SB Nation - Earl Clark

All-Decade Louisville Basketball Team Debate

Mike Rutherford — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:35:42 -0000

Here's your debate for the day: If one were to create an All-Decade Louisville basketball team, who would comprise the starting five?

I think you have to say Reece Gaines, Francisco Garcia and Terrence Williams are locks, but after that it's tough. Ultimately, I settled on David Padgett and Taquan Dean, but legit cases can be made for Marques Maybin, Ellis Myles, Larry O'Bannon and Earl Clark, among others.

What say you?

DaJuan Summers Drafted By the Detroit Pistons in 2nd Round

CasualHoya — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:48:26 -0000

On a night when Big East rivals Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams, and Earl Clark were all taken in the top 14 picks, Georgetown's DaJuan Summers was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 5th pick in the 2nd Round (35th overall).

ESPN's Chad Ford:

5 (35) Detroit (from Minnesota) DaJuan Summers 6-9 243 SF Georgetown

The Pistons seriously considered Summers at No. 15, so they are thrilled to get him at No. 35. Summers is a fantastic athlete, can shoot the ball and can play both the 3 and the 4. This is a great pick this late in the draft.

With the 30th and final pick in the 1st Round representing Summers' last shot at a guaranteed contract next season, the Cleveland Cavaliers took a small forward from the Republic of Congo.

If it's any consolation to Hoyas fans, Summers was picked ahead of Pitt's Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, and Syracuse's dynamic duo of Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf will likely be looking for playing time in Romania after not being drafted at all.

Summers ranks 29th all-time in scoring at Georgetown (1,129 points), seventh in three-pointers made (141), eighth in three-pointers attempted (403), and helped lead the Hoyas to three straight postseason appearances (two NCAA Tournaments, one NIT).

More to follow tomorrow.

Hoya Saxa.

RIP MJ.

Casually.

Pacers Looking For Players To Maximize Production Under Salary Cap

Tom Lewis — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:37:04 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

The Pacers' thinker.

Browse more photos »

Larry Bird stirred up a fresh round of draft speculation yesterday while discussing the Pacers' supposed thoughts as they finalize preparations for Thursday's NBA Draft.

First was Bird's preference for 3-4 year college players who have a better chance to step in and play right away. This is a philosophy I agree with when you consider current state of the team with regard to the salary cap. They need a player who can contribute while only using up a rookie salary. This also allows the team to get a full four years of production from the player while his game continues to grow on the NBA level.

Unless you have a can't miss young player, which is never an option at 13, then taking a risk just isn't an efficient use of the roster and cap. The Pacers aren't going to attract a free agent and they don't have the money to do so now anyway. Stashing a young player away for a couple of years in hopes that he develops uses up valuable dollars in the short term and by the time they are really ready to make an impact 3-4 years down the road, the team will be faced with extending the player's contract for significantly more money or letting the player go.

Again, the Pacers just aren't in a position to gamble. Extending rookie contracts in hopes of a brighter future burned the Pacers earlier in this decade (think Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender, Jamaal Tinsley). The team needs to take a fresh approach that relies on using young players and only extending those whom the team knows will produce. There's far less risk in using a player through his rookie contract and then letting him go on to greener pastures than there is in signing a free agent or re-signing a current player and hoping they improve. After four years in the league, even young players reveal enough for the player personnel folks to determine said player's ceiling.

For instance, Brandon Rush showed great promise toward the end of the season but he was certainly inconsistent at best throughout the year. This year expectations have increased and his game should continue to show improvement at both ends of the floor. By year four, it should be obvious whether or not the Pacers should extend him. But until then, at least the team is getting production from the pick at a relatively inexpensive rate. This is a tricky balancing act to deal with human beings of varied emotional and physical growth while at the same time being forced to consider the financial bottom line.

The second highlight from Bird's comments was his effusive praise for Tyler Hansbrough, the lunch-pail packing power forward from North Carolina whose work ethic everybody loves but whose NBA game is suspect. He seems to be a conservative pick who wouldn't hurt a team but may not help it much, either. Now I don't profess to know how Larry Bird thinks, but this seems like a smokescreen of the highest order. Based on all of the players the team brought in for workouts, it seems obvious that the front office wouldn't mind moving back in the draft. Plus, the team rarely talks openly about a prime target. In fact, I'd be less surprised if the Pacers selected a player they didn't even bring in for workouts, say Earl Clark.

At this stage in the draft game, the goal is to misinform and drive up the value of players you don't covet while minimizing the value to those you do. When taking that mind set into consideration, I'd say Larry Bird had a pretty successful press conference yesterday.

2009 NBA Draft Q&A: Aran Smith of NBADraft.net (Part 1 of 3)

Atma Brother ONE — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:45:09 -0000

The 2009 NBA Draft is just a few short days away. This time of the year is especially busy for GSoM friend Aran Smith from the mighty NBADraft.net, but we were lucky enough to mic him up for the 3 part Q&A.

After the jump we've got Aran's thoughts on how good this draft class is and his biggest sleeper/ bust.

Atma Brother #1 (Golden State of Mind): Many draft pundits don't seem to think that highly of the 2009 draft class and are even going so far to call it the worst in years. Do you share their sentiment? Is there hope for teams that won't be able to pry Blake Griffin from the LA Clippers?

Aran Smith (NBADraft.net): It is definitely one of the less talented classes in recent memory. We've been spoiled lately, particularly last year and we can't expect to have that type of talent every year. This draft will have a few nice players that emerge from later picks, but overall this draft is filled with a ton of uncertainty from #2 on down. Not what you want if you're a lottery team drafting high (besides the Clippers. There's hope, but less margin for error.

Atma Brother #1 (Golden State of Mind): Who is your biggest sleeper of the 2009 NBA Draft class?

Aran Smith (NBADraft.net): Based on where players are projected to go, I would say Wayne Ellington or Earl Clark. Wayne Ellington is seen as a guy that could fall into the late first (some even say early 2nd). To me he's one of the top shooting guards in the class and scouts are really sleeping on him. If Clark falls into the late teens, he's a very good value pick. He may never realize his potential, but if you're drafting after the lottery, he's too talented to pass up.

Atma Brother #1 (Golden State of Mind): Who's your biggest bust of the 2009 NBA Draft class?

Aran Smith (NBADraft.net): To me, Jrue Holiday being considered a potential top 5-10 pick is absolutely insane. He never proved himself in college and now we're supposed to believe based in workouts that he can play point guard? If he was legit he should have returned to UCLA and actually learned to play point guard, the toughest NBA position to master. A team will likely buy into the hype and take him somewhere in the teens, but even that is way too high to me. For a UCLA team that was in desperate need of a scorer, he averaged 5.6 ppg over their last 12 games. I'm not sure how a guy that struggles that much in college can be expected to come into the NBA and do much.

**********

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of our Q&A with Aran! Don't forget to check out NBADraft.net for tons of year-round NBA Draft mania!

Poll

How do you think we'll look at the 2009 NBA Draft Class 10 years from now?

LEGENDARY: One of the greatest of all time

32 votes

GOOD

127 votes

AVERAGE

441 votes

BAD

193 votes

HORRIFIC: One of the worst of all time

84 votes

877 votes | Poll has closed

Saturday Notes: Hammond talks, Hill visits, the guards are coming, Barcelona win

Frank Madden — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 05:51:37 -0000

WSSP: Hammond press conference. This is the full version of the press conference on Bucks.com, which basically finds John Hammond saying a lot of sensible things that don't reveal all that much. But hey, that's how Hammond rolls and in the grand scheme of things a GM who telegraphs his moves isn't doing his job. So to summarize: the Bucks would like to address needs at PG/PF, but will take BPA even if it's a wing. Read: we've only been focusing on need guys, but don't accuse us of not picking the best player. They're not going to dump salary just to dump salary, but the Bucks aren't good enough to be spending luxury tax dollars on right now. Read: we're not paying the tax.
Gardner: Hill visits. There's been some talk that Jordan Hill could drop to the Bucks at 10, but they probably shouldn't hold their breath considering Washington, Golden State and New York could all be interested. What do you think, Dave Babcock?

"You never know," Babcock said. "As talented as he is, some teams may not take him because they don't know where he's going to fit on their team.
"If we took Jordan Hill, that would be a no-brainer (his game complementing Bogut). It gives you another big that's athletic, a player that could pass. You could play him high post; you could play him low post. I don't think anybody would question that."

B.J. Mullens was part of a six-guy workout earlier in the day, but Gery Woelfel reports that the Bucks aren't likely to be interested at #10. Makes sense.
Woelfel: Lawson coming, Blair back for a second workout? Woelfel is not a DeJuan Blair fan, so it's probably with gritted teeth that he reports this:

The Bucks seem to be one of the few teams who don't have serious reservations about Blair. They worked him out last week and are considering bringing him back for another visit before the draft, a clear indicator of their interest in him.
Woelfel also writes the Bucks are not going to be taking Jeff Teague with the 10th pick, despite that NBADraft.net blurb last week about them being very interested. At the time I suggested it was another smokescreen--Teague's style just doesn't seem to fit what we know about Skiles/Hammond--so I feel a little vindicated right now. And yes, I'll feel stupid on draft night if he ends up somehow being the pick. More Woelfel:

I know Bucks officials like UCLA guard Jrue Holiday, but does owner Herb Kohl and his cronies really want to deal with his agent, Dan Fegan -- especially after the latter pulled all those shenanigans on them before the draft two years ago while representing Yi Jianlian?
Fegan, by the way, also represents Louisville forward Earl Clark, who has also drawn interest from the Bucks.

Just to be clear, this should be a non-issue. There's essentially no negotiation involved in a first round contract and I feel pretty comfortable that neither Holiday nor Clark are going to threaten to play for the Guangdong Tigers next year. In other words, Herb should not give a rip who those guys are repped by.
Gardner: Flynn, Lawson, maybe Jennings expected to work out. Should be a good workout on Monday, as Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, and Brandon Jennings will be there. Check out this TrueHoop post with an account of those guys battling in Minnesota.
FCB.com: Barca win Spanish title. Ersan Ilyasova didn't put up big numbers like he did in game three (0/1 fg, six boards in 24 minutes), but Barcelona still took down TAU Ceramica 90-77 to claim the ACB title.
ESPN: Thorpe talks Blair, Holiday, Clark. We're used to David Thorpe's snarky player analysis at ESPN.com, but his bread and butter is training players in the offseason. So it's interesting to hear him pimping his own guys (it's about 3/4 into the show)--notably Blair and Clark. Funny to hear Thorpe talk about Blair "changing the culture" of whatever team that drafts him...gee, I wonder if the Bucks would like that. Thorpe also talks about Clark, who has been curiously absent from the Bucks' draft discussions.
Bucks.com: More season tix offers. The economy sucks. The Bucks have disappointed for years. But the good news is that it all means you can still find great deals on season tickets.

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #15: Detroit Pistons

Scott Schroeder — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:30:19 -0000

With the fifteenth pick in the 2009 SBNation Mock Draft, the Detroit Pistons, represented by Packey over at Motown String Music, select... (Drum Roll please)

With the 15th pick in the SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Detroit Pistons select....Earl Clark, a forward from the University of Louisville.

For the Pistons, in my opinion, it comes down to either a PG or overall talent at the No. 15 slot. If a PG like Eric Maynor fell to the Pistons it'd be tough to pass up on his potential to be a solid point guard a la Rajon Rondo in the NBA. Right now, the Pistons have Rodney Stuckey, who Joe Dumars admitted may not be the point guard they thought he could be, and Will Bynum, who I think is a much better slasher than a guy who can distribute the rock. Therefore, drafting a PG might not be a terrible idea because it would give the Pistons more opportunities to play Stuckey and Bynum off the ball to use their scoring abilities more often.

However, if a guy like 6'10" Earl Clark falls to No. 15, I think the Pistons need to pounce on him. Clark already possesses solid NBA size at 225 lbs, pure athleticism, and his center-esque length makes him unlike any other SF in this year's draft class. He can defend four out of the five positions on the floor and can play both the small and power forward on offense. The biggest knock on Clark seems to be that his jumper is inconsistent and ugly; both things that can definitely be worked on. Besides, Tayshaun Prince's lefty "cock and pause" shot has never been pretty to watch either, in my opinion. If Clark works to improve his shot's consistency, he has a patent fadeaway that is nearly impossible to defend due to his great wingspan which could become a lethal weapon to compliment his ability to make quick moves to the basket.

In the real draft, I really don't think Clark falls to the Pistons as I actually think he'll wind up being a Top 10 pick (where he has been projected to go before); I just could not pass up on him if the first 14 picks go as they have here today.

The 2009 SB Nation Mock Draft thus far:

1. Los Angeles Clippers - Clips Nation: Blake Griffin

2. Memphis Grizzlies - 3 Shades of Blue: Ricky Rubio

3. Oklahoma City Thunder - Welcome to Loud City: James Harden

4. Sacramento Kings - Sactown Royalty: Tyreke Evans

5. Washington Wizards - Bullets Forever: Hasheem Thabeet

6. Minnesota Timberwolves - Canis Hoopus: Stephen Curry

7. Golden State Warriors - Golden State of Mind: Brandon Jennings

8. New York Knicks - Posting and Toasting: Jrue Holiday

9. Toronto Raptors - Holly MacKenzie: DeMar DeRozan

10. Milwaukee Bucks - BrewHoop: Jordan Hill

11. New Jersey Nets - Aisander "IcemanCometh" Duda: Jonny Flynn

12. Charlotte Bobcats - Rufus On Fure: Gerald Henderson

13. Indiana Pacers - Indy Cornrows: DeJuan Blair

14. Phoenix Suns - Bright Side of the Sun: Ty Lawson

DaJuan Doin' Work: "My Stock is Rising."

CasualHoya — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:37:26 -0000

Check out this solid link to our main man at a workout with the Charlotte Bobcats on June 5th.

Nice pull up jumper! Way to use the glass!

The juice is in the Q&A session afterwards:

"Coach (Larry) Brown is a teacher, so if you make a mistake he doesn't allow you to keep making that mistake. He stops you and teaches you to do it the right way."

Hey, folks. Anyone remember how our season ended in the NIT against Baylor? Well, if you don't, here's a brief refresher:

The Bears opened 3 for 3 from the field to start the second half, while the Hoyas opened with a pair of misses from Dajuan Summers, and within 1:34, the 10 point lead was down to two and the game was on. Baylor led briefly before the Hoyas began to move the ball back inside to carve out a narrow lead, but its defense could not stop Baylor from repeated drives along the baseline, alley-oop dunks and close-in jumpers.

Do you remember who was guarding that guy who repeatedly was on the receiving end of those alley-oops? (Hint: It wasn't Derrick Brown, the kid from Xavier also featured in the Bobcats workout video.)

Repeated drives. Alley-oop dunks. Close-in jumpers.

Meanwhile, ESPN.com's Chad Ford ranks Summers in Tier 4 of the prospects in this year's Draft and still has him slated at #24 to the Blazers in his latest Mock Draft:

Tier 4

DeJuan Blair
Earl Clark
Austin Daye
Tyler Hansbrough
Gerald Henderson
Brandon Jennings
James Johnson
Ty Lawson
Eric Maynor
B.J. Mullens
DaJuan Summers
Jeff Teague
Terrence Williams
Sam Young

Note: This is a huge tier and shows the parity in the draft. Theoretically, teams are saying you can get the same quality player at 11 that you will get at 24. This is where the real depth of the draft is. A few players like Blair, Clark, Hansbrough, Henderson, Jennings, Johnson, Teague and Williams were unanimous selections. Summers was borderline between here and Tier 5.

Elsewhere, CNNSI.com's Ian Thomsen continues to show DaJuan no love in his Mock, while over at rotoworld.com, DaJuan just sneaks into the 1st round at #30 to the Cavs.

Personally I hope the Knicks take him at #8.

Casually.

Poll

You are playing third base and have a hard 12. The dealer has a 6.

Hit

33 votes

Stay

44 votes

77 votes | Poll has closed

Deacon Dump 6/17-- More on Teague's jump to the league

MRickman84 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:23:53 -0000

Hit and Run
When the college basketball season ended in the spring, Wake Forest possesses the pieces to be a top-10 team next season. Now, the Demon Deacons are left with a good team but not the one that most likely would be considered as a candidate to make the Final Four.

New Jersey Nets: The James Johnson-Earl Clark tete-a-tete - New Jersey Nets Basketball - NJ.com
"They did very well," Kiki Vandeweghe said of the Earl Clark-James Johnson encounter. "They're both very skilled players -- both athletic, both competed very well today. This is getting towards the end for these guys. They've had a lot of workouts. You could tell they had to push through some fatigue. But they were both very impressive."

Coach trades budget woe for Wake : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis
"I am very confident that the program is in great hands due to the leadership on that campus," Walter said. "There are not many jobs that would make me want to leave New Orleans, but to be able to coach in the ACC -- the best baseball conference in the nation -- is too good to pass up."

Hurricanes slide into Carr's top five - ESPN
Daunte Carr (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville) camped at Miami (Fla.) this week and picked up an offer from the Hurricanes. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder previously had narrowed his list to four programs: North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Stanford and UCLA in no order.

Chuck Swirsky Blog - Due diligence - ESPN Chicago
Also in attendance Monday at the Berto Center was Wake Forest forward James Johnson, who has an NBA body and is versatile enough to play four positions.

Lowe Will Go: Ex-Deacon ready for U.S. Open
Cortland Lowe refuses to be intimidated by the thought of playing in his first U.S. Open. Lowe, the only Wake Forest graduate in the field of 156, has taken a curious route to his pro-golf career, but said he thinks he's peaking at the right time.

Deacon Dump 6/16 --Jeff Teague stays in the NBA Draft

MRickman84 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:29:55 -0000

Johnson and Clark and Conditioning - Nets Blog
The marquee names at this morning's pre-draft workout were two combo forwards who have been linked with the Nets New Jersey Nets in assorted mock drafts, James Johnson of Wake Forest and Earl Clark of Louisville -- - "guys in our wheelhouse," was GM Kiki Vandeweghe's description.

Decision Day Plus One: Jeff Teague - The Dagger - NCAA Hoops - Rivals.com
One day when I write the book, "How To Burn Bridges And Declare For The NBA Draft", I'm going to ask Jeff Teague to write the foreward. In making a completely logical and reasonable decision to leave Wake Forest after his sophomore season for the NBA, Teague managed to alienate much of his the Demon Deacon fanbase by stringing along the school up until yesterday's 5 p.m. deadline.

ACC Winners & Losers At Draft Deadline Jim Young
WAKE FOREST: The biggest loser in the ACC offseason. It’s not just that the Deacs lost two first-rounders in James Johnson and Jeff Teague. It’s that Dino Gaudio publicly predicted both would return. So Wake loses talent and the coach loses face. Maybe the Deacs gain chemistry in the process, but it’s hard to believe that could completely offset the talent drain in Winston-Salem.

Forwards hold key to ACC - Sports - News & Observer
AL-FAROUQ AMINU, WAKE FOREST The good news for Aminu (12.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg last season): He has a solid point guard in Ish Smith to feed him the ball next season. The bad news: It's hard to recover from losing your top two scorers (Teague and forward James Johnson). Aminu will be Wake's first and best option, and how well he adapts to that role could determine how far his team goes.

Teague leaving Deacons for pros
"A lot of my friends that didn't make it to the NBA, that are here, they were giving me advice. They made the same decisions I had to make. And one of them was Chris Thomas, who went to Notre Dame. "After his sophomore season he had the opportunity to go. He was one of the top players in the country and everybody was telling him the same thing that ‘If you come back you could be the No. 1 point guard.' He got injured, and he never got drafted. "Me and him talked and he was like ‘You've got your opportunity. Go ahead and take it.' "

Wake Forest's Jeff Teague sticks to NBA draft plans - ESPN
Gaudio said perimeter shooting will be an issue without Teague but Aminu has spent considerable time working on his range throughout the spring.

Teague Takes Plunge, Will Stay In 2009 NBA Draft. Jim Young
Wake struggled mightily in the aftermath of Paul’s early departure. The question now is, despite his public belief that Teague would return to school, did Dino Gaudio prepare well for the possibility that his star guard would not?

Jennings, Evans Headline Monday Workout

Seth — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:20:28 -0000

Via Alan Hahn, we get the lineup for today's Knicks workout. Pray for a press conference. Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans will join Gonzaga's Austin Daye, UConn's Craig Austrie, and Louisville's Earl Clark for an audition in Westchester. I fully expect the NY press focus to turn decidedly towards Jennings following a workout and some words from the point guard prospect. For better or worse, he's the type to thrive in the New York spotlight. Jennings has oodles of swag and certainly doesn't mince words.

Tyreke Evans won't make headlines at the podium, but expect the buzz to build up for him as well. He's big and athletic, and can already finish like an NBA player. I take him for a weirder Jrue Holiday. Meanwhile, I didn't see much of Earl Clark in college, but he's the type that might catch on with a team in the mid-lottery. Given that he plays the only position at which New York is stocked and stable, I'd expect Walsh to look elsewhere on draft night. But you never know.

As soon as the guys in attendance start filing their reports, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I should probably mention that I've been convinced to do this Twitter thing for real. I've had an account for months, but had previously just set it up to update whenever I posted at P&T. No more. Now you can follow my every thought and bowel movement throughout my waking hours (I'm still a little embarassed about the ones that come after my waking hours). If you're so inclined, this is me.

5 (35)	Detroit (from Minnesota)	DaJuan Summers	6-9	243	SF	Georgetown
The Pistons seriously considered Summers at No. 15, so they are thrilled to get him at No. 35. Summers is a fantastic athlete, can shoot the ball and can play both the 3 and the 4. This is a great pick this late in the draft.