Yardbarker: Trent Plaisted

FIO Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:44:49 -0500

2008-2009 Oklahoma City Thunder season preview and fantasy impact, courtesy of Fantasy Insider Online. Read the team preview here in the Yard, and then visit the FIO link for the rest. - Zach Harper Last Season Recap: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly The mantra in show business is to always leave the audience wanting more. Well, Clay Bennett and his Okie Cronies left the city of Seattle wanting anything and everything. In what ended up being the final season in the great basketball city of S...

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Players Coming Back Edition

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:25:35 -0500

Luke Walton Walton underwent surgery in July to remove bone spurs and scar tissue from his right ankle. He is hoping to get medical clearance today to begin workouts and hopes to be 100% by mid October. Of course, I expect Kobe to make an announcement that he will make an announcement that he still plans to play in pain and not get surgery. He can't let someone else get the headlines. Speaking of the Lakers, they signed guard Brandon Heath, who played last season in France, averaging 1...

Grading The NBA Draft (By Agencies)

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:00:48 -0500

It has been a week since ESPN delightfully covered the 2008 NBA Draft. Adam Silver has never had as many people cheer for him in his life (if you did not see the second round, then you have no idea what I am talking about). We have had enough time to digest the plethora of trades, the Darrell Arthur disaster, and the opening of free agency. It is now time to look back and see how the top agencies fared in the draft process. If an agency only had one client taken in the draft, I figured it would be better to leave their name off of here (that does not mean in any way that they did not have a successful draft). Onward! 1. Wasserman Media Group (Arn Tellem, BJ Armstrong, Dan Tobin, Greg Lawrence, Thad Foucher, Bob Myers) - The WMG team had an unprecidented draft. BJ Armstrong stole the show by representing the #1 overall pick, Derrick Rose. Because BJ was always mentioned with Rose, many looked over the fact that he is also the primary agent for #14 pick, Anthony Randolph. Quite a first year for the one-time Chicago Bull. Arn Tellem did not do too poorly himself. Danillo Gallinari went higher than many had anticipated during the week. While Tellem may not be "listed" as the primary agent for many of WMG's 7 first round picks, you have to believe he had a heavy hand in persuading the players to go Wasserman's way. Add to the stable Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Maarty Leunen, D.J. Augustin?yeah, this one is easy?Grade = A+ 2. Priority Sports (Mark Bartelstein, Aaron Mintz, Brad Ames) - Forget A-Rod vs. Canseco, T.O. vs. the media, and Shawn Chacon vs. the Astros GM. I want to see Tellem vs. Bartelstein. If you had to ask me which two names currently dominate the NBPA agent landscape, it would have to be these two fellows. If your last name starts with a "B", chances are, Bartelstein represents you. His company got J.R. Giddons drafted in the first round, way above where I thought he would go. At the same time, Trent Plaisted slipped a little further than Bartelstein probably hoped he would. The company definitely jumped for joy when Brandon Rush became a lottery pick. Overall, Priority had another solid showing. Grade = A 3. BDA Sports (Billy Duffy, Calvin Andrews, Rade Filipovich) - The biggest news leading up to the NBA Draft had maintained the spotlight for quite some time: O.J. Mayo fired Calvin Andrews and BDA Sports after NCAA violations came to light regarding Mayo's acceptance of money through a runner for the agency. In my mind, BDA had to do quite a lot to rebound from that devastating news, which may continue to get worse if further sanctions are placed on the agency. I do not feel like they ended up very happy. Besides losing Mayo, James Gist was picked later than expected, but Goran Dragic was taken right about where he was predicted to go. Overall, 2008 was a disappointing year for a company that used to be right up alongside Priorty. Grade = C- 4. Excel Sports Management (Jeff Schwartz, Sam Goldfeder) - For a long time, mock drafts had Jerryd Bayless projected as a top-4 pick. It is not Schwartz's fault that Bayless slipped as draft day approached; Bayless was probably being hyped a little bit too much beforehand. Having a lottery pick is always a win for a sports agency, and Excel must be happy that Bayless went in the top 14. Having two lottery picks is even nicer?Kevin Love is also a client. The true icing on the cake is that Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was taken at the beginning of the second round. Mbah a Moute was not even a lock to be picked at all. Grade = A 5. Montgomery Sports Group (Roger Montgomery) - Not a bad draft for a man who only represented four guys going into last Thursday. Sonny Weems was taken higher than expected and Darrell Jackson went right about where he was predicted to land?and to a team that desperately needs some help. I have no criticism for Roger, but until he breaks into the first round, I am unable to give him an A. Grade = B+ 6. Creative Artists Agency (Leon Rose, Andre Buck) - It was looking like CAA was going to be left out of the first round shuffle until the aforementioned O.J. Mayo affair went down. But even more surprising is that CAA ended up with two lottery picks. The second is Jason Thompson, who has Andre Buck as his primary advisor. Who could have predicted that the Rider forward would be selected twelfth overall? The only thing holding me back from giving CAA an A+ is the slipping of CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts). Tenth pick in the second round? Something went wrong there. Grade = A- 7. ASM Sports (Andy Miller, Justin Zanik) - Serge Ibaka, Sasha Kaun, Omer Asik, J.J. Hickson, Marreese Speights, Deron Washington, and Richard Hendrix all got drafted. It seems like ASM has not gotten its due praise because WMG has been taking all of the headlines. Someone hire a PR expert for this company, ASAP! Between WMG and ASM, how does anyone else compete? Sure, James Mays and David Padgett were not selected, but I am sure that they will find a team to play for. Grade = A+

2008 NBA Draft Live-Blog

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:10:34 -0500

Well here we are folks. It's one of the most enjoyable nights of the year and it's become a fun tradition here at AA. There will be photos, videos, analysis and fun all evening long, so comment early and comment often. We'll get underway around 7pm but in the meantime feel free to click through last year's draft. Last Year's NBA Draft Live-Blog Great it's only 6:30pm and Dickie V is already yelling about the age limit and CDR being underrated. It's going to...

Lacey Plaisted Saves the Pistons Draft

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:56:42 -0500

Well, we can argue about who the Pistons should have taken with their picks or we can enjoy the fact that Trent Plaisted's wife is sorta hot. Personally, I'll go with the latter.

NBA Draft Links Leading Up To The First Pick

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:11:29 -0500

Reminding all of you in the Chicago area to listen in on my interview with The Region Buzz Sports Show (1230AM WJOB) at 6 p.m. CST. For everyone else, make sure to check it out when it is eventually posted up here. Now on to the NBA Draft Day links: * Derrick Rose is going to Chicago. The city of Chicago is already preparing for tomorow. No link necessary. * Darren Rovell thinks that he has influence in the nickname department. If so, then I think he should tell O.J. Mayo to heavily consider using the name, "The Mayo Clinic" [You Pick The Nickname For O.J. Mayo]. It is so damn goofy, that it may just work. I am not sure that Nike will approve; however, after the company officially inked the one time Trojan to a 4-year deal. * Is Joe Alexander more marketable than Mr. Mayo? He has the advantage of growing up in the Far East and being fluent in Mandarin. He may be one of the few players in this draft actually hoping to get picked by the Milwaukee Bucks. * On second thought, maybe Joe is not as marketable in Milwaukee if this trade between the Bucks and Nets is true

Random Draft Day Thoughts

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:04:00 -0500

In an AP article reported in the Herald, Danny discussed his thoughts on this year's draft. Some of the highlights: ** The Celtics have worked out about 50 potential draftees, similar to last year's number, and that list has been reduced to 23 possible players for the 30th pick. ** There's not much room for the players the Celtics draft with the 30th and 60th picks to contribute next season. ** It's a real longshot that he would trade to get a better pick ** Ainge thinks G...

Preview for Thursday`s NCAA Tournament Games

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:08:01 -0500

With the NCAA Tournament officially underway with an opening round win by Mount St. Mary`s over Coppin State, let`s look ahead to some intriguing matchups on Thursday, the first day of the First Round: (12) Temple at (5) Michigan State: What a way top start off a tournament with a classic 5-12 game with potential for an upset. Temple comes out as out of the hottest teams in the country and are finally playing to their ability. Dionte Christmas and Mark Tyndale are two very underrated players in the NCAA`s and will be the keys to the Owls success in this game. On the Spartans side, no question that guard Drew Neitzel is what makes this team go. He needs to run his Michigan State squad against a tough Temple defense. If Temple can slow down the game and slow down Michigan State`s offense, an upset may occur. SFB Prediction: Temple wins 69-63 (9) Kent State at (8) UNLV The 8-9 matchup has produced some very good games and these teams are usually the most evenly matched. UNLV won the Mountain West title this year and Kent State won the Mid-American. The Golden Flashes of Kent State were very impressive in their Bracket Buster win over fellow tournament team, St. Mary`s, and perhaps is the game that put them into the NCAA Tournament. With four starters averaging in double figures, Kent State is a dangerous squad. However, the Rebels of UNLV are just as capable to win this game. Wink Adams averages over 16 points per game and is a great playmaker. SFB Prediction: Kent State wins 85-83 in overtime (13) Oral Roberts at (4) Pittsburgh So the Pittsburgh Panthers come into the Big East Tournament as the #7 seed and win the whole thing and get a #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They have players like Levance Fields, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. So they have a great team with great momentum, right? Well remember in 2005, Syracuse went along a similar path and were upended by feisty #13-seeded Vermont in the First Round. Could this happen again with Oral Roberts pulling off an upset? Robert Jarvis is a phenomenal guard for the Golden Eagles and this team has been to the tournament before (similar to Vermont when they beat Syracuse). A lot of comparisons to that matchup in 2005, so don`t be so sure the Big East post-season champs will move in so easily. SFB Prediction: Pittsburgh wins 78-69 (11) Kansas State at (6) USC When sports fans saw the Kansas State Wildcats will be playing the USC Trojans in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, everyone thought of the matchup between the Wildcats` Michael Beasley and USC`s O.J. Mayo. Both these players are outstanding and will most likely be Top 5 picks in this year`s NBA Draft. However, I say look at the supporting cast matchups for this game. USC`s Taj Gibson, Davon Jefferson and Dwight Lewis versus Kansas State`s Bill Walker and Jacob Pullen may be what determines the outcome of the game. USC is more deep and balanced than the Wildcats, but Beasley can potentially just take over the game. SFB Prediction: USC wins 75-62 (9) Texas A&M vs. (8) Brigham Young Gotta love these 8-9 matchups. The Texas A&M Aggies started off the year very solid and were ranked in the Top 25, but have tailed off towards the end of the year. The Aggies have 6 players averaging more than 8 points per game starting with leading scorer Josh Carter and ending with center (and NBA prospect) DeAndre Jordan. The BYU Cougars were the runner-up in the Mountain West Conference and they have 3 players averaging more than 13 points per game. Center Trent Plaisted is a monster inside and an on the glass scoring 15.6 points per game and pulling down just under 8 rebounds per game. This is another great 8-9 matchup. SFB Prediction: Texas A&M wins 71-67 (10) Arizona vs. (7) West Virginia The Arizona Wildcats are one of those teams that many think do not belong in the tournament. Well, even though their Pac-10 Conference record does not show it, this team is battle-tested (#2 strength of schedule) and talented. Potential 1st round NBA Draft pick Jerryd Bayless scores just over 20 points per game and forward Chase Budinger is a great all-around player. But the West Virginia Mountaineers have a forward named Joe Alexander, who had 34 points against Connecticut in the Big East quarterfinals. The key to this game will be whether Alexander can score for the Mountaineers and if Budinger can stop him. SFB Prediction - West Virginia wins 83-82 in overtime (12) George Mason vs. (5) Notre Dame Everyone picking their bracket this year remembers how the George Mason bracket absolutely tore the bracket apart 2 years ago in 2006 with their Final Four run. Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell are still left over from that starting lineups that beat Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut in the Big Dance. But this still is not the same team from 2 years ago and they can thank William & Mary for upsetting Virginia Commonwealth in the Colonial Semi-finals in order for Mason to make it to the tournament once again. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have forward Luke Harangody leading the way, averaging about 21 points and 10 rebounds per contest this season. Harangody may be a little too much for the Patriots to handle, but don`t be surprised to see Mason bust another bracket. SFB Prediction: Notre Dame wins 78-68 Enjoy the games on Thursday and fill out your bracket on Sports Fan Base.com!

A Starting 5 of College Hoopsters Nobody Knows

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:52:03 -0500

Everybody knows guys like D.J. Augustin, Drew Neitzel, Tyler Hansbrough and Kevin Love. But there are a bunch of guys that don't get the recognition that play one mean game of basketball… Here's a starting 5 that could play some serious ball…

#25 BYU vs. Lamar -- highlights

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:36:03 -0500

For all those of you that are victims of the Mtn, I give unto you highlights from last night's game in Provo. The highlights feature a couple sweet alley-oops and Plaisted almost jumping horizontal on a missed dunk. It was BYU's 36th consecutive home win, tying them with Memphis for the longest active home winning streak.