Blue and White Game Mock Draft

For this post Austin and I decided to have a mock draft for the Blue & White game rosters. We were the best suited for this because of our extensive knowledge of Fantasy Sports and are utter lack of anything better to do for about 3 hours today. I get the Blue Team and Austin takes the White team. The order is a snake draft and we added our reasons for each pick. I got first pick. This is what transpired:

Reno: Welcome to the 1st annual BBNR Blue and White Game Mock Draft!!! First Pick--Patrick Patterson--This was simple. He's the best player, and hardest worker on the team. SEC player of the year. He is the equivalent of Adrian Peterson or Lebron James in a fantasy draft. I think people will be amazed at how focused and determined he is. I'm seeing some Naismith Award Potential and you can’t pass that up.

Austin says: Can't really argue with taking Patterson first. He is the unquestioned leader of this team and I am pretty sure he is immune to the Ice Cream that will be spread all over Rupp Arena tonight…
I am going to surprise people here and go with John Wall with the second pick. I know he isn't getting a lot of recognition locally or naturally but I think he could be a good ball player.

Reno says: He must be your sleeper

Austin says: Mark my words... He is going to surprise some people. I can't believe he hasn't gotten any love heading into the season. I have to admit that I miss out on a lot of coverage living under this GIGANTIC rock, but you would think somebody might be talking about him. I Could see him being a pro someday if he keeps his act together.

Reno says: From what I've seen keeping your act together is not really a requirement for being a pro

Austin says: Well UK has higher standards than the NBA…With my second pick I am going to use a bit of “strategery” and take Eric Bledsoe. He is the second best guard on the team and this is going to be an All Star Game of sorts. Bledsoe and Wall are going to play together a lot this year, and I want to see what it looks like right out of the gate. And I like the idea of Perry Stevenson running the point for your team. Bottom-line, in an All Star game environment I want Wall and Bledsoe running the show.

Reno says: Ohhhhh, that one killed me. I was hoping the lightening bug would fall. He is fantastic and explosive, he's just uber-fast. That one really handcuffed me with what I can do

Austin says: Yea that was kind of the point. I knew that you couldn't resist taking your man-crush PPAT which is why I let you have the first pick. I set you up but at least you have Patterson. I am pretty sure he has any possible slight posted directly to his Facebook profile to help pump him up. We are probably in for an NBA-Jam-type performance. I can see nets literally being set ablaze tonight.

Reno says: I'm telling you Patterson is bringing a KG-like intensity into this season. Watch for head butting goal posts and violent screams from the bench. They may have to taser him to get him off the court. He is running gassers right now just because somebody in Iowa picked UK as the number 3 team this year in a fan poll.

Okay 4th Pick--Daniel Orton. My team is getting big now but this guy is a mountain. Wall and Bledsoe both need to get to the rim for scoring and there is no way tons of those balls don't get swatted by Patterson and the Big Man down low. He runs the court better than Cousins and makes less mistakes. Also who could possibly guard both PPatt and Orton together? That's an easy 2 in the post every time down

Austin says: And they seem to like each other. He is like Mini-Patterson... Except he is actually bigger than Pat.

Reno says: 5th Pick--Gotta go D. Miller. Since you have taken the 2 starting PG's off the table I'm going with the guy with some actual experience on the collegiate level. Plus Darius will be used at the point this year at times. May not really be a true PG, but more like D-Wade or Brandon Roy--a guard that brings the ball up the court. He also occasionally hits 3's (even though he sometimes look like he is shot in mid-air when he is taking them)
Orton and Patterson are going to remind people of Estill and Camara except Patterson is better offensively and Orton looks about the size of Sammy Sosa before the 99 Homerun Derby.

Austin says:Nice was wondering how long it would take you to work Sammy Sosa into your analysis.
Jay Bilas describes your team as "FREAKISHLY" long right now.. That's what she said.

Reno says: Bilas just said your team must improve Height. I don’t think they coach that.
Austin says: OK now to Pick 6 I have to go with Demarcus Cousins. A little surprised that the #2 incoming Freshman in the country can make it all the way to the sixth pick in our draft. I need that mean streak that Cousins inherited from his hero Jamaal Magloire. I doubt that Magloire is really his hero, but I am still going with Big Cuz.
Suck on that Bilas.

Reno says: I wish he had inherited Magloire’s exercise bike. PUT DOWN THE DONUTS COUSINS!! (that’s mostly a joke but he still has some baby fat, which isn’t necessarily a good thing when you’re in college)

Austin says: Cousins may not dominate straight out of the gate, but by the time March rolls around he is going to be a big part of the best front court in college basketball.

Reno says: Cousins I’m sure is going to figure it out. But right now he is going to ride the pine for long stretches because he takes a lot of plays off. There is also no way he can stop the down low combo of Orton/Patterson. I don’t want people to think I don’t like Cousins. I do. Just from everything I have seen he is not grasping all the concepts yet. He will be fine, but early on, it’s gonna time.

Your team is super young right now by the way. I thought UK was done recruiting middle schoolers. Nobody on your team is old enough to know that Transformers was actually a cartoon first.

Austin says: With the 7th pick in the 2009 Blue White Game Mock draft, Austin Martin selects.... Deandre Liggins.
I really like the idea of having three guys with point skills creating havoc with steals and beating their man off the dribble drive. I am all in on the DDM offense.

Reno says: I like that pick. He is going to take steps up this year and is tenacious on defense (although sometimes he over plays and gets called for some silly fouls). Although now you have 3 point guards that run a ton and one big man that doesn’t.

Austin says: Cousins will be fine. I just think Liggins is pretty much the 7th best player on this team and didn't feel like complicating things. I think he will help us this year more than some might think.

Reno says: With the 8th Pick I'm going Darnell Dodson. The DDM is built around guys that can penetrate but also that can knock down 3 pointers and Dodson has a reputation as a guy that can do just that. He is the guy that has to keep other teams honest and from zoning us to death.

Austin says: Can't really argue with that pick either. And he fits into your freashishly long look as well.

Reno says: The next pick is tough I think lots of the players have pros and cons. For this specific team that I have I will have to go Ramon Harris. He can help to beat the defense your guards are throwing out plus he has experience (something your team lacks) He has the ability to explode and knock down some long jumpers (although he hasn’t really got a consistent 3 point shot going). Plus there is no Mike Porter around to knock knees with. When healthy I think this guy is a poor man's Gerald Hernderson. Explosive and good defensively.

Austin says: Rod Strickland must not have any eligibility left. I thought you were going with Rod for sure

Reno says: If we could take coaches you know I'd be taking Tony Delk all day and twice on Sundays

Austin says: True enough. He stayed all four years though so I knew he had no run left. I don't even know if Rod went to college. I assume he did but that was before my time. That would be sweet if they did let the assistants play.
These last couple picks are tough. I am going to solidify my front court and take Harrelson and Stevenson with my last two picks. Demarcus probably isn't enough to slow down Patterson and Orton so we will just play the numbers game and lock up the remaining two big guys on the board. Plus Harrelson will help fill the outside shooting void and he seems to thrive in these exhibition type games where there isn't a premium on defense.

Reno says: I like Harrelson, he's my Kevin Love guy and the only guy on your team with a solid outside shot. Plus he is an amazing team mate. Perry is also a good player who at the least will give really quality short bursts off the bench. I don’t think you can go wrong with taking a starter from last years team this late. It really shows how much depth we have everywhere

Austin says: Exactly. An example is Liggins. Last season calling him the 7th best guy on the team to his face would have led to raised eyebrows and possibly a fight... Now it is a compliment.

Reno says: For my next pick I've got to go Hood. And I am surprised he fell this far. He has a good mid range game, although I worry about his ball handling abilities. He doesn't look like a lock down defender but he makes a ton of hustle plays. Look for him to grab rebounds and get put backs when his man falls asleep and doesn’t box out. He will also take a ton of charges. Just do all the little things that turn a good team into a great one

Austin says: Yea I hate that you got both of the Kentucky boys. That could be a factor tonight.. That and your freakish length.

Reno says: Uncomfortable amounts of length. That’s true, I've got 2 Kentucky Mr. Basketballs. Hood might be the biggest UK fan we have had on the team in recent memory. Everybody is going to love him. He seems like one of the guys we watch the games with every week, but that actually gets to suit up for the Cats.

Austin Says: (At this point we decided both teams would share Krebs to make the rosters have an even number and to give me at least 1 home grown player)

Reno says: Don't sleep on Krebs he is Mr. Versatility in practice. They have him filling in at every position and he is working his butt off for playing time. If he can get a 3 point shot to fall he has a chance to get some decent minutes.

Austin says: Agreed it can't be harped on enough the depth and versatility our team will enjoy this year. I think both the teams we drafted today have arguably as much or more talent than some of our teams the past few years, and they are just halves of our actual team.

Reno says: Very True. We can go big or small. Still need to have a dead eye 3 point guy but hopefully Dodson or someone else can fill that gap.

Austin says: I predict UK wins tonight. Final score 150-149. Krebs is going to be the difference.

Reno says: The trouble is when Krebs has to guard Krebs

Austin says: Right. I am not sure which Krebs is going to show up tonight but it is going to probably look like a bad Disney Movie starring Emilio Estevez and Lindsay Lohan.

Reno says: Hey don't start knocking Coach Bombay

Austin says: We will have to save that one for another day. Excited about the Cats tonight and hope everybody is too!

Final Rosters:
Blue: Orton, Patterson, Hood, Dodson, Harris, Miller and half of Krebs.
White: Cousins, Harrelson, Stevenson, Liggins, Bledsoe, Wall and the other half of Krebs.
Who do you got in that game? What do you think about the picks? Let us know in the comments section.