NBA News: Mock Draft Included

Well, well, well...It's a big day to be a Kentucky fan and an NBA fan. It's a big day to be a fan of both for a couple of reasons: Rondo is leading the Celtics to the NBA Finals and there will multiple Wildcats picked in the first round of the NBA draft. There are likely to be three in the top 10:

• NBC Sports has Kentucky players going in these spots to these teams: 1). John Wall to the Wizards; 4). DeMarcus Cousins to the Timberwolves; 9). Patrick Patterson to the Jazz (Monster Mash just had a party in his pants if you know what I mean); 13). Daniel Orton to the Raptors; 22). Eric Bledsoe to the Blazers. The entire mock draft can be viewed here. For some strange reason Samardo Samuels was not included in the top 30. I guess it is because he sucks.


• The Celtics are going to face either the Lakers (probably the Lakers) or the Suns in the NBA finals. They look too damn good to lose at this point. Despite 30 points from Dwight Howard, the Celtics out played the Magic in game 2 in Orlando. That's right, in Orlando. Paul Pierce had 28 points and Rajon Rondo had 25 points and 8 assists. Rondo is running this team with total confidence. I am going to say it: Rajon Rondo is the best pure point guard in the NBA.


• The Lakers are going up against the Suns tonight and I envision another Laker victory. Kobe decided after a lackluster first round that he wants to play basketball again. The Lakers have looked dominant ever since they dropped 2 games to the Thunder in the first series. I think that we are on a collision course for a Celtics vs. Lakers finals series and oh how much fun will that be?

Russ Smith: A Knee to Know Basis

Louisville Idol Russ Smith underwent minor knee surgery Monday to repair small tears in his medial and lateral meniscus. He is expected to be back in full form sometime around July 4th (5 weeks). I imagine we'll see his YouTube account flourish with new exciting videos. I am putting my request in for Russ and his mom to sing Paparazzi by Lady Gaga... it'll be very relevant for Louisville and Pitino in July.

The Wizardly Ways of John Wall

Alakazaam! John Wall takes the Wizards to the playoffs!!

Last night's NBA lottery showed the Washington Wizards as being the team that will select the first pick in the NBA draft on June 24th. The current Wizards roster does not include an all world point guard. Gilbert Arenas played point at times (though he did not this past year, bang! bang!) but he is better suited as a shooting guard. This makes the sporting world 99% certain that University of Kentucky's John Wall will be selected as the #1 pick. The Wizards had a 10.3% chance of winning the lottery and they did to the surprise of many, which makes the lottery great.

Wall fever was already sweeping the nation last night. Pardon the Interruption's Mike Wilbon was visibly excited that DC won the lottery. Wilbon is a Chicago native but currently resides in the Nation's Capital. He was on set during the half time show of last night's NBA playoffs and stated, "I guess I am going to have to learn the dance." At that point Wilbon, along with his co hosts Magic Johnson and Stewart Scott, started to do the John Wall dance. Magic then went on to say that Wall was the most explosive player that he has seen in college in a long time and how he will be an instant star.

Wall fever even hit the political landscape. MSNBC analyst Chuck Todd said last night on Countdown with Keith Oblermann that the only thing that Washington has to be excited about at this point is that John Wall is going to be a Wizard. The expectations are already there, all he has to do now is play.

Wall is coming into a situation where a rebirth needs to occur. The Wizards are coming off a season to forget with the suspension of Gilbert Arenas due to Gungate and the departure of long time Wizard Antwan Jamison. The Wizards owner also recently passed away, leaving a void in the organization. Wall will be seen as a new, exciting face. His energy and passion is just what the Wizards need at this point. Growing pains will be tolerated but not for long. The last time the Wizards had a #1 draft pick was with Michael Jordan selecting Kwame Brown, who is now residing in "where are they now" land.

Until he plays his first game Wall will be the toast of the town. He will be the new face of the franchise and one of the new faces of Nike. Let the good times roll! I just hope they keep rolling into a good first season for him.

SportsThat: NBA Draft Lottery Live Blog

Terrence Jones Signs TOMORROW

This is not a test. Terrence Jones will decide tomorrow... no more false alarms!!!

Tomorrow is the last day of the late signing period and the last chance for anyone to get official closure of where they will attend college. If a player doesn't sign tomorrow, they can officially attend any college in the country as long as they sign a financial aid/scholarship form and show up for classes in September. The financial aid form isn't binding and only limits a player from going to another school in the same conference (i.e. Brandon Knight).

So the currently undecideds can remain so for 4 more months. This has led many bloggers and journalist to believe Terrence Jones won't sign a LOI and will simply show up on campus and announce in that manner.

However, today Terrence Jones told the Oregonian that he will "definitely sign tomorrow." He still has not given any clue as to where he will go, but we will know something for sure tomorrow (it feels nice that that is the last time I may have to write that sentence)- at least given he does actually sign.

What's at stake at the Belmont Stakes?

With Looking At Lucky's win at the Preakness last Saturday, the Triple Crown of Racing all but guaranteed that a large percentage of the viewers will not tune in on June 5 to watch the Belmont.

Now that the news has come out that both Super Saver and Looking At Lucky have declined to run in the Belmont, will anyone outside of the avid horse racing fan even care who wins the third leg of the Triple Crown?

The University of Kentucky Basketball/NBA Lottery

That's right Sportsthat Nation, it's time for the NBA Lottery and we can have a mental image of where our boys in blue will be playing this fall. The Lottery pregame analysis will start at 7:30 p.m. and the actual lottery will start at 8:00 p.m., both programs are on ESPN.

There will be 14 teams taking place in the lottery tonight and there are 1,000 different scenarios that could happen. Here are the 14 teams and their percentage of getting the first pick. These teams are determined by their regular season records or by any trades that they may have been involved in:

New Jersey Nets: 25%

Minnesota Timberwolves: 19%

Sacramento Kings: 15%

Golden State Warriors: 10%

Washington Wizards: 10%

Philadelphia Sixers: 5%

Detroit Pistons: 5%

LA Clippers: 2%

Utah Jazz: 2%

Indiana Pacers: 1%

New Orleans Hornets: .8%

Memphis Grizzlies: .7%

Toronto Raptors: .6%

Houston Rockets .5%

Obviously the Nets have the most balls in the machine while the Rockets have the fewest. What is great about the lottery is that a team like the Jazz has a chance at the #1 pick and they are coming off of a playoff berth in which they went to the second round. This can make a good team even better. This also puts doubt as John Wall as the #1 pick. If the Jazz, the Clippers, or the Hornets get it, look for DeMarcus Cousins to make a play for the #1 overall guy. Those previous mentioned teams have well established point guards in Deron Williams, Baron Davis and Chris Paul.

Stay tuned for the news about the draft tomorrow! Go Cats!

Draft percentages brought to you by this nifty website.