Can Danny?

ESPN likes to call Chad Ford their draft expert. This could be no further from the truth. While he excels at breaking about a dozen or so false stories before each year's draft, Ford saves his worst work for his post draft summaries in which he usually laments that nobody else vastly overrated whichever foreign big man tickled his fancy that offseason. Beside that, his grading system is usually all over the place and fairly incomprehensible. His mock drafts are widely mocked as he often inflates the values of mediocre players and tries to fit as many European players in as possible. Initially I was going to go through the last three drafts one-by-one but that missed so much material. So one by one, I will break down all of the reasons to laugh at Chad Ford.

Reason #1: What Chad Ford says and says are two different things.

No, that isn't an error. While I'd like to say that what Chad says and what he does are completely different, he doesn't actually do anything, so it pans out to being 'What he says and what he says are two completely different things.' That statement might seem completely nonsensical, however when talking about Chad Ford you'll see that it's 100 percent spot on.

Sometimes, Chad's inconsistency is simple revisionist history. For instance, in 2005 he lauded the Celtics for getting Gerald Green. He wrote that Green and Al Jefferson could both be "superstars". This high praise for Jefferson is odd seeing as one year earlier, when the Celtics drafted Jefferson, Delonte West, and Tony Allen, his opening salva was: "I'm not sure how you could call this draft by the Celtics a success." and his grade for the draft was C+, one of the lowest grades he gave that season.

Another example of his ignoring his past statements because they were just plain wrong was with Rafael Araujo. At the time of the pick, Ford wrote,

"if you look at it, it makes sense for the Raptors. The need a center in the worst, worst way. Chris Bosh is much more comfortable playing the four. Araujo is the only other big guy in the draft, other than Okafor, who is ready to play right now. He's strong, aggressive and isn't afraid to beat up people. He'll be a nice addition in Toronto, though he doesn't have the upside many of the other people on the board did.

The morning after, he was a little bit less satisfied with the pick, writing, "This was probably a little early to grab Araujo, but I understand what the Raptors were thinking." and giving the Rapz a B- for their draft. However, the next year, Ford absolutely bashed Raptors GM Rob Babcock for the pick, saying that he really reached for Araujo and it was a terrible selection. Adding humor to the hypocrisy is that Ford was saying all of this while bashing the selection of Charlie Villenueva, who turned out to be a candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Unfortunately, Chad doesn't always wait until after the fact to clear up his messes. Other times, he makes sure to cover every sides of an issue. For instance, when discussing Josh Howard in the final mock draft he wrote, "Howard's a guy that does a lot of things good, but nothing very good. I think he'll be a good role player in the league, but not much more. He could go as high as No. 18 to the Hornets, but I think he'll probably slip into Round 2." Then when the Mavericks drafted him at 29 he wrote, "They got a steal with Josh Howard late in the first. He's the type of all-purpose guy who's thrived in Dallas the past few years." So essentially, Howard is a guy that could slip to the second round but might be a mid-first talent and would be an absolute steal at 29 because while he can't do anything great and will likely be a role player, he is an all-purpose guy. In other words, Chad had no clue whatsoever about Josh Howard's prospects.

And while those two issues are laughable, nothing comes close to the head-scratching laugh riot of Chad Ford contradicting himself and calls his own logic faulty. Take for instance the Bucks pick in 2003. With the team up for sale and both of their point guards (Sam Cassell and Gary Payton) likely leaving, Chad Ford suggested in a mock draft a mere two and a half weeks before the draft that the Bucks select Kirk Hinrich. Chad had TJ Ford going to the Toronto Raptors four picks earlier so the Bucks had to settle for the second best PG in Hinrich. His rationale was this:

Gary Payton is all but gone, and they're running out of patience with Sam Cassell. And with owner Herb Kohl contemplating a sale, the Bucks are in the youth-mode right now. So the team would be remiss to pass on one of the best point guard crops in recent draft history. Right now, Hinrich is No. 2 on their board behind T.J. Ford.

Makes sense. Two weeks later, in the final ESPN mock draft, Ford wrote: "If the Bucks believe Payton will re-sign, they'll go big with someone like Maciej Lampe, Chris Kaman or Nick Collison. If Payton intends to leave it's between Kirk Hinrich and T.J. Ford." He also stated that he now preferred Hinrich, although he didn't explain why.

Fast forward to the morning after draft day 2003. T.J. Ford falls to the Bucks and they snatch him up. In his draft review, how does Chad react to the Bucks getting their man?

T. J. Ford? If Gary Payton and Sam Cassell don't come back, it could be a good pick. But with the franchise for sale, will the 6-foot point guard turn this team around? I'm just not sold. If Payton and Cassell stay, what was the point?

Huh? Why is Chad Ford confused at something Chad Ford clearly explained two weeks earlier? The Bucks needed youth and a point guard and got the #1 on the board yet Ford gives them a C+ for their draft. Even if he thought Hinrich was the better option, why wouldn't he just say that rather than bringing up the whole possibility of Payton and Cassell resigning, something that was unlikely to happen? If height was an issue, why was TJ good enough to go 4th in an earlier mock, in which Chad wrote, "Rookie point guards normally don't fare well in the NBA, but Ford is so intelligent, he has a great chance." The only reason that there could be is that Chad Ford was upset about the Bucks not drafting his beloved foreign big man, Maciej Lampe. And this will be the topic of the next installment of Hanging Chat; his absolute and sometimes laughable lust over foreign big men.