The Lost Mariner Speaks

* I received the following essay from the lost mariner, First Mate Ken Griffey, Jr. RBP looks forward to future contributions from our wandering brother when he finishes circumnavigating the globe on his book tour. First Mate Griffey also wanted me to let our overseas readership know that he will be spending the next couple days in Cape Town, SA. So, if you or any of your friends are going to be in or around the Cape of Good Hope this weekend, feel free to check out First Mate Griffey over at The Looking Glass Lounge and Bookery at the corner of 18th and Cauliflower. He will be reading choice excerpts from his new book, Edward Gorey: through Space and Time, on Friday at 7p, Saturday at 2p and then again at 8p, and Sunday at 3p.



Arrggghhh, This Draft Be Smellier Than Davy Jones’ Locker:
A Wayward Mariner’s Take on the 2009 NBA Draft Class
by First Mate Ken Griffey, Jr.

I may be eating my words in a few years, so I'll try to make this short so as not to choke should I have to ingest said words at a later date. Put simply, this draft class is horrible. Analysts have complained that it was weak, and I've reviewed plenty of mocks, but for some reason, the deficit of talent hasn't really hit me until now. Maybe it's because my previous reviews of the mocks have been mostly to see where Patterson and Meeks were going, and I haven't really paid attention to everybody else. Or maybe it took the Admiral's keen analysis to grab my attention. Whatever the reason, I find myself highly disappointed in this year's crop.

The first and second picks, while not otherwordly, could turn out to be solid NBA talent. However, once I saw Jordan Hill's name at the 3-slot, my stomach started to turn. I can't personally speak to Mr. Hill's talents as I've had few opportunities to see him play. I do know that prior to this season, he was barely on the draft radar, and, compared with previous players chosen at this spot in the draft, he seems sub-par. Just in the past few years, players like 'Melo, Ben Gordon, and O.J. Mayo were selected in the same position, and at this point, it's hard to argue that Hill is in the same league as those guys.



I could feel the bile rising in my esophagus when I saw big crazy stiff man's name at the 4-spot going to the Thunder. If I'm putting together an NBA Live team (which of course is how I would run a franchise if I were a GM) I definitely don't want this guy on my team! The Thunder (who should've been called the Barons) have the makings of a mouth-watering Live squad. They're young, they're long, they're athletic...in short, I really really like this team. But throw Thabeet in the middle, even with their need for a center, and the whole NBA-Live-running-dunking-crazyathletic thing is thrown out the window. Sidenote: I almost cried when the Chandler trade was rescinded. That could've been a thing of beauty.

So far then, we have a relatively unknown (to me) at the number 3 spot, an awkward mojo wrecker at the 4, and that brings us to the Timberwolves. It can't really be argued that James Harden is a bad player, unworthy of a 5th pick in the draft. No, my problem is not with Mr. Harden, but with the lack of point guard talent that comes to light when you reflect on 'Sota's obvious need for a floor leader at the 1, and then realize that none of the PGs in this draft, outside of Rubio, are worthy of being selected this high. I see Lawson at the next spot down, and I liked what I saw from him in the NCAAs, but the last time the T-Wolves selected a guard from UNC, he just threw up the Roc sign a whole bunch, and nobody’s heard from him in a while.

The remainder of the first round is littered with similar situations - teams with certain positional needs who will probably resort to taking someone at a position they already have filled, simply because there are no players at the needed position worthy of being taken at that particular spot. Further evidence of this unenviable situation is reflected by Admiral Sax’s repeated use of some form of this phrase: “X team needs a (fill in position), but...”

Certainly, there have been worse draft classes than the one at hand. For proof, go back and take a look at the 2006 picks. That awful class even lacks a redemptive 2nd round pick, unless you consider Paul Millsap as such. Still, even with the existence of similarly shallow draft pools in the not-so-distant past, it saddens me that one of my favorite sports days of the year will be somewhat diluted by the lack of available talent. A truly interesting read would be a study of why draft talent ebbs and flows like it does, but that’s for someone with more time and a bigger brain to dissect.