[llperez]

i would like to preface this by stating i have done some homework on utah and colorado but dont really know much about them. I do know utah went 13-18 last year and they lose their star player Will CLyburn who is transferring to iowa state. They also dont have a top 100 recruit coming in so im gonna summe they finish near the bottom of the conference. Colorado was an NIT team despite having an NBA lotto pick oin the roster in Alec Burks. He leaves as well as the teams other 3 players who scored double figures to graduation. SO basically they lose all their top players and also dont have a top 100 recruit coming in so im gonna assume thye also finish near the bottom of the conference. Feel free to educate me on these teams but otherwise im gonna put them 11th and 12th and go into detail about the other 10 schools. Overall i dont think the conference is much better then last year. 8 undercalssmen (derrick williams, isaiah thomas, klay thompsopn, malcolm lee, deangelo casto, jeremy green, tyler honeycutt, nikola vucevic) all left early for pro careers depleting what could have been a big bounce back year for the conference. But 4 teams in particular should be very strong with the potential for a few other teams to overachieve and have a strong season.

1-Washington Huskies

Washington lost 4 starters from last years team and are gonna rely heavily on underclassmen this year. But make no doubt about it, talent wise this team is as good as any lorenzo romar has had at UDubb. Lone returning starter Abdul Gaddy missed the last half the season due to injury so he will have to bounce back strong and take on a more dominant role and assert himself which he hasnt done his first 2 years. Terrence Ross is a standout wing scorer who can create points in all different ways. Center Aziz Ndye is 7-0 265 and built like an NBA player with above average athleticism. He averaged 5 points and 6 rebounds in a reserve sole last season but should be allowed to emerge as a big time inside force next year. Darnell Gant is a quality pf who has seen rotaion minutes in each of his first 3 seasons and can knock down shots. CJ wilcox averaged 7 points off the bench last year as a 6-6 shooting specialst. He is in my opinion the best shooter in the confernce and can be close a to a jason kapono or steve kerr type spreading the floor. Freshman Tony Wroten is a combo gaurd and considered one of the better recruits in america and will fight for a starting spot from day 1. This team is very talented and should easily be near the top the conference.

2-UCLA Bruins

Hard to imagine there is a bigger team in America then the bruins. Josh Smith is my pre season pick for conference player of the year as he has 20-10 potential and can doimnate games assuming he stays out of foul trouble. His sidekick is Reeves Nelson who was the bruins mvp last year averaging 14 and 9 while being the emotional leader. He recieved Jon Brockman comparisons as a freshman but showed significant skill development as a sophomore and may even see time as a sf next year. The Wear twins become eligible and they are a couple of 6-10 bigs who were mcdonalds all-americans and transferred from UNC. According to ben howland they were the two best bruins last year in practices. I can only hope he wasnt joking with that comment. The perimter is not deep at all with honeycutt and lee both leaving early. Lazeric jones was the starting pg last year and the guy has serious skills but dealt with a hand injury late in the season limiiting his production late. Jerime Andersen was a major dissapointment his first 2 seasons at ucla but emrged as the teams top 6th man last year and had an impact far greater then his stats implied as a leader. Those 2 should start in the backcourt and will need to break pressure and advance the ball and allow the bigs to go to work. Tyler lamb was a non factor as a freshman but has undoubtable skills and should be thrown into the fire as a sophomore whether he is ready or not.

3-California Bears

Jorge Guttierez is my second favorite for conference player of the year. He averaged 15ppg 5apg and 5 rpg and was first team defense. His offense picked up dramatically as the season wore on and he was putting 20+ nightly down the stretch and could have led Cal on a nice run in the NIYT if not for him getting injured in the second round game taking him out of the contest. Allan Crabbe won freshman of the year and should be good for about 18 a night and is a knock down shooter. PF Harper Kamp averagede 14 a game and is one of the best returning big men in the conference. Gary Franklin was the starting pg last year as a freshman and his development will be huge to the teams succes. This team returns almost everyone and has 3 of the best players in the confernce in guttierez, kamp and crabbe. I also believe Mike Montgommery is the best coach in the conference and now that he is done with the NBA he can restablish himself as one of the dominant coaches in america like he did at Stanford.

4-Arizona Wildcats

The Wildcats lose star player in Derrick WIlliams and will thus have to change their identity significantly. But the piec es are there to make that transition flawlessly. Incoming Freshman Josiah Turner and Nick Johnson are both top 25 nationally ranked recruits and should combine from day 1 to makeup one of the more explosive backcourts in america. Combo gaurd Kyle Fogg is a knockdown shooter and has good quickness and can beat guys off the dribble and might be the best returning player on the team and should compliment the freshman well. Solomon Hill will get the bulk of the touches around the paint although he is sf forced into playing in the paint on a small team. Center Kyrlo Natyazhako was a quality backup big with NBA size and should see a significant role taking care of the boards. while the wings get out and run. Jesse Paery and Kevin Parrom are a couple other quality wings who can defend and are athletic.

5-Stanford Cardinal

Had Jeremy Green returned this team could have joined the top 4 as the elite in the conference. But even without him this was a young team with freshman that should only improve. Dwight Powell is a 6-10 forward who can run the court and plays more of a finesse game then powerful. SG Anthony Brown is currently on the USA U19 team and is a well rounded gaurd who should emerge as one of the top players in the conference. Josh Owens is an explosive athlete who plays around the rim and averaged 12 and 7 last year and can get up and down the court. Jarret Mann has been a role player for a few years now and probably wont expand his game much but is a solid combo gaurd who takes care of the ball and will provide leadership.

6-Oregon Ducks

The ducks lose their top player in joevon catron but return key guys in EJ Singler and Malcolm Armstead. Singler has a similar game to his brother and will be expected to up is assertiveness even more now as a junior. Armstead had a sub par season last year but has been the starting pg for a few seasons now and has great quickness and herky jerky break you down skills. Freshman sg Jabari Brown is the top ranked recruit by some sites and should have a green light right away. Oregon entered their brand new state of the art arena last january and things are looking up for the program.

7-Washington State Cougars

They lose all confernce players Klay Thompson and deAngelo Casto who both left early for the draft with Casto going undrafted and Klay going lotto. The pressure now falls on pg Reggie Moores shoulders. After  a freshman season that saw him battle derrick williams for freshman of the year and had him getting kevin johnson comparisons and looked like he wouldnt be around school for long, he dropped off considerably as a sophomore in every statistical category. We will find out this year if this guy is a pro or not. SG Faisal Aiden is an explosive scorer who can shoot his team into or out of games and did each just as commonly last season. WIth Klay gone he will be given more freedom and the team will hope he has more shoot them into game moments then out. Brock Motum is a solid starting big man and can face up guys and shoot it. Marcus Capers is one of the better athletes in the conference and can gaurd the 2-4 positions and finish well around the rim.

8-Arizona State Sun Devils

The most dissapointing team in the conference last season in my opinion. The good news is that Trent Locket emerged as one of the top players in the conference averaging 15 points in a variety of ways attacking off the dribble and shooting from deep. He is a well rounded sf who will get every teams defensive attention thsi coing season and we will see if he is capable of stepping up to the challenge and emerging as an NBA talent. Jamelle McMillan is a solid all around gaurd but hasnt shown the ability to take over games and sort of fades into the games instead of standing out. Returning freshamen Keala King and Kyle Cain will take on bigger roles. This team really lacked size last year and while they still dont have much size the bigs are more experrienced and should allow for the team to play their traditional half court defense with better consistency this season while the wings increase their scoring.

9-Oregon State Beavers

The Beavers are barely even a d1 caliber program in basketball and things dont look to be changing any time soon. They do return a number of their top players in Jared Cuningham, Roberto Nelson, Ahmad Starks and Joe Burton. They have some size and have guys who can create off the dribble. But my hopes are low as usual. 20 years since they mad the tournament and things probably arent changing this season.

10-USC Trojans

they barely made the tournament last season benefitting from the expanded 68 team filled and that was with one of the best fron courts in the conference led by NBA 1st round pick Nikoa Vucevic as well as conference defensive poy Marcus Simons and a solid rugged pf in ALex Stephenson. THis team will have to start the front court over from scratch and dont have any top recruits coimng in to make the transition easier. The backcourt is solid though. Jio Fontan was the teams second best player last season and he can put up big numbers. They have a couple of other quick gaurds in Maurice Jones who was one of the better freshmen in the conference last season and Bryce Jones who can attack the rim. There is no question this team can get up and down the court and run with anyone. They will have to considering their lack of size.

all conference teams:

1st team:

Josh Smith(ucla), Jorge Guttierez(cal), Allan Crabbe(cal), Jabari Brown(oregon), Josiah Turner(ariz)

2nd team:

Terrance Ross(wash), Reggie Moore(wash st), Reeves Nelson(ucla), Trent Lockett(ariz st), Anthony Brown(stan)

3rd team:

Abdul Gaddy(wash), Harper Kamp(cal), Josh Owens(stan), Jio Fontan(usc), Tony Wrotten(wash)

[providencefriars1Participant]

I just dont get how you say that Oregon St is barely a D1 caliber program and you dont put them in last. Good job though, I also agree that this will be a very top heavy conference.

[providencefriars1Participant]

I just dont get how you say that Oregon St is barely a D1 caliber program and you dont put them in last. Good job though, I also agree that this will be a very top heavy conference.

[llperez]

maybe a little harsh on oregon state, but when i say barely d1 caliber im not just reffering to this season. I mean they always suck. They havent made the tournament since gary payton was running the show. They went 0-19 in confernce play just a few seasons ago. They are bad and they always seem to be spinning their wheels. With every new recruit who is supposed to make a differnce they lose a senior who was an impact player.

[llperez]

maybe a little harsh on oregon state, but when i say barely d1 caliber im not just reffering to this season. I mean they always suck. They havent made the tournament since gary payton was running the show. They went 0-19 in confernce play just a few seasons ago. They are bad and they always seem to be spinning their wheels. With every new recruit who is supposed to make a differnce they lose a senior who was an impact player.

[GottaBeTheShoesParticipant]

 Colorado has Andre Roberson who is a guard who is a tremendous rebounder.  He averaged about 8 points and 8 rebounds a game as a 6’7 guard. (freshman)  He kept improving all of last year and eventually turned into our 2nd-3rd best player.  He had to play PF kind of like Marshon Brooks did when he was in college even though he is a 2 guard.  He has good length and if he can get a good jumpshot and improve his all-around game, i think he becomes an NBA prospect.  With an improved jumpshot i see him averaging something like 16 and 9.  BUT also we have Jeremy Adams.  A top recruit in 2009 at SG he averaged 27 ppg in High school and was expected to be great and went to Texas A&M but when practicing with them he was in a logjam of all sorts there and left.  He went to Navarro Junior College where his stats were less than expected at 14 ppg.  He transferred to Colorado after that year and we hope he can go back to that great player he was in high school.  He has a lot of potential and could become an Nba prospect if he lives up to expectations.  So don’t count colorado out in the Pac-12 as we have some good players that could be great depending on how they worked out over the summer and we also have a 7’1 big that could be an Omer Asik type player in college.  We have a Espn top 100 next year in Josh Scott.  Colorado could actually be better than last year if we can get better all around production as we get a true PG from our recruiting class to help us out.

Edit: We got a transfer from utah that was a good PG for them named Carlon Brown and he should give us a good boost at the PG spot.

[GottaBeTheShoesParticipant]

 Colorado has Andre Roberson who is a guard who is a tremendous rebounder.  He averaged about 8 points and 8 rebounds a game as a 6’7 guard. (freshman)  He kept improving all of last year and eventually turned into our 2nd-3rd best player.  He had to play PF kind of like Marshon Brooks did when he was in college even though he is a 2 guard.  He has good length and if he can get a good jumpshot and improve his all-around game, i think he becomes an NBA prospect.  With an improved jumpshot i see him averaging something like 16 and 9.  BUT also we have Jeremy Adams.  A top recruit in 2009 at SG he averaged 27 ppg in High school and was expected to be great and went to Texas A&M but when practicing with them he was in a logjam of all sorts there and left.  He went to Navarro Junior College where his stats were less than expected at 14 ppg.  He transferred to Colorado after that year and we hope he can go back to that great player he was in high school.  He has a lot of potential and could become an Nba prospect if he lives up to expectations.  So don’t count colorado out in the Pac-12 as we have some good players that could be great depending on how they worked out over the summer and we also have a 7’1 big that could be an Omer Asik type player in college.  We have a Espn top 100 next year in Josh Scott.  Colorado could actually be better than last year if we can get better all around production as we get a true PG from our recruiting class to help us out.

Edit: We got a transfer from utah that was a good PG for them named Carlon Brown and he should give us a good boost at the PG spot.

[llperez]

thanks for the info. I did notice andre roberson getting 8 boards a game as a gaurd which made me do a double take.

[llperez]

thanks for the info. I did notice andre roberson getting 8 boards a game as a gaurd which made me do a double take.

[tke744Participant]

As much as i love Cal being number three, Gary Franklin Transferred from Cal.

[tke744Participant]

As much as i love Cal being number three, Gary Franklin Transferred from Cal.

[llperez]

damn, didnt know that. The top 4 teams are easily interchangeable with each other.

[llperez]

damn, didnt know that. The top 4 teams are easily interchangeable with each other.

[llperez]

i must have slept because i just looked up franklin leaving and it says he bolted the team in mid january for baylor. I do remember cal losing their pg but for some reason i was thinking that was when franklin got to takeover the team the rest the way.

[llperez]

i must have slept because i just looked up franklin leaving and it says he bolted the team in mid january for baylor. I do remember cal losing their pg but for some reason i was thinking that was when franklin got to takeover the team the rest the way.

[tke744Participant]

Ya Brandom Smith a 5-11 somphmore guard took over for him. Hes solid can run a team, do nothing great but everything descent. Loosing Franklin sucked, but i really like Crabbe i think he is gonna be a beast and will stay for four years, if we can get some more talent around him. The pac 12 being pretty weak you never know.

[tke744Participant]

Ya Brandom Smith a 5-11 somphmore guard took over for him. Hes solid can run a team, do nothing great but everything descent. Loosing Franklin sucked, but i really like Crabbe i think he is gonna be a beast and will stay for four years, if we can get some more talent around him. The pac 12 being pretty weak you never know.

[Author]

Posts