For the full NBA draft analysis, we call on our draft expert and insider, my friend Mark, who had this to say about all of the Warriors' draft picks.
Harrison Barnes (Small Forward) - Round 1 No. 7 pick overall from North Carolina (6'8)
I really like this pick. He will be
better than Klay Thompson, and Klay isn't even bad. With no Monta Ellis,
adding players is so much easier. Because with Ellis, you'd have to go
after some size to compensate for the tiny back-court. So you'd have taken Andre
Drummond, guy with tons of potential but huge bust potential as well. Now pieces
to add are so easy. Barnes slides to the 3, Klay at 2, Steph Curry at the 1. Got
David Lee and Andrew Bogut. That's a legit starting 5.
CBS-5 spoke to Barnes shortly after he was drafted.
Shot
blocker, rebounder, maybe along the lines of a Theo Ratliff, extremely
poor mans Dikembe Mutumbo, or a rich man's Kelvin Cato.
He's someone the Warriors
need, just Kwame Brown with more athleticism, but tough, rugged defender with
size. With Andris Biedrins on the outs, a good player to have late in the first,
definitely fills a need.
Draymond Green(Small Forward) - Round 2 No. 35 overall from Michigan State (6'7)
Will become a good bench player. Combo SF/PF,
no real position but has great Basketball IQ, someone who knows how to
play basketball. Good value in the 2nd round. Maybe a less athletic Thaddeus Young, a do it all type SF/PF. Maybe he's a more offensively
minded Ron Artest.
Ojnen Kuzmic(Center) - Round 2 No. 52 overall (22 year old who plays in Europe)
Just a European big man to stash away. If hes good,
he'll come over. Still developing. Makes sense due to the roster
limitations.
Overall grade B+
I think they hit a
home run in Barnes. Ezeli provides depth at the C, defense and
rebounding. Will pair well w/ David Lee and can spell Bogut.
Green
will contribute depth and bench scoring. He will be a matchup problem for
defending SF/PF but also a liability on the defensive end. The Euro
pick is a low risk high reward pick that won't effect much in the short
term.
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Courtesy: Orange County Register, Written by Fred Swegles
If there's a Disney writer looking for a movie idea that'll make kids pump their fists with joy and leave parents teary-eyed, look no further than the real story of a San Clemente Little League team coached this year by kids.
The team that couldn't find a coach, finally getting permission from the league to bring in two San Clemente High School freshmen to lead it, concluded an improbable season Saturday by winning the District 68 Tournament of Champions in improbable fashion.
Coaches Chris Puckett, 15, and Cameron Shelley, 14, guided their crew of 12- to 14-year-olds to three straight victories in the tournament at Beebe Park in Mission Viejo, finishing with a 10-9 victory.
This was a team that at the outset of the season drew smirks from some opponents because of its youthful coaches who look like they could be playing on the field. The team started with skeptical parents and an 0-2 record. But the players took the two teens' baseball tutelage to heart, improving to 6-4 by midseason before going on a 10-2 tear in the second half.
On Saturday, the team, known as San Clemente American No. 2, was leading Viejo USC, 10-6, going to the bottom half of the final inning of the championship game. Viejo rallied and narrowed the score to 10-9 with one out, the potential tying run on third base and the winning run on second base.
Puckett's father, Gary, described the dramatic ending. Pitcher Austin Reeves threw a third strike for what would have been the second out, but catcher Max Christian dropped the ball and it squirted off to the left. Christian had to either tag the hitter or throw to first base to record the strikeout, possibly allowing the tying run to score.
Christian picked up the ball and, seeing the runner approaching home plate, chased him back up the line, tossing the ball just in time for third baseman Max Herrbach to tag him out. The batter, meanwhile, had delayed running to first base, caught up in the moment. Shelly yelled "Throw to first," and Herrbach fired the ball to first base, barely beating the runner for a double play.
Game over.
"Out of my 16 years of Little League, I have never seen a game end like that," the elder Puckett said.
"It was just incredible," parent Kimberly Bradley said.
"That one play, you either win the game or you lose," parent Brad Christian said. "The kids just played phenomenal baseball, every single kid. They actually worked on that play during the season."
Josh Bradley, the first baseman, recorded the final out.
"It was pretty crazy," he said. "We learned it all from Chris and Cameron. They've taught us to chase the people back to the bag before you throw the ball. That was all thanks to them."
When it was over, the players erupted in celebration. Josh Bradley, 13, had never experienced that in five years of Little League. "In the past, I haven't been on very good teams," he said.
At a victory party, parents presented the team with framed copies of The Orange County Register and San Clemente Sun Post News, both of which had published articles in May telling the team's story.
Brad Christian, a Little League umpire for seven years, said this was the first team that had let his son Max play his favorite position, catcher. The two teen coaches knew how to connect with the players, Christian said, making a believer of each one.
"These are the most appreciative kids I've ever seen," he said, calling them "the little team that could."
The word that we all strive for in life and very rarely ever achieve.
But on the night of June 13, 2012, Matt Cain was just that.
If you don't know the details by now, Cain became the first San Francisco Giants pitcher in the franchise's 130 year history to throw a perfect game, meaning he faced 27 batters and got all of them out, an accomplishment only done only 21 previous times prior to last night.
Luckily, I was there.
And I almost wasn't.
My friend, and only a friend for those wondering, was in town for a few weeks and we planned to catch a Giants game together and it just so happened to be Wednesday night.
I almost canceled because Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was supposed to be played between the Kings and Devils but LA took care of that when they won the cup Monday night, opening the door for me to go to the game.
As the two of us were walking towards the ballpark, my friend asked me if I went to the World Series in 2010 and how that was like.
I told her it was cool but it wasn't one of those fairytale type stories where I could reply and say, "It was the most incredible and memorable thing I've ever been to."
Yes, being at a World Series was great, but because in my line of work as a member of the sports media, you get a little desensitized to big sporting events because you are too busy working.
The best example I have from this is when Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run and set the all time home run record, I wasn't celebrating. I was scrambling to write a script for our breaking news.
I'll clap and cheer mildly at most games, but very rarely do I get loud, hoot and holler like I should and did before when I was a little kid/teenager.
So in some ways, I've lost my joy and passion as a sports fan.
I turned to my friend and basically said that although I enjoy going to games, it would take something really special for me to be get into the "OMG" level of amazement.
The Giants pretty much had that game in control from the 2nd inning on, so the end result was pretty much set in stone in my mind. But there was more to that game than just a win or loss for the orange and black.
I notice quicker than others when a team has yet to collect a base hit, and it really hit me in the 4th inning that the Astros had yet to reach base.
Cain was dealing and in the 5th inning, the entire crowd started to realize it too as they cheered loudly anticipating a strikeout that ended the top of the fifth.
As the game went on, we were inching closer towards seeing history.
I thought about July 2000 when Livan Hernandez took a no hitter into the 8th inning against the Rockies and how his effort fell short. Ironically that day I was also with my mother.
Curt Schilling of the Red Sox needed one more out for a no hitter in 2007 when he pitched against the A's. I was standing by the Boston dugout as an intern for the Athletics, but Shannon Stewart lined a single to right, breaking up that attempt.
So I thought to myself that this could be it.
Now whenever there's a no hitter, there's always a few defensive plays that are made that keep the no hitter alive.
First, it was Melky Cabrera and his brilliant catch.
And then on a 3-2 pitch in the 7th inning, I knew Cain didn't want to walk the batter, so he was going to throw a strike, and take his chances. The ball was crushed but Gregor Blanco ran this down in what some are calling one of the best catches in baseball history.
So Cain took the mound in the 9th with 42,000+ on their feet, praying and hoping they would see the first perfect game in Giants history.
Cain got the first two batters to pop out to left field, and then he got ahead 1-2 on Jason Castro, the batter who stood between Cain and a perfect game.
Castro chopped a ball to third base. Joaquin Arias moved to his right to pick up the ball, and fired across the diamond in time to seal one of the most incredible moments in San Francisco Giants history.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Matt Cain did it. Not only a no hitter, but a perfect game.
This feat is something that not many people get to see live and in person, and I was fortunate enough to be there to witness it all.
When a no hitter is going on, it's considered jinxing it if you mention the words "no hitter" so I kept my mouth quiet the entire game.
The funny thing was my friend next to me kept telling me how the game was so lopsided and there was no more drama involved. She had no clue we were close to witnessing something that had only happened 21 times in baseball history.
So for one night, I was that little kid and fan once again, cheering at a spectacle that was larger than life. It's too bad these type of moments don't come often. But then again, it's because these type of moments don't come often that make it so special.
