Playoffs Are Here, Draft Prep Begins in Earnest

The NBA playoffs tip off tomorrow with four games. I’ll have my usual brief previews tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to it; the intensity always ratchets up during the post-season and there should be some good basketball to watch over the next couple of months.

As I wrote about, the WNBA draft was last night, and the Lynx had the final pick in all three rounds after finishing with the best record in the league last season. They selected Alexis Jones from Baylor in the first round—she’s a guard who can play both spots and shot well from three in college. With their later picks they chose international players—Lisa Berkani of France and Tahlia Tupaea of Australia—who will likely not be here for camp this season.

The Lynx regular season starts a month from today.

The coin flip between the Wolves and Knicks to determine the sixth and seventh spots in the draft (presuming neither moves up to the top three) will take place on Tuesday of next week. Another Coin Flip of Sadness.

Miles Bridges of Michigan State, a probable lottery pick who I know had fans here on Canis, has decided to return to school for his sophomore year. The early entry deadline is April 23rd.

Other dates:

The Draft Combine is May 9th-14th
Lottery is May 16th

Today in History

43 BC: Mark Antony defeats forces of Consul Pansa at Battle of Forum Gallorum.
193: Lucius Severus becomes Roman Emperor.
1777: New York adopts new constitution as an independent state.
1828: Noah Webster registers his dictionary for copyright.
1836: Congress forms Wisconsin territory; first bars are open by noon.
1841: Poe’s “Murders in Rue Morgue” is published.
1849: Hungary declares independence from Austria.
1861: Union surrenders Ft. Sumter.
1865: Abraham Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater.
1894: First public showing of Edison’s kinetoscope.
1910: President Taft first president to throw ball on opening day.
1912: Titanic hits iceberg.
1939: Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath published.
1944: Dwight Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of the AEF.

Today’s Musical Birthday

Loretta Lynn, born in 1932.