The Terrences pick UW
As a Duck fan/alum, it is crushing news. I had heard about Ross picking UW last week, but I still held out hope for Jones to either go to U of O or at least some other school :). Washington has to be considered definite favorites to dominate the Pac-10 and along with the returning players and a few other interesting recruits, they should be much more consistent than this year and have higher hopes. Isaiah Thomas has to be considered a likely favorite for Pac-10 player of the year, and UW should have a very athletic 3 guard line on the court most of the time. With Matthew Bryan-Amaning most likely holding down the middle and set to have a big year, Jones will only help pick up the slack for departed Quincy Pondexter. I have yet to see Terrence Ross play, but from what I have heard he will have a definite impact and get a fair share of playing time amongst UW's long athletic wings. Abdul Gaddy most definitely did not live up to expectations, but with a year of experience he will more than likely become a solid contributor as well. Well, if UW had Enes Kanter as well, I would have to say they might be challenging for the title, but this team looks like it has aspirations of going Sweet 16, or possibly higher.
One thing to remember about Gaddy is that he graduated high school at 17. I know some of you might be thinking "17, 18. What's the difference?" Well, there's a pretty big difference between the two, both from a physical standpoint and a mental standpoint.
As for Kentucky and Brandon Knight, it all depends on what Knight wants to accomplish during his first--and possibly only--year of college basketball. Does he want to go to a team that's rebuilding and put up tremendous numbers, sacrificing wins in the process? Or does he want to go to a contender and potentially showcase his skills in the Elite Eight or Final Four?
im happy for UW. OJJ, as far as bigs, they dont have a dominant guy, but ammaning is very good at both ends and Darnell Gant started every game 2 years ago at center before moving to the bench last year.
UW is defenitely the favorites to win the pac 10 next year. To me, there are 3 teams capable of being in the top 25 that should all defenitely make the tournament: Washingotn, UCLA and Arizona.
Washington is stacked and is the favorites
Arizona has the best player in the confernce in Derrick Willimas and they also have a lot of depth at every position after losing only 1 player from last years team. Horn and Fogg are proven double digit scorers while Expect Lamanot Jones to take over for departing NIc Wise.
UCLA-They had 3 freshmen forwards in honeycutt, nelson and lane who all return along with McDonalds AA Josh SMith who should make for a great frontcourt. Malcolm lee returns in the backcourt and they add a couple key frshman gaurds as well as last years 6th man, Jermie Andersen.
I didn't like what I saw from Gaddy. Overton also provides perimeter defense that neither Gaddy or Thomas provide. Maybe Gaddy has adjusted to the speed of the college game and is ready to run the team, but I just took the conservative approach on that one, since Gaddy looked lost alot of times last year.
yeah gaddy has work, but the one thing he does well is he has a sick handle. But he looked like he just wanted to blend and never really tried force his will on the game. If he can improve and become more of an aggressive player, watch out.
this makes me happy. You guys all know im a west coast homer, and even though the conference has improved, the pac 10 still didnt have a top 10 caliber squad or somebody that could challenge for the title. Now they do. There is still a chance only 3 teams make the tournament though because after the top 3, the level drops a bit. Washington State is my 4th place team. They return 4 starters and have a sick backcourt in Klay Thompson who averaged 20ppg last season and Reggie Moore who finished 2nd for freshman of the year and averaged 13 ppg and 5apg.
yeah. All 3 of those teams were close but these signings put washington in fornt. My rankings:
top tier:(top 25 claiber)
1washington
2arizona
3ucla
2nd tier:(good, but work to do to make tournament)
4washington st
5arizona st
6oregon
7stanford
3rd tier:(gonna be a rough year)
8USC
9Oregon st
10california
Thomas is a Junior next year.
UW will be the pac 10 fav and will be one of the most talented teams in the NCAA
Ross is a long wing that can handle the rock well and shoot.
He was a top 5 player in his class coming into high school by some.
He didn't get much better but he is a good talent.
I just want to know how many damn 7 foot N'Diaye's are out there in this world they are popping up
every where.
What Coach Cal is offering these kids is the chance to play at a premier program, have EVERY game on TV, a chance at a title, a chance to be a lottery pick, a chance to play in a system that allows a kid to have fun and play his game...do I need to go on?
Very good pick up by Washington but iggy youre going a tad over board, they will not be a top 5 team. Unless you ment top 5 in the Pac-10 in which case i agree.
@llperez i like youre ranking of the pac 10 next year. Im here in cali now and went to the allstar game practice that will be played today and it was filled with pac-10 recruits..what i observed
Kaela King is very very nice and plays alot like harden. He is gonna do work at arizona state and was one of the top scores in there practice scrimmage
Allen crabbe didnt do alot but wasnt playing hard but in there drills he showed his killer jumper
The stanford recruits were doing it against the cali recruits. There were a couple people telling me they were very impressed by all of them especially my nephew and dwight powell. By the way i wont be suprised if the Powell kid gets 2nd team all pac-10. That kid is a monster with a hell of a jumper and dunks with power and actually has handles
All in all the pac-10 has some real ballers comming in next year
Its pretty obvious why a kid would go to UK
Tv time
A system that shows off the best of there game
Even if youre not ranked high in hs you can become a first round pick without even dominating
A coach that wont try to hold you back from being one and done
Celebs come to you're game
I hear now Kentucky is going hard at the Marcus thortan kid who originally signed with Clemson
i dont know what all the other teams in the country have coming in, but i would be surprised if there are 10 teams better then washington. Their depth, length and athleticism is elite and they have 3 guards who can get into the lane almost at will.
Washington will be good, but also remember on paper before the season Texas was the best team in the country last year, I do think they have a wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy better coach than Texas does, but they are losing some good players Pondexter, and Turner, i still think they have a good chance of being a top 10 team though.
they lose turner and pondexter, true. But here is what they have coming back:
Abdul Gaddy pg (a top 10 recruit last year who is still 18 and has a lot of potential)
Isaiah Thomas sg (proven scorer who can get 20 any given night)
Venoy Overton pg/sg (all first team defense last 2 years in pac 10, very quick off the dribble)
Justin Holiday sf (starter all last year and is another all first team defender and solid spot up shooter)
Mathew Bryan Ammaning c (starting center last year. Very long and good athlete for 6-10)
Terrence Ross sf (incominf freshman who should provide another scoring option off the bench)
Terrence Jones pf (athletic McDonalds AA who should be an immediate impact player)
everybody above is capable of one day playing in the NBA, not saying they all will, but they have a chance.
now for depth:
Darnell Gant, Theo Brashers, and Scott Suggs all played 10+ minutes last season and Gant was a former full time starter at center.
If there are 10 teams in america better then washington, i would be surprised. Last year washington was very inconsistent, but they were able to get it together and make the sweet 16 and were up at halftime against WVU before falling apart. That experience will help all the guys coming back.
i read he said he is fully committed to washington. he did an entire press confernece over his signing and everything. He said he is glad that the recruiting process is over with and he looks forward to his future in washington. But for whatever reason he didnt sign the letter of intent and his parents said that wouldnt happen for a few days for whatever reason.
Both of the Terrences just picked UW. What do you guys think and what does this mean for Kentucky.