Nice to see that other teams like how we draft:

Seek diamonds in rough, draftniks - The Denver Post

Seek diamonds in rough, draftniks
By Benjamin Hochman
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 05/27/2008 11:33:10 PM MDT

...

Maxiell and Stuckey are both dedicated role players for the blue-collar Pistons; both were drafted lower in the first round. Look around these conference finals. Lower picks are having their moments, be it Jordan Farmar of the Lakers, Kendrick Perkins of the Celtics or, on a grander scale, the Spurs' Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

All of this should be reassuring to Nuggets fans, who feel their talented team of 30-somethings with albatross contracts won't be able to improve come draft day. Denver drafts 20th. But there are Maxiells out there.

"There are examples all over the place of high picks that didn't make it or low picks that did make it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I think that's a real subjective thing. There is no formula for that at all."

...

Holy Pop himself confirms what fans do not want to hear: there is no successful drafting recipe and it is basically luck.

All this "pistons dna" is a pure PR-sh!t and everyone here buys it. But think logically : who doesn't want man with good attitude and work ethic? Hey, everyone wants those!

All those fantasy " redone drafts" in media are pure garbage: why you took this instead of that blah, blah, blah. Again, think logically: nobody fills draft lists purposely with "future busts" or "injure prones".

Pop didn't confirm that it is basically as you state:

"There are examples all over the place of high picks that didn't make it or low picks that did make it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I think that's a real subjective thing. There is no formula for that at all."

"We've had some success picking lower," Popovich said. "Frankly, sometimes it's, you know, a credit to good scouting. And sometimes, it's luck."

Good organizations seem to somehow have better "luck" in drafting and developing players who can contribute to their success.

As Gary Player once said, "the more I practice, the luckier I get."

If drafting were luck, the Lions woulda played in the SuperBowl by now...

An opposite quote by Phil Helmuth:

"If luck weren't involved, I guess I'd win every one."

And my favorites:

"Luck never gives, it only lends."

and

"Luck has a peculiar habit of favoring those who don't depend on it."

i like this one (probably not the exact quote but you get the idea):

'success is simply a matter of luck. ask any failure.'

Or the Penguins after two straight shutouts.

yeah, they were really lucky not getting beaten by wider margin

Definitely some luck involved, but considering where Joe has drafted, he's done a lot better that other guys.

Joe has been running the draft since 2000, and has produced 3 NBA starters (Okur, Tay, and Darko); 3 role players (Delfino, JMax, and Stuckey); and a lot of busts. Aflalo and Amir look like they can develop into role players, but the other 8 picks were flat out busts (Cardinal, Cleaves, RW, Glinny, Paulding, Acker, Blaylock and Meija).

To put Joe's record in perspective, the Knicks who've had 4 top 10 picks since 2000, havent drafted a consistent starter since 1994, Charlie Ward.

__________________