The 3rd annual DWL draft has taken place and the excitement is as high as it's ever been. The excitement started early at the draft lottery when the people of Saam City were handsomely rewarded with the number 1 overall pick. Rosstown was also thrilled to find out that Ross would be selecting 2nd. And the only person in Abiville happy to see that Abi slipped all the way to the number 6 pick was…well…Abi himself…for some reason. Now let's take a closer look into what happened in the draft.
#1 Saam Parsa selects Vadim Shenderey (*Vadims draft rights were then traded to Emilbajan for Craig Schattner, 1 U.S. dollar, and the elimination of Emil & Vadim flirting in Russian while on the court) After this blockbuster trade that put the Champ Bailey for Clinton Portis trade to shame, Saam was quoted as saying "I wanted Craig all along, but figured I'd be publicly ridiculed if I passed up on Vadim." Well Saam, you weren't publicly ridiculed and you ended up getting the guy you wanted. Craig is a powerful, smart, player that can dominate offensively and defensively. If I had to compare him to anybody in the league it would be to…Vadim. I think both Saam and Emil are getting the players that feel most comfortable with and I think their skills and talents are similar enough to make it a great trade for both teams.
RATING = ****
#2 Ross Walker selects David Lanham This was an excellent pick for Ross even though this is David's first year in the league. He is a proven star, showing off his talents on the Watkins Mill basketball court for the past 4 years. The DWL, however, is far from the blue and orange court that David is used to. The biggest difference? He'll be playing with Ross Walker instead of Eugene Davis. If David and Adam can find a good balance between themselves shooting the ball, and if Adam can put up with letting David do his thing, then I believe this team will be very hard to stop. But these two have never played together before, heck I'm not even sure if these two have even met before, but I think David has enough talent to overcome that.
RATING = ****
#3 Ryan Fitzmeyer selects Tim Rumpff Now as much I may bash this pick, it has nothing to do with how I see Tim as a basketball player. I do believe that he is worthy of the 3rd overall pick, I just don't think Ryan should have been the one to take him. While it does give this team the "twin towers" as Ryan has already been quoted as calling them, it also gives them nobody to really handle the ball or control the game. Sure they're both big, and will probably out-rebound most teams, but who's going to move the ball around? Who's going to have the ball if the other team is pressuring them defensively? It will be fun to watch and see which proves to be more important in the DWL - size or ball handling. Tim's a great player, but Ryan Ryan Ryan - take Downtown Browne.
RATING = **
#4 Emil Superfin selects Craig Schattner (*Craig's draft rights were then traded to Saam City for Vadim Shenderey, 1 U.S. dollar, and the elimination of Emil & Vadim flirting in Russian while on the court) See #1 pick.
RATING = ****
#5 Joel Katzinthebag selects Adam Downtown Browne It seems like Brownie has been getting shafted in the DWL more than his loverboy T.O. has been in the NFL. But unlike T.O., I think Brownie is going to the place where he wants to play, with his buddy Joel. This is my favorite pick in the draft. I am not, however, an Adam Browne fan by any means. Everyone knows that Adam Browne's biggest fan is…Adam Browne. But I think Adam & Joel are going to be very tough to match up with. They have the inside/outside thing going on and I think they'll gel nicely. The one thing Adam has got to watch out for is Joel's notorious "weapon." If Joel knows his role though and cleans up the boards and plays tough defense on the inside, I think this team is going to be very hard to beat.
RATING = *****
#6 Abi Viswanathan selects Kevin Eaton It wasn't a secret that all along Abi wanted Tim Rumpff. And it's also no secret that Kevin's numbers slipped drastically last year. But with the number 6 pick, I still think this was the right choice for Abiville. They will be extremely small, width wise, and that will cost them some points in not some games. Their height is decent though and in a pre-season combine workout it was found out that Abi's reach is very close to that of David Lanhams, so that could come in handy. And what shouldn't be too much of a problem for this team to do is score. The problem will come with toughness and on defense where they lack in size. Not a favorite by any means, but this team could surprise some people.
RATING = ***
#7 Ryan Walker selects Alex Parr You have to like this pick for Ryan Walker, because the alternative would have been to take Craig Isenbart and I just couldn't see those two as a team. Ryan picking Alex was the logical way to go and this team could turn out to be very good. Their team is probably the smartest team out there on the court. They're both pretty quick, solid, and fundamentally sound. They won't kill themselves with mistakes or bad shots like other teams might. Their problems will come in matching up with some of the bigger teams and finding ways to score on offense. Regardless, taking Alex here was the smart choice. RATING = ***
#8 Scott Henderson selects Craig Isenbart It's kind of hard to rate a pick that was forced upon you, but regardless I think Scott got himself a good player. I think their games will compliment each others nicely. The question will be whether or not either of their games are good enough to win. Scott plays hard and is smart. Craig also plays hard and is strong on the inside. They may be a little rough around the edges, but if they can find a way to work together, I think their hard work out on the court could end up resulting in some wins. RATING = ***
