General: Sterno's Talkin' Smack -- Episode #8

Sterno's talkin' smack. No holding back here. It's simply all trash, all the time. Welcome to the NBA Draft edition. Let's get started...

Smack This: Lebron James -- The suspense is over, and finally, the Cleveland Cavaliers have officially selected Lebron James as their first pick in the 2003 draft. Oh, what a shocker! "King James" will have to now learn to deal with much more than the media. A bullseye is now planted on his forehead and I look forward to seeing how he deals with it. T-Mac(Tracy McGrady) and Kobe (Bryant) await the "King" on their courts.

Let's talk about his game a bit shall we? There aren't many flaws to be found. First, he is a great presence off the dribble and has an explosive ability to drive to the hoop. Couple that with his aggressiveness on both ends of the court and I agree that James should bring some excitement to the Cavs this year. His long range jumper could be much more fluid than it is, but a few hours a week in the gym will do wonders for that aspect of his game.

My only question is how long do the Cavaliers plan to have this guy on their squad? Sure, it is very nice for James that he gets to play close to home and show off for his family and friends. Soon, that will get old. The cash, women, and endorsements will roll in, and Lebron will roll out.

My point? Cleveland should enjoy watching him grow because once this boy grows into a man in today's sports world, he is gone. Mark it down in ink folks. Lebron James will eventually pack it up and play either in New York, Los Angeles, or possibly Chicago. The Cavaliers on ESPN 20 times a year won't bring the rating Lebron wants; or needs for that matter.

Lebron, soon to be gone from Cleveland -- Smacked!

Smack This: Detroit Pistons -- I thought that it was bad enough when the Detroit Pistons sold out their coach, Rick Carlysle, following a 50-win season. Think about it. If the Pistons had Larry Brown, their new coach, on the bench this season, how many more games would they have won? Could they have beaten Jason Kidd and the Nets? The answer is no. A team with less talent than at least three others in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons still were able to gain the number one seed heading into postseason. They simply overachieved if anything.

Larry Brown comes in and waits for the highly touted first round pick, Darko Milicic. Called the second coming of Dirk Nowitski, Milicic was part of the reasoning that Larry Brown gave for coming to Detroit a few weeks back. Huh? Nobody has ever really seen enough of this guy against real talent to tell what or if he has anything to offer. Sure, he has all the tools, but so have so many busts before him, both domestic as well as foreign.

No matter how good this guy becomes, the Pistons have made the biggest mistake of this draft. By leaving Carmelo Anthony, in favor of Darko (sounds like a weird superhero), they have allowed a player with incredible talent to slip by. So much is said about the way a guy shoots the ball, how they handle it, and how they defend. Not nearly enough is spoken about when it comes to just simply being a winner. Carmelo is exactly that. Not only is it astonishing that he took Syracuse to a National Championship as a freshman, but he knows the game, and he is a leader on the floor.

The Pistons added size. The Pistons added scoring touch. They may even have added some notches in the win column next year. Regardless, they missed out on the player that Sterno believes will make the biggest impact in the NBA in his first year.

Mark it down in ink. Anthony will win Rookie of the Year. Pistons -- Smacked!

Smack This: Draft mishaps -- Last night, there were a couple of moves in the lottery that confused me and I hate to agree with Dick Vitale, who sometimes seems as if he forgot to take his medication, but some teams missed the boat.

First, the Miami Heat. Pat Riley, what are you doing? With Eddie Jones and Caron Butler you have two athletic guys that play the two and the three and now you add another guy in that same mold. Riley made comments during the draft telecast, that Wade would play some point, but it point was what you were looking for, you had T.J. Ford as well as Hinrich to choose from.

Second, the Bulls. Okay, I know that Jason Williams is done for a long while after his unfortunate accident, but you already have Jamal Crawford to slide right into that spot. I really do not understand why you go after a point guard here and by drafting Kirk Hinrich out of Kansas, you take a guy with a great shot, and quick feet, but a tweener never the less. T.J. Ford may not amount to anything, but he has more of a ceiling than Hinrich. In my opinion he would have been the better pick.

Finally, two franchises that cannot seem to get it right -- the Clippers and the Knicks. The Clippers and GM Elgin Baylor made such a completely bonehead move by grabbing Chris Kaman when they did at six. Yeah, sure Kaman is a big guy with some post up moves but if you could just sign Oliwakandi, your own free agent, you would be fine in that slot. You need a player with star potential and you need a distributor. Both of those needs would have been filled by Ford in that slot.

As for the Knicks... Scott Layden managed to draft Othella Harrington the sequel at the nine spot, rather than taking Reece Gaines out of Louisville to play the point. Sweetney is not Patrick Ewing, Knicks fans, so do not let the fact that he graduated from Georgetown fool you.

One for the Road: Stuart Scott should stick to SportsCenter. His field reporting likens that of Erik Dickerson.

Hit me up with feedback at eSports (click the Write the Editor link) or on my homepage at http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/theycallmethecloser.

I'll see you all Monday morning... till then, DON'T get smacked!