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Magic Draft Picks?
Topic Started: Jun 1 2007, 06:39 PM (1,769 Views)
JonBoy418
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Nick Fazekas is the stand out PF from University of Nevada. He was part of the 2004 team that went to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tourney. After that year (and Kirk Snyder left UNR), he lead the Wolfpack to multiple WAC conference championships and four consecutive NCCA tournement appearances.

I don't know much about his actual game, considering UNR doesn't have any televised games except during March Madness. I know my dad and brother went to many UNR games so they would have better knowledge.

Any how, any PF who had a leadership role for a strong mid-major team is definately worth a look in the 2nd round. What's the worst that could happen? He doesn't pan out like the other 98%.



Edit: I for one was excited when I saw him on NBAdraft.net mock draft. Here's his player profile:
http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/nickfazekas.html
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[A]pache
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After three days of unimpressive showings, Joao Gomes finally had his breakout performance in the last day of the camp. For some stretches, he reproduced the shooting orgies he had delivered in the Vilagarcia Basket Cup (where we saw him two months ago). He put on display his very nice array of jumpers and ability to create them: in catch-and-shoot fashion coming off cutters, after a jab step with the opponent in front of him, off the dribble with a slight fade-away move, pulling up after a hesitation move...he looks very difficult to stop when he's on fire like that. Still, it wasn't only about shooting the ball. Gomes also shined in slashing situations. He's not that much of a ball-handler, but can take advantage of favorable situations to attack his rivals going both ways and showing very solid footwork and terrific balance flying towards the basket, which allows him to executes moves in the air to avoid defenders and still get the layup off with either hand.

Even if he's not the guy with the best basketball IQ around, lacking some creativity and passing skills, he's a good athlete with an excellent stroke and very nice ability to finish near the rim, while he works pretty well on defense and rebounding the ball. If the scouts were still paying attention, this late performance should leave him with a pretty solid status in the second round.

PICK Joao Gomes! :D

He's very athletic, shoots well, and he's a good defender/rebounder. He only needs more muscle 8-)
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CLos
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Okay, who the heck is Rick Rickert? That's who Nick is compared to.
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JonBoy418
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CLos
Jun. 14 2007 02:15 PM
Okay, who the heck is Rick Rickert? That's who Nick is compared to.

Sounds like the drummer for Poison....
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[A]pache
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We've 3 2nd rounders right?
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CLos
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2 now because we have to give one up to Miami for SVG.
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MAGICMANEVAN
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CLos
Jun. 17 2007 02:18 PM
2 now because we have to give one up to Miami for SVG.

We have #44 and #54.
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Ben Q Rock
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MAGICMANEVAN
Jun. 17 2007 09:24 PM
We have #44 and #54.

What an illustrious history those two picks have. Here are the players selected with those picks from the past five drafts:
2002: 44, Lonny Baxter; 54, Tamar Slay
2003: 44, Malick Badiane; 54, Nedzad Sinanovic
2004: 44, Tim Pickett; 54, Ricky Paulding
2005: 44, Martynas Andriuskevicius; 54, Dijon Thompson
2006: 44, Lior Eliyahu; 54, Hassan Adams

Maybe Black and Blue was right when he said we should just bring Marcin Gortat over. <_<
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MAGICMANEVAN
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http://www.nba.com/magic/news/anezsez.html
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SA: What about you? No first round picks...But, Otis, knowing your off season priority list...knowing you need as much cap room as possible to re-sign Darko and possibly sign a marquee free agent. Is NOT having a first in this draft a bad thing?

OS: I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's a deep enough draft, and enough teams have multiple first's that if you want to get into the first round you can find a way to buy your way into the first. But you have to look at the landscape of our team. We currently have three 21 year olds and we're a relatively young team at our core. Does it behoove us to get another young player at this time? At some point we'll have to look to replenish. But at this time I don't know if it's necessary unless it's someone you're gonnna get high into the first that it's gonna make an impact right now. I don't know if that can happen in this current draft.
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Ben Q Rock
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Oh man, Otis busting out the vocabulary. Behoove?! Nicely done.

And he's right, too. There's no real reason to move up unless it's a sure thing that the player you draft will contribute right away. Occasionally, guys who fit that mold slip into the second round, like Paul Millsap of the Jazz in last year's draft.
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MAGICMANEVAN
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We dont need to trade into the first round as long as Otis and his staff do their homework well. A diamond can be found if you look. There is no point in tearing up the team to get into the first round. Maybe we can package our 2nd rd pick together to get a higher 2nd round pick?
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MAGICMANEVAN
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/bask...0,6322775.story
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Teams with 2nd-round picks like Magic can find success in draft

As a league dominated by veterans, the NBA is littered every year with second-round draft choices who are lucky just to see a second season, players who wash out quickly for any number of reasons.

They are like the biennials in the garden, rarely lasting much beyond the two years they were designed to produce.

Yet there are exceptions to the rule.

The Orlando Magic will go into the 2007 NBA draft Thursday night without a first-round pick for just the second time in franchise history, an indication that little help is on the way this week.

They will have two selections in the second round, the 44th and 54th picks, and the odds of finding a player there to contribute significantly are not real good.

Yet it happens.

"It takes some luck, but it happens,'' Magic General Manager Otis Smith said. "You do your homework, you plan, then hope things fall the right way before you pick.''

Ironically, the player the Orlando Magic and everyone else will be chasing and begging to please in free agency next month -- Rashard Lewis -- came into the league as a second-round draft choice in 1998 with the Seattle SuperSonics.

He is the glowing example of a second-round discovery, but he is extremely rare.

Of the 29 players chosen in the second round that year, only seven still played in the league last season, and only Lewis still was with the team that drafted him. All seven of them were taken in the top half of that second round.

"There are second-round success stories, but you have to be lucky,'' said Dave Twardzik, Magic assistant GM. "You're looking for someone who can contribute to your team. If you find that, you're successful.''

The Magic, through the years, have not been very successful in the second round. Probably their best ever second-round pick was Anderson Varejao (2004), but he was traded to Cleveland a month later along with Drew Gooden for Tony Battie. They took center Zaza Pachulia (2003) in the second round, but they got nothing in return when he left in the expansion draft.

When their first turn comes in the second round Thursday, the Magic will be at the mercy of the previous 43 picks. There could be a well-known player, such as LSU's Glen Davis, still available, or a much lesser-known point guard such as Petteri Koponen of Finland to take. Or both could be long gone.

Ramon Sessions of Nevada or Russell Carter of Notre Dame could be the swingman they take. Or they might opt for a young center such as Stanko Barac of Bosnia-Herzegovina, knowing it might be another year before he arrives.

"When you pick at No. 1, you're only really studying a couple players. At No. 6, you're looking at 8-10 guys. At 15, you're really widening the scope,'' Twardzik said. "But in the second round, you're looking at everyone out there. And it makes it interesting.''
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MAGICMANEVAN
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/bask...story?track=rss
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Possible Magical picks in 2nd round

C Stanko Barac (Bosnia-Herzegovina): May be a draft-and-stay-in-Europe-for-another-year player.

C Aaron Gray (Pitt): Solid in low post, but mechanical and lacks athleticism.

F Demetris Nichols (Syracuse): Good scorer, but not a low-post type.

G Ramon Sessions (Nevada): Should've remained for senior season but has potential.

C Kyle Visser (Wake Forest): Had big senior season but appears to be journeyman-type talent.
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Black and Blue
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Sounds like Stanko is a name that keeps popping up. As I wrote today in the blog I think we'll go with a guy that slipped in the draft and a Euro. Stanko could very well be that player.
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Ben Q Rock
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I wouldn't be disappointed if the Magic drafted Fazekas. John Hollinger of ESPN created a metric for determining NBA success based on college statistics, and he rated Fazekas as a top-10 talent, even though he'll probably drop into the second round.
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