ESPN.com: Men's College Basketball

Monday, April 4, 2005
Taft states plan for draft; Pitt's Krauser likely next

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Pittsburgh sophomore forward Chris Taft announced Monday on ESPN2's Cold Pizza he would declare for and stay in the NBA draft.

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that he also expected junior point guard Carl Krauser to declare for the draft.

Taft averaged 13.3 points a game and 7.5 rebounds, good for third in scoring and second in rebounding on the team.

Krauser led the Panthers with 16 points and 5.9 assists. Dixon said he doesn't expect Krauser to sign with an agent. Dixon said he would expect Krauser to keep his options open to return to school, but said Krauser told him he wanted to go to the Chicago pre-draft camp in June.

Taft, at 6-feet-10, 260 lbs., is likely to be among the lottery picks in the draft, according to ESPN Insider Chad Ford.

He has the rare combination of size, athleticism, strength and power that had NBA scouts calling him a top-three pick before the season began.

While his lackluster performance during the regular season raised serious questions about his work ethic and attitude, his performance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament should have helped to resurrect his draft stock.

If he can follow up his solid tournament performance with some great individual workouts, Taft's stock will rise. He's not the stellar prospect he was at the beginning of the season, but in the right system, with the right motivation, Taft still has the most potential of any big guy on the board.

Most scouts still have Taft rated between the Nos. 5 and 10 picks.

ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz and ESPN Insider Chad Ford contributed to this report.





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I would do cartwheels down the streets of Brooklyn.

I would put the highest odds of him being a Knick. The bottom line is after Bogut, he is the biggest post presence[not necessarily the best right now, but one that probably has the highest upside in the draft]
he is a legit shade over 6-10 and 260 pounds and he does have a mean streak. I think what happened to chris is that he was very poorly coached this year.

if you get a guy like taft...sweetney, kurt, jyd, rose & taylor don't matter. Some of those guys will be traded and others will rot on the bench. The bottomline is Marbury would have his star bigman and that 1-2 punch will contend in the East. Not Marbury/sweetney

Posted by EnySpree:

Posted by gunsnewing:

if you get a guy like taft...sweetney, kurt, jyd, rose & taylor don't matter. Some of those guys will be traded and others will rot on the bench. The bottomline is Marbury would have his star bigman and that 1-2 punch will contend in the East. Not Marbury/sweetney

I feel the same way in a sense that this team just need good players....If Isiah drafts Taft then the Knicks will just have to trade some people or just let them rot and play in practice.

I really don't care who they pick. I just don't want a Euro player. If I can get some serious footage on some guys then maybe that will change.

The best player available should be picked.

exactly the only position I wouldn't draft is PG. Isiah is not trading Marbury and we have no use for another 6ft guard.

Posted by BRIGGS:

I would put the highest odds of him being a Knick. The bottom line is after Bogut, he is the biggest post presence[not necessarily the best right now, but one that probably has the highest upside in the draft]
he is a legit shade over 6-10 and 260 pounds and he does have a mean streak. I think what happened to chris is that he was very poorly coached this year.

Awesome point at the end there Briggs. Whenever I watched a Pitt game this year they almost ALWAYS attributed his statline to a "sophmore slump" but in reality good college coaching does not allow that to happen. Chris should have been the focal point of the Pitt offense this year and he wasn't, it still centered around Krauser doing his thing even though they had a weapon that not many teams could guard. I'd be in heaven if the Knicks drafted Taft, as much as Im a hater of Pitt, Taft would be such a nice fit in NY.