Eleven Warriors

ESPN's Rick Bucher is reporting that the Portland Trail Blazers have informed Greg Oden's camp that they will be selecting the center with the first pick in the NBA draft tomorrow evening. While this comes as no real surprise to many Buckeye fans, you can bet that GM Kevin Pritchard and the folks in Portland wrestled with this one.

Oden's obviously the classic big man the Blazers will be able to build a championship franchise around. By all accounts, he's a tremendous kid and will be an asset to the Portland community. Durant on the other hand, turned in some of the sickest performances I've seen in the college game since Carmelo. No doubt, both Oden and Durant will make fine pros.

Congratulations to Oden, the first Buckeye to be selected #1 overall in the NBA draft. A few burning questions: Are you planning to buy any Blazer gear? What kind of suit will Oden wear to the podium? Conley? Cook?

Daequan Cook's hometown fishwrap keeps the DC news coming at a pace even Access Hollywood could appreciate. Today, the DDN reported none other than Officer O'Neal picked up Cook at the Miami airport prior to his workout with the Heat. Apparently, Cook and the Diesel had met previously via a mutual buddy. Ever the nice guy, Shaq took Cook out for the day including a stop at his pad to discuss life in the NBA. In case you're wondering, Miami has the 20th and 39th pick in Thursday's draft.

Speaking of the draft, DDN also noted Cook is having a Draft Party at the swank Holiday Inn on Dryden Road. If you want to watch the draft with Cook and Al Powell Jr, it will only cost you a Gammons at the door. The 20 spot will get you some finger foods and a chance to rub elbows with a future NBA contributor and his crew. I might make the drive but I have a feeling Chad Ford of ESPN The Magazine won't be in attendance after this doozy on Cook:

"He's got springs, range ... and no clue on how to play the game. [Cook has] a weak work ethic and massive ego."

Damn. Hopefully the right team with the right coach will tap the true potential of the Quan and prove the naysayers wrong.

Greg Oden left his workout in Portland a little heavier in the wallet as he came to (unspecified) terms with Nike. Old fella broke it down on his blog:

".. to be a part of the Nike family with all the tradition, it's like a dream. I just want a commercial with 'Little Penny' maybe they can call it 'Little Oden' I would love it."

First of all, is there a funnier blogger on the planet right now? All spring the talk was about how Durant was more marketable and he may very well end up with the bigger shoe deal, but Oden's personality is really starting to come out and with each blog post and funny interview, the cash register rings. Shaq has even taken notice and calls Oden the "Young Ninja".

Whether he gets a signature shoe or not, Oden will be in good hands. The folks at Nike are kind of good at marketing.

Various media outlets are reporting on the medical evaluations of top prospects for the NBA draft and the big talk centers around reports of some minor health issues with projected top pick Greg Oden.

Keeping with tradition, pro scouts, this time with the NBA, are looking for chinks in the armor of the top dog(s). The NFL had Vince Young's Wonderlic results to kick around and now the NBA chatterati are abuzz with feigned concern over Oden's still not 100% wrist and a bulging disk in his back. For good measure, there's even word that one of his legs is shorter than the other one. Chad Ford is practically bouncing off walls over at the WWL with speculation that Oden's health issues may even have Portland looking more seriously at Kevin Durant ($) with the first pick.

I don't know. Kevin Durant is a fine player and will probably make a great pro, but I'm sticking with the guy that dominated against one of the better college basketball teams of the past 25 years. Short leg and all.

Ron Lewis' Draft Status Still Cloudy With the NBA Draft less than a week away teams are getting a last look at guys and finalizing their draft strategy. With even the top half of the first round pecking order uncertain it's even more of a mystery as to how the 2nd round will play out. That could be good news for Ron Lewis, who still hopes to be a late 2nd round selection. Lewis worked out for the Bulls yesterday, a team with the 49th and 51st picks looking to add a guard off the bench. One report indicates Lewis impressed the Bulls brass with his defense and his athleticism fits in to Scott Skiles' up-tempo style. Even better, HoopsWorld reported that Ron put on a shooting clinic in a recent workout with the Houston Rockets, a team that might be open to trading down (26th pick) in hopes of getting more value out of a 2nd round pick. Besides raining jumpers, Lewis impressed with his ability to run the floor and attack the rim. The problem could be that the Rockets just picked up PG Mike James to compete with fellow PG Rafer Alston by trading Juwan Howard making them more likely to draft a big.

Greg Oden's Pacific Northwest Tour Rages On Greg arrived in Portland yesterday for a two day meet and greet with the Blazers. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge met Oden, his mom and Conley Sr. at the airport as a sea of media and travelers looked on. Oden is expected to take part in light workouts and meetings before heading to Seattle on Friday to go through the same song and dance with the Sonics, who remain coachless.

Conley Making The Rounds Following a strong workout with the Grizzlies, Mike Conley put on a show for the Bucks. Milwaukee's Director of player personnel certianly seems impressed:

"Athletically, he's as good as it gets," Babcock said. "A pass-first (point guard) would be a tremendous addition to our team, because we do have a lot of scorers. Even though he's 6-1, he's a good defender. He's solid and he's strong. Will he get taken advantage of by the bigger point guards? They all do, Chris Paul, T.J. (Ford), all those guys. But they take advantage of them at the other end with their quickness."

Conley spoke briefly of how sweet it would be to team with Michael Redd in a Buckeye backcourt:

"He's a great slasher, a great shooter," Conley said. "I could definitely get accustomed to passing the ball a lot. He could get me a lot of assists."

If a Conley/Redd backcourt pans out, I suspect we'll see a few more Milwaukee fans sprout in the Buckeye state although I don't know if a boost in merchandise sales is realistic until they change that ridiculous color scheme. Purple, Red and Green? Seriously.

Daequan worked out for the Sixers (#21) Saturday and has workouts scheduled this week with the Warriors (18), Spurs (28) and Heat (20). Cook commented he plans to sign with Conley Sr either today or tomorrow. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is today at 5pm and Andy Katz takes a look at those still undecided.

Not to be outdone by his teammate, Mike Conley Jr. has started his own blog over at Yardbarker. Conley notes his first individual workout (Memphis, #4 pick) went well including dinner with the great Jerry West, however Jr's proudest moment from the week came from hearing his name in a rap by Fabolous. Ah...I know the feeling. I remember when Biggie gave me a shout out on his Ready To Die album. Okay, didn't happen, but that CD should be in your library nonetheless. Back to hoops, Conley worked out for the Bulls on Saturday and poppa Conley says he'd love his son play in the city in which he grew up although nobody seems to think Jr will fall to the #9 pick.

Remember Greg Simpson? I know I do. He was Lima's high school scoring sensation and the cornerstone of a Randy Ayers recruiting class that included Derek Anderson and Killer Macon but found himself kicked off the team after he and Macon allegedly stomped out Simpson's roommate. Anyway, DeathRattleSports loved them some Greg Simpson and recently wrote that all attempts of a Where Are They Now mission led to Nowheresville. So, who has the 411 on Greg Simpson? Is he still going to the rack with that patented under the arm toss and dunk? Man, I remember that dreary era of Buckeye hoops well. It seems like yesterday that Gerald Eaker was shooting out the tires of a teammate's (Antonio Watson?) car that probably ran on stolen gas courtesy of Macon while Carlos Davis served as our go to guy. I guess it's safe to say times have changed.

Jason Quick, the Trail Blazers beat writer for The Oregonian, conducted an interview with future Blazer Greg Oden last week. The interview (direct link to MP3) featured many great soundbites, including the disclosure that Oden asked Matta to red-shirt him when he was first injured. However, nothing topped Oden's response when asked if there's anything he wanted to say to the fans in Portland:

"I'm going to be in Portland on the 19th. I'm probably going to go up and get something to eat. Don't be afraid to say 'hi' cause I'm gonna be going in there.. I'm gonna be able to meet people and see how the people are in Portland, so don't be afraid to say 'hi', just uh.. if I'm eating, you might not want to come over there, cause that's when I get in my dog mode and if you come over there you might walk back missing a limb."

Oden is rapidly ascending the list of all-time favorite Buckeyes. It's just a shame that fans only got to experience one year of him.

Blazer's Edge has a full transcript of the chat.

Gopher Fans Coming.. uh.. Hard
Some excited Minnesota fans have created a new website, chubby4tubby.com, to show their support for new hoops coach Tubby Smith. Granted, Tubby is a fine coach and will join a pretty good stable of Big Ten coaches, but this isn't exactly the type of t-shirt we'd choose to show our spirit. Whatever you say, you can't say Smith doesn't have the firm support of the student body.

Big Expectations for the Fighting Illini
Chief Illiniwek may be gone, but 19 starters return for Ron Zook's second season. Sunday Morning Quarterback, once again proving that he's forgotten more about football than we'll likely ever know, has a great profile of the 2007 Illinois squad. The prognosis: watch out. I gotta agree. It'll be nice for the Buckeyes to get this team in Columbus, but it'll be a battle, just one week before the team heads north to Ann Arbor to end the season.

Have an Extra Hundy for a Longshot?
The Wizard of Odds, living up to his name, drops some early odds for the 2008 BCS Championship game. The early leader is USC at 5-2, with defending champion Florida at 7-1. The Buckeyes come in at 20-1, tied with Louisville, and behind 6 teams. We'll have to check back on this in late August, but 20-1 isn't as crazy as the odds most certainly were for the team prior to the 2002 season. Anyone know what those were, by chance?

SI.com currently has a feature up showcasing the 10 worst uniforms in college football.

Checking in at #6 was Delaware sporting the beautiful gear to the right.

Just come out and say what you wanna say boys!

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1298 days (and counting).

Various outlets including The Dispatch are reporting 6'8" PF Luke Babbit has backed out of his commitment to play for Thad Matta in 2008. All accounts indicate Nevada's Player of the Year had a change of heart because he wants to play closer to home. I'm sure some folks will bang on the guy but I say it's better to find out now than have him get here and want to transfer to Nevada down the road. He's certainly not the first and won't be the last 17 year old to change his mind. The 2008 class is still solid with the likes of BJ Mullens, William Buford, Noopy Crater and Walter Offutt expected to remain in the fold. So whaddaya think? Big loss? I'd be lying if I said I was familiar with his game.

In other bad Buckeye news, those not as lazy as I am noted last week that freak of nature DeShaun Thomas also backed off his verbal commitment to join Matta in 2010. Thomas is considered the next Lebron in many scouting circles so losing him would be a major blow however I don't think it means he definitely won't play in Columbus. Plus, it's not like a verbal agreement from a freshman can ever be considered firm, especially if that player is deemed the next Lebron AND plays in the same state Kelvin Sampson coaches in. You know Sampson's probably been climbing up to Thomas' window blowing sweet nothings ever since the original verbal based on his sketchy recruitment of Eric Gordon.