2007 Euro Final Four: Panathinaikos Champs, Recap
By Aran Smith Athens, Greece 5/7/07 Behind an insanely passionate home crowd, Panathinaikos Athens was able to outlast last year’s Euroleague champs, CSKA Moscow, 93-91 to take home the 2007 Euroleague Championship on Sunday night. Fan favorite Dimos Diamantidis took home the Final Four MVP, but the true MVPs were the Panathinaikos fans who chanted…
2007 Euro Final Four: NBADraft.net in Athens, Greece
By Aran Smith 5/3/07 The 2007 European Final Four kicks off on Friday, May 4th in Athens, Greece. NBADraft.net is on hand to scout the top NBA prospects participating. 2006 Euro Champion CSKA Moscow, Unicaja, Tau Ceramica, and local Panathinaikos Athens will battle for the title, which takes place on Sunday, May 6th. Draft prospects…
Draft Buzz – Nicolas Batum Officially Out of 2007 NBA Draft
By Aran Smith 4/27/07 French wing Nicolas Batum made it official today saying he will not enter his name into the 2007 NBA draft. Batum will return to Le Mans for a second season and will surely be the most sought after international player next season. He will have a good chance to be the…
Draft Buzz – Nicolas Batum Likely Out of 2007 NBA Draft
By Aran Smith 4/26/07 Sources close to the situation have indicated that French wing-player Nicolas Batum, who’s widely considered the top overall prospect in Europe, likely will not enter his name into the 2007 NBA draft. Batum feels he is not ready for the NBA and must spend more time working on his body and…2007 Jordan Classic Player Evaluations
By Aran Smith 4/23/07 The 2007 Jordan Brand All American Classic took place on Saturday April 21st at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The following is an evaluation of the prospects in the game. Derrick Rose — 28 min, 12 pts, 5-8 fg, 2-2 ft, 10 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl — Rose’s quickness and…
2007 Nike Hoop Summit Player Evaluations
By Aran Smith 4/8/07 The 2007 Nike Hoop Summit took place on Saturday, April 7th. Despite having one of the more talented teams in recent memory, the World Team struggled to match up with the athleticism and talent of the USA squad. After falling behind by more than 25 in the first half, the World…
Draft Buzz – Hasheem Thabeet to Enter NBA Draft
By Aran Smith 4/6/07 Sources close to the situation have indicated that center Hasheem Thabeet will enter his name into the 2007 NBA draft. He will likely test the draft process and wait to hire an agent. Thabeet, from Tanzania had a solid first season playing for the UConn Huskies. He averaged 6.2 ppg, 6.4…
Stock Watch – Final Four
By Aran Smith 4/4/07 Rising Corey Brewer 6-8 185 SF Florida Jr. For the second year in a row, Corey Brewer raised his level of play on the biggest stage showing that he has the heart of a champion. Brewer’s three point shooting against UCLA and in the title game versus Ohio State were invaluable…
Stock Watch
By Aran Smith 3/22/07 Rising Nick Young 6-6 200 SG USC Jr. Leading the Trojans into the Sweet Sixteen, Nick Young has established himself as one of the top wing prospects in the nation. Against Texas, Young matched NCAA POY Kevin Durant point for point for most of the game shooting 8-13 with 22 points…
2007 NCAA Tournament: First Round Notes
By Aran Smith 3/17/07 Good Stuff Maynor! Virginia Commonwealth’s 2 point win over Duke was the big highlight from the first round of action. Eric Maynor’s head to head dual with Greg Paulus, who’s admirably taken the "Dukie-you-love-to-hate" baton from JJ Redick, made his heroic shot with 1.4 seconds remaining on the clock that much…2007 Final Four Predictions
By Aran Smith 3/14/07 Nine quintillion to one? That’s the odds of filling out a perfect bracket according to ESPN. That’s 9 billion times a billion. Not so tough right? So without further ado, here’s the first perfect bracket in the history of mankind: Midwest East Florida (1) UNC (1) Jackson St(16)…2007 Top 10 Prospects Lists
By Aran Smith Updated 6/27/07 Point Guards Comments 1. Mike Conley 6-1 180 PG Ohio St. Fr. Quickness is phenominal, but must add shooting consistency. 2. Javaris Crittenton 6-4 195 PG Ga. Tech Fr. PG with considerable upside. Leaving early could hurt his long term development. 3. Acie Law 6-3 185 PG Texas A&M…
Stock Watch
By Aran Smith 2/21/07 Rising Arron Afflalo 6-5 215 SG UCLA Jr. A model of consistency all season, Afflalo has the Bruins on pace for a better regular season than last year and in position to make a serious run at the National Championship. Though he lacks the lift and athleticism of many top shooting…
Stock Watch
By Aran Smith 1/31/07 Rising Kevin Durant 6-10 220 SF Texas Fr. 18 months ago I saw Kevin Durant get completely dismantled by Spencer Hawes on the AAU circuit, not once but twice in the Main Event in Las Vegas. Hawes dominance over him may have been the wake up call Durant needed. Taking the…
Stock Watch
By Aran Smith 1/10/07 Rising Al Horford 6-9 245 PF Florida Jr. Against Ohio State, in the biggest college game of the year so far, Horford stepped up to the challenge of guarding bigman Greg Oden, getting him into foul trouble and holding him to 7 points and 5 rebounds and winning the physical battle…
Rudy Gay: Rising Star
In this day and age of athletic freaks turning their nose up to college basketball like it was limburger cheese, a player such as Rudy Gay not even considering the leap is (for all basketball fans) a breath of fresh air. Gay was definite first round material coming out of high school but bucked the…
NBA Draft: One Round?
The latest rumor from league offices is that the NBA draft may be cut from two rounds to one in an attempt to persuade high schoolers and younger college players from jumping to the NBA early. The problem has hit epidemic proportions as far as David Stern and the NBA are concerned after 8 high…