Wearing a green Milwaukee Bucks cap cocked slightly to the side, guard T.J. Ford broke into a wide smile Thursday night when asked what Commissioner David Stern had whispered to him on stage at Madison Square Garden shortly after he was drafted by the Bucks.

"He told me to show my face a little bit more," said an amused Ford, who then repositioned the cap on his head. "This cap is a little too big anyway."

The cap issue aside, Ford seemed happy after the Bucks used the eighth pick overall to select the 5-foot-10 point guard from the University of Texas.

Ford was considered the top point guard in the draft and had been expected to go earlier, perhaps as high as fourth. So he did "fall" a bit to the Bucks, but that didn't seem to bother Ford one bit.

"It felt great, just to hear my name be called," he said. "I am glad to be able to get picked by the Milwaukee Bucks.