2012 NBA Mock Draft

The second round has become a time for teams to take fliers on international players and college seniors. Seems reasonable to expect that trend to continue in 2012.

1. Minnesota: Furkan Aldemir
   PF, Turkey (Intl.)
2. Cleveland: Mason Plumlee
   PF, Duke (Jr.)
3. Toronto: Alex Oriakhi
   PF, UConn (Jr.)
4. Washington: LeBryan Nash
   SF/PF, Oklahoma State (Fr.)
5. New Jersey: CJ Leslie
   SF/PF, North Carolina State (So.)
6. Sacramento: Damian Lillard
   PG, Weber St. (Jr.)
7. Detroit: Khris Middleton
   SF, Texas A&M (Jr.)
8. L.A. Clippers: Evan Fournier
   SG/SF, France (Intl.)
9. Cleveland (from Charlotte, via Miami): Will Barton
   SF, Memphis (So.)
10. Milwaukee: Tim Hardaway Jr
    SG, Michigan (So.)
11. Golden State: Orlando Johnson
    SF, UC Santa Barbara (Sr.)
12. Indiana: Ricardo Ratliffe
    PF, Missouri (Sr.)
13. Utah: Tu Holloway
    PG, Xavier (Sr.)
14. Atlanta (from Phoenix): Cody Zeller
    C, Indiana (Fr.)
15. Philadelphia: James McAdoo
    PF, North Carolina (Fr.)
16. New York: Draymond Green
    SF/PF, Michigan St. (Sr.)
17. Houston: Mike Moser
    PF, UNLV (So.)
18. Atlanta: Tornike Shengelia
    SF, Rep. of Georgia (Intl.)
19. New Orleans: Adonis Thomas
    SF, Memphis (Fr.)
20. Memphis: Lucas Nogueira
    C, Brazil (Intl.)
21. Portland: JaMychal Green
    PF, Alabama (Sr.)
22. Denver: Darius Johnson-Odom
    SG, Marquette (Sr.)
23. Orlando: Alex Young
    SG/SF, IUPUI (Sr.)
24. Oklahoma City: Kevin Jones
    SF, West Virginia (Sr.)
25. Boston: Scott Machado
    PG, Iona (Sr.)
26. L.A. Lakers: Robert Sacre
    C, Gonzaga (Sr.)
27. Dallas: PJ Hairston
    SG, North Carolina (Fr.)
28. Miami: Herb Pope
    PF, Seton Hall (Sr.)
29. San Antonio: Jarrod Jones
    PF, Ball State (Sr.)
30. Chicago: Nemanja Nedovic
    PG/SG, Serbia (Intl.)

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All-Star Picks - East

Voting for the 2012 NBA All-Star teams began on January 4, 2012. Here are my picks for the Eastern Conference starters.

Generally speaking, I try to select an all-star team that fairly reflects a standard NBA lineup; though the league insists - for reasons I've never understood - on lumping all "guards" and "forwards" together in two groups, I prefer to select a point guard and a shooting guard, and a small forward and a power forward. I'll make exceptions on occasion... and this year's Eastern Conference roster is one such occasion.

Voting continues until January 31st. Teams will be announced on February 2nd.

Center - Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The Eastern Conference is much deeper at the center spot than the West, with Atlanta's Al Horford, New York's Tyson Chandler and Chicago's Joakim Noah all deserving of mention. But this spot belongs to Dwight Howard unless (until) he gets traded to a Western Conference club.

Forward - Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks

Rebecca Taylor/MSG Photos

Ordinarily, I prefer to pick a true power forward and a true small forward on my all-star ballot, but this year I'm making an exception because 'Melo is putting up some eye-popping numbes for Mike D'Antoni's Knicks. If you'd rather Amar'e Stoudemire in this slot, I won't object.

Forward - LeBron James, Miami Heat

Getty Images Sport - Mike Ehrmann/Staff

Who else? Joke all you want about James' late game troubles in the playoffs... that doesn't change the fact that he's the best all-around player in the game today.

Guard - Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

Doug Benc/Getty Images

Another absolute no-brainer, especially now that Wade and his buddy LeBron seem to be working out the whole "who is the real top dog in Miami" thing.

Guard: Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls

Elsa/Getty Images

I gave Boston's Rajon Rondo the (slight) edge at this spot last season, but his play tailed off in the second half while Rose led the Bulls to the league's best record and was named league MVP.

New Jersey's Deron Williams also deserves consideration here... at this point, I'd put Williams behind Rose, ahead of Rondo.

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NBA All-Star Game: Polls Open

Voting for the 2012 NBA All-Star teams opened today at NBA.com and in arenas all over North America.

Like so many other aspects of this NBA season, the process is going to be compressed, significantly. Ordinarily, voting opens about two weeks into the season - mid-November - and runs until late January. This year, the polls will be open for just 27 days, from January 4 until the 31st.

I've already made my picks for the Eastern and Western Conference squads. Picking the East was a breeze, but there are some very tough decisions to be made on the West ballot.

The game itself - and all the other all-star festivities - will be held at the Amway Center, home of the Orlando Magic, from February 24-26.

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What is a double-double?

Definition: When a basketball player reaches ten or more in two statistical categories, that is, reached double figures, he or she is said to have produced a "double-double."

The most common double-double is in points and rebounds, but you'll occasionally hear of a player hitting a double-double that includes assists or, even more rarely, steals. Reaching ten or more in three categories is called, appropriately enough, a triple-double.

The very best players in college and pro basketball might "average a double-double" -- in other words, produce ten or more points and rebounds on average.

Examples:

Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin is averaging a double-double as a sophomore, with 22 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.

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Beyonce and Jay-Z

The most famous NBA wife isn't married to a player. Well, not THAT kind of player, anyway...

Beyonce and Jay-Z sit courtside during a game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2010 NBA Playoffs at TD Banknorth Garden on May 7, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Getty Images Sport - Jim Rogash/Stringer

The most famous NBA bride is probably Beyonce, who married rapper Jay-Z in April 2008. Jay-Z is a part-owner of the New Jersey Nets.

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Billy Gillispie

Name:

Billy Gillispie

Position:

Head Coach

Team:

None

Career Record:

139–84

Key Influences:

Bill Self (Kansas)

Great Players:

Antoine Wright (Texas A&M), Jodie Meeks, Patrick Patterson (Kentucky)

Profile:

No basketball coach, anywhere, is subjected to greater scrutiny than the head coach at Kentucky. The spotlight proved a bit too bright for Billy Gillispie, who was fired after two seasons coaching the Wildcats.

Gillispie's path to a big-time coaching job began as a graduate assistant at Sam Houston State University and Southwest Texas. After a few years as a highly-successful high school coach and junior college, he returned to Division I hoops in 1994 as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Baylor. Three years later, he hitched himself to a rising star, becoming an assistant to Bill Self at Tulsa. When Self left Tulsa for the head coaching job at Illinois in 2000, Gillespie followed him to Champaign and helped to recruit the players that would share Big Ten titles in 2001 and 2002. After the 2002 season, Gillespie was hired to take over the head coaching position at UTEP.

In Gillispie's first first season in El Paso, his Miners posted a 6-24 record; in his second, he landed a top-25 recruiting class and the school's first conference title in 12 years. After two years at UTEP, Gillispie took over the Texas A&M program, leading the Aggies to two NCAA appearances in three seasons and a 31-17 overall record. That -- along with his reputation as a tireless worker and talented recruiter -- netted him an offer to replace Tubby Smith in one of college basketball's most prestigious positions.

Off the court, some of Gillispie's tactics drew the ire of his fellow coaches. Accepting a verbal commitment from an eighth grader and using NCAA loopholes to move "midnight madness" generated strongly-worded press releases from the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

But more than any controversy, his won-loss record was his undoing. His tenure with the Wildcats got off to a rough start, with early-season losses to Gardner Webb and San Diego State. But the 'Cats rebounded to make yet another NCAA Tournament -- and might have been a tougher out if freshman forward Patrick Patterson and guard Jodie Meeks hadn't suffered significant injuries.

Year two in Lexington went less well -- with an 8-8 record in the SEC and a quarterfinal loss in the NIT.

He was fired on March 27, 2009.

Since his ouster, Gillispie has continued to make waves. He filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the university in May, and in August was arrested for driving under the influence - his third such arrest since 1999.

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Career Blocks Leaders

A lot of impressive names on the all-time list for blocked shots. Tim Duncan. Emeka Okafor. Alonzo Mourning. But the most prolific shot-blocker in NCAA Division I history is... who?

1. Wojciech Mydra - 535

Louisiana Monroe: 1998-2002
Mydra, from tiny Louisiana-Monroe, tops a list of guys who went on to long and productive NBA careers. He had aspirations of being the first Polish player to reach the NBA, but has spent his entire professional career to date in the European league.

2. Adonal Foyle - 492

Colgate: 1994-97
We're willing to give Foyle extra credit -- he's second on the list, but when he left school he was first overall, and he reached that point in just three seasons. He's had an eleven-year NBA career to date, serving last season as primary backup to Dwight Howard with the Orlando Magic.

3. Tim Duncan - 481

Wake Forest: 1993-97
Timmy is also tops on the career rebounding list.

4. Alonzo Mourning - 453

Georgetown: 1988-92

5. Ken Johnson - 444

Ohio State: 1997-2001

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