SB Nation - Wayne Simien

Big 12 All Decade Team

Evan Pfaff — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

With almost a full year yet to play, Kansas center Cole Aldrich muscled his way onto the Big12Hoops.com First Team All Big 12 Decade Team (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

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In the first full calendar decade of the Big 12 conference, one thing was apparent: there were two schools that produced a good majority of the talent. And while the best individual players may not have come from Kansas or Texas, a look at the Big12Hoops.com All Decade team reveals that a majority were either Jayhawks or Longhorns.

Don't see your favorite? The Honorable Mention list is after The Jump

First Team All Big 12

PG – Jamaal Tinsley, Iowa St
SG – Tony Allen, Oklahoma St
SF – Kevin Durant, Texas
PF – Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
C – Cole Aldrich, Kansas

Second Team All Big 12

PG – Kirk Hinrich, Kansas
SG – Acie Law, Texas A&M
SF – Michael Beasely, Kansas St
PF – Marcus Fizer, Iowa St
C – Chris Mihm, Texas

Third Team All Big 12

PG – TJ Ford, Texas
SG – Andre Emmett, Texas Tech
SF – PJ Tucker, Texas
PF – Drew Gooden, Kansas
C – Nick Collison, Kansas

[UPDATE: Lots of good suggestions and opinions in the comments section. Lemme give a little insight into how I compiled this list.

I started with a list of Big 12 Players of the Year. My rationale was that if someone was good enough to be the best in the league, even for one year, he warranted entry into this exclusive club. 9 of the 10 Big 12 Players of the Year made the top three teams. The only one who didn’t was Wayne Simien, and that is because he played a PF position that, if you look at the past decade, was just STACKED. Blake Griffin, Marcus Fizer, Drew Gooden. Really you could put Simien in there, but who gets bumped off?

As for PG, Tinsley over TJ Ford and Kirk Hinirich has also garnered a lot of attention. Tinsley’s place as the 2000-01 POY got him on the first team. But you really cant go wrong with any of them.

Lastly, there is this question on what to do with Durant and Beasley. Each only played one year, but they dominated the league (and the country). Durant was a Naismith winner as the best player in the country and Beasley was a finalist for the award. Both were league POYs. Because they didn’t play a full 4 years, they didn’t accumulate career stats that some others players did, but my list was based on selecting the best players, during their time in the Big 12, at each position.]

All Big 12 - Honorable Mention

Baylor Bears
LaceDarius Dunn
Lawrence Roberts

Colorado Buffaloes
Reggie Roby
David Harrison

Iowa St Cyclones
Craig Brackins

Kansas Jayhawks
Wayne Simien
Aaron Miles

Kansas St. Wildcats
Cartier Martin

Missouri Tigers
DeMarre Carroll
Clarence Gilbert
Arthur Johnson
Kareem Rush

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Aleks Maric

Oklahoma Sooners
Taj Gray
Hollis Price

Oklahoma St Cowboys
Byron Eaton
Joey Graham

Texas Longhorns
DJ Augustine
LaMarcus Aldridge

Texas Tech Red Raiders
Jarrius Jackson

Texas A&M Aggies
Bernard King

Parallels

erivera7 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:04:18 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

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Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy will be heading into his sixth season as the sideline general for an NBA team, and when looking at his body of work over the past few years, certain parallels arise. Let's take a quick breakdown, shall we?

The past: In his first year with the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic, Van Gundy helped both clubs increase its number of wins from its previous seasons by more than ten .. +17 for Miami, +12 for Orlando. In both years, the Heat and the Magic lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the hands of a Central division foe.

In his second year with Miami and Orlando, Stan led both teams to a 59-23 record in the regular season and pushed the Heat & the Magic deeper into the playoffs. Had it not been for Dwyane Wade's rib injury in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, it's not outlandish to suggest Miami could have advanced to the NBA Finals. Of course, Orlando was able to attain such a feat this past season, only to lose.

After coming close to winning a championship, the Heat went out and retooled the roster during the off-season in 2005. Miami was able to acquire the following players via free agency and trade - Antoine Walker, Jason Kapono, Gary Payton, James Posey, Jason Williams, and Wayne Simien. Questions of chemistry arose prior to the beginning of the 2005-2006 season but the Heat were able to respond and capture the franchise's first NBA title, albeit, without Stan. Who knows if Miami would have won a championship had Pat Riley not replaced Van Gundy along the way?

However ..

The present: .. the premise remains the same. Like the Heat, the Magic came close to winning a championship this past season. As a result, the Orlando organization promptly opened up the checkbook and revamped the roster, trading for Ryan Anderson and Vince Carter, signing Matt Barnes and Brandon Bass, and bringing back Marcin Gortat. Already, there are those that are wondering whether or not the Magic's chemistry will be affected with the new acquisitions. Sound eerily familiar?

The future: It remains to be seen whether or not Stan Van Gundy guides the Orlando Magic to a title in his third season with the team. If it happens, it'd be a fitting way for things to come full circle for SVG after his saga with the Miami Heat.

NBA Draft lottery results...and more

DolPhanDave — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:07:40 -0000

Here are the results of last nights NBA Draft Lottery. Another year of the NBA’s worst team NOT getting the 1st overall pick, but that’s part of the beauty of the lottery. I’m sure if you asked any random group of NBA GM’s, they would be in favor of the lottery instead of the draft order being determined by the final standings.

1       L.A. Clippers
2       Memphis
3       Oklahoma City
4       Sacramento
5     Washington
6       Minnesota
7       Golden State
8       New York
9       Toronto
10     Milwaukee
11     New Jersey
12     Charlotte
13     Indiana
14     Phoenix

For the full NBA 2009 Draft Board, click here. For the pre-lottery odds of each team, click here.

The Heat would have had the 18th overall pick, but that was traded to Minnesota along with Antoine Walker, Wayne Simien, Michael Doleac and cash for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount just prior to the beginning of last season. Ouch...but it was still worth it to get rid of 'Twan's huge contract.

The Heat do have two picks in the 2nd round. The 43rd overall pick was traded to Miami in 2007 by Indiana for Stanko Barac, who the Heat selected with the 39th overall pick that summer.

The 60th overall (and final) pick of the draft was acquired by Miami last summer when they traded '08 Draft pick Darnell Jackson (52nd overall) to Cleveland.

Miami would’ve had the 47th overall pick (a pick they originally acquired in the trade for Daequan Cook in the 2007 Draft), but they shipped it to Minnesota along with cash for Mario Chalmers during last years Draft. That one I'll take all day, everyday.

Just got done watching the Lakers-Nuggets Game 1. That should be a SICK series. Not sure what to expect from the Cavs-Magic series, but i doubt it compares to the battle out West.

6 Years of Heat draft picks: Who did we miss out on?

DolPhanDave — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:37:21 -0000

This is the 2nd half of our look back on past Heat drafts. I showed you all the picks the Heat have made since D-Wade, but now I’ll list the players the Heat could have drafted…the guys that we’re scooped up after our picks.

Make sure you notice the pick numbers, and in come cases see who was taken the pick right after the Heat. When the guy picked after your guy ends up being great, it explains the 2007 draft day trade for Daequan Cook. Good call there. Does that mean that O.J. Mayo was the pick to make instead of Michael Beasley?

2003 Draft- Heat select Dwyane Wade with the 5th overall pick and in Round 2 (pick 33) selected F Jerome Beasley.
Pick 38- G Steve Blake
Pick 42- F Zaza Pachulia
Pick 45- F Matt Bonner
Pick 47- G Mo Williams
Pick 49- F James Jones
Pick 51- Kyle Korver

2004 Draft- Heat select Dorell Wright with the 19th overall pick and in Round 2 selected C Albert Miralles with the 39th pick and F Matt Freije with the 53rd pick. I’ll start with the first guy drafted after Dorell.
Pick 20- G Jameer Nelson
Pick 24- G Delonte West
Pick 25- G/F Tony Allen
Pick 26- G Kevin Martin
Pick 27- G Sasha Vujacic
Pick 28- G Beno Udrih
Pick 30- F Anderson Varejao
Pick 38- G Chris Duhon
Pick 43- F Trevor Ariza

2005 Draft- Heat select F Wayne Simien with the 29th overall pick in Round 1.
Pick 30- F David Lee
Pick 33- F Brandon Bass
Pick 34- G CJ Miles
Pick 37- F Ronny Turiaf
Pick 39- G Von Wafer
Pick 40- G Monta Ellis
Pick 49- F Andray Blatche
Pick 50- F Ryan Gomes
Pick 56- F Amir Johnson

2007 Draft (Miami had no picks in 2006)- Heat select Jason Smith with the 20th overall pick, then immediately trade him to Philadelphia for the 21st overall pick Daequan Cook (and cash). Miami also selected C Stanko Barac with the 39th overall pick in Round 2.
Pick 23- F Wilson Chandler
Pick 24- G Rudy Fernandez
Pick 26- G Aaron Brooks
Pick 31- G Carl Landry
Pick 35- F Glen Davis
Pick 48- C Marc Gasol
Pick 49- C Aaron Gray

2008 Draft- Heat select Michael Beasley with the 2nd overall pick and acquire Mario Chalmers’ rights from Minnesota in exchange for 2 future 2nd round picks and cash considerations. They also selected F Darnell Jackson with the 52nd overall pick and traded him to Cleveland. Nobody chosen after him has done anything of note…yet.

Still think our drafts have been good? Our two best (and most obvious) picks have been lottery picks (Wade and Beasley) and our two possible wild-cards are Cook and Chalmers, with a slight chance of Dorell Wright. But do all those names reach out and smack you in the face, or are you cool with what we have?

Poll

How do you feel the Heat have done with their draft picks since D-Wade?

Great. Wade, Beasley, Chalmers, Cook...couldn't do much better.

186 votes

So-So. Happy about the good picks, but also a lot of misses.

392 votes

Poor. Way too many bad picks.

174 votes

752 votes | Poll has closed

6 Years of Heat draft picks: Where are they now?

DolPhanDave — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:26:52 -0000

Who am I...?

With the Heat beginning their pre-draft workouts, some of the attention is shifting to what the team will be doing with their picks. Right now they only hold picks 43 and 60, so the question will be if Pat Riley wants to trade up. The basketball mastermind was able to scoop up Mario Chalmers pretty late last summer, but for the most part has been somewhat off in recent years.

While we can bask in the glory of having almost as good of a draft in 2008 as the Miami Dolphins (different sport...I know. But both GREAT drafts), I thought we could take a look back at some of the choices made by Pat Riley and Randy Pfund. There have certainly been some questionable moves, and obviously most of our picks have not really ‘worked out’…but does it really matter what you sandwich in-between Dwyane Wade and Beasley/Chalmers? Ok, so starting with the pick that came right after D-Wade, here is a little ‘where are they now’ of the last 6 years worth of Heat drafts.

2003: Round 2 Pick 33- F Jerome Beasley

Played 2 whole games in a Heat uniform in 2003 before being cut loose. He since has played in the CBA and NBA-DL before buying out his own contract to pursue a career overseas. 06-07 saw him playing in Australia for the Sidney Kings, but then was released following the Kings exit from the post-season. The following year he played Ironi Ramat Gan in Israel, then last season he moved to the Netherlands and got on a team called the EiffelTowers Den Bosch, but was released in January after testing positive for THC. Gee...he moves to the Netherlands and tests positive for pot...shocking.

2004: Round 1 Pick 19- F Dorell Wright

We are all well aware of Dorell's inconsistent career, especially the past couple years when dealing w/ injury. He worked extremely hard on his ball handling and shooting during the 07-08 ‘15-win' season before his year ended with a meniscal tear of his left knee. He then missed the majority of the 08-09 season, but came back to play in 6 games towards the end. He has played in 139 regular season games for the Heat and started 55, averaging 5.9 points on 46% shooting, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists. There are still ‘high' hopes for Wright looking ahead, but after 5+ years I'm taking those hopes with a rather large grain of salt.

2004: Round 2 Pick 39- C Albert Miralles (acquired via trade w/ Toronto for 47th overall pick Pape Sow and our 2005 2nd round pick)

Never played a game for the Heat. His rights were traded to Boston in the Antoine Walker trade. Played professionally in Italy from 2002-2005 and is now playing in Spain for the team Pamesa.

2004: Round 2 Pick 53- F Matt Freije

The Heat released Freije before the start of the 04-05 season, and he picked up with the New Orleans Hornets where he played in 23 games, starting 11 (averaging 4.0pts and 2.7reb). He signed with Atlanta prior to the 06-07 season, averaging 2.1ppg in 19 games, but was waived in December of 06. He then had a great summer league for the Milwaukee Bucks, but was never signed on to join the team for the 07-08 season. He is now playing in Puerto Rico in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional for Criollos de Caguas.

2005: Round 1 Pick 29- F Wayne Simien

Wayne started out his Heat career relatively well, riding the bench most of his rookie year (05-06). He appeared in 43 games (2 starts) playing 9.6 min/game, averaging 3.4 points and 2.1 boards, and he was a part of our 2006 NBA Championship team. The following summer saw Simeon come down with a salmonella infection which held him out of the Summer League and seriously hampered his off-season workout plan. He would only make it into 8 games that season, and was traded just prior to the 07-08 campaign.

Simien, along with Antoine Walker and Michael Doleac, was traded to Minnesota for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount, but Wayne was then waived by the Timberwolves to keep their roster at 15. He was given an invitation to play with Cleveland in last years Summer League but couldn't play due to a hamstring injury. Later that summer, he received an invitation to the Atlanta Hawks training camp, but the invitation was withdrawn before he could arrive. He joined up with Spain's Cáceres CB in October 08, but decided to retire from Professional Basketball on May 5th to pursue working in a religious ministry.

2007: Round 1 Pick 21- G Daequan Cook (acquired via trade along with cash considerations from Philadelphia for 20th overall pick Jason Smith)

Daequan had a solid rookie year during our dismal 15-win 07-08 season, but really broke out over the first 4 months of this past season. His supreme efforts culminated in his victory in the 2008 All-Star 3-point shooting competition. He still has to get his shot to being consistent, but Daequan should end up a solid ‘Eddie House' kinda shooter, but providing much better defense.

And in case you were wondering, Jason Smith played in his first NBA games this past season, making it into 76 games for the Sixers, averaging 4.5 points and 3.0 boards in 14.6 minutes/game. He missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during a Sixers camp in Las Vegas.

2007: Round 2 Pick 39- C Stanko Barac

Traded from Miami to Indiana before ever playing or even practicing for the Heat, Stanko wouldn't ever make it into the NBA. He signed a multi-year deal with Spanish ACB team TAU Cerámica in August 2007, then was loaned to Pamesa Valencia in October '07 for the rest of that season. This past year he played in 23 games in the ACB, averaging 2.8 points and 3.1 boards in 12 min/game, shooting a lovely 39.1% from the field.

2008: Round 2 Pick 52- F Darnell Jackson

Traded the day he was drafted to Cleveland for their 2nd round pick in 2009, which will end up being the final pick in the draft (60th). He played in 51 games for the Cavs this season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 8.4 min/game.

There you have it Heat fans...you are now well polished on the happenings of every Heat draft pick since Mr. Dwyane Wade. I'm sure you noticed I left Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers off the list...for obvious reasons. If you need me to tell you what they have been up to since being drafted by Miami...you haven't been paying much attention to the NBA this season.

So what do you think? Do Dwyane Wade, Daequan Cook, Beasley and Chalmers make up for the many picks that either never played for the Heat or in the NBA?

The 2009 NBA Draft is 40 days away, and hopefully the rest of the Playoffs will provide as much entertainment as the first 2 rounds.