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| The Doldrums of May |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| May 15, 2008 |
New NBA rules state that teams are no longer allowed to work out potential draft picks until the conclusion of the NBA pre-draft camp on June 3rd. That leaves a lot of dead time for non-playoff teams between the end of the season (April 16th) and the start of the pre-draft camp (May 27th). What goes on in NBA front offices during that time? We decided to talk to four key personnel members to find out. "
Director of Player Personnel, Eastern Conference Team
“The two main things I’m doing right now are watching tape, and spending time on the phone. We use mostly our own film, I watch a lot of full NCAA or International games that I zip through. I’m also trying to get workouts organized, which is not an easy thing considering where we are in the lottery. Most agents won’t commit a firm date to us until the ping pong balls come out. As far as our 2nd round pick goes, we’re not big on bringing a lot of guys in to work out for that. We’ve had a lot of success over the past few years in the second round, and most of it was based off our own evaluations.
A big thing right now is the background research we do. Instead of targeting only the NCAA head coaches, I like to talk to some of the lower level guys there too, the strength and conditioning coaches for example, and the trainers. I try to find people without a vested interest in the players, for example speaking to the NCAA coach of a team that recruited the player out of high school, but may not have gotten him. The type of background info we look at? For example off the floor habits, work ethic, whether the player is goal oriented, what kind of student he is, the family background—all the little things that might help you.
I don’t do a lot of traveling at this point. I used to go around and watch players workout at the different training facilities in LA or other places for examples—where you can see many different prospects at once—that helped me got a lot accomplished—seeing how hard they work, seeing their body type and size in person, observing their skill level. That was tremendous before they stopped that a year ago.
Director of Scouting, Eastern Conference Team
“There are a lot of things going on for me every day. For example setting up workouts, which is quite a job, since as you know, according to the agents there are at least 100 first round guys out there right now. I’m also putting together the schedules for our scouts and coaches in the summer, organizing where all of our players will be going and what they will be doing in the summer. We’re conducting a free agent camp, which we’ll bring in 20 guys for. Also our summer league team is something we’re putting together right now.
I’m watching a lot of film, mostly edits that we create internally—offensive touches, passing, defensive plays, and various other categories that we study to break down the different strengths and weaknesses. We put together a good half a player played, alongside a bad half, to give you a more complete picture. As the draft gets closer, we’ll watch more film together, so we can share information amongst each other.
Background research on the various prospects is an important part of what we’re doing. Talking to the college coaches, the high school coaches, AAU coaches, anyone that might have important information that I want to write up. I try to ask them point blank questions about any incidents we might know of, try to find out about past problems that have come up. Anything bad, but also anything good—for example things the player has done in the community or in school. These people won’t always tell you everything you need to know, but you develop certain relationships over the years with people who you know will give you the inside scoop on things.
I will be going to Treviso again—I’ve been there for __ straight years, and of course Orlando. We come in there for the most part knowing what to look for, but it’s a great opportunity to take another up close look at guys outside of their college environment and judge different things. The groundwork of their profile we evaluate in college, but the physical profile—their true size, athleticism, etc, is something we’ll look at again. "
Director of Scouting, Western Conference Team
“It must be quiet in your world if you want to know a day in the life of me - it might put you to sleep!
Actually, we just returned from a scouting trip to Europe and are obviously preparing for the draft - watching a ton of film and talking to a lot of coaches about prospects. The advantage of watching tape in my mind is really the quantity involved. You can watch a player live maybe 4-5 times, but with the way we watch tape, we can watch a player 30 times if you put the effort in. There is really not a huge difference there, it’s mostly just studying, coming up with your own point of view, justifying it, and then reaffirming it, over and over again. Right now I’m watching a lot of tape by myself, but later on as we get closer to the draft we’ll be watching prospects together all of us—and then start locking in later on smaller targets.
We talk every day about the draft and draft prospects and it is a fun time of year for us as we get the chance to debate about all these prospects. We are always talking about our team and our players as well. We do a mock draft about every 2-3 days as well.
Typically we spend most of the mornings meeting and watching film. Maybe grab some lunch or a workout and then come back and watch more film or make phone calls to coaches, agents, etc. I am scheduling all our pre-draft workouts as well. Having multiple picks in the second round, it’s a new challenge this year, especially with the new rule that allows us to have 6 players at a time working out on the floor. It’s not so much getting players in as it is fitting in the dates everyone wants, as well as the matchups we want to see.
Later on will be the pre-draft camp, which is a great opportunity to see a lot of players at once at the same time, often at times playing a different position than they did in college, which is nice for us. Sometimes they’ll be playing out of position completely too, so that works both ways really. Seeing guys up close gives us an opportunity to confirm what we observed during the season—playing with new faces, a different group of guys than they may be used to, seeing what they’ve been doing since the end of the season, whether they’ve been taking care of themselves physically.
This is a great time of year to introduce all these prospects to our coaches as well. They have a general idea about almost every player in this draft—we prepare them accordingly, give them our stance on different guys—not trying to influence them, but rather make sure they don’t go into the draft blind.
Hope this helps - let me know if you need anything else!”
Director of Scouting, Eastern Conference Team
“At this time, we are definitely not on vacation.
There are a lot of things that we are doing together as a staff and also individually.
We meet regularly; we review our rankings and listing, look at DVD's; and have a variety of discussions regarding our team and the draft.
I am in the process of putting together free agent workouts, draft workouts, as well as preliminary Summer league groups. So, lots of phone calls and discussions. Scouts are doing work on the players in their regions, as well as in the total draft.
The next stage is to see how the draft lottery turns out - then more scheduling of workouts continues. Then of course, the Pre-Draft Camp, and then the workouts.
Seems like a lot of time - but on the other hand a lot of things to get done.” |
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jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| Word on the Street: Rounding Up |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| May 13, 2008 |
NBA Agents Union Seminar
The NBA Players Association held their annual Agents seminar today in New York City, on the heels of serious allegations made against Rodney Guillory, O.J. Mayo and BDA Sports on ESPN’s Outside the Lines. NBPA certified agents are required to attend the seminar in the first three years of their certification, and then every other year, to brush up on the latest rules and regulations as it relates to the agent-business. DraftExpress spoke with multiple agents who were present, one of whom talked at length about the tense atmosphere that presided over the seminar just a day after shockwaves were sent throughout the basketball industry.
Despite the fact that a large portion of the agent community was present, alongside the people that regulate them (the players association), as well as Angie Cretors, the NCAA’s Assistant Director of Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities, the elephant in the room was not acknowledged. The seminar went through the various NCAA rules and regulations regarding recruiting student athletes, specifically the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, as well as the way these rules will be enforced, but it was specifically stated that no comment can be made on any ongoing investigations.
The most interesting thing to come out of the seminar might have been the insight that was revealed about next year’s cap figures and the NBPA’s plans regarding the upcoming CBA. Next year’s salary cap is currently being estimated at 58.5 million dollars, up from 55.63 million dollars. The luxury tax threshold is projected to rise to 71 million dollars, up from 67.865 million this year, and the Mid-Level Exception is expected to rise to 5.55 million dollars, up from 5.36 million. These are not final or official numbers at this point, but rather the NBPA’s estimations, as they were told to us.
Also broached was the topic of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will expire at the end of the 2010-2011 season. The NBA has the option to extend the CBA until 2011-2012, but is not expected to at this point according to what was said, partially in hopes of increasing the age limit for players entering the draft to 20 years old. It was implied, but not outright said that the Union’s primary concern will be more on increasing the amount of guaranteed contract years NBA teams can offer players, increasing the salary cap, and maintaining the BRI (basketball related income) percentage doled out to players, rather than fighting the age limit.
Gallinari Signs With WMG
The top international prospect in this draft has chosen his American representation, according to the agency that signed him. Danilo Gallinari will sign with Arn Tellem’s Wasserman Media Group, Bob Myers confirmed to DraftExpress. WMG is in the midst of an incredibly strong year by industry standards, having already signed fellow projected lottery picks Derrick Rose, Brook Lopez and Anthony Randolph, as well as Robin Lopez and Maarty Leunen.
Gallinari is fresh off a fantastic outing in the Italian league playoffs last night, scoring 27 points, pulling down 8 rebounds and grabbing 5 steals in an emphatic win over 4th seeded Montegranaro.
That leaves three likely lottery picks who have yet to choose representation—Kevin Love, D.J. Augustin and Russell Westbrook.
O.J. Mayo’s Draft Stock
If proven to be true, how will the events of the past few days affect O.J. Mayo’s standing in this year’s draft as far as NBA teams are concerned? They won’t, at least according to a handful of NBA executives we polled on the phone today. Some were even shocked to hear that topic even being broached. “Come on man. It’s the NBA we’re talking about. If he can play, no one will give a damn” was the most blunt assessment we got from one Assistant General Manager. “If you’re going to dock O.J., then you’re going to have to dock half of the players in the first round” said another.
Where is JaVale McGee in this Draft?
Possibly the hardest player to peg as far as draft stock is concerned is Nevada sophomore JaVale McGee. Three different teams we spoke to this week couldn’t possibly be any farther apart on where they have him slated. “We have him going anywhere from 7-12” said one representative of an Eastern conference team. “We compare him to Jonathan Bender in terms of his all-around talent level, and also in how far off he is from contributing at this point. He’s nowhere near ready.” Another team in the East we spoke to doesn’t like him at all. “He’s a guy someone probably takes a flyer on in the 20’s, just because he’s big, he’s got tools, and he might end up panning out in 3-4 years. I don’t see who has the patience for that, but maybe you take him for your D-League team, who knows?” A third team basically has him all over the board. “10 to 22 is his range. He’s a pure potential guy, who not many NBA GMs know since he wasn’t expected to be in this draft.”
Hitting the Road for Private Workouts
We’ll be taking in a number of top draft prospects in various cities across the country starting on Friday, when we kick off our private workout tour at Joe Abunassar’s gym in Las Vegas, before heading to visit Tim Grover in Chicago. We’ll also be stopping off at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and possibly in Los Angeles as well. Our trip will culminate at the NBA pre-draft in Orlando. We’ll also be attending the RBK Eurocamp in Treviso later in June, once again. |
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jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| Blogging through the Euroleague Final Four (Part Two) |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| May 4, 2008 |
 | | Reuters |
This year’s Euroleague season is officially in the books, after CSKA Moscow knocked off Maccabi Tel Aviv 91-77. The Euroleague might not have been more than a blip on the city of Madrid’s radar, judging by the sights and scenes found outside the arena (except one Maccabi Tel Aviv pep rally in Puerta del Sol last night) , aided greatly by the fact that legendary soccer team Real Madrid was able to clinch the Spanish league championship tonight, which will make for a very rowdy celebration. It will be interesting to see how things look next year in Berlin, the sight of the 2009 Euroleague Final Four as was announced this weekend. Regardless, the Euroleague did an excellent job putting together a very well organized event, and everything went fairly smoothly this weekend as far as we could tell.
Nike International Junior Tournament
 | | Euroleague.net |
FMP Zeleznik came away the runaway winners of the Nike International Junior Tournament in unsurprising fashion, pounding Barcelona 80-70 (it wasn’t really that close) behind 25 points from Dejan Musli and 21 from Bojan Subotic. This Zeleznik team is just leaps and bounds better than anything European junior basketball has to offer at the moment, both in terms of talent and depth, but also in execution and their overall “professionalism.” Make no mistake, this team of 17 and 18 year-olds would most certainly pound any American high school basketball team we’ve seen all season (and we’ve seen all the best)—they are just that well coached, but also bring to the table an excellent combination of athleticism, team-play and fundamentals.
Buzz
Theodoros Papaloukas has apparently not yet given up on the possibility of playing in the NBA this summer, and has even hired a new American agent to help him with that cause. He was reportedly extremely close to signing with the Milwaukee Bucks last year, but Mo Williams’ large contract didn’t leave enough money on the table for him to justify the decision. Papaloukas will be looking for a deal in the 3-year, 20 million dollar range this summer. Considering his age, the way he played this weekend and in the season as a whole, that looks like an extremely long shot. A number of teams are hot on the trail of Ramunas Siskauskas reportedly, including the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets. That’s what the word here amongst European basketball insiders is at least.
On the coaching front, we’re about to see a great deal of musical chairs go on amongst Euroleague coaches. Ettore Messina has signed a two year contract to stay in CSKA Moscow reportedly, preferring the stability of the #1 organization in European basketball than the mess that Barcelona is apparently becoming. Sergio Scariolo is apparently the frontrunner for Barcelona now, but Pini Gershon and Simone Pianigiani are also being mentioned. After blowing a very winnable game in the Euroleague semifinals against CSKA, finishing in fourth place eventually, and also losing the Copa del Rey to Joventut, Neven Spahija will surely be on the outs from Tau Vitoria if he doesn’t win the ACB championship. Rumors all season had Dusko Ivanovic returning to take the job there, but recently it appears that Svetislav Pesic might be the frontrunner. In Maccabi Tel Aviv, Zvika Sherf will be staying another season for sure unless something incredible happens in the Israeli League playoffs. Don’t be surprised to see David Blatt’s name come up in the next few weeks for some of the open NBA head coaching jobs. We heard some rumblings about that here in Madrid, and none of the NBA executives we spoke with sounded shocked to hear that he’s quietly being mentioned as a candidate. It seems like Avery Johnson will be taking his sweet time to decide on his next destination. Don’t expect him to sign on to coach anywhere all that soon. If Omri Casspi decides to stay in the draft, that likely means two things. One, he has found a promise in the first round, and two, that is likely coming from the San Antonio Spurs. They’ve been out to see him in Tel Aviv far more than any other NBA team, and reportedly really like the way he plays. He would stay in Europe for at least a season or two, though.
The Final—CSKA Moscow 91- Maccabi Tel Aviv 77
Maccabi started the game again with an unconventional lineup—with Will Bynum at the point, Halperin at the 2, Casspi at the 3, and Terrence Morris and Nikola Vujcic manning the front line. The first half was an extremely entertaining affair—fast, up-tempo basketball, which is exactly the type of pace Maccabi likes to play at. Trajan Langdon was on fire for CSKA in the first half, hitting all four 3-pointers he took and scoring 14 total points. Maccabi got great minutes from Esteban Batista off the bench, with 10 points and 7 rebounds in just 7 minutes, and an extremely active Omri Casspi doing major damage in the first quarter. Casspi brought great energy to his team, moving off the ball beautifully, getting out in transition, cutting hard to the rim constantly, and doing plenty of damage scoring at the rim or drawing fouls. Neither Ramunas Siskuaskas or Theodoros Papaloukas were able to stay with him and his fresh legs, and he really did a good job showing off his biggest strength—his aggressive nature.
The second half brought us a style of play that clearly favored CSKA—a much more slow, deliberate pace that exposed Maccabi’s lack of playmaking ability and disciplined defense. Maccabi coach Zvika Sherf seemed dead-set on playing David Bluthenthal and Alex Garcia as many minutes as possible, and both came up with extremely disappointing efforts that really hurt their team. Garcia was awful in particular, jacking up and missing contested shots, displaying bad decision making, and even blowing a completely wide-open layup in transition that may have been the game’s turning point, as well as an intentional foul by Esteban Batista. Will Bynum did what he did best throughout this game—create offense and get to the rim, but his extremely ball-dominant style worked against his team to a certain extent, as it froze out his teammates and really made his offense look stagnant. To his credit, Maccabi looked unable to score in any other way today, and Bynum was extremely effective getting to the rim like a freight train and either scoring at the basket or drawing fouls (but rarely kicking the ball out). Once CSKA adjusted to him, Maccabi looked pretty awful. It was surprising to see Maccabi’s best player for much of the season, Yotam Halperin, spend about 25 straight minutes on the bench from the middle of the 1st quarter to the middle of the 4th, often in favor of Vonteego Cummings, who has given Maccabi virtually nothing in the past few months. Casspi, who was so good in the first half, wasn’t able to get anything going in the few minutes he played in the 2nd, still making aggressive moves, but being unable to finish at the rim when CSKA’s defense rotated over. It was nice to see him trying to make things happen, even if he may have rushed things a little bit.
 | | ACB.com |
CSKA’s veterans were the key to the victory, as their different stars took turns stepping up and making huge plays, starting with Langdon in the first half, followed by J.R. Holden in the 3rd quarter, followed by David Andersen in the 4th, and mixed in with steady and heady play from Ramunas Siskuaskas and Matjaz Smodis throughout. At the end of the day, there really isn’t any comparison when you look over their roster and stack it up against Maccabi. The Israelis were able to find lightning in a bottle at key points throughout the season thanks to their terrific bench and maybe a little bit of luck, but in the end, the best team clearly won this game deservingly. What might have been surprising here is how loud and enthusiastic their fans were. They weren’t huge in numbers by any means, but they made their voices heard throughout the game, even more-so than Maccabi’s fans in large stretches. This is not how we remembered them being last year in Athens. Trajan Langdon was named MVP, finishing with 21 points and 7 rebounds on 6-7 shooting from the field. Check out CSKA’s scoring balance—Papaloukas 12, Andersen 13, Smodis 13, Siskauskas 13, Holden 14.
For Maccabi, Will Bynum had 23 points, 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Terence Morris chipped in a quiet 13 and 7, and Batista had 14 points, 7 rebounds in just 14 minutes. Halperin had 9 points in 11 minutes, and Casspi had 9 in 12. |
Feedback
for this article may be sent to
jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| Blogging through the Euroleague Final Four (Part One) |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| May 2, 2008 |
DraftExpress is on hand in Madrid to take in the most important event on the European basketball calendar, the Euroleague Final Four. Maccabi Tel Aviv erased a 15-point deficit to knock of Montepaschi Siena in shocking fashion in the first game, while CSKA Moscow outmuscled Tau Vitoria in a brutally physical game to claim the second spot in the finals. There is some buzz coming from the many NBA scouts in attendance, while the junior tournament is also occupying our time nicely as well.
 | | Euroleague.net |
The Euroleague Final Four in Madrid
Just in case there was any doubt, have no mistake that Madrid is one of the best cities you’ll find in all of Europe. This is our second time spending time here in the last nine months (last time for the Eurobasket in August), and it doesn’t take very long to figure that out. Clean, convenient, friendly, and absolutely gorgeous this time of year, you won’t find anyone here complaining about the Euroleague deciding to host the Final Four here. It’s funny to see how incredibly packed the streets are with people until the wee hours of the morning, only to walk along the “busiest” sections of the city at 8:30 AM and not see a single soul. Good luck finding anything open that time either.
The Scene
As basketball people always find a way do, there is some nitpicking going on as well. The process of distributing tickets drew the ire of quite a few people here, as many people were apparently forced to purchase all-inclusive package deals costing 2,000 Euros (over 3,000 dollars) just to get their hands on a ticket. Many of the tickets went through a Greek travel agent apparently, and in the end the Euroleague had to open up their box office for a few hours to unload the unsold inventory. There were a good deal of empty seats in the arena unfortunately, which is truly a shame when considering how many fans stayed home because they were unable to find tickets. There were a good 50 courtside seats that were not used at all, along with plenty of empty patches scattered around the arena, especially in the sections holding the Euroleague VIPs. Not exactly “feeling” my seats on press row, or the smell of the “journalist” sitting next to me, I took off for a seat in the fifth row courtside, which just happened to be behind my good friend David Blatt. Even here the Head Coach of the European Champion Russian National team was focused on explaining the fascinating nuances of the game to me, his son, and anyone else that was interested.
Unsurprisingly, it was Maccabi Tel Aviv fans the one who dominated the arena, controlling at least 1/3rd of the 13,000 seats, and clearly being the most vocal supporting their teams. The support of the team was nothing short of amazing, and it was hard not getting goosebumps as they serenaded the two most veteran players on their team, Nikola Vujcic and Derrick Sharp, with personalized songs. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call them the best fans in basketball.
The Buzz
The Nike Junior tournament running parallel to the men’s event gave us a great chance to meet quite a few NBA scouts and executives and pick their brains about various topics, specifically this year’s draft. We talked to representatives of at least 10 teams, giving us a decent sample size from which to evaluate the stock of a few different prospects. Danilo Gallinari seems to be holding pretty steady at this point in the 5-12 range—we couldn’t find anyone that has him ranked below that here at least. Rudy Fernandez is apparently set to join the Portland Trailblazers according to word we got from well-placed local sources here in Spain. Some teams surprisingly have Alexis Ajinca ranked ahead of Nicolas Batum, and there was some quiet buzz about a few surprise early-entry players who could make solid second round picks, such as Nando De Colo and Henk Norel. Most of the people I spoke with here agreed with the notion that Andrea Bargnani’s terrible season and the imminent assertion that he is looking more and more like a total bust of a #1 pick could psychologically affect the way some of the less secure GMs evaluate international prospects in this draft.
In the junior tournament, FMP Zeleznik is unsurprisingly undefeated, having knocked off Zalgiris today in what could have very well been the tournament’s final game. Barcelona and the scrappy, overachieving Lietuvos Rytas will fight it out to play the “real” final on Sunday against FMP tomorrow. Not surprising as well is the fact that Donatas Motiejunas is the most intriguing NBA prospect at the junior tournament, even though he struggled today against FMP, followed by Tomislav Zubcic, who has strung together two very strong games so far. Ryan Richards has made an appearance here, but has been extremely underwhelming. We’ll have a full report on the top prospects here as soon as we get back.
The Games
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Montepaschi Siena
Things got off to a very sloppy start in the first contest. Maccabi looked especially nervous, making careless mistakes on defense, committing foolish turnovers (10 total in the first half), giving up offensive rebounds, and just not being able to hit shots, scoring just 7 points in the first 8 minutes of the game. Siena jumped out to a 15 point lead fairly quickly, mostly led by the incredible play of their point guard Terrell McIntyre, who scored 16 points in 12 first half minutes (4-6 3P), to go along with 3 assists and no turnovers. Lior Eliyahu kept Maccabi in the game almost singlehandedly, with 8 big points in a 10 minute spark off the bench. Maccabi went to the lockerroom down 45-33. They were a bit lucky that Siena missed 16 of their 22 3-pointers, many of them open looks.
Terrell McIntrye continued to play well in the second half, as Siena’s plan of outletting the ball to him at half-court in stride and allowing him to operate and make decisions in semi-transition before Maccabi could set their defense worked to perfection. His legs started giving out a bit mid-way through the third quarter, though, (he spent the last month out after arthroscopic surgery) and that combined with their glue guy Shaun Stonerook’s fourth foul gave Maccabi a chance to chip away at the lead.
It was here that Maccabi’s superior bench began to reap dividends for them, as guards Derrick Sharp and Alex Garcia caught fire and combined for an amazing 21 points in the third quarter alone, and made some incredibly important hustle plays. Garcia was incredible aggressive all game long, while Sharp, a legend in Tel Aviv by now who was relegated mostly to figurehead status as of late in old age, provided a huge leadership boost and incredible clutch play on both ends. Will Bynum also found redemption for the problems he suffered on and off the court this season, shredding apart Siena’s defense with drive and dish plays and scoring quite a bit himself via layups or shots from the free throw line. Terrence Morris and Yotam Halperin have been arguably Maccabi’s two most important players all season long, but they were not really needed all that much as Maccabi slashed the huge deficit and built up a lead of their own, to their delight of their screaming fanbase. This was not a game for young guys--Omri Casspi only ended up playing 4 minutes and 29 seconds total, all in the first quarter as part of the starting unit. Fellow starter Vonteego Cummings suffered the same fate.
 | | Reuters |
Maccabi finished the game off winning 92-85, scoring 84 points in the final 30 minutes after starting out the game down 20-8. Derrick Sharp scored 17 points in 23 minutes, while Alex Garcia added 19 in 26. Terrence Morris had 13 points and 7 rebounds, while Will Bynum contributed 13 points and 7 assists. David Bluthenthal also had a very nice game with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. For Siena, Terrell McIntyre scored 26 points with 5 assists, Romain Sato had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals, and Ksistof Lavrinovic had 17 points and 2 rebounds.
CSKA Moscow vs. Tau Vitoria
This one looked like a much slower, more thought out game than the up and down pace of the previous game. Tau Vitoria jumped ahead to a surprising 39-33 lead in the first 20 minutes, mainly behind the inside presence of Tiago Splitter (10 points, and 6 missed free throws), and the surprisingly aggressive play of Zoran Planinic. Ramunas Siskauskas carried CSKA early, making shots and creating opportunities for Matjaz Smodis, but foul trouble limited his play, as well as Langdon’s—with 3 fouls each. Tau’s defense did a great job early on of forcing CSKA into taking bad shots, and the Russians clearly lacked a spark off the bench from their once great playmaker, Theo Papaloukas. He’s been fairly invisible so far, not trying to initiate anything, and clearly lacking the athleticism to get by anyone or finish when he did. This was not a pretty game in the first half, and the atmosphere clearly fell off a bit once Maccabi’s fans exited the building to begin the celebrations. CSKA is relying too heavily on JR Holden to carry them offensively, which is making them a bit predictable.
The second half was an all-out war, as both teams pounded on each other incessantly inside, on every drive, post-up and box-out for rebound, while there were only so many fouls that the ref could have called. David Andersen was excellent for CSKA, scoring 12 points in the half (16 total) on a series of mid-range jumpers, being particularly clutch in the closing minutes when his team took the lead and held onto it until the very end. He played nearly the entire second half, and did not miss a shot inside the arc the entire game, going 8-8 from the field. His last basket might have been his biggest, a huge put-back dunk off an offensive rebound to put CSKA up by 7 with just over a minute to go. We wondered if the Hawks would be here, and indeed the man responsible for drafting him seven years back, Mark Crow, was in attendance and looked quite pleased with the way he played, as he should have been. Theodoros Papaloukas woke up in the second half, reeling off 8 points to finish with 10, and stringing together two huge transition baskets in the fourth quarter that were extremely important to his team’s win. Ramunas Siskauskas finished with a “quiet” 16 points, always within the flow of his offense, slaloming in between defenders and finishing either hand, knocking down shots, drawing plenty of fouls and knocking down 7 of his 8 shots from the line, including two huge ones at the very end to seal the game.
The final score was 83-79 CSKA. The Russians are going to the Euroleague final for the third straight year in a row. This is their sixth straight appearance in the Final Four. They had five players finish with double digit scoring. Tiago Splitter had 17 points for Tau on 5-7 shooting from the field. He was terrific with his back to the basket inside, commanding double teams and finding the open man, using nice pivot moves and even hitting a pretty swooping hook shot in the lane. Maybe the 7-14 he shot from the free throw line will convince him to work on getting rid of the ugly hitch he has in his mechanics from the line, but regardless, there is no question that the San Antonio Spurs got a huge stud—a player worthy of a top 10 pick fall to them at the end of the first round. Zoran Planinic was solid with 17 points, and Igor Rakocevic had 19. |
Feedback
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jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| Euroleague Final Four Preview |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| April 30, 2008 |
| | Euroleague.net |
The most important in-season event on the European basketball calendar will be conducted this weekend in Madrid, Spain, and for the third straight year, DraftExpress will be represented. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Montepaschi Siena, Tau Vitoria and CSKA Moscow will battle it out for the prestigious title of being considered the best team in Europe. Alongside them, eight of the top junior teams will compete in the Euroleague Basketball Nike International Junior Tournament, featuring teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, FMP Zeleznik, and Zalgiris Kaunas. Considering the location, and the fact that there are plenty of intriguing NBA prospects to take in both at the senior and junior level, we’d expect a large contingency of NBA scouts and executives present in Madrid. In this preview, we take a look at some of the most interesting players that NBA teams will be watching.
The Schedule
SEMIFINALS, May 2
6:00 PM CET (Noon EST) Montepaschi Siena - Maccabi Elite
9:00 PM CET (3 PM EST) Tau Ceramica - CSKA
3RD PLACE, May 4
6:00 CET (Noon EST) Loser SF1 - Loser SF2
FINAL, May 4
9:00 CET (3 PM EST) Winner SF1 - WinnerSF2
All games will be broadcasted LIVE in the US by NBA TV
The NBA Prospects
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Omri Casspi- The only player in attendance eligible to be drafted this June, Casspi will receive a fair share of attention from every NBA team present in Madrid, as he is on the early-entry list, and has been playing some of the best basketball in his career over the past six weeks or so. He’s trying to work his way into the first round at this point, and what better stage to help accomplish that than with the eyes of the entire NBA on him this weekend? We’ll be watching his progress closely and breaking his game down in much more depth, so stay tuned.
Yotam Halperin-Although he already has two Euroleague titles underneath his belt at age 24 (of which he played minor roles), Halperin has blossomed into one of the top guards in European basketball this season, providing an incredible lift to Maccabi at some key moments with his terrific outside shooting, playmaking ability, and overall basketball IQ. He might be considered the most important player on the roster along with Terence Morris, and will be heavily scrutinized by various members of the Seattle Supersonics (who drafted him in 2006 under a different regime), including GM Sam Presti. He may be viewed as a Beno Udrih type, a skilled and savvy combo guard who can play a supporting role in the NBA. We’ll be keeping an eye on him.
Terence Morris- The former 2001 2nd round draft pick of the Atlanta Hawks has revived his career over the past two seasons in Israel, going from sitting at home for an extended period without a job to possibly being the most coveted American big man on this summer’s free agent market. He’s a smart, athletic, and fairly skilled power forward who rebounds extremely well, can hit a spot-up 3-pointer, and is a presence in the paint defensively—all things that are in very short supply when you are talking about long 6-9 guys with great intangibles. As far as the NBA is concerned, considering his age, and the fact that he still hasn’t made that one killer contract that will set him up long-term, it would be hard to envision him passing up the extremely lucrative deals that will be thrown his way from the top-tier teams in Europe—although a big performance this weekend could go a long ways in changing that.
Will Bynum- Like a many players on Maccabi’s roster, Bynum already played in the NBA, spending some time with the Golden State Warriors after leading the D-League in scoring. Considering the way he’s looked this season, though, it seems like he’s in the right spot at the moment. A freakishly athletic undersized combo guard with limited perimeter shooting and playmaking skills, Bynum is still adjusting to European basketball, so you never quite know what to expect from him on any given night. He does put in a good effort, though, even if he’s very turnover prone, but at this level he’s a great weapon to have considering his shot-creating ability and game-changing athleticism.
Nikola Vujcic- If there was a Euroleague hall of fame, Vujcic would surely be inducted into it after he retires. His basketball IQ, passing ability and overall skill level has made him somewhat of a legend in Tel Aviv, and he is really the most recognizable piece remaining on the roster of that incredible Maccabi team that went on a dynasty run a few years back alongside the likes of Anthony Parker, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Maceo Baston. Vujcic missed considerable time this year with all kinds of various injuries (particularly knee problems), and considering how fragile his body is at this point, the NBA can’t considered anything more than a pipe-dream. That shouldn’t take anything away from what he’s accomplished thus far in his career, though, and surely doesn’t mean he can’t help Maccabi out this weekend.
Lior Eliyahu- Eliyahu has spent the better part of this season glued to the bench, as he just doesn’t seem to bring what current head coach Tzvika Sherf is looking for in terms of toughness, defense and rebounding. He’s a flat-out scorer who probably needs a change of scenery at this point to show the Houston Rockets that he is capable of playing in the NBA after he was drafted by them in 2006.
Esteban Batista- Batista spent two non-descript seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, and is now in his first season playing high-level European basketball. It’s been somewhat of an adventure for him and his team, as he’s had good games and bad ones, but is clearly a force to be reckoned with offensively inside the paint if you catch him on the right day.
Big, strong, but not particularly athletic, he uses his body extremely well to establish position for himself in the post, where he has plenty of ways to create shots for himself and good touch to finish. He has a great drop-step move, and beautiful pivots. He plays way below the rim, and can finish with either hand. He does a great job with pump-fakes, and is very skilled in the post, although he’s somewhat of a black hole and fairly predictable at times. Defensively, he is furthest from being an NBA player, just not having the agility to stay in front of quicker post players and getting absolutely roasted when forced to step outside on pick and rolls. He’s probably in the perfect spot as far as his level is concerned, and may have a breakout year next season if he’s utilized more.
Montepaschi Siena
Ksistof Lavrinovic, 6-11, PF/C, Lithuania- We’ve written about him many times before, including a very in-depth scouting report just two months ago. Lavrinovic is a big and athletic scoring big man who is very skilled facing the basket. He averages an incredible 29 points per 40 minutes pace adjusted in the Italian league, while that number drops to “just” 25 in the Euroleague. He’s probably too well compensated to consider going to the NBA at this point, but you really never know. According to his agent Kenny Grant, Lavrinovic “is in the 1st year of a 3 year contract…[with] no NBA out,” although one can be negotiated. On the other hand, Grant did inform us that his twin brother Darjus Lavrinovic (who is coming off a monster season in the ULEB Cup and is equally as interesting) will be a free agent this summer. He believes they “would both be interested in the NBA, if a team is seriously interested.”
Romain Sato- A former 2nd round pick of the San Antonio Spurs, Romain Sato never made it out of NBA training camp, but has developed into quite a reliable player at the top level of Europe since then. He’s a very solid scorer here, but is extremely efficient at the same time, having improved his perimeter shot considerably since his time at Xavier. Sato measured out at just 6-3 in shoes at the NBA pre-draft camp, but has a ridiculous 6-11 wingspan to compensate for that. He’s still not much of a ball-handler, and generally isn’t the most creative player you’ll find, but he knows how to maximize his strengths to the benefit of his team, and will rarely force the issue. Although there might not be that much separating himself from some bench players in the NBA, at the end of the day, he’s probably found the perfect level to showcase his skills with Siena. We’ll take a look regardless.
Drake Diener- The brother of Travis Diener has overcome some serious health problems right after graduating from DePaul to emerge as a very interesting prospect for European basketball, with the perfect combination of basketball IQ, perimeter shooting and playmaking skills to make him an ideal cog in a disciplined half-court offense, such as Siena’s. He hasn’t been much of a factor in the Euroleague with Siena thus far (he started the season in Sicily but was bought out mid-season), but might be able to come off the bench and give them some quality minutes if they are lacking inspiration at some point. His NBA prospects are pretty murky considering his below average athleticism and especially his poor lateral quickness, although if he continues to improve the way he has over the past two seasons, there may be something to talk about at some point.
Benjamin Eze- 6-10 players with a ridiculous 7-6 wingspan like Eze will always get consideration from the NBA, especially when they athletic enough to earn a nickname like “the Helicopter,” for his acrobatic displays. He’s a limited offensive player with fairly poor hands who is mostly known for his rebounding and interior defense, but we will take a look at him too to see if there might be something more to talk about. He has an Italian passport.
Bootsy Thornton, Terrell McIntyre and Shaun Stonerook also play extremely important roles for Siena, but are not likely to get much NBA consideration. Ironically, they might be Siena’s three best players on any given night.
CSKA Moscow
Ramunas Siskauskas- Ranked as the #1 player in our overseas free agents rankings, there will be a lot of NBA eyeballs watching the play of Ramunas Siskauskas this weekend in Madrid. Arguably the most complete player you’ll find outside the NBA, Siskauskas has established a reputation as being a phenomenal shooter, ball-handler, passer and defender, as well as one of the smartest guys you’ll find around. He has quietly (and finally) been piquing the interest of several NBA teams reportedly, and that’s something we are going to try and get to the bottom of here in Madrid. This is an important weekend for Siskauskas for a few reasons. Not only will he have a chance to win his second straight Euroleague title with two separate teams (a feat that’s never been done), a very prestigious thing indeed, but he also will give himself a free exit-clause for the NBA if he indeed wins it, as stated in his contract. If he has a great individual showing, similar to the way he played last year, he’ll probably win himself quite a few more fans as well amongst NBA executives. We’ll keep you posted…
Theodoras Papaloukas- Just as he was beginning to become unanimously considered the best player in European basketball, Theodoras Papaloukas seemed to have hit a pretty bad slump this season, having what might be considered his worst season statistically in the past three years. A pesky ankle problem is partially to blame, but his performance in last summer’s European Championship in Madrid already began to hint that the 31 year old wizard point guard might be slowing down a notch. This is yet another thing we need to get to the bottom of in Madrid.
Never considered a great shooter, Papaloukas’ jump-shot has become even streakier this season, hitting only 24% of his 3-pointers, 67% of his free throws, and 50% of his field goals (his lowest total since 03/04). He is getting to the free throw line less, but is still distributing the ball at a phenomenal rate, dishing out 9.4 assists per-40 minutes pace adjusted, mostly thanks to his mastery of the pick and roll, while maintaining a very steady 2.46/1 assist to turnover ratio. His ball-handling skills and hesitation moves are nothing short of fantastic, and he’s still an excellent finisher around the basket, more so thanks to his terrific touch and overall craftiness than any incredible athleticism, but still extremely effective nonetheless. An extremely clutch player, with a flair for the spectacular as he showed everyone last year, Papaloukas is still a player any team in this Final Four would love to have on their side. The enthusiasm around his NBA prospects may have dimmed somewhat (not that he probably cares), though, as his style of play of was never going to be a seamless fit for most NBA teams.
David Andersen- Although he isn’t playing quite as well as he was when we last wrote about him in February (in extreme depth), David Andersen is still having a career year in CSKA, and will be relied on heavily to help his team win one last Euroleague championship before they probably all go their separate ways. It’s been widely reported that CSKA head coach Ettore Messina will be leaving Moscow for Barcelona when the season is over.
Andersen is in the last year of his contract himself, according to his agent Kenny Grant, and media reports in Atlanta indicate that Billy Knight and the Hawks have spoken about finally bringing him over this season, seven years after they drafted him in the second round. It will be interesting to see if Knight shows up to watch Andersen in Madrid. There is no question that he can play in the NBA right now, and he would probably actually be a terrific compliment to Al Horford on both ends of the floor.
Tau Vitoria
We’ve dealt with Tau Vitoria and their prospects in considerable depth over the past few months and years, especially at the Copa del Rey just this last February. Click through on their profiles and check their latest updates in the “player blogs”.
Tiago Splitter
Igor Rakocevic
Mirza Teletovic
Zoran Planinic
[url=/profile/Pete-Mickeal-5227/]Pete Mickeal[/url]
Will McDonald
The Junior Tournament
In conjunction with the Final Four, the Euroleague has also invited eight of the top junior teams in Europe to participate in a mini tournament lasting four days, where a number of interesting prospects will participate. Donatas Motiejunas (Zalgiris Kaunas), Dejan Musli (FMP), Nikola Mirotic (Real Madrid), Papa Abdoulaye (AXA FC Barcelona), Michel Diouff (AXA FC Barcelona), Nihad Dedovic (AXA FC Barcelona) and Tomislav Zubcic (Cibona Zagreb) are some of the bigger name guys early on—but there will surely be others to emerge. The favorites to win will clearly be Serbian powerhouse FMP Zeleznik, the unquestioned top junior team in Europe over the past few years.
Participating Teams:
AXA FCB
Cibona Zagreb
Red Star
Lietuvos Rytas
Maccabi Teddy
FMP
Real Madrid
Zalgiris Kaunas
Follow the tournament here |
Feedback
for this article may be sent to
jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| Antonio Anderson Entering the Draft |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| April 22, 2008 |
Antonio Anderson filed paperwork making himself eligible for this year’s draft, the player informed DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony today. “I sent my letter in today…I’ll be entering the draft without an agent,” Anderson told us. “I’ll be trying to learn as much as I can, and try to see where I’m at and what teams think of me.”
Anderson filed the paperwork with Memphis coach John Calipari’s blessing. “He knows that I’m entering, and supports me 100%,” Anderson said. “I would definitely like to go to the NBA pre-draft camp and see where this process takes me.” He said it’s too early to say where he would have to be drafted in order to keep his name in.
Anderson, an athletic 6-6 guard with strong playmaking skills and lock-down defensive ability, is currently projected as a mid-2nd round pick by two NBA teams we spoke to this evening. One scout likened him to a “poor man’s Andre Iguodala.” They like his versatility being able to guard and play multiple positions, as well as his excellent 2.62/1 assist to turnover ratio, but will scrutinize his jump-shot and overall scoring ability during workouts and the pre-draft camp. Anderson will turn 23 in June. |
Feedback
for this article may be sent to
jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| Evaluating the Madness of the 2004 High School Class |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| April 6, 2008 |
The 2004 high school class was lauded for being one of the deepest and most talented of all-time when it entered the college ranks four years ago. Now that four years have passed and the dust has settled on the recruiting rankings, we take a look back to see how it really panned out. 37 players from the RSCI's top-100 recruiting rankings have already made it, with likely a half dozen or more still to come from this year's NCAA senior class.
The chart below is based on the RSCI’s final rankings of the 2004 class. The RSCI, which stands for Recruiting Services Consensus Index, is a calculation of the average rankings of all of the major high school recruiting services. It’s methodology is explained here.
| 2004 High School Class |
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RSCI Ranking | Player | Destination |
1 | Dwight Howard | NBA |
2 | Shaun Livingston | NBA |
3 | Al Jefferson | NBA |
4 | Josh Smith | NBA |
5 | Rudy Gay | Connecticut/NBA |
6 | Sebastian Telfair | NBA |
7 | Marvin Williams | North Carolina/NBA |
8 | Robert Swift | NBA |
9 | Malik Hairston | Oregon |
10 | Randolph Morris | Kentucky/NBA |
11 | Glen Davis | LSU/NBA |
12 | LaMarcus Aldridge | Texas/NBA |
13 | DJ White | Indiana |
14 | Joe Crawford | Kentucky |
15 | Darius Washington | Memphis/NBA/Europe |
16 | Juan Palacios | Louisville |
17 | Jawann McClellan | Arizona |
18 | DeMarcus Nelson | Duke |
19 | Daniel Gibson | Texas/NBA |
20 | Jordan Farmar | UCLA/NBA |
21 | Rajon Rondo | Kentucky/NBA |
22 | Mike Williams | Texas/Cincinnati (redshirt) |
23 | J. R. Smith * | NBA |
24 | A. J. Price | Connecticut (redshirt) |
25 | Corey Brewer | Florida/NBA |
26 | Arron Afflalo | UCLA/NBA |
27 | Jason Rich | Florida State |
28 | Marquise Gray | Michigan State |
29 | Kyle Lowry | Villanova/NBA |
30 | Robert Vaden | Indiana/UAB (redshirt) |
31 | Russell Robinson | Kansas |
32 | Roy Bright | Cincinnati/Delaware State (redshirt) |
33 | Gabe Pruitt | Southern Cal/NBA |
34 | Cedric Simmons | NC State/NBA |
34 | Shawne Williams | Memphis/NBA |
36 | Josh Wright | Syracuse/Transfer? |
37 | Greg Stiemsma | Wisconsin |
38 | Ron Steele | Alabama (redshirt) |
39 | Bryce Taylor | Oregon |
40 | Dorell Wright * | NBA |
40 | Isaiah Swann * | Florida State |
40 | Brian Johnson | Louisville/Mississippi State (redshirt) |
43 | Sasha Kaun | Kansas |
44 | Steven Hill | Arkansas |
45 | Jason Horton | Missouri |
46 | Sean Singletary * | Virginia |
47 | Al Horford | Florida/NBA |
47 | Marshall Brown | Missouri |
49 | James Gist | Maryland |
49 | Dion Dowell | Texas/Houston (redshirt) |
51 | Justin Cerasoli | Seton Hall/Ole Miss/Loyola Chicago |
51 | Ra'Sean Dickey | Georgia Tech (redshirt) |
53 | JamesOn Curry | Oklahoma State/NBA |
54 | Drew Neitzel | Michigan State |
55 | Quentin Thomas | North Carolina |
56 | Churchill Odia | Xavier/Oregon (redshirt) |
57 | Josh Shipp | UCLA |
58 | Charles Rhodes | Mississippi State |
59 | Charles Thomas | Arkansas |
60 | Andrew Brackman | NC State/New York Yankees |
61 | Marquie Cooke | Virginia Tech/Virginia Tech/USBL/Home |
62 | Shan Foster | Vanderbilt |
63 | Kalen Grimes | Missouri/Home |
64 | Andray Blatche* | prep school/NBA |
65 | Dayshawn Wright | Syracuse/CBA |
66 | Mohammed Tangara | Arizona |
67 | Alex Galindo | Kansas/Florida International (redshirt) |
68 | Darnell Jackson | Kansas |
69 | C.J. Giles | Kansas/Oregon State/Home |
70 | Jamar Butler | Ohio State |
71 | David McClure | Duke (redshirt) |
72 | Joakim Noah * | Florida/NBA |
73 | Lee Cummard | BYU (redshirt/mission) |
74 | Josh Heytvelt | Gonzaga (redshirt) |
74 | Jeremis Smith | Georgia Tech |
76 | A. J. Ratliff | Indiana/Home |
77 | Shawn Pruitt | Illinois |
78 | Gavin Grant | NC State |
79 | Albert Weber | Alabama/JUCO/Home |
80 | Lorenzo Mata-Real | UCLA |
81 | Keith Benjamin | Pittsburgh |
82 | DeSean White | Providence/La Salle/Delaware/Northwood (Division II) |
83 | Ron Coleman | Michigan |
84 | Walter Sharpe | Mississippi State/UAB (redshirt) |
85 | Zam Frederick | Georgia Tech/South Carolina (redshirt) |
86 | Devon Hardin | California |
87 | Maarty Leunen | Oregon |
88 | David Pendergraft | Gonzaga |
89 | Nick Young * | Southern Cal/NBA |
89 | Lorenzo Wade* | Louisville/San Diego State (redshirt) |
91 | Anthony Morrow | Georgia Tech |
91 | DeAaron Williams | Wisconsin/Bradley/Northern Kentucky (Division II) |
93 | James Hardy | Indiana/Football/NFL Draft |
94 | Rahshon Clark* | Iowa State |
95 | Brian Laing | Seton Hall |
96 | Sam Perry | Clemson |
97 | Longar Longar* | Oklahoma |
97 | Robert Kurz* | Notre Dame |
99 | Alex Thompson | Iowa/Iowa State (redshirt) |
100 | Channing Toney | Georgia/UAB (redshirt) |
100 | Toney Douglas | Auburn/Florida State (redshirt) |
100 | Jackie Butler* | NBA |
*= Went to prep school, and thus not ranked by all, which lowered their average recruiting ranking, sometimes substantially.
Notes from a Crazy Class
-30 of the top 100-ranked players made the NBA, and 29 of them are still there. The only one who is not is Darius Washington, who had a cup of coffee with the Spurs in November and is now considered a lawful citizen of the Republic of Macedonia, allowing him to earn a mammoth salary in Greece. 11 of the top 12-ranked players made it, and 22 of the top 35. What that tells us is that despite certain players being ranked too high or too low, the recruiting services were for the most part highly accurate identifying the top talent. Other members of the top-25, like Malik Hairston, D.J. White, A.J. Price and DeMarcus Nelson might not have developed quite the way some envisioned, but still have a chance to make the NBA.
-7 other players are already in the NBA despite not being considered top 100 prospects out of high school: Patrick O'Bryant, Jeff Green, Sean Williams, Jason Smith, Dominic McGuire, Taurean Green and Ramon Sessions. Green was a top-5 pick, and O’Bryant top 10. What that goes to show you is that it’s never a good idea to put a ceiling on a player’s potential at the age of 17-18, because you never know how they’ll develop.
-How much has the NBA draft landscape changed since David Stern instilled the 19-year old age limit? Consider that 8 of the top 19 players drafted in 2004 were high school players, and that only one player was subsequently “one and done” in Marvin Williams.
-Out of this year’s senior class, we still find some fantastic college players who were not highly regarded out of high school, for one reason or another, but have developed into legit NBA prospects, like: Roy Hibbert, Courtney Lee, Jason Thompson, Kyle Weaver, Joey Dorsey, Richard Roby, Chris Lofton, Jaycee Carroll, Pat Calathes, Aleks Maric, Will Daniels and others. Again, even though the recruiting services do a very good job with their scouting, there will still always be many players who improve considerably in college and leapfrog their more highly touted peers down the road. When it's all said and done, there will be over 40 players from this class in the NBA, which is pretty impressive.
-You can nitpick about the order possibly, but there is no way you can argue that the recruiting services did a fantastic job pegging the top five prospects in the 2004 high school class—Dwight Howard, Shaun Livingston, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Rudy Gay. After that, though, there is an incredible drop-off, as we find three marginal NBA players in Sebastian Telfair, Robert Swift and Randolph Morris, joined by the ultra-talented Marvin Williams and possibly the biggest bust of this class—Malik Hairston.
-Moving down the list, we find LaMarcus Aldridge slightly underrated at #12, and some serious question marks in Joe Crawford, Darius Washington, Juan Palacios and Jawann McCllellan, all of whom had somewhat disappointing college careers and are in varying degrees extremely far from the NBA radar. Rajon Rondo, the starting PG of the Boston Celtics, ranked alongside Mike Williams, an anonymous college player who barely played at Texas before transferring to Cincinnati and being setback by injury, shows you just how much of a crap shoot things are in the recruiting business at times.
-J.R. Smith, a 5th year prep school player, at #23 would have been in the top 10 had he been ranked by HoopScoop. Other examples of players who are ranked too low for this reason (not being considered 2004 prospects by some services) include Dorell Wright, Andray Blatche, Nick Young and Jackie Butler.
-At #25, we find Corey Brewer, the most highly regarded player in Billy Donovan’s recruiting class, ahead of #47 Al Horford, #72 Joakim Noah, and unranked Taurean Green. This class went on to win two straight national championships before leaving for the NBA last year.
-Wondering why Kentucky has been such a disappointment over the past few years? Consider how little they got out of what was then considered arguably the top recruiting class in the nation, headlined by #10 Randolph Morris, #14 Joe Crawford, and #21 Rajon Rondo, who went pro after an underwhelming sophomore season.
-Kansas is in the national championship this year, thanks to heavy contributions from #31 Russell Robinson, #43 Sasha Kaun, and #68 Darnell Jackson. #67 Alex Galindo and #69 C.J. Giles transferred out of the program fairly quickly.
-20 of the 100 players listed here decided to transfer to another school at some point in their college careers, some of them multiple times. This usually stems from dissatisfaction with playing time, touches, or a coaching staff change. Many of the players just found out that they aren’t as good as they thought they were.
-We also find a number of very average college players scattered throughout the upper half of the list, for example: #28 Marquise Gray, #36 Josh Wright, #37 Greg Stiemsma, #40 Brian Johnson, #45 Jason Horton, #47 Marshall Brown, and #51 Justin Cersaoli—none of whom averaged double-digit scoring this season.
-For those that think that being a top 100 high school recruit is a surefire sign of having a professional career in basketball (in the NBA or overseas), consider the cases of Marquie Cooke, Kalen Grimes, A.J. Ratliff or Albert Weber—all of whom finished this season sitting at home, for one reason or another. Looking at how some of the players who transferred and still have a year of college eligibility have panned out so far (Alex Thompson, DeAaron Williams, DeSean White, etc), there will likely be a few joining them next season. |
Feedback
for this article may be sent to
jonathan@draftexpress.com |
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| What to Look for this Weekend in the Final Four |
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| by: Jonathan Givony - President |
| April 4, 2008 |
What will scouts be looking for from the various individual NBA prospects this weekend in San Antonio at the NCAA Final Four, and what their teams will need from them in the matchups they'll be going be facing.
UCLA vs. Memphis
Darren Collison- Similar to DJ Augustin last week, Darren Collison will have a chance to prove that his below average size will not be a hindrance in terms of getting his shot off, seeing the floor and being able to contain an NBA sized athlete in Derrick Rose. He's had some issues with shaky ball-handling in this tournament, which is not going to fly against the length and athleticism he'll be facing on the perimeter at any given moment. Additionally, scouts will want to see whether he steps up to the plate and makes things happen for his team when they most need him to, or whether he will be passive and take a backseat as he's been known to do sometimes. After DJ Augustin's relatively poor performance against Memphis last weekend, there is an opportunity for someone to step up and lay a claim to the title of second best point guard in this draft. Collison won't want it to be Ty Lawson.
Russell Westbrook- Westbrook has not had the type of performance he needed in March to take the next step from sleeper prospect to sure-fire lottery pick, shooting just 15-43 from the field in the tournament thus far, as showing his limitations in terms of polish, position, and pressure-handling. The potential label can only take you so far at this stage, and executives would like to see him have a signature performance that they can hang their hat on if they are going to draft him as high as his upside warrants.
Kevin Love- the favorite right now for Most Outstanding Player honors, Love has made a believer out of many doubters with the way he's played in the NCAA tournament. It will be important not to go out on a sour note, as his draft stock is at its peak right now, but could get volatile if he gives any reason for NBA GMs to believe that he won't be able to translate his production to the next level due to his athletic shortcomings. He will be matching up with one of the nastiest centres in college basketball in Joey Dorsey, a strong, long, super athletic beast of a defender who will be salivating at the mouth at the chance of getting revenge on a big name big man after the Greg Oden debacle last year, where he was absolutely humiliated. How well Love is able to handle Dorsey could give us some decent insight in his ability to translate his game to playing against NBA caliber defenders.
Derrick Rose- After two breathtaking performances in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, Rose has a chance to further lay claim to being the number one overall pick with a strong showing against possibly the best defensive team in the NCAA. Its pretty much unprecedented for a freshman point guard to do what he's doing at this level with the way he's carrying his team, and if he can somehow manage to come close to the way he played last weekend, he is going to be extremely difficult for the likes of the Miami Heat, Seattle Supersonics, Minnesota Timberwolves or New York Knicks to pass him up with the first overall selection.
Chris Douglas-Roberts- Should have a favorable matchup going up against Josh Shipp or Russell Westbrook, as he is too athletic and aggressive for Shipp's limited lateral quickness and too big for the 6-3 Westbrook. Memphis will be going to him often, and UCLA will likely sag off him to force him to prove that he can knock down open shots, preferably from the 16-20 foot range. His ability to hit these open looks could be a huge key to the game, as if UCLA needs to defend all the way out to the 3-point line, there will be a lot more space for Memphis to use their athleticism to slash to the basket. Despite a first-team All-American caliber season, Douglas-Roberts still has his doubters amongst NBA executives, due to his unconventional appearance and style of play. A big game against UCLA could be what solidifies him in the first round and gives him a chance to establish himself as possibly the top swingman in this draft, which happens to be the shallowest position of all this year.
Joey Dorsey- Will have a monster matchup on his hands going up against Kevin Love. He'll need to both prove that he can step away from the basket and defend a perimeter shooting big man, as well as be focused enough to avoid being pinned down in the post and not bite for the array of pump-fakes he'll be faced with all game long against the extremely crafty Love. Not really known as a big game player, Dorsey has a chance to change that perception this weekend with a big outing in the most important game of his life so far.
North Carolina vs. Kansas
Ty Lawson- Might be the biggest key to this game, as he's the one that controls the tempo for Carolina and is responsible for making good decisions in the half-court. Going up against two extremely good defenders in Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers, Lawson will have to be at his absolute best to make sure his offense flows smoothly. Kansas will likely sag off and encourage him to beat them from the perimeter, so hitting his shots from behind the arc will be crucial.
Tyler Hansbrough- Carolina will also need a huge game from their go-to guy, as he'll be seeing a variety of defenders and defenses in an attempt to somehow slow him down. Louisville dared him to shoot from the outside in the Elite Eight, and saw that decision backfire as Hansbrough drained all four perimeter jump-shots he took. It will be interesting to see if Kansas decides to guard him straight up in the post or doubles him every time on the catch. He'll need to make good decisions with the ball in his hands, as Kansas' guards are notorious for their ball-hawking skills, as well as continue to play solid defense.
Danny Green- Will come off the bench and try to give Carolina a spark exploiting mismatches on both ends of the floor. Will likely be assigned Kansas' best offensive player--Brandon Rush-- a player he has the length and athleticism to contain, but must study intently to ensure he doesn't get hot from the perimeter.
Wayne Ellington- Must stay aggressive throughout the game to help Carolina impose the type of tempo they like to play at, and will need to hit his shots from the perimeter and play well in transition. May have to guard a much quicker player than him in Sherron Collins at times, or a much bigger player in Brandon Rush. Ellington is rumored to be considering declaring for the draft this year, but he's yet to have a signature performance in any of Carolina's big games thus far, except possibly @Clemson. Considering how crowded the first round is, this could be a great showcase for him.
Brandon Rush- After a pretty poor outing in the Elite Eight against Davidson, the NBA-bound Rush will need to have a strong showing here in the Final Four to ensure himself some good momentum going into the pre-draft process this spring. Rush has been very aggressive throughout the month of March, and Kansas will want him to continue to do so, as they don't have many players on their roster who can really create shots for themselves. His perimeter shooting will be key, and contributions defensively and on the glass would be very helpful as well.
Darrell Arthur- Arthur has faded badly over the last two months, much like he did last season, and has at times been pretty invisible despite spending heavy minutes on the court. He has not broken double-digits since Kansas' lopsided victory in the first round against Portland State, and has not been much of a factor on the glass either, which is typical of him. Arthur needs to come out focused and intense in this huge matchup he has against Tyler Hansbrough and Deon Thompson, as his team needs him to play smart and not get into foul trouble trying to slow them down. Being the most naturally gifted post scorer Kansas has, it would be of huge help if he could force Carolina's big men to guard him and possibly even pick up some fouls in the process. Having only cracked the 10-rebound mark four times all season, this would be a great time to show that he can put his size, length, hands and superb athleticism to good use...Darrell Arthur might be the X-factor in this game.
Sherron Collins- Besides some sparks | | |
