So you wanna draft this dude? Final Four offers sneak peak...
If you're not a big college basketball head, the NCAA tournament usually serves as a cram session for folks to familiarize themsleves with NBA prospects.
This weekend's Final Four is especially interesting in that there are a lot of potential first rounders playing in high-pressure situations.
His preview of the weekend matchups can be found here.
Notice I said "still" in regards to Ford's credentials. You might be thinking that he should have his draft card pulled indefinitely for touting Pavel as a sure-thing top-fiver. This of course is the year after he ripped every team up and down for passing on Maciej Lampe in the first round.
But we all have our misses. Especially if we think that every Euro with a touch is the next Dirk as opposed to the next good dude up at 24 Hour Fitness. But I digress...
The only guy left playing who I think is an absolute stud is D. Rose. What more can I say - top billin'? In my humble humble, all the hype is more than substantiated.
After him, I think Darrell Arthur will have the best pro career. I realize he hasn't exactly flourished at KU, but he's a local boy so I'm blinded by my Dub hoop pom poms.
I'm also a sucker for Darren Collison even though he has a busted lookin' jumper. But it drops. Plus he can defend and he's got that hard-to-account-for clutch/leader thing.
I know I'm supposed to like Russell Westbrook but I feel like I haven't seen enough of his "wow" moments to fully get on board. I'm also not sure he has a real position. But his athleticism jumps out for sure.
Ty Lawson definitely sees the floor. He gets compared to Ray Ray Felton, but Felton seems like a much better all around scorer and it doesn't even really seem close to me. Is he better than King Rice? i'm sayin' though
Now to the hot buttons:
Kevin Love looks like a smaller Brad Miller. That can't be good.
He can pass, he can shoot, and his moves on the block are super-polished. That-reverse-pivot-fade-off-one-foot bucket he dropped from the mid-post to go up on the Aggies at the end of the second round game really was a special move for a teenager. Of course he did it against a 6' 7" defender. But he did do it.
The bottom line for me is that unathletic dumpy guys who are shorter than the guys they'll be covering dosn't scream high first-round to me. If I was the GM, I'd be scared picking this dude any higher than the 20s.
Tyler Hansbrough....ummm, yeah. The player of the year. Have at him.
Maybe you can start him next to other former POY Adam Morrison and really kick some ass. And if only Orlando would part with JJ Reddick - dude it would be so on.
Hansbrough is a strange concoction - he's a Najera-Collison-Mad Dog Madsen experiment. I think he'll be on rosters in the NBA for a long time. But not in a lottery pick impact kind of way.
He goes hard and has a knack for puttin' the ball in the basket. But he's undersized and not quick enough for who he'll have to cover. Which means he'll be a role player. If I was the GM, I'd be scared picking this dude any higher than the 20s. That sound familiar?
Final Four Saturday is one of my favorites of the year. Enjoy it with a beverage with an eye on the first round.
I think Ford was hyping Pavel based off what Donnie was tellin him. So Skinny Sports explain to your blogging audience what Donnie saw besides 7 and a half feet of spare?
Comments (2)
Comments
I think Ford was hyping Pavel based off what Donnie was tellin him. So Skinny Sports explain to your blogging audience what Donnie saw besides 7 and a half feet of spare?
Posted by: Bill in Boston | April 8, 2008 2:53 PM
I'd love to, but this new schedule is like, totally confusing.
Posted by: Skin | April 8, 2008 2:56 PM