[llperez]

about to start in a few minutes. Zona is undefeated and ranked 4th in the nation. Miami is 8-1 and has a solid win over #20 Michigan State on their resume and has 4 straight wins by double digits. Should be a good one.

 

[llperez]

17-17

Durand Scott is good, hit a three then got all the way into the paint a minute later and kicked out for the open three to a teammate.

As for zona, the more i watch them, the more im convinced grant jerrett is the teams best pro prsopect. I didnt know much about him cmoing into the season and Aran mentioned him to me during my pac 12 preview. Now I see what they hypoe is about. HE is a long 6-10 with good footwork and and excellent face up jumper. Kinda like a brian cook but hopefully doesnt just fall in love with shooting jumpers in which case he could be great around the paint and be more of a rasheed wallace type.

[SiggyParticipant]

Jerrett just looks so unathletic. He looks like his feet hurt when he runs. Maybe he can make it as a finesse 4, like a Craig Brackins type, but I think Brandon Ashley is the best pro prospect on that team. He’s not as advanced as Jerrett is skill-wise but he has the much better physical tools.
I’d put Jerrett behind Tarczewski too, even though I think Tarz only projects to be a back up C.

[llperez]

jerrett defenitely runs like an old man without much bounce in his step. But he has long strides and i have yet to see his lack of speed get exposed either on defense or not being able to keep up with teammates. It isnt pretty, but he moves around well enough. Ashley is defenitely a freak athlete and i would have him as the #2 prospect on the squad. But hes almost too skinny at this point to play the pf in the league and his skills have some room to improve. He can get lost out there for long stretches. Kaleb is gonna take awhile, he is a traditional 7 foot center who doesnt do the flashy things. Kinda like a cole aldrich type. Time will tell with him, too early to have a real strong opininon on him.

[SiggyParticipant]

Ashley is stronger and has more muscle mass on his frame than Jerrett.
Ashley’s already up to 235 so I’m not sure how you come to the conclusion that he’s too skinny for the position.

[llperez]

hes also a few inches shorter and has shoter arms and a smaller frame. He just seems like size will be an issue at the nba level where he will have to rely heavily on athleticism. Jerrett has better size and skills. Both guys need to add muscle.

[SiggyParticipant]

If you’re referring to the listed measurements for Ashley on this site, they are wrong. You can just look at him on the floor and know that they are way off.
He’s 6’8-6’9 with long arms and very good athleticism. His size is adequate for the PF position and his athleticism makes up for whatever he lacks.

Jerrett doesn’t just need to get stronger, he needs to get more athletic which is tough to do.

[llperez]

im actually just reffering to watching him play, although he is listed b y every site including the wildcats homepage as being 6-8 which is not really impressive for an nba pf.

Here’s a pic of the 3 zona freshman bigs with ashley on the right, he is at least 2 inches shorter then jerret on the left.

[llperez]

plus as i said, watching jerret play, his athleticism issue deosnt seem that big a concern, he moves around the court fine and has long strides. I compare him to rasheed wallace, not gonna blow by guys, but he can put it ont he floor and get where he wants.

[SiggyParticipant]

And 6’8 is perfectly fine for today’s NBA power forward if he has other physical attributes to make up for being 6’8, which he does.

Also, even with Jerrett’s advantages in skill, Ashley has been the more productive player so far.
Higher TS, higher PER, higher offensive and defensive rebounding rates, higher block rate. Even at 6’8, Ashley’s the best shot blocker and rebounder on the team.

[llperez]

 i have him #2 on a team with about a half dozen nba prospects which is solid praise and i think he is a solid prospect. Ive also written numerous times in my pac 12 blog that ashely is the teams best and most ready to contribute freshman this year which i still stand behind. BUt in terms of an nba prospect, give me jerrett. He has a jump shot, better length and looks more comfortable with the ball in his hands. If they actually drew up plays for both guys, i think jerret would have a much better chance of being a consistent double digit scorer then ashley who gets a lot of garbage buckets.

[uabasketballParticipant]

just throwing this out there but Ashley’s got a 7’4 wing span

[SiggyParticipant]

That sounds like an exaggeration. He’s got length, but that’s like Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis territory. He doesn’t look like he has that type of length.
All I know is that he has at least a 7’1 wingspan since that’s what he was measured at as having his junior season in HS. That’s more than adequate for the PF position.

[SiggyParticipant]

Shouldn’t Jerrett be the most ready to contribute since he’s the most polished?
Weak build, below average athleticism, nice shot, but slow release. I’ll take the player who can impact more phases of the game and to me that’d be Ashley.

Having said all that, I don’t think any of ‘Zona’s freshman bigs are even surefire starters at the next level. Right now they look like mid 1st picks at best, but for my money I’d have Ashley having the best shot at cracking a starting lineup because of his athleticism, activity and potential to not be a liability on either end of the floor. Jerrett might get away with his footspeed at the college level, but in the NBA where the PF is supposed to be the mid line of defense, stopping penetration, switching out on smaller players, staying in front of quick, face up bigs (who far outnumber back to the basket bigs) and roving as a help defender, I think his lack of lateral quicks and athleticism in general will be exposed. I’d have less reservations about his ability to translate if he had a naturally strong build to make up for his athleticism, but he has a weak build with a naturally high center of gravity…which to me spells trouble for him in the future as far as being able to establish position in the post.

[llperez]

zona pulling away, 37-23 right now. Zona hitting threes. Damn this team is deep. I mean they have Jordin Mayes coming in and knocking down threes right now and hes capable of putting up 20 any night as the backup pg. They go 9 deep with all 9 capabable of putting up numbers.

[LerinErinParticipant]

Any Idea why the game started so late???? Either my schedule is wrong or it in Miami and started 11:30?

[LerinErinParticipant]

Ah Miami home team but game in Hawaii. SMH at the espn schedule

[Author]

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