Thanks for bumping the thread, Voodoo. <u>First Team</u> G- Dominic James (Marquette) G- Arron Afflalo (UCLA) F- Jared Dudley (Boston College) F- Joakim Noah (Florida) C- Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) <u>Second Team</u> G- Ronald Steele (Alabama) G- Richard Roby (Colordado) F- Nick Fazekas (Nevada) F- Glen Davis (LSU) C- Roy Hibbert (Georgetown) <u>Third Team</u> G- Acie Law (Texas A&M) G- Brandon Rush (Kansas) F- Alando Tucker (Wisconsin) F- D.J. White (Indiana) C- Greg Oden (Ohio State)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">im surpirsed you don't have Joakim Noah or Kevin Durant or Brandan Wright.</div> One Gator is enough. I'm really not expecting them to be as good as Kansas or North Carolina next season, and I don't expect Noah to put up big stats. He didn't even really put up big stats this year, and with Horford always improving, he'll struggle to really improve on those. The big star on Florida is Corey Brewer. As for Kevin Durant, I thought about putting him on there, but I ultimately left him off because it looks like Daniel Gibson could be going back to school. Although he's technically a point guard, Gibson is horrible at running an offense and setting up his teammates. He'll only take shots away from Durant and reduce his chance of being the go-to-guy his first year on campus. As for Brandan Wright, I'm actually very familiar with him and all Tennessee High School basketball prospects, having lived in Memphis for the past eight years or so and having played against most of them. One thing I can tell you is that Wright's raw. He's a few years off from being an impact player at North Carolina, and the Tennessee prospect most likely to crack that All-American list would be Thaddeus Young, although that's also unlikely because of all the talent Georgia Tech returns on the wing. Freshmen aren't usually All-Americans. They lack playing time, touches, and a feel for both the level of play and their school's system. Of course there are exceptions, but they're far and few between. Oden, I feel, is one of those exceptions though. He's a one in a million player, like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, etc.; if anyone's got a chance to challenge Melo's title as the best freshman in NCAA history, you'd think it'd be him. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">G- Dominic James (Marquette)</div> I don't really get this one. Steve Novak and Joe Chapman graduate, but he improves to a First Team All-American? He had an amazing season, but at 5'9", he's limited as a scorer and probably won't exceed that 15 ppg range he was at last year, and without Novak and Chapman, he'll have a hard time racking up those assists. Even with statistics aside, team success plays a major role in selecting All-Americans, and Marquette's set up for a pretty disappointing year, or at least it'd appear that way on paper.
<u>First Team</u> G-Ronald Steele(Alabama) G-Mario Chalmers(Kansas) F-Corey Brewer(Florida) F-Jared Dudley(Boston College) C-Tyler Hansborough(North Carolina) <u>Second Team</u> G-Brandon Rush(Kansas) G-Chris Lofton(Tennessee) F-Big Baby(LSU) F-Alando Tucker(Wisconsin) C-Roy Hibbert(Georgetown) <u>Third Team</u> G-Arron Affalo(UCLA) G-Dominack James(Marquette) F-Nick Fazekas(Nevada) F-Joakim Noah(Florida)-He'll make it, but Horford will get drafted higher C-Greg Oden(Ohio State)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Voodoo Child:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't really get this one. Steve Novak and Joe Chapman graduate, but he improves to a First Team All-American? He had an amazing season, but at 5'9", he's limited as a scorer and probably won't exceed that 15 ppg range he was at last year, and without Novak and Chapman, he'll have a hard time racking up those assists. Even with statistics aside, team success plays a major role in selecting All-Americans, and Marquette's set up for a pretty disappointing year, or at least it'd appear that way on paper.</div> I figured someone would question me putting James on the first-team roster, because not a lot of people have heard of him, but after what I saw from him last year, I think he's going to be the next big star at Marquette. Along with James, Marquette also has two solid backcourt players in Jerel McNeal and Wes Matthews. Jerel McNeal played in all 31 games last season as a freshman and averaged 11.1 points a game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.1 steals a game. Wesley Matthews is a versatile player who has the ability to play both guard positions and the three as well; he has the ability to knock down the three from anywhere on the court(shot 43% from beyond the arc and averaged approximately 9 pts a game as a freshman last season)...and is expected to start along side James and McNeal in the young Marquette backcourt. And back to James- he only had four games last season where he scored in single-digits. So I don't see why he can't have a better season than what he did last year if someone like Matthews can take some pressure off of him and force the opposing team to have to go one-on-one with James...because you know most of the plays that Tom Crean creates on offense will be for James to isolate and do his thing.
do you guys really think oden will be third team. from what i've heard he would be a beast in the nba now?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheFreshPrince:</div><div class="quote_post">do you guys really think oden will be third team. from what i've heard he would be a beast in the nba now?</div> He hasn't proven anything yet. I have not seen him play, so I don't think it's fair for me to put him on the 1st or 2nd team when I haven't seen him play. I almost left him off the list entirely and put Big Baby as center of the 2nd list. Like Voodoo said most freshman aren't usually All-Americans. I think putting him on my 3rd team right now is very generous. He could be great or he could struggle a little, who knows.
Okay, cool. i was just under the impression that everyone thought he was a shoo in for the hall of fame.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheFreshPrince:</div><div class="quote_post">Okay, cool. i was just under the impression that everyone thought he was a shoo in for the hall of fame.</div> Well I don't speak for everyone but the only game that I've seen him play in was the McDonald's All-American game in which he put up 4 pts like 7 rebounds and 4 blocks and wasn't looking too impressive with the ball. I know all-star games are more geared towards the guards and wings, but still if you are going to the be the #1 pick I would expect him to get better than that. Again, I'm holding off all judgement until I actually see him play.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UKFan33:</div><div class="quote_post">I figured someone would question me putting James on the first-team roster, because not a lot of people have heard of him, but after what I saw from him last year, I think he's going to be the next big star at Marquette. Along with James, Marquette also has two solid backcourt players in Jerel McNeal and Wes Matthews. Jerel McNeal played in all 31 games last season as a freshman and averaged 11.1 points a game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.1 steals a game. Wesley Matthews is a versatile player who has the ability to play both guard positions and the three as well; he has the ability to knock down the three from anywhere on the court(shot 43% from beyond the arc and averaged approximately 9 pts a game as a freshman last season)...and is expected to start along side James and McNeal in the young Marquette backcourt. And back to James- he only had four games last season where he scored in single-digits. So I don't see why he can't have a better season than what he did last year if someone like Matthews can take some pressure off of him and force the opposing team to have to go one-on-one with James...because you know most of the plays that Tom Crean creates on offense will be for James to isolate and do his thing.</div> I haven't heard of Dominic James? Are you kidding me? Anyone who knows anything about college basketball knows James. He played for Marquette, not Southern Idaho JC. Marquette may return McNeal and Matthews, but are either one as reliable as Novak or Chapman? Novak's departure will especially hurt James, who benefited from a relative lack of defensive pressure with teams focussing on Novak last season. You talk about forcing the opposing team to go one one-on-one with James, but that's really not James' strength. In most of the Marquette games I watched last year, James racked up most of his ponts off of backdoor screens and transition plays. He's not an amazing one-on-one player because he's so limited by his size. That brings me to another point: defense. I know it's not exactly the most important qualification in picking All-Americans, because Redick and Morrison were both first teamers despite substandard defensive seasons, but James is a borderline defensive liability. He's quick and explosive, but at the end of the day, he's just 5'9" and change. I'm not saying he's not a good player and a future star, because I believe he is both. However, I would really hold off on putting him on the first team. There will be so many more qualified upper classmen on the perimeter next season that if James were to make any All-American team, it'd likely be the third.
I wasn't saying you didn't know who James was...you probably know more about James and college basketball as a whole more than I and everyone else on this site and I was saying that because Novak got most of pub last season, while James was one of the best freshman in the nation. But I put James on the first team mostly because there isn't a clear-cut #1 point guard to me. But someone like Chalmers, James, Steele, Law or even MSU's very own Drew Neitzel could all be canidates as a first-teamer in my mind...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UKFan33:</div><div class="quote_post">I wasn't saying you didn't know who James was...you probably know more about James and college basketball as a whole more than I and everyone else on this site and I was saying that because Novak got most of pub last season, while James was one of the best freshman in the nation. But I put James on the first team mostly because there isn't a clear-cut #1 point guard to me. But someone like Chalmers, James, Steele, Law or even MSU's very own Drew Neitzel could all be canidates as a first-teamer in my mind...</div> Thanks for clarifying and for the compliments bro', but I've still got to disagree. It's a pick I can see possibly happening if everything goes James' way, but it was just the one I disagreed with the most on your list. Besides, the All-American teams aren't based on a PG-SG-SF-PF-C standard but rather a G-G-F-F-C standard, which is often flexible itself.
