Awful-0 Enters 2007 NBA Draft

Junior guard Arron Afflalo has declared for the 2007 NBA Draft, thus ending his career at fucla. Awful-0, as we like to call him here at USC Sports Talk, declared for the 2006 NBA Draft after his sophomore season. He later withdrew his name and decided to return to school for one more year. NCAA basketball players can only "test the waters" of the NBA draft once, and are not allowed to return to school after declaring a second time.

What this means is that fucla will not be as strong next year. The return of Awful-0 would have given them a better chance to return to the Final Four, but now they will have to compete without their leader. The downside is that we won't be able to heckle him next year after his second straight disappearing act in the semi-final game. We won't be able to give him one of these dejected images...


We'll just have to settle on tormenting Shipp, Roll, Mata, Love, and the rest of those rejects.

Fight On!

Who will be the 2007 NBA Draft's Early Entries?

Although the college basketball season just came to an end yesterday, it is never too early to look ahead to the next season. USC has two juniors in Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt that are both likely to "test the waters" in order get a feel for their stock. We will find out soon on which players across the country will declare for the 2007 NBA Draft, but remember players can withdraw from the draft up to a week before so long as they have not hired an agent. Florida and Ohio State will probably be hit pretty hard, and it's always interesting to see what happens in the Pac-10. So far Nick Young and Spencer Hawes seem to be the only locks for the 1st Round according to many experts, including yours truly, but Gabe Pruitt, Aaron Afflalo (Awful-0), and Arizona's Marcus Williams have a chance to play themselves into the 1st Round in the coming weeks. All of these Pac-10 guys might return to their respective schools next season so we'll just have to wait and see, but 'SC fans can expect to lose Nick Young. Here's how nbadraft.net projects the 1st Round of the draft.

1. Memphis Grizzlies, Greg Oden 7-0 250 C Ohio St. Fr.

2. Boston Celtics, Kevin Durant 6-10 220 SF Texas Fr.

3. Milwaukee Bucks, Brandan Wright 6-10 210 PF UNC Fr.

4. *Phoenix Suns, Al Horford 6-9 245 PF Florida Jr.
* Phoenix receives a first round pick from Atlanta (Joe Johnson trade 081905) The Suns will receive Atlanta's own first round pick no later than the 2008 NBA Draft. Protected through No. 3 in 2007 and has no protection in 2008.

5. Charlotte Bobcats, Yi Jianlian 7-0 230 PF China 1984

6. Philadelphia 76ers, Joakim Noah 6-11 230 PF Florida Jr.

7. Portland Trail Blazers, Jeff Green 6-8 235 SF Georgetown Jr.

8. Seattle Supersonics, Corey Brewer 6-8 185 SF Florida Jr.

9. Sacramento Kings, Roy Hibbert 7-2 278 C Georgetown Jr.

10. *Chicago Bulls, Hasheem Thabeet 7-3 265 C UConn Fr.
* Chicago has the right to swap first round picks in 2007 with New York Knicks (Eddy Curry trade 100405)

11. Minnesota Timberwolves, Spencer Hawes 6-11 250 C Wash. Fr.

12. *Atlanta Hawks, Mike Conley 6-1 180 PG Ohio St. Fr.
* Atlanta receives Indiana's 2007 first-round pick. (Al Harrington trade 082206) (Top 10 protected in 2007, top 8 in 2008, top 5 in 2009, and unprotected in 2010).

13. New Orleans Hornets, Al Thornton 6-8 220 SF/PF Florida St. Sr.

14. Golden State Warriors, Nick Young 6-6 200 SG USC Jr.

15. *Detroit Pistons, Derrick Byars 6-7 225 SG/SF Vand. Sr.
* Detroit receives a 2007 Orlando (top 5 protected) first-round pick. (Darko Milicic trade 021506)

16. New Jersey Nets, Marco Belinelli 6-6 200 SG Italy 1986

17. LA Clippers, Thaddeus Young 6-8 217 SF GT Fr.

18. *Philadelphia 76ers, Rudy Fernandez 6-6 172 SG Spain 1985
* Philadelphia acquires Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round draft picks Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson and Ivan McFarlin.

19. Miami Heat, Marc Gasol 7-0 270 C Spain 1985

20. LA Lakers, Acie Law 6-3 195 PG Texas A&M Sr.

21. Washington Wizards, Marcus Williams 6-7 207 SG Arizona So.

22. *Charlotte Bobcats, Nicolas Batum 6-8 210 SG France 1988
* Charlotte receive a future conditional Toronto first-round pick (lottery protected thru 2008). (Pavlovic trade 062204) via Cleveland receives a future Toronto first round pick (Lamond Murray trade 092502)

23. *New York Knicks, Josh McRoberts 6-10 240 PF Duke So.
* Chicago has the right to swap first round picks in 2007 with New York Knicks (Eddy Curry trade 100405)

24. *Phoenix Suns, Tiago Splitter 6-11 240 PF Brazil 1985
* Phoenix receives a first-round pick from Boston. (Rajon Rondo trade 062806) via Boston receives a 2007 Cleveland (top 10 protected) first-round pick. (Jiri Welsh trade 022405)

25. Houston Rockets, Arron Afflalo 6-5 215 SG UCLA Jr.

26. Detroit Pistons, Aaron Gray 7-1 280 C Pittsburgh Sr.

27. Utah Jazz, Morris Almond 6-6 214 SG Rice Sr.

28. San Antonio Spurs, Alando Tucker 6-5 210 SF Wisconsin Sr.

29. Phoenix Suns, Jason Smith 7-0 240 PF Colorado St. Jr.

30. *Philadelphia 76ers, Kyle Visser 6-11 250 C Wake Forest Sr.
* Philadelphia acquires Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round draft picks Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson and Ivan McFarlin. via Denver receives a first-round pick from Golden State. (Nikoloz Tskitishvili trade 022405) via Golden State receives a (protected) 2007 Dallas first-round pick. (Erick Dampier trade 082404)

I'll revisit this topic once the nba draft early entrants are finalized.

Fight On!!

Florida 76 ucla 66 --- Job Well Done Gators

Albert Gator was clapping in approval as his Gators "Roll"ed past the fucla on its way to the National Championship game versus Ohio State. All Mata could do was drape a towel over his head. How sweet was it to see Michael Roll crying like a baby, and the disappointment in Howland as he walks off the court after that major beat down. Here are some of my favorite images from Florida's triumph over the Ruins.

Go Gators

Go Florida!! Now we may be playing Florida in next year's BCS National Championship so don't get the wrong idea, I hate Florida and the SEC. I'm a big Florida fan on Saturday though. Albert marches on to face Georgetown or Ohio State! Fucla!!

Fight On!