The Taft Saga continues.

I have to admit, I’ll be watching the draft at 7:30 on Tuesday to see what happens. I pretty much swore off the draft once there was no Charles Barkley and the TNT crew to liven it up. Still, can’t ESPN at least bring in Hubie Brown for an “upside” shout out, and maybe give all of us what we really want — a steel cage death match between Stuart Scott and Steven A. Smith? I’m just asking, because we all know Bill Simmons isn’t allowed to.

I’m now convinced, that Chris Taft really made a mistake in who he hired as his agent.

[Billy] Ceisler reiterated the fact that the most important thing for Taft or any player isn’t what number he is picked at, but ,rather, which team picks him.

“It is all about finding the right fit,” Ceisler said. “I’ve talked to Chris about this, and he completely understands and agrees. I asked him ‘would you rather be [Pistons forward] Darko Milicic or [Mavericks forward] Josh Howard?” One guy was the second pick in the [2003] draft and has played like one game in two years. The other guy was the last pick in the first round, but he’s played a lot, become a budding star and is poised to sign a huge second contract after next season [first-round picks get a guaranteed three-year contract for their first deal].

“That’s the goal, get in the first round to a team that gives you a chance to play right away in a system that you can thrive in.”

Yeah, winning is secondary. It’s all about getting that next big contract.

You know, this Ceisler guy is also Charlie Villanueva’s agent. Wouldn’t you like to watch him squirm by asking him which guy should be drafted higher, since they play the same position?

I’m trying to picture Taft as a member of the Phoenix Suns as this draft prediction goes. I mean, picturing Taft trying to go up and down the court at the Suns’ pace just doesn’t seem to fit. Still…

The Suns also took a hard look at Chris Taft, a 6-10 forward who was once projected as a lottery pick. But questions about Taft’s work ethic seem to have caused him to slide.

“The projections have been wrong a lot in the past,” Taft said. “If I slip, I’m fine with it.”

[David] Griffin[, the Suns’ Director of Player Personnel,] said Taft stood out as the best of the big men the Suns have brought in to work out.

The Suns draft at #21.

Nearly missed it, but a Bob Smizik column, with which I actually agree.

If Krauser does not return, Pitt will be a significantly less talented team. It will be without the point guard who dominated play the past two seasons and without the player who was its clear leader.

That doesn’t have to be a negative.

As much as he offers, Pitt could be better off without Krauser — if not in the short term, definitely in the long term.

Without Krauser, other players will get a chance to develop — as point guards, as leaders, as players willing to take the tough shot.

Without Krauser, it’s possible freshman point guard Levance Fields will get an earlier opportunity to play and could be an immediate answer at that position. Without Krauser’s imposing presence, Pitt’s stable of wing players — Antonio Graves, Keith Benjamin, Ronald Ramon, John DeGroat and freshman Trevor Ferguson — probably will see the ball more and shoot more.

Krauser had a terrific run at Pitt and a lot of great memories. But, in the days ahead, he should be looking forward to his professional future, not reveling in his collegiate past.

I mean, sure I made a lot of the same points a week and a half earlier, but that is why I actually agree with him this time.

Back in April I noted an article about college basketball coaches whining about the length of time players have to decide to stay in the draft. Now the National Association of Basketball Coaches are pushing a completely draconian change (Insider Subs.):

College coaches are pushing for a new NBA draft declaration date to be set on the Monday after the Final Four ends, a move that clearly would be advantageous for Division I coaches.

Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, told ESPN.com that the proposal would also allow the players only 72 hours to decide whether they were staying in the draft. This plan is being modeled after the football version, which makes college players declare shortly after the end of the bowl season. The NABC has been discussing this for quite some time and will address it again at its annual summer meeting before the Nike Camp begins in Indianapolis on July 6. Haney said he is optimistic that this will be a part of the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players association.

If the NBA adopts this proposal, it would be a stark contrast to the current state of affairs. College underclassmen and high school seniors have until mid-May to declare for the draft and then get until a week before the draft to withdraw. College coaches have long thought this rule hamstrings their program as they wait for a player to make up his mind in late June.

The NBA would then only be working out players in their respective cities and at the predraft camp who actually were in the draft. There wouldn’t be any testing of the draft process. You would either be in or out.

“That would be great,” Arizona State coach Rob Evans said of the proposal. “We end up sitting there wondering if we can recruit. This idea would be much better for us.”

Yeah, screw the players. It’s all about the coaches. This shows just how much they actually care about the kids they recruit.

Unlike the NFL which has hard limits on how many players are draft eligible, the NBA even with a 19-year old age limit, doesn’t.

Think they wouldn’t howl long and hard about the unfairness and restraint upon them if the college presidents and ADs instituted rules and stipulations into their contracts restricting the coaches from interviewing for other jobs except within certain timeframes? Give them only limited windows to make choices? Surely such moves would be good for the schools. Give the schools some certainty for the program. Either the coach is in or he’s out.

Wait. You mean that would be unfair to make a grown man make such a hard decision that impacts his family in a short, pre-determined time frame? Something that effects his livelihood, his future? Well, gosh, you’re right.

Hypocritical asshats.

Michigan fans shouldn’t feel too bad about losing out on Dorin Dickerson, and not just because of all of the other blue-chippers they get. Dickerson found the idea of playing close to home just too appealing to pass.

“I wanted to get it out of the way so I could focus on the high school season,” Dickerson said of his early commitment. “Michigan had everything Pitt had, but it’s not like being 15 minutes away from home.”

I admit, for me, that would have been a negative. But then I was in college to drink heavily just for an education, not to play football with pro-level potential.

The Dickerson commit with the pending commitments of Justin Pinkston and Jason Hargrove has everyone getting giddy.

When it came to recruiting Western Pennsylvania, former Pitt coach Walt Harris once vowed to build a fence to keep prospects from leaving the region.

Dave Wannstedt has taken it a step further. The new Panthers coach is in the process of building a brick wall around the WPIAL.

Whoa. Let’s keep some perspective. This is just the starting point. It’s a great start, fantastic. Has me excited. I’m just saying the foundation isn’t even dry at this point, to use the “brick wall” analogy.

And really, what’s with the gratuitous Harris bashing? Yes, he pissed off the WPIAL coaches, and seemed to lose interest in Western PA recruiting overnight. But remember, 3 years ago, Pitt and Harris looked well on its way to having that “fence” happening. Pitt had recruited Rod Rutherford, then Palko and then there was the huge bounty Pitt appeared to be reaping from Western PA and beyond — Morelli, Andrew Johnson, James Bryant and Johnny Peyton — to name some.

Things can change awfully fast. I just worry, long-term, about unrealistic expectations. I think Wannstedt will succeed in keeping a lot of the local talent, but this is only the end of June and he has a record of 0-0 at Pitt. Hopefully this is only a small point on Coach Wannstedt’s head coaching tenure at Pitt.