Welcome to the 1994 Usenet Mock draft. For those of you new to the net let me take a moment to tell everyone just what will happen. We will follow the first round of the NBA draft as it was determined in the draft lottery. After the first round, teams that have no first round pick will get a chance to do a team analysis and pick a player. There are 4 teams this year with no first round pick (Charlotte, Cleveland, Utah and Houston). A fifth (Atlanta) may happen if the Clippers exercise their option to take Atlanta's first round pick. They have until June 1st to do so. If this happens, Atlanta will have the 30th pick in the Usenet draft and Houston will have the 31st. Now on to the draft. The draft lottery was held on Sunday May 22nd and was won by the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are represented on the net by: Bobby DavisWith the first pick, the Bucks select: Glenn Robinson, PF, 6-8. Purdue University. ======================================================================== Draft Analysis - MILWAUKEE BUCKS ================================ TEAM NEEDS ---------- The Bucks' needs may be summed up easily with three words: size, Size, SIZE! They allowed 103.4 points per game last year, which put them in the middle of the pack. However, this is partly due to game pace - a closer look at the numbers shows that only the Mavericks and Bullets allowed opponents to shoot for a higher percentage than did the Bucks, at 49.1%. The only true center on the roster at season's end was the ancient (and now ineffective) Mike Gminski. Vin Baker blocked 114 shots, but no one else on the squad had more than 55. They also ranked 17th in total rebounding percentage. Typical Bucks' luck - in a year in which they have the first draft pick, none of the three best players in the draft are dominant centers. At the close of the season, the Bucks looked like this: CENTER: Well, they don't really have one. But we'll go ahead and put Vin Baker here. Baker is a hard player to classify - he is almost seven feet tall but is very thin. He has a soft touch around the basket and came on strong, improving by leaps and bounds as the season progressed. He ended the season shooting 50% and leading the Bucks in rebounding and blocked shots. Baker erased any doubts about his ability to make the leap from small-time college competition at Hartford into the NBA. Again, though, he is not really a center. He is the player Brad Sellers was supposed to be but never became. POWER FORWARD: Again, it is hard to classify many of Milwaukee's players because they have a lot of 'tweeners. We'll call Ken Norman a power forward, although at 6'8" and 223 lbs he is a bit small to battle the Karl Malones of the league on even terms. Norman is a gutsy player and a hard worker who collects his share of rebounds (consistently above 450) and scores his share of points on transition and hustle baskets, as the Bucks (and the Clippers, his former team) never run plays for him. The Bucks also have Brad Lohaus, who is Vin Baker without the toughness, and Derek Strong, a banger who is also undersized to play this position. SMALL FORWARD: Blue Edwards regressed after a fine first season with the Bucks. Edwards, who came over in the trade which sent Jay Humphries to Utah, scored 17 a game on 51% shooting in 1992-93. He slipped somewhat last season, scoring just 11.6 on 48% shooting. Edwards is an athletic player who flourishes in transition - many of his problems last season can be attributed to the Bucks difficulty in rebounding, as you can't fastbreak if you don't cover the defensive boards. Edwards' contribution is scoring, as he is not a good defender and doesn't handle the ball well. He could be a great sixth man on a contending team, but in Milwaukee he is of limited use because of his one-dimensional game. SHOOTING GUARD: Todd Day has been every bit as erratic as Bucks' fans feared he would be when he was drafted two years ago. Day is an excellent athlete who, unfortunately, never met a shot he didn't like. Just like Blue Edwards, Day had worse numbers last year than the year before, and just like Edwards, the blame for this can be mostly attributed to the Bucks' rebounding woes. Day has never been a model citizen and if he does not show improvement this coming season, his days as a Buck may be coming to a close. Jon Barry is a great shooter by all reports, but considering that he shot 42% in college and 37% and 41% the last two NBA seasons, you'd be hard pressed to support that claim. He does display good court sense and could turn into a decent role player, but he is not good enough to play heavy minutes in the NBA. POINT GUARD: Probably the strongest position on the team. Eric Murdock led the team in scoring and assists while shooting 47%. These are roughly the same numbers he put up in 1992-93, so he looks like he has established himself at that level. He is also a tenacious defender who collects lots of loose balls with his quick hands. He is ably backed up by Lee Mayberry. Mayberry is a bit small and is not a great defender. He also had a poor year shooting the ball, but as a backup point guard he is adequate. MY SELECTION: ------------- Glenn Robinson, forward, Purdue. Clearly the best player in this draft, regardless of what the Kidd-supporters out there say. Robinson isn't a shot-blocker but we'll go with Best Player Available instead of Largest Player Available in this case. He can certainly do everything else, and will probably become the biggest star in Milwaukee since Kareem. OTHERS CONSIDERED: ------------------ No one, really. Kidd and Grant Hill are the next two best players, and neither are in Robinson's class (imo). WHO THEY'LL PROBABLY TAKE: -------------------------- Robinson. OTHER MOVES: ------------ Given that they need size, it is possible they could trade the pick and try to end up in Juwan Howard territory (fourth or fifth pick). They could also try and get some more size in trade. But I really doubt they will do anything except say "Glenn Robinson" on June 29th. ========================================================================