Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Bargnani taken no. 1 in NBA draft

The Toronto Raptors selected Bargnani with the No. 1 pick Wednesday night in an unpredictable NBA draft that saw four of the top seven picks switch teams by the middle of the first round.

LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas went second to the Chicago Bulls, starting a flurry of trades that would also include the fourth, sixth and seventh picks.

Aldridge's rights were later dealt to Portland for the rights to Tyrus Thomas, who had been chosen fourth, and forward Viktor Khryapa.

"Right before they said my name, they said, 'They are going to call your name in a minute, but don't worry about it, they are going to trade you,"' Aldridge said.

The Trail Blazers weren't done dealing. They acquired the rights to Randy Foye, taken seventh by the Boston Celtics, along with Raef LaFrentz, Dan Dickau and cash for Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick.

The Blazers then shipped Foye's rights to Minnesota for Brandon Roy, the Washington guard taken sixth by the Timberwolves.

The 6-foot-10 Bargnani, the first European player taken first overall, has drawn the comparisons to the Dallas Mavericks' All-Star because of his outside shooting skills. Playing last season for Benetton Treviso in Italy's Lega A, Bargnani shot 37 percent from 3-point range.

He's the second straight foreign-born No. 1 pick after Milwaukee chose Andrew Bogut of Australia from the University of Utah last year. Bargnani is the first No. 1 pick to not play college or high school basketball in the United States since Houston took Yao Ming in 2002.

"I hope to help the team as soon as possible," Bargnani said. "I'm a young player, I know that I will find a lot of tough moments because it's a new league and I'm used to playing in Europe."

Aldridge then went in a pick that came from New York in a preseason trade for Eddy Curry, and the fans at the Theater at Madison Square Garden didn't have to wait for it to express their anger toward Knicks coach and team president Isiah Thomas.

Chants of "Fire Isiah!" started 15 minutes before the draft, and "Fire Thomas!" cries followed just before the pick. The fans might get their wish next year -- Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan warned Thomas on Monday that he has one year to turn around the franchise or he'll be out of a job.

Dolan wasn't spared, either: "Sell the Knicks!" chants also rang out before the draft started.

Gonzaga star Adam Morrison went to Charlotte at No. 3 with the Bobcats' first since pick Michael Jordan became a part owner of the team in charge of the basketball operations earlier this month. The mustachioed All-American led the nation in scoring as a junior with 28.1 points per game.

"It would be awesome if I could get some hands-on instruction from Mike," Morrison said. "Any time the greatest player of all-time is telling you what to do ... if he told me how to tie my shoes a certain way, I would probably listen."

The Trail Blazers then selected LSU's Tyrus Thomas, who already knew he wasn't going there. Even while wearing a Blazers hat, he spoke of playing for Chicago.

"They're young, they like to run and Coach [Scott] Skiles, I visited with him, and he's a great teacher and a motivator," Thomas said. "Just the organization as a whole, it has a bright future so I'm looking forward to doing some good things in Chicago."

The Atlanta Hawks also went for interior defense when they took Duke's Shelden Williams at No. 5. The Blue Devils' career leader in blocked shots was the ACC defensive player of the year in each of his last two seasons.

Ferd Borsch

Ferd Borsch was the only beat writer The Advertiser had for the 27-year run of the Pacific Coast League Hawaii Islanders — and the only one it needed since he covered all 2,013 home games in the club's (1961-1987) existence.

Over parts of five decades and spanning several more eras, often pounding out his stories with two-fingered fury on his trusty Underwood No. 5 (vintage 1918) typewriter, Borsch chronicled many of the greatest moments in Hawai'i sports, adding perspective to the exploits of the stars for several generations of newspaper readers.

"Hawai'i lost its No. 1 baseball fan," said sportscaster Don Robbs, who knew Borsch for 43 years. "He covered baseball for more than a half century. I think he said one time that he covered something like 5,000 games. I don't know of anybody who has been as close to baseball as Ferd."

Borsch covered everybody who was anybody in baseball — from Billy Martin and Bo Belinsky to Barry Bonds and Tony Gwynn — and many who never saw their name on a trading card. He treated them all with dignity and fairness.

"He was one of the few people (in the media) that I really trusted," said Les Murakami, former University of Hawai'i baseball coach. "He was a very positive person and when you read his articles everything was positive. I think that was one of the most important characteristics that he had."