2012 Draft Thursday, June 28th: Raptors select Terence Ross

[NoPropsneeded]

Drummond is weak minded he doesn't have the mindset to absolutely destroy his opponent which will mess up his nba career and make him a potential bust(hopefully, last thing we want is another strong team in the east)

[mcHAPPY]

So imagine if the uproar of Raptors' fans if they had drafted Kanter last year or Drummond this year and this was written on ESPN after 2 summer league games:

O'Quinn is a different story. He doesn't have the skills Nicholson does or the overall talent but there's no issue with his physical play or aggression. Playing against Pistons center Andre Drummond, O'Quinn was on the all-out attack. While getting in Drummond's face and physically challenging him nearly every possession, O'Quinn drew the eyes of nearly everyone in the room.

His hustle is evident. He runs the floor with purpose, and he seems to relish setting screens and battling for rebounds. He had 11 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes while Drummond had 3 points and 3 rebounds in 22 minutes. O'Quinn had 16 points on Monday and is 12-of-18 shooting for two games, mostly as a result of fighting close to the rim. He gets there because he has some polished footwork, again a product of a four-year college player.

It's hard to predict the role he might have with Orlando this season with much unknown about who will be in uniform. But whoever coaches the team, O'Quinn has all the classic traits of a rugged backup who will pressure the coach to throw him out there even with a talent and size disadvantage.

"Nine or 49, it doesn't matter to me," O'Quinn said talking about his draft position. He didn't pull those numbers out of the air. Drummond was picked ninth, he was picked 49th.

O'Quinn very much knows the score; he has no delusions. But there's no mistaking the focus he had on besting Drummond, something that last year's No. 3 overall pick Enes Kanter of the Utah Jazz struggled with the day before.

"You have to come in with [a chip on your shoulder], you know what kind of swagger those major college guys walk into the gym with. Us Norfolk State guys, we don't have that," O'Quinn said. "Anything we want we've got to take. That's the mentality I've had for the last four years and I've rolled it over into summer league. … I'm not a guy who came out after one year or two years and had everything given to him. I know it sounds redundant but I worked for everything, I appreciate everything."


http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/81...-superman-cape

To the defenders and out criers of Drummond in particular, I know it is only 2 summer league games.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

The 12th pick wasn't available, which is I guess how far down BC was willing to go. As an aside I did see a mock where Ross was selected 10th.

That's the rumor I had read even on draft night (or the day after), that the Houston offers likely included Lowry and either #16 or #18, but not #12... and that part of the reason was that Houston was high on Ross and wanted him at #12.

[Katman]

The 12th pick wasn't available, which is I guess how far down BC was willing to go. As an aside I did see a mock where Ross was selected 10th.

[mcHAPPY]

For the final kick in the nuts today!



Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress

Sorry to say but it was obvious. Lowry+Houston's picks were there...RT @WolstatSun: Appears you were right about Nash and Toronto after all.



Not known if that deal was available but if it was.... ouch. Somehow I don't think Lowry and multiple picks were on the table for #8.

[Mapko]

I thought I saw that Ross for 6'6" and 200lbs. Even if he puts on another 20lbs at that size he can only be an NBA SG I think.

Acy reminds be more of Joel Anthony than Reggie Evans with the big wing span.

Acy appears to be a lot more comfortable around the basket & CAN finish.
Joel Anthony will shoot (let me rephrase that: Try to shoot/finish).
Also Acy appears to be a lot more agile than either Reggie or Joel.
In the end, the odds of a second rounder making a 9 man rotation & sticking with the team are fairly slim (2, 3 guys a year at most). Neither Toronto nor BC have done particularly good in that aspect of draft (2nd rounders)
There is always hope.

[Mapko]

Screw dude. I certainly don't need lessons on being a dad. Simply commiserating with someone else with an unfortunate confluence of circumstances.

Wow.
I apologize if I offended anyone. My comment was purely tongue in cheek. I have no interest in teaching somebody how to be a dad -most certainly not a complete stranger over the internet.

[koncept]

I actually think Charlotte drafting MKG messed the draft up, for those Raps fans hoping to draft Barnes.

Barnes fans were hoping Charlotte would draft Robinson
- rumor was that Cleveland had MKG ranked 2nd after Beal, so MKG would have gone #4
- rumor was that if Robinson wasn't available at 5, Sacramento would have drafted Drummond (either for themselves or to trade to Houston)
- rumor was that Golden State had Waiters ranked ahead of Barnes, meaning they would have drafted Waiters at 7
- Barnes would have dropped to Toronto at #8

The funny part is that we have no idea whether BC had Barnes ranked ahead of Ross or not. I assume yes, since they're similar players, but Barnes would have filled the need for SF, whereas Ross is a SG.

Thanks alot. I didn't know that GS had Waiters rated higher than Barnes. We were so god damn close! even the coin flip could've gotten us Barnes

[ReubenJRD]

Alot of scouts looked as Terrence Ross as a combo wing. He could play either the 2 or 3 because of his shooting and athleticism. They were saying whatever the position, he'll be able to play whether the 2 or 3.

[Rocky416]

Im trying not to expect to much from t.ross at the moment nd i assume Casey is doing the same. Diffrent players develop at diffrent rates if he can come in, guard his own position in the leauge nd contribute with rebounding nd help d then we've ganined value with the 8th pick.

[ceez]

Grading a draft right after it takes place is stupid anyways. I'd rather see grades 2 or 3 years later.

[Michel G]

Given that every expert and fan assumed Toronto could trade #8 (and maybe #56) to Houston for say #12 & #18, to still be able to get Ross, I have to assume that BC looked into it and such a deal simply wasn't available.

I also find it amusing that Chad Ford didn't even entertain the idea that Bryan was calling teams to trade down, but that nothing came of it. David Aldridge had no problem with the pick when he analysed it for NBA TV.

[NoPropsneeded]

Speaking of Ross and Acy.

[NoPropsneeded]

I think what Calgary is saying is Weems sucks and good riddance.

ya i dont like weems. T Ross is a million times better than him

[CalgaryRapsFan]

CNNSI gave Toronto's draft a B+

B+ Toronto Raptors
Once you got past Florida shooting guard Bradley Beal, there was incredible parity -- perceive parity, anyway -- among the shooting guard crop. So while Terrence Ross (No. 8) was expected to go later in the lottery or possibly in the late teens, it's not really a surprise that he landed here. He's an athletic scorer and a big-time shooter who seems destined to become a favorite of coach Dwane Casey. Ross joins DeMar DeRozan to give an offense-starved team another perimeter scorer. Toronto also took Baylor small forward Quincy Acy at No. 37, and the high-energy player will be there to crash the glass and dive for loose balls. At No. 56, Toronto grabbed 7-foot Croatian forward Tomislav Zubic.

LINK: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...des/index.html