Hanging Chad: "My Heart Says Pavel"
If Chad Ford has one weakness... well, then I wouldn't spend this much time bashing him. The problem is that he has MANY weaknesses, all of which I hope to cover in the coming weeks leading up to the 2006 NBA Draft. As we noted before, his love of foreign prospects is probably his most obvious.
Reason #2: Chad's Euro-Lust
For those scoring at home, Maciej Lampe has been in the NBA three years now and still hasn't gotten into 82 games. And the problem wasn't his contract. This is a player who the Chad had ranked ahead of: TJ Ford, Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, and Kirk Hinrich. (Mind you at this time he also believe Milos Vujanic was the PG of the future for the NY Knicks.) While I'm not saying that Lampe can't turn it around and become a decent pro, I think it's safe to say that Chad overrated him a smidgen.
But the beauty of Chad Ford is that he doesn't stop at just overrating players; he seems to adopt them and defend them to the bitter end. For instance, the New York Knicks received an A- for their draft in 2003, in spite of the fact that he said their first round pick Mike Sweetney didn't fit the team needs and that that pick deserved a C. He bumped up their grade up because the Knicks got Lampe and another Euro, Slavko Vranes, in the second round.
Even then, this one instance could have been forgivable but Ford wasn't done there. He mentioned Lampe time and again in his draft grade article, dropping gems like, "It's tough to criticize Pat Riley for passing on Lampe when 24 other teams did the same thing." (Riley took Dwyane Wade); "I'm not as high on the Cabarkapa pick. It seems to me that Brian Cook or Maciej Lampe were both better players." (While Zarko's no prize, it's not like Brian Cook or Lampe are all that much better); "The Blazers passed on several guys (Lampe, Barbosa, Pachulia, Cook) with just as much upside." (They passed on those guys for Travis Outlaw who might still have more upside than the guys mentioned) And the love affair didn't stop after the draft either. Lampe did literally nothing besides get traded for Stephon Marbury in his rookie campaign yet Ford wouldn't let it go, writing:
But then something happened: Pavel withdrew from the draft. He felt like he wasn't ready and didn't want to be a project in the NBA. He wanted to stay in Europe another year and polish his game. The year passed and by then the wonderment was gone. Most GM's soured on Pavel and his days of a lottery pick were over. But the flame in Chad Ford's heart burned on! In early mock draft, Ford had Pavel floating around the 11th pick. But when his final mock draft was released, he moved Podkolzine up to #5 to the Dallas Mavericks.
The guys the Mavs apparently wanted was at the pick was Devin Harris. And while those teams might have looked at him 8, 11, 12, 14, and 16, Podkolzine wasn't drafted until the twenty-first pick in the draft. The Utah Jazz took him and promptly dealt him to Don Nelson and the Mavericks. Was Ford content that he at least got it right that Dallas was interested in him? No. Once again he had to alter his draft grade, this time to punish whoever dared trade the object of his affection. He downgraded Utah from an A to a B- because of the deal. He wrote, "But then, at No. 21 they trade away the rights to Pavel for a future first. Huh? I know the Jazz didn't want three picks, but at 21, Pavel's no longer a risk. How many No. 21 picks pan out? If he develops in Dallas, Kevin O'Connor will never forgive himself."
Chew on this quote for a minute. It will be the opening line of our next entry which will focus on another one of Chad Ford's weaknesses, the fact that he has no idea what he is talking about.
"Maciej Lampe... was a huge draft steal. I've seen Lampe play enough to know that his slide wasn't warranted. Lots of teams dropped the ball on him. If he can work out his contract issues with Real Madrid, he'll make Knicks fans happy."
For those scoring at home, Maciej Lampe has been in the NBA three years now and still hasn't gotten into 82 games. And the problem wasn't his contract. This is a player who the Chad had ranked ahead of: TJ Ford, Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, and Kirk Hinrich. (Mind you at this time he also believe Milos Vujanic was the PG of the future for the NY Knicks.) While I'm not saying that Lampe can't turn it around and become a decent pro, I think it's safe to say that Chad overrated him a smidgen.
But the beauty of Chad Ford is that he doesn't stop at just overrating players; he seems to adopt them and defend them to the bitter end. For instance, the New York Knicks received an A- for their draft in 2003, in spite of the fact that he said their first round pick Mike Sweetney didn't fit the team needs and that that pick deserved a C. He bumped up their grade up because the Knicks got Lampe and another Euro, Slavko Vranes, in the second round. Even then, this one instance could have been forgivable but Ford wasn't done there. He mentioned Lampe time and again in his draft grade article, dropping gems like, "It's tough to criticize Pat Riley for passing on Lampe when 24 other teams did the same thing." (Riley took Dwyane Wade); "I'm not as high on the Cabarkapa pick. It seems to me that Brian Cook or Maciej Lampe were both better players." (While Zarko's no prize, it's not like Brian Cook or Lampe are all that much better); "The Blazers passed on several guys (Lampe, Barbosa, Pachulia, Cook) with just as much upside." (They passed on those guys for Travis Outlaw who might still have more upside than the guys mentioned) And the love affair didn't stop after the draft either. Lampe did literally nothing besides get traded for Stephon Marbury in his rookie campaign yet Ford wouldn't let it go, writing:
Maciej Lampe, C, Suns: He's still not playing big minutes, but when Lampe does get into the game, good things usually happen. Suns sources claim a fight with Amare Stoudemire in practice has changed the season for Lampe. The kid is cocky and has never met a shot he doesn't like, but the Suns are starting to see a few returns from the first pick in the second round. He had 12 points and six boards in 29 minutes at San Antonio on Sunday. He played 26 minutes against the Bucks and scored 17 points and grabbed seven boards. He played 18 minutes recently against the Clippers and scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting. Those numbers aren't blowing anyone away, but for an 18-year-old big man? The Suns will take it."That 17 point outing in Milwaukee is still his career high and he's never bettered the 29 minutes against San Antonio either. He did have a 23/12 game on 50% shooting this year in the preseason for New Orleans. The Hornets were so impressed that they shipped him off to Houston for Moochie Norris. But Lampe isn't the only one. And he most certainly is not the most embarassing. The love affair between Chad Ford's and the Siberian Giant Pavel Podkolzine is the stuff of legend. Pavel was supposed to enter the 2003 draft and had an amazing workout which caught the eyes of NBA GM's. From then on, Chad hearted Pavel. No. Really. In their mock draft for ESPN, Ford and Andy Katz had Chris Bosh falling to the 5th pick where Ford wrote, "My head says Bosh could be a real star in a year or two. But my heart says Podkolzine here." He then had the Clippers taking him 6th, wondering if the big man's workout would "be enough to wake GM Elgin Baylor out of his perpetual slumber?"
But then something happened: Pavel withdrew from the draft. He felt like he wasn't ready and didn't want to be a project in the NBA. He wanted to stay in Europe another year and polish his game. The year passed and by then the wonderment was gone. Most GM's soured on Pavel and his days of a lottery pick were over. But the flame in Chad Ford's heart burned on! In early mock draft, Ford had Pavel floating around the 11th pick. But when his final mock draft was released, he moved Podkolzine up to #5 to the Dallas Mavericks.
Mavericks president Donnie Nelson loves Podkolzine. I was with him in Italy when Nelson got his first chance to get on the floor and put Pavel through a workout, and that was before Dallas even owned a first-round pick. Nelson fell hard for the kid. Some people claim this is too high to take him, but that's nonsense -- if you like him, take him. There's no guarantee he'll be on the board lower. Toronto will look at him at No. 8. Golden State at No. 11. Seattle at No. 12. Utah with either No. 14 or No. 16. If he's the guy the Mavs' want, and this was the spot they could work a deal to trade into, take him.
The guys the Mavs apparently wanted was at the pick was Devin Harris. And while those teams might have looked at him 8, 11, 12, 14, and 16, Podkolzine wasn't drafted until the twenty-first pick in the draft. The Utah Jazz took him and promptly dealt him to Don Nelson and the Mavericks. Was Ford content that he at least got it right that Dallas was interested in him? No. Once again he had to alter his draft grade, this time to punish whoever dared trade the object of his affection. He downgraded Utah from an A to a B- because of the deal. He wrote, "But then, at No. 21 they trade away the rights to Pavel for a future first. Huh? I know the Jazz didn't want three picks, but at 21, Pavel's no longer a risk. How many No. 21 picks pan out? If he develops in Dallas, Kevin O'Connor will never forgive himself."
Chew on this quote for a minute. It will be the opening line of our next entry which will focus on another one of Chad Ford's weaknesses, the fact that he has no idea what he is talking about.
