PICK AND SCROLL: Tuesday, April 17, 2012. Lottery bound.
Erik Anderson | Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 9:11AM 
- Need some help understanding the draft lottery? Mike Tokito of the Oregonian went and got all handy compiling together a “draft primer.”
New Jersey Nets’ pick
After their loss to Miami last night, the Nets fell to 22-40, tying them for the sixth-worst record with Toronto. Because teams who finish with the same record add, then divide, their combinations, if the season ended today, the Nets and Raptors would each have 53 combinations. So the Nets’ odds of getting a top-three pick right now would be:
No. 1 pick: 5.3 percent
No. 2 pick: 6.0 percent
No. 3 pick: 7.3 percent
The best the Nets’ pick could be if the Blazers get it, if the season ended today, would be No. 6, and that would depend on Toronto not getting a No. 1-3 pick, and then New Jersey winning a coin flip with the Raptors.
Blazers Pick
The Blazers’ own pick: Monday’s loss dropped the Blazers to 28-34, the 11th-worst record in the league. That makes them long shots to land a top-three pick. If they remain at No. 11, the Blazers would have eight possible combination out of the 1,000. Their odds:
No. 1 pick: 0.8 percent
No. 2 pick: 0.9 percent
No. 3 pick: 1.2 percent
If fortune does not go the Blazers’ way, their would have a 90.7 percent chance of getting the No. 11 pick.
Also, we should note that the odds on both picks will likely change several times before the end of the season.
- Joe Freeman of the Oregonian analyzes the B-team’s performance last night, highlighted by the play of Luke Babbit.
Babbitt did not disappoint. Revealing aggressive play and where-has-this-been confidence from the opening jump to the final horn, Babbitt finished with 18 points and five rebounds in 39 minutes. He hit deep three-pointers, finished driving floaters in the lane and made five consecutive shots during one stretch. Babbitt made 7 of 17 field goals, including 4 of 9 three-pointers, establishing or tying career highs in points, field goals and three-pointers.
- The Portland Tribune doesn’t think coach Canales’ defensive focus is being taken seriously by the rest of the team. After watching Portland give up 125 points, I’d say the Tribune is on to something.
- Chris Haynes of csnnw.com says the Suns want Jamal Crawford if he doesn’t re-up with the Blazers. “We want Jamal back!” - Said nobody, ever.
- Eric Freeman of Yahoo! Sports blog Ball Don’t Lie finally joins the Hasheem Thabeet Twitter party. Better late than never, Freeman.
- Delonte West is still a punk, albeit a dry one. With that said, “Cheap shot in the biggest way,” might be an overexaggeration. Seriously, settle down Roots sports crew.
- There are worse namesakes to have than Michael Jordan. Like anybody named Donald Sterling. I feel for you.
Thoughts, ideas and challenges to 1-on-1 games, are happily accepted in the comments section.
Reader Comments (1)
They should publicly hang Mr. West for such a violation. He's tainted professional basketball forever.