[surveParticipant]

 Thank God for College Hoops!  Its been great excitement and a lot of talent so far.  I havent seen as many games as a lot of you this year but from what I have seen, I would like to give my thoughts on some prospects.

The Good

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist– Let me start by saying I bleed Carolina Blue, but MKG has been the most impressive college player in my book so far.  He is so skilled, yet puts his team first.   Everyone loves to win, but MKG is a player who HATES TO LOSE.  You can see it in his game, this guy is a warrior on the court and I think his attitude is one that any NBA team would love to have.

Harrison Barnes– Sometimes players are overated coming out of HS.  As far as his skills, I would not say Barnes is overated in the least bit.  As far as his mentality….well, he is a different sort of player than percieved when coming out.  He is very unselfish and does not look to be a first option type at the next level.  One commentator said that he is not a go-to guy, that is a misconception….he must not have seen how icewater Barnes was in clutch situations last year.   Although he does not look like a next level Alpha Dog, his confidence in the clutch is very rare and still his best attribute.  When the pressure is on is when Barnes is at his best, when its not, thats when he tends to disappear.

Tony Wroten Jr.– If this guy can refine his game and let it come to him, his ceiling is very high.  On the college level if he is turned loose, there is no way to stop him.  His ability to break guys down off the dribble and get to the cup will be his strongest selling point to NBA teams.  I really couldnt figure out how this guy got snubbed from the Mickey D’s game.  He is a fun player to watch, I just hope he listens, works hard and stays in college long enough to truly get a handle on the fundamentals.  If so, he will be a good one at the next stop.

The Bad

Terrence Jones–  What the heck was wrong with him against Indiana? Does anyone know? Has it been confirmed that he was injured?  In either case, he didnt show up.  One of the biggest things NBA teams have against him is his poor body language and inconsistency.  He seems to get charged when things go his way but when they dont, he is about as worthless as can be.  If he had MKG’s passion on the floor, he would be all world with his unique blend of physicality and skills.  If you cant score, then fine, but do something on the boards, play defense, whatever you have to do….do not let your team down.

Alex Oriakhi-AlNot sure why he is in Calhoun’s doghouse.  This is a guy I have expected a lot from since coming out of high school and this year with Drummond on board…I really thought they would be a dominant frontcourt.  Not so much as far as scoring, but defensively and on the boards, I just thought they would be running chit.  I dont know, maybe the chemistry isnt there yet, I dont question Coach Cal, he knows what the hell he is doing, but Oriakhi needs to try not to sulk and sorry to sound redundant but get the MKG attitude and excell in whatever roll your coach and team wants and needs you to provide.  Dont worry about starting, concentrate on winning.

Other notables:

Although Barnes is UNC’s leading scorer, Henson is definitely their MVP in my book.  He has been consistent as hell and his improved jumper has really helped them a lot.  

What about Ryan Boatright?  As if Napier wasnt having a good enough year, in comes Boatright to give UCONN probably the best guard trio in the nation.

Darius Miller is a very underated player.  This guy can do it all.  He just isnt great in any particular area, but he can score inside and out, defend, is athletic and has proven to be a good ballhandler and playmaker.  He is the glue that holds UK together.

I really feel bad for St. Johns but I am sure Lavin will get that program in the right direction.  Losing so many key players and recruits have stifled them but there are bright spots.  God’sgift Achiuwa is really playing with a lot of heart and despite not being on the draft boards, I think he is a prospect on the rise.  Mo Harkless will definitely be a hot prospect next year if he asserts himself a little more, the talent is there.

[akhan786Participant]

Someone who also has really surprised me is Cody Zeller. Kid is a stud.

[surveParticipant]

 You know….I am not really surprised by Cody Zeller, he came with a lot of hype and basically hailed as Indiana’s saviour.  I knew Indiana had very good players on their team last year and adding Zeller was going somewhat heighten expectations, even if not in the immediate future.  I also thought that UK would have a difficult time with Indiana and thought it was highly likely for the Hoosiers to pull the upset.  Neither Indiana nor Zeller have been that much on the national radar, but now they have to be taken seriously.  Sheehey, Watford, etc…these are good players, and once I saw Olidipo last year, I thought he had future NBA potential.  I mean I can see where you are coming from though, Zeller is a stud no doubt.

[NJHooper95Participant]

Scott Machado-Iona- Guy can really pass the bad and is a good scorer as well

Nick Johnson-Arizona- This kid is coming into his own. Tremendous athlete and starting to become a threat from outside.

BJ. Young- Arkansas- One of the more exciting young guards in college basketball.

Tony Mitchell- Alabama- if you havent seen this kid, you are missing out. He is a worth the price of admission athlete on a very good Alabama team.  Having a strong season so far.

 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I like this but it;s way to short.  For the good you could of mentioned Cody Zeller who is surpassing the hype as Indiana just beat Kentucky to remain undefeated, Myers Leonard who went from 2nd round prospect to top 10 talent next year, Anthony Davis who is averaging 4.5 blocks per game and is making huge play after huge play, John Henson who is getting better every year and every game and truly defining what it means to get the most out of your college experience, and Thomas Robinson who has blossomed into a manchild for Kansas ask Ohio State.

The Bad:  Andre Drummond who despite having a better physique and physical tools then anybody to enter college basketball in the last decade this side of Greg Oden is lost in the sauce on the college level.  Marquise Teague is underperforming imo as I had him as the best pg coming in and now Caliprari looks like he finally made a mistake on recruiting pg’s as Wroten should of been the choice.  Tyler Zeller is getting shown up every night by his freshman brother.  Maalik Waynes my pick for PG of the year is floundering leading a team of freshman to anything important.  Brad Beal is playing well but his 3 pt shot which we all know him for and wanna see hasn’t been dropping.

As for Terrence Jones he’s not playing bad he’s playing perfect within that team, he is their leader and it not hot dogging and taking away from the rest of the teams production.  Jones has increased his range and has his outside shots falling and he continues to show his potential as a post defender.  Jones is not a tweener he’s a PF whoses athletic enough to play SF.  T. Jones is very strong in the post and plays great man on defense, he also get’s a ton of rebounds and blocks.  And against Indiana he has had a bad game with turnovers, he shot 2-3 from the field because other players were hotter like MKG so he didn’t force anything.  For the year T.J. is shooting 50 from field and 50 from 3 and is averaging more assists, steals and blocks in less minutes then last year.  He’s some mix between Jeff Green and Josh Smith.

[surveParticipant]

 yes, Nick Johnson!  but Josiah Turner an early disappointment?  BJ Young surprised me.

[surveParticipant]

 yes, the list is short, wanted to give others opportunity to chime in because I couldve gone all day.

There’s other interesting players such as Austin Rivers who can break anyone down off the dribble and has great range but shaky with his finishing ability in the lane.

Seth Curry- we had a discussion here about him months ago, someone was wondering why he was not a highly ranked prospect like his brother.  Well after watching him, I still maintain that he struggles with athletic players and his ballhandling is too shaky to be a PG at the next level.  He is still primarily a shooter.

I didnt forget Anthony Davis or Andre Drummond but I dont think I have been surprised either way and I do think Drummond will get better game by game after being "lost" early in the season.

Terrence Jones is playing good but sometimes he disappears like hell! see 2nd half vs UNC and all of Indiana game!  When I say he disappears I mean its like he stops playing, his body language is not good he forces his teammates to pick up his slack rather that flow normally with the game.  He is a big time talent, but he disappears far too much for me to rank him in the top 10 prospects.  Barnes may disappear in short stretches too, but not a whole game and the difference is, Barnes can go 0-17 and he will still be in the game at clutch time to take the last shot.  Once Cal saw that Jones was ineffective, he pined him against Indiana.

Doron Lamb and Darius Miller and coming up big for UK and MKG is a beast right now like none other.  For anyone disappointed in Teague, I say wait til Feb or March….its gonna take some time for him and maybe he needs to stay another year but Brandon Knight was not stellar either until later in the season.

Then there is the undefeated Baylor featuring perhaps the 2 best forward prospects from the same team.  The incomparable Perry Jones and the multi-dimensional Quincy Miller.   Plus the athletic presence of Quincy Acy.

Thomas Robinson should not be a surprise, there have been big things expected of him since the departure of the Morris Twins.  A high calibur prospect.

[dsab12Participant]

yup, i agree with Mr. 19134, tony wroten should have been the choice for kentucky….him and davis, thats like cp3 and tyson chandler when he played for the hornets…

[Troupa DupsParticipant]

First let me say that I bleed Carolina Blue but if I had to pick between the small forwards available in the 2012 draft it would be 1. Gilchrist 2. Q. Miller 3. Barnes

[surveParticipant]

 Now although I said MKG has been the most impressive to me, I still would select Barnes over him if they both came out this year.  I think they will both have similar impact on the next level.  Neither look like they would be # 1 options but Barnes will impact due to his scoring and clutch ability while MKG will be a stat sheet stuffer.  Right now I have to rank Quincy Miller behind them.

[JoeWolf1]

Speaking of Miller, I’m interested to see how he operates along side of Perry Jones.  In their one game together he only shot twice despite dishing out 6 assists.  If his role continues to take a hit, it wouldn’t surprise me if he stays in school another year, in order to really shine with Acy and Jones gone.  

I know it is just one game, but it was enough to catch my eye as something to watch for as the year goes on.  With Baylor on the rise and bringing in top talent every year, he’d have the opportunity to be the #1 guy for Baylor next season.

[cuseflynn10Participant]

I’ve mostly only been able to watch Syracuse games so far with a few others mixed in here and there. On Syracuse Rakeem Christmas has only averaged 3 and 3. He hasn’t been getting playing time though, only receiving thirteen minutes per game. I have been surprised by Dion Waiters. I knew he had the talent, but he really turned his attitude around, and now plays like a winner. He’s averaging 12 and 3 in 21 minutes per game. Once he starts next year, I think Waiters will have the potential to be a back end of the lottery type player, even though I hope he stays for his senior season.

[ChrispyParticipant]

underwhelmed by Wroten. He has really struggled with TOs and has looked awful setting up any semblance of an offensive set.That said, he is electric in the open court and I am excited to see him grow. Plus, many of his turnovers are a result of court vision. He tries to throw passes many players wouldn’t even see. Once he reigns himself in and learns to let the offense flow instead of focing it, he’ll be fine.

[Author]

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