bukie

Celtics grab Brooks. EDIT: And send him to Jersey, I guess?

I like Mirotic, but I like Jordan Hamilton a lot more.

My problem with him is that he's not a particularly efficient player and piled up counting statistics because of Providence's fast pace and heavy minutes. His usage and efficiency just isn't there, and as a senior he's not likely to get all that much better at it over the next few years.

Jordan Hamilton, plz.

Ahh, crap, another SG drafted and Brooks is falling.

Not at #9, but at #28 or #30? Hell yeah. I don't even like him there. His stats were boosted by Providence's fast pace, coupled with the fact that he played almost every minute for them. His efficiency was subpar, and he's not really young among the draft prospects. I don't want the Bulls to be the team that takes him in the first round. Second, though, sure.

I can see the headlines now..."World Peace suspended six weeks for altercation with Outlaw."

I want no part of Marshon Brooks, thanks.

I really hope the draft turns into teams dumping the terrible contracts they signed last offseason. Last off-season was probably my favorite non-Celtics based event of the NBA season, tonight could be like a mini-version of that. I would figure that Atlanta has to do something. They can't win with that roster, and they can't build with Horford, Smith and Johnson's contracts.

I will always remain amazed that he somehow got that 1998 team into the playoffs. That team had Sosa, Wood and nobody else. What the Nationals are doing lately is pretty impressive, too.

I also really like Leuer as an offensive big man prospect, as he was way more valuable last year than most people perceived.

Is E'Twaun Moore on draft lists anywhere? Maybe I'm just romanticizing his college days, but he seems like exactly the type of player the Bulls could use in the back court.

Isner downs Mahut in straight sets to cut about 9 hours out of his first round for this year.

Jack Warner resigns from FIFA, which apparently automatically makes him innocent of ethics violations, so FIFA has no need to investigate further.

Wimbledon starts today. Remember last year's Isner-Mahut marathon? Well, turns out they were drawn against each other again in the first round.

Here's what I'd be in favor of: 1. Even out the leagues - Whether it's adding two teams to go 16 each or moving an NL team to the AL to go 15 each. The only caveat for an odd number of teams in a league would be the need to have interleague games going on at all times. It doesn't bother the NFL/NHL/NBA to do it, it shouldn't bother MLB to do it. In order for there to be enough interleague games to cover the whole season, each team would have to play at least 11 interleague games (162 games for 30 teams, 2 teams per game). 2. Eliminate divisions - With the advent of the wild card, divisions mean less already than they did in the past. Even before the wild card, there were often complaints about one division being too strong, or too weak. A 15-team league could easily enough be tracked for a season. 3. Expand the playoffs slightly - Top 6 teams in each league make the playoffs. Top 2 teams get a "bye" as the other teams go head to head for one game at the home field of the higher seed (3 vs 6, 4 vs 5). The advantage this offers the top 2 teams would be to throw off the other teams' rotations while at the same time letting the top teams rest up a couple extra days and set up their pitching rotations. Also, none of this All-Star game decides home field advantage crap. Just let the team with the best record get the home field advantage, like in every other sport. 4. Reduce the schedule to 144 games - Start a couple weeks later, end a couple weeks earlier, the World Series can be done in October. Play 9 games (6H/3A, 5H/4A, 4H/5A, 3H/6A) against each team in your league, and 6 games (3H/3A) against 3 teams in the opposite league. One of the opposites can be the team you finished the same place as in the other league, while the other two can be formulaic in the same vein (i.e. top 3 teams all play each other, then next 3, then next 3, etc).

He's now tied for the team lead in wins. I think that's more a bad sign for the team than a good one for him, though.

The only thing that really annoys me is the recurring pattern of rehashing the same 5-6 discussions over and over again with different player names and the same ignorant viewpoints. At some point, it just becomes tiring trying to put forth an objective rebuttal to a misguided viewpoint when you just know the response is going to be "Well I'm just going to go on believing this anyway and ignoring all the points you make, or I'm going to take one semantic issue with your three-paragraph argument and whine about that for 5 pages."

Looks like Costa Rica-Mexico will easily be the best match of the first round. The drop off in quality between the top 3-4 CONCACAF teams and the rest makes me relieved they stuck with the hex qualifying again this year.

You are a such a liar it is ridiculous. Pitchers do not do what Cashner did all the time. Last year he was a reliever. It doesn't matter that he went a little deeper in starts in April and May. He was a reliever for four months pitching nearly every other day for 1 inning at a time. You don't just maintain your starting capacity for workload when you actually perform as a reliever, especially when you had such a limited capacity for workload as a starter in the first place. Wells needed to gradually build up to 200 innings if they wanted to be cautious about future healthy. He went from 120 to 190 and then just had one more 190. Your statement suggests he has a slew of 190 seasons coming in. He did not. He made a huge jump. And now he's paying the price. Your argument is so ludicrous it's insulting. Relievers are converted to starters all the time. Pitchers going from the minors to the majors have a jump in innings all the time. Your argument essentially boils down to this: Every pitcher is an injury risk. The Cubs employ pitchers, therefore they should've expected 2/3 of them to go down in the first month of the season. Serves them right for employing pitchers.

So, looks like the Bulls draft 28 and 30 this year. Any chance somebody like a Jimmer falls to them, or is the draft so weak this year that Jimmer is a justifiable lottery pick?

Charles Barkley: "I want to congratulate OKC and Chicago for having great seasons. The Mavs and Heat have to win to have a great season."

If anything, I feel for the kid right now, as he feels it's all on him. I just hope he can take it in stride and use it as motivation to get better and go farther next year.

Cubs 2-0 now against the NL East. 6-11 against the Central. 11-12 against the NL West (and they had 2 rainouts, and only 11 games remaining against the West overall now)

The Cubs look to maintain their undefeated season against the NL East tonight.