International Game? Not quite.

If you can pronounce the names of the first 7 picks in the 2011 NBA Draft you either (a) cheated or (b) should take up something more productive, like croqueting or Frisbee golf, to do with your time.

The first heptad went a little like this:

#1- Kyrie Irving (DUKE)

#2- Derrick Williams (ARIZONA)

#3- Enes Kanter (TURKEY)

#4- Tristan Thompson (TEXAS)

#5- Jonas Valanciunas (LITHUANIA)

#6- Jan Vesley (CZECH RUPUBLIC)

#7- Bismack Biyombo (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO)

This is a whose-who of who knows. And the fact that 4 of these top 7 are from outside the continent is rather disturbing.

Is American college basketball down as a whole? Not really; Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger will be bidding to hit the #1 spot in 2012. Or are NBA General Managers losing it upstairs?

I point heavily toward the latter.

Lottery teams don’t pick player to fill holes. They don’t find the long term athletes that can mesh with a well-defined team. They pick the best athletes, All-Star hopefuls; the ones that the people in the front office think can turn the franchise around.

In the last 4 All-Star games, only 5 different International players have made the team. Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol and Mehmet Okur make up the grisly handful. And on the other side there have been a strong contingent of notable International busts.

We see the difference in numerous Worldwide competitions; the American basketballer is far the superior.

The NBA just won’t buy American made. They should.

Alec Burks a 'Potential' Top Five Pick

The 2011 NBA Draft could force Mock Boards to become supervised, it could make numerous Executives explain their pick reasoning via team website and, ultimately, it could be a historically unusual one. 

This Draft is not deep, it’s not a new format, and there will be plenty of David Stern jokes. 

But teams may have to be drafting for the future, and not the imminent future, some could be drafting for 2012 NBA season. And that looks to be mighty promising for the Colorado standout Alec Burks. 

An NBA lockout is no sure thing, but it’s also slightly more likely than the NFL Lockout. 

So as teams look for players to build around, for the 2012 season, they will be looking at upside. (Even more than usual.) The frightening word ‘potential’ will be used more frequently than ‘like’ at a sorority house. Players will be judged based on work ethic and what they should be able to contribute in only the somewhat near future.

For the 6’ 6” long armed, penetrating, athletic, raw talent Alec Burks this could go better than he dreamed it. His upside is practically limitless in the eyes of some. 

Burks averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in one of the best conferences in America. As a sophomore he almost carried a team to the NCAA Tournament. He did this all the while being too skinny, not a good enough shooter, and limited talent around him. Two or three years down the road Burks could ‘potentially’ be a reigning Rookie of the Year and All-Pro.

Most analysts have the CU guard going #11 to Golden State, but it be wouldn’t be surprising to see him go as high at #5 to Toronto.

Coverage of the 2011 NBA Draft Starts at 5 PM Mountain Time.