What Some Folks Are Saying

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports had this to say about the Austin Daye selection:

"LOSER: Detroit PistonsFirst-round pick Austin Daye is a really nice, 6-11 forward from Gonzaga. He also weighs just 190 pounds and was routinely pushed around in college. Pistons GM Joe Dumars has made some nice non-lottery picks through the years, but at 15 and for a team in need of talent, this is a looong-term project and more than a bit of a reach."

Tom Bosco of The Georgetown Voice blog:

"In many mocks drafts, Summers was projected to be a first round pick. By falling to the second round, Summers is no longer guaranteed a professional contract. He will have to impress the Pistons enough to get them to sign him. Casual Hoya quotes ESPN’s Chad Ford as saying the Pistons considered Summers for the 15th pick and were more than happy when he fell to 35."

A neat story about Swede Jonas Jerebko and how he almost ended up playing for the University of Buffalo (hat tip- UM Hoops):

"It was November 2005, and Jerebko had just signed a letter of intent to play for the University at Buffalo. Reggie Witherspoon knew he had a steal on his hands. Jerebko was 6-foot-8. He could dribble and pass and shoot the jumper. He was a good athlete, and a fierce competitor. Give the kid a year or two and he could be the best player in the Mid- American Conference."

America’s White Boy gave Detroit a B+.  But did make the mistake of saying the Pistons will leave Jonas over in Europe (likely not happening).

Simmerdown3 says the Pistons’ draft was “so so”.  I think the following is the most common reaction to the Daye selection, and it should be:

"I think Austin Daye is a feast-or-famine pick. In all likelihood, he will either develop the strength to play at the NBA level or he will be pushed around for a lot of years showing flashes of a high skills set, but without the physical tools to play at a consistent level."

Detroit4Lyfe had this to say about Austin Daye:

"This kid is a Prince clone.  He has Prince’s physique (see above) at 6’10” and 190 lbs to go along with his skin tone.  He has a similar game, with his best asset being his ability to drive, shoot or pass from the triple-threat position with the ball.  He is long and has a 7′ 3″ wingspan like Prince.  His current weaknesses include being passive at times, his propensity for going through extended cold stretches offensively, and allowing himself to be pushed around at times close to the basket.  This was the same scouting report on Prince coming out of Kentucky.  One major difference is that Daye is 3 years younger than Prince coming out of college, with two fewer college seasons under his belt.  So expecting him to reproduce Prince’s rookie season emergence is not realistic.  Another noticeable difference is that Daye does not look like Curious George."