He rebounds like a beast. But his post moves are average at best and his shooting is terrible. Why use a top pick on a 6th or 7th man with really bad knees?

I bet Blair plays 2-4 years in the NBA with very limited playing time, then finishes his athletic career over in Europe. I don't begrudge him wanting paid at all. But I'm sure in 30 years he'll look back and see 2008 was the best year of his athletic life.

Terry_Kelly said...

"Someone needs to start looking into who is giving these kids from Pitt all of this 'good' advice. McCoy, Blair and Young all were drinking the First Round-flavored Kool-Aid and it bit them all in the @ss. "


First of all, it's not like Young left early or anything. He was a senior. And he's 24.
Second of all, there was no real reason for McCoy to return to school. What would his goal have been? Win the National Championship? Win the Heisman? Well, Pitt's not winning anything next year, and since they won't be winning, McCoy wouldn't be up for the Heisman. The only thing that could have happened if he came back was getting injured.
And as for Blair . . . I'm going to scratch that one up to NBA GMs being dumb and talking themselves out of players. All he did was dominate the best conference in college basketball and literally flip the #2 pick in the draft over him. Besides, he couldn't have asked for a better team to go to than the Spurs.

Unknown said...

You don't think Pitt football would have won anything next year? Have you seen the schedule? Besides Notre Dame (@ Pitt), the non-Big East schedule is very weak and even though their QB situation is pretty bad, I definitely think Pitt had a good chance of winning the Big East (w/ McCoy) and playing in a BCS game. McCoy might not win the Heisman (especially because the winner is most always a QB these days), but you can't say he absolutely wouldn't have been a nominee if he had improved at all.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Pitt's schedule is embarassing this year... unforunately that will coincide with their QB play if they stick with Stull, another underachiever who doesn't care if the fans know he sucks.

Their defense might be pretty damn strong, but they have nobody to get the ball to the receivers.

Erik said...

Why would McCoy risk another year in College when he'll make money this year? As a running back, he only gets so many productive years.

Same with Blair. Now we know how much of an issue the ACL's (or lack of) are. Why would he risk playing another year in college when he'll get at least 450K in the NBA?

Blair's agent said he's still going for a guaranteed contract and since the Spurs didn't have a first rounder - he'll probably get it. If that's the case, what else could you ask for?

JW said...

Erik is right on the money--anyone who says Blair should've returned is insane. The one, and maybe only, reason Blair dropped were his knees. No team doctors would sign off on first round guarantees. Another year at Pitt would've only scared more teams away from drafting him at all--more wear and tear on the knees.

He gave Pitt two great years, and he wound up in the perfect spot--playing with Duncan, Parker, Ginobli and Jefferson, ALL he'll have to do is rebound his a$$ off, which is his specialty.

I'm grabbing a Blair Spurs jersey as soon as it hits shelves. SICK.

potus said...

"I can guarantee I will be a first round pick. Why would I stay?"

HaHa! Priceless from another self indulged hoopster. He will probably play his way onto the team (it could not have been much better for him in round 2 than San Antonio) but I would LOVE to have been a fly on the wall during his draft "party".

"Dejuan will not be making a comment" - Dejuan Blair's publicist.

Jeff_King_Fan said...

while all of you are talking about underachieving basketball/football programs at PITT & two of their "superstars", I will be focusing on the sports that really matter to the city.

Today marks the 15-day anniversary of the Pittsburgh Penguins winning one of the most thrilling game 7's in sports history & raising Lord Stanley.

The Steelers training camp is about a month away.

The Pirates have won 3 in a row. Now that is overachieving

The Duke from Dukes Court said...

I have no problem with Shady going in the 2nd round. He will make decent money and he had nothing more to prove in college. If Shady came back to Pitt all he would do is put himself at risk for an injury while earning
$0

Dave said...

@NickDawg
"NBA Ready" is code for close to his ceiling. He plays great defense, but defense is not something that gets you drafted in the first round. I think Sam will make a name for himself as a Bruce Bowen-type player who locks down the opposition's best shooter while having the ability to hit a big shot himself. Superstar? Not at all, but a solid 6th or 7th man.

NickDawg said...

Dave couldnt disagree with you more. NBA ready does not mean close to his ceiling, it means he has all the tools and game to step right in and contribute unlike all these european assholes who take years to do anything relevant in the NBA. Sam Young can run the floor, play defense and has a serviceable shot. There are not many players in this yrs draft that have all three of those components. Thats what NBA ready means.