Everyone knows about Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley, but this freshman class may be the deepest ever. I'm gonna try to profile a different freshman that some people may not know about every so often, so keep your eyes out for some of these guys!
I like this thread idea. It's getting harder and harder to keep track of all the new players coming and going. It used to be the players who weren't talented enough to go straight to the pros hung around for a few years, but now everybody has to go to college and teams change drastically from year to year. It's nice to know the players and personalities before they disappear.
2004 was the best class imo. in this class we know about Rose, Beasley, and Mayo the players that I want to see tho is, Deandre Jordan, Kosta Koufus, and Donte Green.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ Dec 23 2007, 10:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Everyone knows about Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley, but this freshman class may be the deepest ever. I'm gonna try to profile a different freshman that some people may not know about every so often, so keep your eyes out for some of these guys!</div> While we're on the subject of freshmen, Beasley's stat line today: 40/15, 3 blocks.
Let's start with my personal favorite Freshman: <div align="center"> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%">JJ Hickson, 6-9 240 lbs, PF, NC State </span><div align='left'>Hickson is a nightly double double threat, leading the Wolfpack in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and FG%, averaging , 17.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 2.1 bpg, while shooting a ridiculous 69.1% from the field, and 71.2% from the line, all in 27.8 mpg. Hickson, the rare big man who rarely gets in foul trouble (2 PF per game), has turned in consistant leading efforts for the Wolfpack, game after game. He is a good, but not great athlete, has great size, and can score very well inside 15 feet, facing up or posting up. Defensively, is a force in the paint, as the anchor of the Pack's defense, constantly altering shots, letting his presence be known. Will be interesting to see how he does when the competition level gets turned up with ACC play starting. (All Stats as of 12/22) ESPN Profile and Stats </div> </div>
Freshmen on the Orange: To start off with, Johnny Flynn and Donte Green. They're already a huge part of the team, and were voted co-Big East Freshmen of the Year. Scoop Jardine has been pretty good. He was really good coming off the bench, but right now, he's being thrown into the fire after Devendorf's big injury. Now, he'll probably be a full-time starter. So far, he hasn't been doing all that great...but it could possibly be a matter of getting comfortable in a new role with this team. Rick Jackson has been great off the bench. He's come in for Arinze and filled in great-he scores, defends, rebounds. Coming into the season, not much was expected of the bigs on Syracuse..now, they look pretty damn good. And then there's Sean Williams, the big man with a 7'9 wingspan. Coming into the season, he wasn't expected to play at all. But, lately Boeheim's been giving the kid a chance. He's come in, blocked a few shots here and there, rebounded a little, and dunked a few in limited minutes. I still don't really expect much from him, but he's got potential.
<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%">Dejuan Blair 6-7 250 lbs, PF Pittsburgh </span><div align='left'> The classic undersized power forward, Blair is only undersized at height. A classic big body, probably weighs closer to 300 lbs, than his listed weight of 250 lbs. "Pittsburgh's native son" is a lifelong Pitt boy, and plays with great emotion. Blair currently leads the Panthers in rebounding, blocked shots, steals, and FG%, averaging 12.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg (over 4 offensive), 1.7 bpg, an amazing 2.3 spg, and 1.7 bpg, while shooting 57% from the field, in just over 20 mpg. Blair has already had his share of big games this season, with nationally televised double doubles against Oklahoma State (20 pts 10 rebs, 5 blocks) and Duke (15 pts 20 rebs, 3 blocks). Blair could use some work on his FT shooting (65.9 %), but he is a young man who plays with a lot of passion, and enjoys himself on the hardwood. Has a 7-3 wingspan. (All stats as of 12/22) ESPN Profile and Stats </div> </div>
(Please feel free to add any freshman you guys like, or want to see get some exposure, as well as discussing others)
I'm just wondering, what is Kevin Love's outlook in the pros? He's mentioned a lot around here, since UCLA is a local team. I don't watch college basketball a lot, but wasn't he ranked as one of the top freshman this season? If he decides to enter the draft this year, where will he be taken? I see on most mock drafts he is a middle first round pick...
Blair has the same body type as Big Baby. (glen davis) lol I can see him selected in the second round in the draft.
Where as Big Baby was more of the tapdancing type of big man (using agility, love that saying), Blair is a power player.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing @ Dec 23 2007, 11:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Blair has the same body type as Big Baby. (glen davis) lol I can see him selected in the second round in the draft.</div> He's got less blubber than big baby and longer arms too. I see him more as a Karl Malone body double. Great thread idea, btw. This has definitely been one of the deeper freshman classes in recent memory, most likely due to the new age limit. We're probably going to see a lot of freshmen that don't play like freshmen in this next decade because of that rule. I'll post in a few minutes profiles on some freshmen I think deserve spotlight in this thread.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 23 2007, 11:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm just wondering, what is Kevin Love's outlook in the pros? He's mentioned a lot around here, since UCLA is a local team. I don't watch college basketball a lot, but wasn't he ranked as one of the top freshman this season? If he decides to enter the draft this year, where will he be taken? I see on most mock drafts he is a middle first round pick...</div> He should be a 3 to 4 year college player, he's undersize and overweight, to be an intriguing prospect.
Voodoo (can't bring myself to call you VC, too eerie) brought up Blair's length, adding that to his profile. He has a 7-3 wingspan. Karl Malone is a good comparison.
I'll start with a player from my favorite squad. Hope you don't mind me borrowing your format, KC. <div align="center"> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%">Kalin Lucas 6-0 180 lbs, PG Michigan State</span></div> While he's not getting the attention that a lot of freshmen are this season, Lucas is just as important to his team as any of his freshmen counterparts. It's just that his impact is usually made not in scoring but in running the No. 10 (and soon-to-be higher ranked) Michigan State offense. Ranked as the fifth best point guard in the class by Scout.Com, Lucas has proved his worth from the start, averaging 8.1 ppg (fourth on Michigan State), and more importantly, 4 apg. His contributions vary from game to game, as he's still behind Drew Neitzel in the rotation, but his role could change after his breakout performance against Texas this past Saturday, in which Lucas recorded 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in a performance that left a lot of fans wondering who got the best of the game's point guard match-up, D.J. Augustin or Kalin Lucas. The staple to Lucas' game is his quickness. Coach Tom Izzo even said that Lucas is the quickest player that he's ever recruited, and that includes players such as Mateen Cleaves, Charlie Bell, Jason Richardson, and Shannon Brown, amongst others. As a recently written column by Yahoo sportswriter Dan Wetzel suggests, Lucas' arrival has been the x-factor that has brought the Spartans back to their run-and-gun playing style, a style that guided them to four Final Fours and an Elite Eight in seven years. (All stats as of 12/22) ESPN Profile and Stats
#23 Eric Gordon Position: Guard Height: 6-4 Weight: 215 lbs. Team: Indiana Hoosiers PPG 23.5 | APG 2.5 | RPG 3.2 | SPG 1.7 | BPG .8 | FG% .504 | FT% .844 <div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zNQRKsZYXZ8&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zNQRKsZYXZ8&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div> From nbadraft.net NBA Comparison: Mitch Richmond Strengths: Tremendous leaper with great outside shooting ability ... Really excels at taking the ball inside and drawing contact ... Makes spectacular dunks on a regular basis ... Excellent scorer with good mental toughness ... Shows great body strength at a young age ... Terrific body balance ... Quick feet and an explosive first step ... Has a good feel for the game ... Shoots well off the dribble with a developing mid range game ... Outside shooting stands out ... Shows excellent desire and intensity defensively, good at anticipating steals ... Good competitor ... Athletic ability helps to overcome his size disadvantage for the NBA ... Solid rebounder ... Weaknesses: A little small for the 2 guard position at 6-4, but his freakish athleticism makes up for it ... Lacks great vision, passing ability ... Can become too enamored with the 3 point shot ... His in between game is under utilized because he's so effective from the outside and taking the ball to the basket ... Needs to concentrate on becoming a better passer ... Lack of length may make creating shots difficult ... Should look to get more height on his jump shot ... Must work on becoming more under control driving to the basket ...
No, that is my format, I trademarked it. Good sh*t with Lucas, these are the types of guys I want to see in here, people that a lot don't know about. I love Gordon, too CK, he's disgusting.
