Catching Up, Mock Draft 2.0

It has obviously been a while since my last post so I have a lot of catching up to do. My last post came right after Miami's Game 6 win over the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals. As everyone has seen, Miami went on to not only win Game 7 of that series, but they also eventually defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA Championship. So, congratulations to the Miami Heat on winning the second NBA title in franchise history. This title is also the first for LeBron James and should serve to silence his critics, at least for a little while - but it probably won't.

Also, today marks the 2012 NBA Draft where a number of new rookies will begin their NBA journey. Anthony Davis will undoubtedly be the top pick to the New Orleans Hornets but things will get interesting after that. One player who is quickly becoming one of my favorites in this draft is Thomas Robinson from Kansas. His story off the court has been well-documented (if you are unfamiliar, check it out here), but in this interview he talks about how he learned to not take anything for granted and how being drafted will affect him and his sister. Due to a recent event in my life I can definitely relate to his life lesson.

On the most recent episode of the ShoreBall Podcast Show, we released the second version of our NBA Mock Draft. Our selections are listed below and visit our show home page if you would like to listen to that episode and other archived episodes.

Team	Mike	Brad
1.  New Orleans	A. Davis, Kentucky	A. Davis, Kentucky
2.  Charlotte	M. Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky	H. Barnes, North Carolina
3.  Washington	T. Robinson, Kansas	B. Beal, Florida
4.  Cleveland	B. Beal, Florida	M. Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky
5.  Sacramento	H. Barnes, North Carolina	T. Robinson, Kansas
6.  Portland	D. Lillard, Weber State	A. Drummond, Connecticut
7.  Golden State	A. Drummond, Connecticut	A. Rivers, Duke
8.  Toronto	J. Lamb, Connecticut	D. Waiters, Syracuse
9.  Detroit	J. Henson, North Carolina	M. Leonard, Illinois
10.  New Orleans	T. Zeller, North Carolina	D. Lillard, Weber State
11.  Portland	A. Rivers, Duke	J. Lamb, Connecticut
12.  Milwaukee	M. Harkless, St. John’s	T. Zeller, North Carolina
13.  Phoenix HH	D. Waiters, Syracuse	K. Marshall, North Carolina
14.  Houston	P. Jones, Baylor	J. Henson, North Carolina
15.  Philadelphia	T. Ross, Washington	A. Moultrie, Mississippi State
16.  Houston	M. Leonard, Illinois	P. Jones, Baylor
17.  Dallas	K. Marshall, North Carolina	T. Ross, Washington
18.  Minnesota	R. White, Iowa State	M. Harkless, St. John’s
19.  Orlando	A. Moultrie, Mississippi State	M. Teague, Kentucky
20.  Denver	T. Jones, Kentucky	A. Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
21.  Boston	J. Sullinger, Ohio State	T. Jones, Kentucky
22.  Boston	A. Nicholson, St. Bonaventure	J. Sullinger, Ohio State
23.  Atlanta	J. Taylor, Vanderbilt	J. Taylor, Vanderbilt
24.  Cleveland	D. Green, Michigan State	D. Green, Michigan State
25.  Memphis	W. Barton, Memphis	W. Barton, Memphis
26.  Indiana	D. Lamb, Kentucky	T. Wroten, Washington
27.  Miami	F. Melo, Syracuse	F. Melo, Syracuse
28.  Oklahoma City	E. Fournier, France	D. Lamb, Kentucky
29.  Chicago	M. Teague, Kentucky	R. White, Iowa State
30.  Golden State	Q. Miller, Baylor	Q. Miller, Baylor

Did the light switch come on?

Jordan had the tongue wag . . .

Kobe has the 'grit face' . . .

And last night LeBron had this look . . .

No smile, no frustration, no expression whatsoever, just all business. And the results showed it - 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists. Numbers that only one other player in NBA history (Wilt Chamberlain) has matched in the playoffs. He set the tone early in the game with 30 points in the first half, making 12 of his 14 shot attempts. He finished the game missing only seven of his 26 shot attempts - his 73.1% shooting percentage was the best in his playoff career.

But more importantly than all the numbers, was the approach to the game. The 'look' illustrated the business-like, laser focus that the Heat and LeBron have seemingly lacked at times throughout this year. And similar to Jordan's tongue wag and Kobe's grit face, LeBron's stoic look put Boston on notice that they were in for a long night. Under the weight of a closeout game on the road and the immense pressure that he and this team has played under since his arrival in South Beach, LeBron showed up big . . . do I dare say, even clutch.

With that all said, Game 7 is Saturday night. After the huge, Game 6 performance, one of the biggest questions on everyone's mind was, "why doesn't LeBron do this every night?" Game 6 Lebron is the LeBron who can't be matched in terms of physicality, talent, and ability. That LeBron will need to show up again, complete with the look and focus and duplicate the same dominant performance in order to win Game 7 against the veteran Celtics team.

Oh and let's not forget about the 'Blake face' . . .

New Media Alert

Two more new articles have been posted . . .

USBasket:  More information concerning the ACPBL Summer League

USBasket:  Trailblazers' Summer Schedule

New Media Alert

Another new article has been posted . . .

USBasket:  ACPBL Summer League