Evaluating this year?s best NBA draft prospects by category

The NBA Draft begins Thursday at 7 p.m. EST.� Here's a look at some of the best players available by category:

BEST SHOOTER:

1. Jimmer Fredette, G, BYU: Showcased unparalleled range in college, scoring 28.9 points per game and shooting 39.6 percent from the 3-point line. If he's not the best college shooter we've seen in the past five years, he's certainly in the conversation.

2. Klay Thompson, G, Washington State: Is Thompson a better shooter than Fredette? He thinks it's a worthwhile debate. "I think I'm right there with him, just because of being 6-7 with a quick release," he told the San Jose Mercury News. "I think I can stretch the floor with anybody."

3. Andrew Goudelock, G, College of Charleston: Made his case as the draft's best shooter during the combine by sinking 19 of 25 from behind the arc in a spot-up shooting drill and all 21 of his 15-to-18-foot jumpers in a 35-second moving shooting drill.

BEST DEFENDER:

1. Chris Singleton, F, Florida State: Standing 6-foot-9 with long arms and a strong frame, Singleton was the standout defender on a Florida State team that was one of the stingiest teams in college basketball. He's versatile enough to defend in the paint or on the perimeter and he's a menace choking off the passing lanes.

2. Kawhi Leonard, F, San Diego State: ESPN's Jay Bilas called Leonard one of the best defenders in the draft in a conference call this week because the 6-foot-7 wing can guard multiple positions. Like Singleton, Leonard puts pressure on the ball yet can generate steals in the passing lanes.

3. Malcolm Lee, G, UCLA: The latest in the line of perimeter defensive stoppers from UCLA, Lee possesses some of the same credentials as Arron Afflalo and Russell Westbrook. NBA teams have brought the athletic 6-foot-5 guard in for workouts against potential first-round picks to see how they fare against an NBA-style defender.

BEST REBOUNDER:

1. Kenneth Faried, F, Morehead State: Even though the 6-foot-7 Faried is undersized for an NBA power forward, he's an extraordinary rebounder who will get the team that drafts him extra possessions. He's an elite athlete with a long wingspan, an unmatched motor and an understanding that rebounding his ticket to the NBA.

2. Kawhi Leonard, F, San Diego State: A Mountain West coach said late in the season that Leonard had "hands the size of manhole covers." That's a slight exaggeration, but the combination of Leonard's freakish mitts, long wingspan and high-energy style make him easily the best rebounder of the perimeter players in this draft.

3. Enes Kanter, C, Kentucky: Everything about Kanter's game is essentially a mystery since he sat out last season and worked out for so few teams, yet the one area scouts are confident he'll excel is rebounding. He has the size, strength and hands to be dominant on the glass.

BEST PLAYMAKER

1. Kyrie Irving, G, Duke: Irving may not be a surefire all-star like other No. 1 overall picks, but he's the safest pick in this draft. His quick first step allows him to get to the rim and he has ability to finish or to dish to an open teammate.

2. Kemba Walker, G, Connecticut: Those questioning whether Walker is a true point guard are neglecting the role he played prior to this season. The junior morphed into a 20-point scorer because that was what it took for a young Huskies team to win.

3. Tyler Honeycutt, F, UCLA: You could easily make a strong case for Darius Morris, Jimmer Fredette or Isaiah Thomas here, but Honeycutt may be the best passer of the non-point guards in this draft. The 6-foot-7 sophomore showed excellent court vision and unselfishness for a player his size, though his tendency to make high-risk passes is a concern.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Evaluating-this-year-s-best-NBA-draft-prospects-?urn=ncaab-wp3460

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New Zealand did emotional haka for their fans after loss

New Zealand lost their chance of moving on to the Women's World Cup quarterfinals when England came from behind to beat them 2-1 on Friday. The Football Ferns had a chance at their first ever WWC points thanks to Sarah Gregorius's goal in the 18th minute, but two goals from England in the final half hour killed any chance of an upset.

After a few tears following the match, the players went over to their supportive fans and did the haka -- the intimidating traditional dance performed by many New Zealand teams before matches.

From ESPNW:

"Hope you enjoyed it, it was a bit of a nail-biter," New Zealand coach John Herdman said [to the fans]. "It was a really solid performance from the girls. I'm really proud of them. They didn't leave a bit of Kiwi out on the pitch.

"We led one of the powerhouses in football for an hour. We nearly snuck one out there."

Maybe if they had done that haka just before the second half and in front of the England team, things would've ended different. No. 16, in particular, looks like she means business.

More photos of the dance right this way...

Those last two pictures may or may not have been from the disco inspired section of the haka.

Photos: Getty

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/New-Zealand-did-emotional-haka-for-their-fans-af?urn=sow-wp2957

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U.S. suffer first-ever WWC group loss on unlucky deflection

After winning their first two games by a combined scored of 5-0, the No. 1-ranked U.S. lost their first-ever Women's World Cup group stage match, 2-1, to Sweden on Wednesday. With their advancement to the quarterfinals already sealed and only their opponent to be decided, the U.S. fell behind early when defender Amy LePeilbet earned a yellow card for crashing into Sweden's Lotta Schelin in the box. Lisa Dahlkvist converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Sweden a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute and end Hope Solo's clean-sheet streak at 781 minutes.

The match got worse for LePeilbet when she deflected a Nilla Fischer free kick into the U.S. goal to give Sweden a 2-0 advantage before halftime. LePeilbet was mercifully subbed off in the 59th minute.

The U.S. did eventually finish one of their many chances when Abby Wambach broke her goal drought in the 67th minute, but the match would end with a 2-1 score and the Swedes doing what looked like some variation of the Hokey Pokey.

Because of the loss, the U.S. women's quarterfinal opponent will be Brazil, which beat them 4-0 in the 2007 Women's World Cup semis. Also, no team has ever won the WWC after losing a match in the group stage. But on a positive note, at least the weather in Germany has been nice since they've been there.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/U-S-suffer-first-ever-WWC-group-loss-on-unlucky?urn=sow-wp3073

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Wesley Matthews? right foot was ?completely numb? for months

There are arguments to be made about how useful I am in various contexts ? as a writer, as a pal, as a confidant, as someone who remembers the theme to "The Golden Girls" ? but I'll concede that when my foot falls asleep, I am basically useless.

Moving past the fear of the pins-and-needles feeling that accompanies movement is hard enough; once I'm mobile, I'm only barely so, dragging that dead lump of flesh and bone around from room to room like Igor trailing Dr. Frankenstein.�"Never again," I promise myself once the feeling returns, before putting my feet back up on my coffee table, grabbing the laptop and instantly making a liar of myself.

For this reason, among many others, I would not make a good professional basketball player. Because apparently, in the world of the NBA, when you can't feel your foot for two months in the middle of a season, you're just supposed to pretend like you can totally feel your foot.

That's what Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews did, anyway. From Joe Freeman at the Oregonian:

When Wesley Matthews collapsed to the floor during a fluke post-practice accident in January, he hobbled into the trainer's room in noticeable pain but was seemingly fine. He started at shooting guard the next night, scoring 26 points in a victory over the Phoenix Suns, and went on to play all 82 regular season games.

Turns out, however, that Matthews had suffered a torn tendon in his right ankle during that freak post-practice tumble. He played 48 games, including the playoffs, with the ailment but labored behind the scenes.

"People don't really know this, but over the last two months of the season I couldn't feel my right foot," Matthews said Monday. "It was completely numb."

It's also worth remembering that Portland made the postseason this year and didn't exit until April 28, 2011. That means Matthews actually played for more than three months on a wheel he couldn't feel.

Here is what is not amazing about this story: A member of the Portland Trail Blazers suffered an injury to his legs. Here is what is kind of amazing about this story: Not having any feeling in his right foot didn't seem to have a major effect on Matthews' production at all.

Hit the jump for video of Matthews discussing his injury with Blazers TV's Casey Holdahl.

According to Freeman, the ankle injury occurred the day before the Blazers' Jan. 14, 2011, game against the Suns, in which Matthews scored 26 points. From that game through the end of the regular season, the Marquette product averaged 16.3 points on 46.3 percent shooting (including 44.6 percent from 3-point range) and 83.7 percent from the foul line to go with 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals�per game ? all numbers that are either right in line with or even a tick above his averages from the first half of the year. Y'know, when he had sensation in both of his dogs.

Yes, Matthews' numbers did dip somewhat in Portland's first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks. During the six-game defeat, he averaged 13 points on 47.4/38.1/84.2 shooting percentages, 1.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.67 steals per game.�But those declines come with some caveats.

For starters, a six-game series offers a far smaller sample size than the 42 regular-season contests he'd played since sustaining the injury. Beyond that, he was playing against the eventual NBA champs every other night without catching the occasional breather against the likes of the Minnesota Timberwolves' or Sacramento Kings' defenses. Plus, as my man Dwyer noted when writing about Amar'e Stoudemire way back when, given the slower pace of the game, the quality of the competition, the intensity of the affair and everything else, "merely approximating your regular-season numbers in the playoffs is a sterling accomplishment." Those are far more likely explanations for Matthews' slight drop-off; it's not like the injury all of a sudden reared its ugly head in the final six games of what we should now be calling the Wesley Matthews Deadfoot Era.

Matthews' performance level aside, Blazers fans might be scratching their heads and wondering why a 24-year-old in the first year of a five-year, $34 million contract was sent onto the court night in and night out without any feeling in his right foot.

To be fair, it's entirely possible that Portland's medical team was right to decide that once the tendon was torn, continuing to play on it didn't pose any risk of further damage, and for Matthews, being a gamer, to decide to just tough it out. But given the laundry list of injury concerns that have plagued Blazers from Sam Bowie to Zach Randolph to Greg Oden over the years and raised concerns in some quarters about the team's medical decision-making, fans would be forgiven for feeling a bit ill-at-ease about the situation.

After Portland's season ended, two doctors recommended either a cortisone shot or surgery to treat Matthews' longstanding injury. More from Freeman:

So Matthews sought a third opinion. That doctor suggested he try a Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injection, the same procedure that Brandon Roy underwent on his hamstring in January 2010 and later on his knees. The procedure involves extracting a patient's blood, running it through a centrifuge ? which separates red blood cells from platelets ? and re-injecting the resulting fluid into the injured area.

"I wanted to do everything I could to avoid surgery," Matthews said. [...]

After undergoing the procedure in May and wearing a protective boot for six weeks, Matthews had his boot removed [last] Wednesday. The procedure is not foolproof ? in some cases, surgery is the only solution for Matthews' injury ? but Matthews says early indications are positive.

I can understand Matthews' reticence to go under the knife if it's not absolutely necessary, although interim Blazers General Manager Chad Buchanan told Freeman that the ankle procedure his starting shooting guard would have faced is "not a very major surgery if he had to go that route." (And while the circumstances, injuries and players are different, Blazers fans would also be forgiven for not being too thrilled to hear that another one of their players opted for a treatment that couldn't save Brandon Roy's doomed legs.)

Matthews told Freeman the ankle is "not 100 percent yet," but that the feeling is coming back and he can bend the toes on his right foot. That's good news for a Blazers team that just shipped out Rudy Fernandez, can't bank on Roy and may have to rely on young, unproven commodities like Elliot Williams, Nolan Smith and Jon Diebler for more-than-expected minutes at the two if Matthews comes up lame.

Another factor in Portland's favor here is the almost-certain-to-come lockout, which threatens to give teams and players an extended break from on-court action and could lop at least some time off the coming season. While that sucks for pretty much everyone, it does mean that Matthews will have plenty of time to rehab the ankle before re-entering live games. Chalk one up for the Plus Side of the Lockout Ledger! That cuts the Minus Side's lead to 11,000,000,000,000 to 1.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Wesley-Matthews-right-foot-was-completely-numb?urn=nba-wp5710

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Chad Ochocinco gets a taste of the NASCAR life

HAMPTON, Ga. - Football players gotta do what they can to stay busy these days, even if that means changing a few tires.

Chad Ochocinco joined Jeff Burton at Atlanta Motor Speedway Thursday morning for a look inside the life of a NASCAR driver and pit crew. Ochocinco, who's already tried his hand at bull riding and pro soccer and wants to have a go at alligator wrestling, took a ride with Burton and then, while Burton darted off to Daytona Beach, tried some pit maneuvers with the 31's crew. Video of that is below.

"It's so cool that someone who has dedicated his life to one sport is able to show people what it's like in another sport," Burton said afterward. "It was a great experience for him, and it gave us some great exposure for our sport."

Ochocinco didn't take the wheel; as he noted, "I probably would have put the car into the wall in Turn 1." But he went out of his way to praise both Burton and his colleagues: "People don't understand how much skill and danger is involved," he said. "It's a game of inches, and we were out there by ourselves. I can't imagine what it's like with 30, 40 other guys out there."

After the drive, Ochocinco participated in an impromptu pit stop, where he learned the art of the tire changer:

And next, he tried to jack up a car, and found it's not quite as easy as it looks:

If Burton manages to break his season-long winless streak at Daytona, Ochocinco may get a few more invitations to ride shotgun next week.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Chad-Ochocinco-gets-a-taste-of-the-NASCAR-life?urn=nascar-wp2290

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Marcus and Markieff Morris certainly aren?t lacking confidence

Already saddled with a reputation for being a bit temperamental, Markieff and Marcus Morris aren't doing anything to improve their image with their comments leading up to the NBA draft.

First Markieff told the Washington Post last month that likely top three pick Derrick Williams "was not as good as advertised" even though the Arizona star lit up Kansas for 27 points and eight rebounds in November.� Then twin brother Marcus made some even more brash comments this week in an interview with Milwaukee radio station WSSP.

On who his game resembles in the NBA:

"I think the Al Harrington comparison is a little accurate, but I think maybe Carmelo I would say because I'm a mid-range king. I love the mid-range game," Morris said. "I think that's what I can really hang my hat on being a mid-range player and on the defensive side I think that being versatile and guarding many positions. I think it can definitely work for me and just being so athletic and being versatile on the defensive side because I can guard any position."

And on whether the Morris twins or the Lopez twins will eventually be known as the better set of NBA brothers:

"Is that a trick question? Not to take anything away from those guys. I think they are great players. I just think me and Markieff have been through a little bit more. I mean I think we have different aspects of our game that are just a little bit more than those [brothers]. They are both just strictly centers, so there's not too much they could do as far as stretching the defense and creating open shots off the dribble and things like that. I think me and Markieff both can really do that real well, so at the end of the day I think me and Markieff are probably going to be better."

There's a chance�? OK, a slim chance ? that Marcus and Markieff live up to their boasting, but it might be wise for them to tone it down a bit the next few weeks.

Perhaps Marcus could hold off on the Carmelo comparisons until after he makes his NBA debut. And maybe he could wait to anoint he and his brother as the best set of NBA twins until both of them officially make a roster.

Both Marcus and Markieff are projected to go in the middle of the first round later this month. Whichever teams select each of them should know they won't be lacking for confidence.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Marcus-and-Markieff-Morris-certainly-aren-t-lack?urn=ncaab-wp3273

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Vijay Singh leads off the shots of the weekend

Most of the big names of golf were off this week, but fine play never takes a holiday! Or something like that. Check out this roundup of the best shots from the weekend's many professional tournaments. (Be sure to stick around for the unfortunate announcer call on Joe Durant's shot.) Well done, gentlemen!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/golf_experts/post/Vijay-Singh-leads-off-the-shots-of-the-weekend?urn=golf-wp3110

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