SB Nation - C.J. Miles

It's Safe to Say That J.J. Redick is Figuring Things Out in the NBA

erivera7 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:05:23 -0000

More photos » by Phelan M. Ebenhack - AP

There's one player on the Orlando Magic roster who's been turning heads lately - no, not Dwight Howard - and his name is J.J. Redick. Last night against the Utah Jazz, Redick came off the bench and torched Jerry Sloan's defense to the tune of 20 points. And Redick did it in an extremely efficient manner (7-9 FG, 2-2 3PT, 4-4 FT). Efficiency is the name of the game in the NBA and for Redick, he provided a textbook example of how to not waste possessions on offense. Nearly every time Redick attempted a shot in yesterday's contest, he put points on the scoreboard. Thing is, Redick has been doing this all season - he leads the Magic with an Offensive Rating of 125.2 (3rd in the Association and ranked better than some guy named Steve Nash). That's excellent.

Against the Jazz, Redick scored in a variety of ways (via Hoopdata):

	FGM-A	AFGM*	eFG%
At Rim	3-3	1	100.0%
10-15 Feet	1-1	0	100.0%
16-23 Feet	1-3	0	33.3%
Threes	2-2	2	150.0%

*Assisted Field Goals Made

In the second quarter, Redick got things going with a jumper off the dribble after Utah's rookie Wesley Matthews, the player defending him, gave him too much space to work with. A few possessions later, and with the shot clock winding down, Redick made a very difficult, off-balance three to beat the buzzer after the Jazz played perfect team defense for 23 seconds. Can't be too surprised that Redick made the shot, given that he's been on a shooting tear lately. With the period winding down, Redick once again operated off the dribble and was able to penetrate into the lane for a layup. What's interesting about this particular play is the fact that Redick was clearly looking to pass before he, at the very last minute, decided to put up the attempt. Whatever works.

Redick didn't re-enter the game until the start of the fourth quarter and it didn't take him too long to score again, as he was able to make a jumpshot off the dribble along the baseline after being set up by a screen from Dwight Howard. A 2/5 pick & roll, in other words. After a few minutes, Redick was able to make another layup off the dribble after being aggressive and attacking the basket. Redick followed that with a three in the corner off a pass from Anthony Johnson on the fast break.

Confidence.

That's the word that perfectly explains why Redick has been playing so well on offense since the start of the regular season. Redick is developing some swagger, too.

There's one more play that epitomizes the confidence Redick has been displaying on offense. For the first time since I've been writing at Orlando Pinstriped Post, I'm going to go breakdown this possession frame-by-frame.

FRAME 1: Orlando sets up in a 4-out/1-in offensive set. With Howard posted up, Utah decides to double-team him with Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams. There's a few things to notice in this screenshot. Despite being double-teamed, Howard has an unobstructed angle to potentially pass to Redick and they both know that (look at Redick's posture; he's getting ready to make a move). C.J. Miles, at the same time, is looking directly at Howard and not keeping an eye on either Redick or Johnson in the corner.

FRAME 2: Howard passes the ball. As such, Miles gambles and sprints to Johnson but makes the wrong decision. Miles realizes, albeit a little too late, that Redick is cutting to the basket.

FRAME 3: Redick is left unimpeded in the lane ...

FRAME 4: ... and scores.

If there's one thing to take away from the Magic's game against the Jazz, it's that Redick is proving to be more than a spot-up shooter. Redick can score off the dribble and opposing defenses are going to have to start realizing that.

Orlando Magic 104, Utah Jazz 99

Ben Q Rock — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:12:26 -0000

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Propelled by Dwight Howard's lockdown defense and J.J. Redick's explosive scoring, the Orlando Magic gutted out another tough win at home, this time over the Utah Jazz by a 104-99 score. Howard's 5 blocked shots go "hand-in-hand" in limiting Utah to 28 points in the paint and 40.4% overall shooting, said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. Redick poured in 20 points off the bench, second on the team only to Howard, who scored 21, primarily at the foul line. This neck-and-neck game saw 19 lead changes and 18 ties, and Orlando only gained control for good after Rashard Lewis and Redick sank consecutive three-pointers with less than 5 minutes to play.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Jazz	105	93.9	44.4%	22.5	18.2	16.1
Magic	91	114.0	55.3%	47.0	14.3	17.5
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

As exciting as the game was in the end, it got off to an uneven start as both teams looked sluggish in the first half. Sure, it had its moments, like Redick's deep, off-balance three-pointer to beat the shot-clock buzzer halfway through the second period, but by and large both teams just felt each other out in a dull way. Orlando out-shot the Jazz handily, but Utah's 8 extra possessions helped it muster a 40-all tie at the half.

No, the fireworks didn't begin until the third period, which saw referee Sean Corbin eject Magic point guard Jason Williams on two quick techincal fouls during what appeared to be a reasoned enough conversation, as Williams pled his case after Corbin whistled him for fouling Utah's Deron Williams. Deron Williams' shot counted, and he drained both technical foul shots as well as the and-one, giving the Jazz a rare five-point possession. The quick ejection fired up the Amway Arena crowd, which stirred in the first half when the 6'04" Redick was called for a loose-ball foul trying to box out the Jazz's 6'11" Mehmet Okur, who leaned on Redick and nearly forced him to the ground. Mickael Pietrus, who hardly registered in the first half, drilled a three-pointer and got an easy dunk off a great feed from the double-teamed Howard. Both plays gave the Magic a one-point lead. The Magic also forced Utah to commit 7 turnovers in that quarter, after forcing just 6 in the entire first half. Van Gundy didn't think his team did anything differently, though, and said, "we're not really forcing turnovers, quite honestly. Teams are turning the ball over because we're more compact and trying to hold down field goal percentage and rebound the ball." He also said he thought the Magic are last in the league in forcing turnovers (they are, naturally; no detail escapes Van Gundy) because "it's not an emphasis of ours."

Redick didn't play in the third period, but started the fourth, joining Anthony Johnson--who did not appear in the first three quarters--in the backcourt. Redick's 11 points in the 4th were key, and it got to the point that Van Gundy left him in the game and subbed starting shooting guard Vince Carter at small forward because, said Van Gundy, "there was no way I was taking J.J. out." It was a risky move on his part because it left Carter guarding Andrei Kirilenko, to whom Carter yields 3 inches. Kirilenko made three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, two of them with Carter in the game. But Van Gundy's gambit ultimately paid off. Redick scored enough to compensate for whatever Carter gave up to Kirilenko on the other end. Plus, Carter drew the defense and assisted on the aforementioned Lewis three-pointer that broke the 86-all tie. He drove from the right side and found Lewis wide-open in the left corner. Ronnie Brewer, who was guarding Redick on the left wing at the time, tried to close hard on Lewis, but he couldn't get there quickly enough. There was a time early in his Magic career when Lewis would have seen Brewer charging at him and made the extra pass to Redick for the shot, but firing away himself was the proper move in this instance. There's no need to exchange one wide-open look for another. Lewis, by the way, scored 18 points. Let's see how many times this year he plays a key role and I manage to bury his contributions in the nether portions of the recap, shall we?

Orlando's offensive display in the fourth quarter, in which it scored 34 points, demonstrated how dangerous it can be when its shots drop and when it plays great defense. Sure, Utah scored 31 points of its own. However, 3 of those came on a meaningless, uncontested trey by C.J. Miles at the final horn, and the Magic can live with Kirilenko, who sports a career 30.9% three-point mark, teeing off from deep. What Van Gundy was most pleased with was, again, his players' ability to control the paint. Deron Williams was hardly able to get into the lane, which shut down Utah's drive-and-kick game and instead forced the Jazz into taking mid-range jumpers. Generally, it's the least efficient shot in basketball, but power forwards Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap have it in their arsenal, which makes it a good--but not great--option for the Jazz every so often. Incidentally, Millsap led all scorers with 23 points in just 26 minutes, shooting 9-of-12 from the field. Public address announcer Paul Porter became audibly more disgusted with each successive Millsap bucket.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, though, must have been beside himself with each Redick basket. Redick said after the game "I'm not a guy who can afford to fall behind" in terms of game conditioning, so he must compensate by working hard and playing smart. He did so tonight. What's impressed me is his ability to create for himself off the dribble. One of the knocks on him coming out of college, and a criticism that persisted through last season, is that he's neither tall enough nor athletic enough to get shots off against NBA-caliber athletes and defenders. He's slowly but surely been able to convince me otherwise. Twice tonight he ran a pick-and-roll with Howard and got open shots for himself as a result, just by using some well-timed hesitation dribbles to fool his defender into thinking he was ready to pass to Howard on the roll. He displayed his awareness again at the 3:17 mark of the fourth quarter, when he cut hard from the right wing to the basket once his man left him to double Howard, who had the ball in the left mid-post. Howard found Redick, who laid it in softly for a 5-point Magic lead. He's shown tremendous confidence in the last several games, and throughout the whole season, really. He attributed the confidence boost to some good all-around performances in last year's playoffs, which carried over into his offseason workouts and preparation. Van Gundy said Redick "is playing with great confidence, and with good reason," later adding that "we have great confidence in him." I don't think anyone saw Redick's emergence coming, save for perhaps Redick himself.

When Van Gundy said, "If we continue to play with this kind of focus and intensity, then we're going to be in pretty good shape," he was probably right. Carter shot just 5-of-15 for 18 points (though Van Gundy praised his decision-making in crunch time), Jameer Nelson missed all 6 of his shots in his first 14 minutes of playing time in 5 weeks, and neither backup power forwards Ryan Anderson or Brandon Bass tallied a field goal. However, Orlando came through with a great showing on both sides of the ball. The Magic just might be turning the corner here on this homestand.

My thoughts on Nelson? He played a decent game, and looked excellent running two fast-breaks with Bass late in the third quarter. Johnson got the call at point guard over Nelson in the fourth quarter because, according to Van Gundy, Nelson's "decisions on when to shoot and when to pass were not real good, and that's to be expected." He said Nelson played "pretty well" overall and displayed "good quickness."

Utah Jazz 120, Orlando Magic 111

Ben Q Rock — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:17:48 -0000

More photos » by Steve C Wilson - AP

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Hot three-point shooting and excellent execution helped the Orlando Magic lead the Utah Jazz by as many as 18 points tonight, but Utah exposed Orlando's soft interior defense to work its way back into the game and eventually win it, 120-111, to snap Orlando's 8-game road winning streak and dash the Magic's hopes of improving to 18-4 for the first time in franchise history. Deron Williams became the latest point guard to exploit the Magic, carrying the scoring load--a team-high 32--with a combination of jumpers and aggressive drives while distributing the ball to tally 15 assists to 1 turnover. Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 14 rebounds for Utah, which rebounded after an atrocious loss to the L.A. Lakers last night. Vince Carter's 34 points paced Orlando, which also got solid production (47 points on 70.3% eFGs), but the Magic's inability to get a stop in the second half cost them the game.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	94	117.9	55.3%	35.5	13.2	13.8
Jazz	93	128.5	53.6%	35.7	27.1	6.4
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

Orlando took its largest lead, 51-33, at the 7:11 mark of the second quarter, when Anthony Johnson drained his 7th and 8th free throws of the season. Utah closed the half on a 19-9 run, then blew the game open in the third quarter, outscoring Orlando by 38-21 to take firm control of the game.

Utah overcame that 18-point deficit with both its defense and offense. The Jazz ran extra defenders at Magic center Dwight Howard all game long, and at odd intervals, so as to keep him guessing. This approach limited Howard to 18 points in 44 minutes, and forced him to commit 3 turnovers. Utah dared Orlando's perimeter scorers to deliver, and some of them did: Carter, as mentioned, had 34, while Ryan Anderson scored 16. Reserve Matt Barnes did most of his work inside and in transition, but ultimately, the Jazz's defensive scheme worked. The Magic were out-of-sorts at times, which isn't always a problem when they're playing great defense.

But that's just it. They didn't.

Williams orchestrated the Jazz's offense beautifully. 15 assists against 1 turnover in 42 minutes? For a point guard who took 18 shots form the field and 15 at the line? He played essentially mistake-free tonight, and it showed. His teammates played well, too. They knew where they needed to be, Williams delivered the ball, and scored. Maybe that's reductive, but goodness, the Jazz made everything look easy tonight. That 18-point deficit had more to do with Orlando's hot outside shooting than it did with anything the Jazz were doing wrong offensively.

Howard was a step slow defending the paint all night, which has become a disturbing trend. Boozer and Williams hooked up on the pick-and-roll successfully numerous times. Williams' dribble-penetration also drew Magic defenders from the weak-side, freeing Jazz wingmen to sneak along the baseline for a layup.

Ultimately, the game came down to which team cooled off first. Orlando's three-pointers didn't drop in the second half, while the Jazz continued apace with their points in the paint and surprisingly effective midrange game.

The lightly regarded reserve swingman C.J. Miles scored the quietest 22 points off the bench I've ever seen, and he wound up icing the game with a three-pointer to beat the shot clock at the 1:03 mark of the game, giving Utah an insurmountable 114-103 lead.

Now, this is not the sort of game where the Magic can say, "hey, we played well, they played better." That's simply not the case. The game wasn't as close as the final margin might indicate, as the Jazz surrendered layup after layup in the waning minutes in order to keep Orlando from bombing its way back into the game with three-pointers. 8 points in the final minute for the Magic, and they were all academic.

Utah just utterly outclassed the Magic tonight. They worked harder, from tip to horn, than Orlando did. Their effort paid off when they locked down on defense, while their offense sustained. For example: Orlando is among the league's worst offensive reobunding teams, and by choice; coach Stan Van Gundy likes to send four men back after the shot's release in order to cut down on the opponent's transition game. But they're much better on the glass than the Jazz made 'em look tonight. In the second half, in which Utah outscored Orlando, 68-51, the Magic grabbed 1 offensive rebound in 21 opportunities. One-and-done for them on offense.

The Magic never really strung together any meaningful stops, and looked overmatched defensively the entire night. This is, in brief, a disconcerting loss. If there's a positive spin, it's that Barnes played solid defense on Williams during the game's closing minutes as Orlando tried to rally. I had no idea Barnes had that defensive skill in 'im, so, uh, yeah. There's that.

In a lot of ways, this game was the polar opposite of the Magic's road win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thanksgiving. Atlanta shot its way to an early lead, but the Magic's shut its offense down in the second half, worked harder in every phase of the game, and won going away. In general--and this is a subject I'd like to cover in better detail soon--the Magic tend to jump out to early leads on the road, then let the opponent get back into it. The TNT cameras cut to Van Gundy tonight after a late-first-half Jazz bucket lamenting his team's "playing the scoreboard;" I'm not an expert lip-reader, but I'm darn near 100% positive that's what he said, because it's one of his favorite phrases and because it applies. Orlando's an excellent road team, but it wasn't going to continue winning 10 games out of 12 squandering leads like that. It caught up with the Magic tonight, and maybe they'll learn from it. Maybe not.

There's no time to worry about the loss, though. Orlando plays again tomorrow night at Phoenix, one of the league's most dynamic offensive teams. Howard (44 minutes) and Carter (38) were pressed into long duty tonight, so it's up for the Magic's other players to pick up the slack, if there is any. Rashard Lewis, who managed 10 points in 27 minutes tonight due to foul trouble and personal preference, is a prime candidate.

Utah Jazz Halloween Pics

Basketball John — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:19:11 -0000

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UPDATE FROM CJ's FB Pic

Korver - Zach Morris

CJ - Kanye

Ronnie P - Taylor Swift

Wes Matthews - Hancock

Fess - Beetle Juice

Kosta - Harry Potter

Maynor - Batman

Ronnie B - Wolf

Millsap - T-Pain

Deron - Bob from Martin (Wikipedia),

Bob: A white man who worked in the marketing department of Gina's company who is best described as a stereotypical surfer-dude-cum-redneck. He spoke in a Southern Californian accent mixed with a Southern twang and often used words like "dude" and "man" even in professional settings. Lawrence achieved his appearance as this character with stage make-up and a prosthetic nose attachment to make him appear white, as well as wearing a long, blond mullet wig to complete the look. He only appeared in the first two seasons.

More pics after the jump...

(orig)

So we have Korver as ...? CJ as Kanye and Fesenko as Beetle Juice.

And we have this pic of Kosta Koufos as Harry Potter

Any guesses on the rest of them? Ronnie P? Deron???? Wes Matthews? Millsap in the wolf/grandmother clothing? Is that suppose to be Lil Wayne? And is that white face?

Looking at some of the other pics on Facebook, it looks like Maynor is Batman and Millsap is Lil Wayne. Can't tell if Brewer is the Wolf then.

That has to be Deron and Ronnie P up front, right?

Here's Fess up close,

And one more

CJ Miles out with a ruptured left thumb ligament

Basketball John — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:41:45 -0000

More photos » by Douglas C. Pizac - AP

2 months ago: FILE -- This is a Sept. 29, 2008, file photo showing Utah Jazz basketball player C.J. Miles during NBA basketball media day in Salt Lake City. Jazz shooting guard C.J. Miles has a ruptured ligament in his left thumb and will need surgery. The Jazz say Miles injured his shooting hand in a fall during practice Monday, Oct. 5, 2009, at London's O2 Arena, where Utah plays the Chicago Bulls in a preseason game Tuesday.(AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)

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Bad news already,

LONDON (October 5, 2009) - Utah Jazz guard/forward C.J. Miles suffered a ruptured left thumb ligament during practice today at London's O2 Arena and will require surgery to repair the ligament, Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor announced today. Miles was examined by team orthopedist Dr. Lyle Mason and is expected to return to Salt Lake City to have the procedure performed.

A report on the surgery and an estimated timeline for recovery will be provided following the procedure.

This just can't be happening, right? From @lockedonsports updates, it looks like he could be out anywhere from 7-9 weeks. And then how long does it take for him to get back into shape and into the flow of things again?

Maybe this speeds up a Boozer trade for a shooting wing? Or will the Jazz just stay pat? I think you know what they'll do.

Here's to a speedy recovery.

The Downbeat - 18 September 2009 - #60 - The Last Friday Of No NBA Action Edition

Basketball John — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:00:58 -0000

The city of Calabasas (where Bryon lives) interviewed Russell where he re-issued hi challenge to MJ. What's the minimum that Jordan plays for? Think he has to have some money on the line? Do you think he would donate it to charity or would he keep it?

These aren't any earth-shattering revelations, and really this could apply to any team, but here's a list of some of the things we need to happen this season for the Jazz to really contend,

Stay healthy. Every team has their share of injuries, but last year's team had limbs falling off left and right.
We need an explosion - Someone outside of Deron has to just blow up and really break out. Whether Boozer is here or not, this has to happen. Either Millsap has to push it to All-star levels, CJ getting crazy, AK returning to 2004 form, something. We'll still have a solid season, but to be contenders, we have to have this.
Win on the road - We don't know why they can't win on the road. My guess is that it's just a mentality. Whatever the routine is on the road, it needs to change. Follow the advice of George Costanza and just do the opposite. If everything you've done on the road is wrong, then do the opposite. Change the food you eat. Change the music you listen to. Something.

If we had those things last year, that's good for another 5-8 wins and I don't think that's an exaggeration. If we pulled out a couple more at home and even if we finished just 20-21 on the road, that's 2nd place in the west.

We're not that far off. We do need something to push us over the top though.

One week until media day for the Jazz.

In case you missed it on twitter, here's an interview with CJ Miles on No Look Pass. Chronicles of Crotty is one of the coolest names I've ever heard.

So I'm going to retire the Boozer face(s) for the While You Were Sleeping segment. I was expecting him to sign on with some other blog, but he turns around at the last minute and opts back in. So I just bought him out.

Who should replace him? Fess? Koof? D-Will? Should we put it up for a vote?

Poll

Who should replace Booze for the While You Were Sleeping Segment?

D-Will

12 votes

Memo

5 votes

CJ

0 votes

AK

7 votes

Ronnie P

4 votes

Ronnie B

4 votes

Harp

1 votes

Millsap

11 votes

KOOF

22 votes

Maynor

1 votes

Korver

2 votes

Fesenko

10 votes

79 votes | Poll has closed

The Downbeat - 18 August - The Ukraine Is Weak? Edition

Basketball John — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:06:35 -0000

Fesenko's summer has gone from bad to worse. He declined playing for the Jazz in the summer league so that he could play for the Ukrainian national team. When he committed to the team though, the Jazz still hadn't picked up his option yet. While playing in the Euro Championships, his playing time diminished until he was eventually benched. Then, according to Ross Siler, he left the team. They then went on to beat Hungary and avoided getting sent down to the B league.

Fess has not had very good summers at all. Last year was the whole bleached hair debacle. His first summer was the summer of Millsap and Almond. He's never really gotten off on the right foot. This year he looks like he's going to be the 13th man.

I don't know how this year is going to be any different for the big man. He's going to be buried on the bench. Unless he suddenly turns into Shaq during training camp, he's not sniffing any hardwood.

Man, I would love to see this kid blow up this year (and the half court alley-oop wasn't on the NBA's top ten alley-oops of the year). Kiss Sloan's butt in training camp and practice please.

Given that training camp doesn't start for another month, there's lots of time to speculate what we'll see. The biggest story, unfortunately, will be Carlos Boozer. I hope it dies quickly though. I want to hear about the Ronnie P/Maynor competition, the KOOF's development, and what Deron thinks about VoteDeron.com (not up yet, but it will be by then).

Utah Flash Pres. Joe Brown getting tased...

The good thing about Sloan not knowing about Twitter? He can't ban it. Hopefully Fess will get a real account and post from the sidelines during games. He could tell Sloan he's computerizing some game plans or something and Jerry would get all confused and give him the "Ahh, forget it" way off.

The Downbeat - 17 August - The 8 Is The New 3 Edition

Basketball John — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:50:43 -0000

If the salary cap were no issue, what is the max you would pay Deron Williams a season?

Mark my words, you have not seen the last of Jarron Collins in a Jazz uniform. He'll be a pickup after the trade deadline. He will be at the least a 10-day contract and will probably sign an option to finish out the season.

Thanks to Moneyman Memo for this idea. Having #8 instead of #3 is a stroke of genius. I think it looks pretty good.

From CJ Miles last night while he and Deron were at Rodizio Grill (not The Cheesecake Factory? Weird): "I ain't gonna lie I missed Tha 801"

As long as we're on tweets, Deron had one that he's since deleted, "Is any body ready for the f$%&in' season to start?????? sorry but I am so ready!!!!!!! I can't wait......" I think it echoes everyone's sentiments exactly.

Luhmmy has an article about John Stockton's son David walking on at Gonzaga this year. Another son, Michael, plays at Westminster here in the SLC. I can't imagine having to live up to the expectations of being one of John Stockton's boys and playing basketball. Their family handles it very well though.

It seems to be the same for most pro athletes though. Being Jordan's son, John Elway's son, etc. I couldn't think of any father/son superstars. The reverse seems true too. Those that didn't have star fathers end up being better than their father. The Currys might be an example. Ronnie B will end up being better than his dad.

Karl has a couple of very athletic kids. Wonder if he's still ignoring the one?

Jazz player finally on Twitter - C.J. Miles

Basketball John — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:32:50 -0000

via s3.amazonaws.com

Looks like we finally have our first confirmed Jazz man on Twitter. C.J. Miles just started up late last night.

Looks like he's in the NJ/NY area working out. His iPhone is also placing him there

Now if we could just get @the_real_sloan going.

Follow CJ here.

2005 NBA Draft Second Round Re-draft: Part 1 (Revised)

Jon L — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:41:15 -0000

Where would Monta Ellis be drafted if the second round of the 2005 NBA draft got a do-ver?

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Scott's comment about the 2005 draft in today's earlier post gave me the idea that folks could probably use a do-over. But here at Ridiculous Upside we're all (mostly) about the D-League, so I'll just be re-drafting the second round. Sorry, Atlanta Hawks. There were a lot of quality guys drafted in that round or not drafted at all, so I thought it would be interesting to give them a better shot at making a roster than they originally got. This turned out long though, even for me, so I split it up into two parts since this is already late going up. I'll give a team's original pick first, then some analysis of what the team probably needed instead, then give my new pick. And remember, I'm going to assume the first round went the same way as it really did, so guys like Monta Ellis and Brandon Bass are still available.

Part 1 is after the jump. Part 2 will go up tomorrow.

**Now with correct information**

31. Phoenix Suns (original pick - Salim Stoudamire)

I didn't think Stoudamire was a terrible pick at the time, though if he were a wrestler his current whereabouts would be "parts unknown." He was briefly with the Spurs last year, but is currently out of the league. It also wasn't a bad pick on the Suns' end, as he was a good shooter in college and at the time they liked shooters. Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of other shooters available. There is a guy who went undrafted, though, and got some D-League experience (see how this ties in?) before making it to the NBA, where he shot almost 45 percent on three-pointers last season: Kelenna Azubuike

32. Los Angeles Clippers (original pick - Daniel Ewing)

Daniel Ewing's another "where are they now" guy. Looking at the '05-'06 Clippers roster, they could have used a little more depth at shooting guard and center. Ronnie Price went undrafted that year, though he's been used more as a point guard in Utah. Same with Lou Williams in Philadelphia. So is the guy I'm going to pick for them, though he's more of a hybrid anyway, and would form maybe the most differently-heighted backcourt ever with Shaun Livingston. I'm talking about the man, the myth, the moped, Monta Ellis

33. New Orleans Hornets (original pick - Brandon Bass)

Hey, someone still in the league! I actually like Bass a fair amount, though he's more of a combo forward, and the last few years have shown that the Hornets could have used a competent backup center. I considered giving them Serbian center Mile Ilic, but they actually traded for him once then immediately released him, so it's pretty clear that wouldn't have worked. This may be a product of the recency effect, but this guy's been doing solid work in the playoffs and could have helped New Orleans as well: Marcin Gortat

34. Utah Jazz (original pick - C.J. Miles)

Again, a guy having a solid NBA career. He played in the D-League for a year, though his relationship with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has been rocky. Miles wouldn't be a bad pick again here, but to make things interesting I'll say they should've gone with Crispy Von Wafer

35. Portland Trailblazers (original pick - Ricky Sanchez)

Sanchez was traded on draft night for Jarrett Jack, so apparently Portland was really in the market for a point guard. I'm not totally sure why, as even without Jack, Portland already had several point guards (including guys who still thought of themselves as point guards - I'm looking at you, Bassy). They were kind of a mess in the middle, though, outside of Joel Przybilla (does anyone remember that Theo Ratliff played 55 games for Portland that year?) Andray Blatche would have been a decent pick, as he's shown at least some ability to play all three frontcourt spots, and he was a very good rebounder his first few seasons in the league.

36. Milwaukee Bucks (original pick - Ersan Ilyasova)

Even though he didn't play much in the NBA before returning to Europe, I don't hate this pick. Ilyasova was the MVP of the Europe Under-20 Tournament, and he averaged decent numbers in the D-League, about 12 and a half points and 7 rebounds. Still, the Bucks didn't get much out of this pick, and there are better forwards available. They didn't necessarily need to go with a forward, since their backcourt that year was a mess beyond Michael Redd, TJ Ford and Mo Williams, and they had Josh Davis holding things down up front, but we'll humor the Bucks and let Brandon Bass land here.

37. Los Angeles Lakers (original pick - Ronny Turiaf)

People pretty much forgot about Turiaf this year, but he was solid in Golden State and was a nice backup/occasional starter with the Lakers. I know I said (or implied) that I'd keep things interesting, but I think Turiaf makes as much sense here as he did four years ago.

38. Orlando Magic (original pick - Travis Diener)

Diener can shoot, or could at the time, but he was a point guard at a time the Magic already had two of them. Plus they'd eventually figure out that Hedo Turkoglu can handle the ball pretty well. Orlando was criticized for drafting a third PG at the time, and I'm going to take that into account and go elsewhere. Their centers that year? Well, they'd just drafted Dwight Howard, but their backups included Darko Milicic (meh), Tony Battie (meh) and Kelvin Cato (ugh). Clearly they need help there. There aren't a ton of centers available who wouldn't need a year or two of seasoning, though. I'm going to make the Orlando Magic forward-looking and give them rebounding machine Chuck Hayes.

39. Los Angeles Lakers (original pick - Von Wafer)

Yes, again. The Lakers were clearly trying to put together a well-rounded draft, as that year they drafted a power forward (Turiaf), a shooting guard and a center (Andrew Bynum). With that in mind, and with Wafer already gone at this point, we'll give them someone who would understand Bynum's cultural references, C.J. Miles

40. Golden State Warriors (original pick - Monta Ellis)

We're in the middle of a guard run here, though Ellis is off the board. The Warriors were apparently looking for someone to run the point who could also score, and Louis Williams has shown himself to be someone would can do just that.

41. Toronto Raptors (original pick - Roko Ukic)

Another point guard. The Raptors clearly were a bit iffy on this pick themselves, since they signed undrafted Jose Calderon later on. We're also starting to run out of available guards, but Toronto was filled with forwards that year. Chris Bosh, Antonio Davis, Matt Bonner, Charlie Villanueva, Pape Sow. He's not an international player, but he had a solid D-League career before being called up to the NBA, so Will Bynum gets the call.

42. Golden State Warriors (original pick - Chris Taft)

Yes, again. Again. Taft's the first total washout we've had in awhile, though he was drafted as a big man who can score, I guess to pair with Ellis and first round pick Ike Diogu. The Warriors were still a year away from Nellie Ball, but Ersan Ilyasova makes sense for what they'd become. I talked about him a bit earlier, but he profiled as a combo forward, sort of a Rashard Lewis-type.

43. New Jersey Nets (original pick - Mile Ilic)

The Nets love their European centers, it's just too bad all of the good ones are gone by now. Ilic wasn't a bad pick, though, as he's a pretty good shot blocker and finisher around the rim, though he's not very quick. The Nets stick with Ilic

44. Orlando Magic (original pick - Martynas Andriuskevicius)

See? The Magic thought they needed a center, too. See? A lot of teams had multiple second-picks this year, apparently. So with the pivot taken care of, Orlando's free to do whatever it wants. An outside shooter to pair with the developing Howard couldn't hurt, so call me crazy, but how about Salim Stoudamire?

45. Phildelphia 76ers (original pick - Louis Williams)

This was Chris Webber's second year in Philadelphia. Remember how that turned out? The 76ers were thin upfront that year, with Samuel Dalembert, Steven Hunter and, uh, Shavlik Randolph accompanying Webber. Whoever I pick shouldn't need the ball a whole lot, at least for the two more years Iverson is there, and while his career has stalled a little bit, I think Amir Johnson works here.