[valentine]

Power Forwards

andrew nicholson

 

herb pope

ricardo ratliffe

jarrod jones

 Miles plumlee

 dario hunt

Centers

 yancy gates

festus ezeli

henry sims

reggie johnson

robert sacre 

 

 

 

…any input on any of these would be nice…

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 Doesn’t it feel like Sacre has been at Gonzaga for 6 years. 

But I don’t see any of these guys getting drafted, maybe picked up in training camp but not making the roster. Miles and Yancy have the best chance IMO though. 

[IvoLParticipant]

I think you forgot Renardo Sydney

[JoeWolf1]

Andrew Nicholson – draft ( 35-45) He’s a well balanced high skill type player with good size and a nice skillset for a big man.

 

Herb Pope – draft (35-45) Pope has bounced back from his injury and played vey well this year. You can’t argue with his production and his solid play against quality competition.  He’s a great rebounder and with a 2nd round pick he’s worth the gamble of picking a guy who had a major injury.

Ricardo Ratliffe – draft (45-60)  Ratliffe has nice athleticism, good but not great size and a solid skillset.  He just doesn’t take bad shots.  I think a team that likes to get out on the break would be smart to draft Ratliffe, he’s used to a run and gun system and he’s a perfect backup big man for that style.  

Jarrod Jones – no draft – Jones has put together a nice senior season, but Ball State really hasn’t played very many quality opponents this year and have had very little success in their own conference.  You don’t have to be on a winning team to be a good player, but Jones really stumbled down the stretch not going for more than 14 points in over a month and posting fewer than 8 points in 5 of his last 10 games.

Miles Plumlee – no draft – He almost tricked me into saying yes after being the only player on Duke to show up to play UNC in the first half last week.  Miles has improved and is a very good collegiate rebounder, but the guy sometimes looks like he doesn’t know how to play basketball.  Sign him to a Summer League team and give him a shot, but don’t draft him.

 

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

 ricardo ratliffe played very well this year in a "small" mizzou team full of pg….. he has good hands and can bring something right now.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I agree with Joe Wolf on alot of the prospect chances….

Nickelson was considered a late 1st rounder at the start of the season,but didnt start playing well until toward the end of the season…

Festus Ezeli was playing like a legit 1st rounder toward the end of last season..But’s this year he struggled to find his groove after dealing with injuries & a suspension…Teams still love his inside play..I think he’s getting drafted..

Drew Gordon of New Mexico is a 6’9 forward that transfered from UCLA..He’s a guy that might slip into the 1st round after all the workouts and measurements are done…

Eli Holman of Detroit is a physical player,that teams will look at in the 2nd round..

Yancy Gates has been playing well since the fight earlier in the year..He’s a big body,that runs the floor well,has strength,nice footwork,but seems uninterested in playing the game at times..But if he ever puts his mind to it,he could be good player..

Robert Sacre is hard to figure out..He looks like a capable nba backup at times,becuz he knows how to draw fouls and get to the line..But other times he appears stiff…I think he’s worth a 2nd round pick…

 

 

 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

 A team cannot bring Yancy Gates to a post-draft press conference. Physically, he is a guy I think has to be in someone’s summer camp and training camp, but you can’t draft him. 

Ezeli is just a bad big body. 

Sims has potential and should get taken, but he has not finished as well as he is going to need to in order to stick in the NBA. I can see Philadelphia or the Lakers bringing him in as they have really taken a liking to big men who don’t have to be parked on the low block.

Johnson is an NBA center talent with an NFL center body. He  might be better off returning for the 5th year and shedding 20-30 lbs.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I Remember Dick Vitale saying that everytime a foreign player,who teams have only seen play on Youtube, gets drafted ahead of a 4 year collge player thats had a very good career,he feels like pulling out his hair..Vitale hates seeing overseas players getting drafted, especially in the lottery…lol

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Its also extremely funny how announcers talk up college players and say they’ll good nba players,but draft time some of those same players dont get drafted….

I wouldnt surprise me if John Henson drafted in the 2nd round..

Oh Uhh here comes the negs from the BandWagon Jumpers: Henson is John Salley 2.0…

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

 @ RUDEBOY : I don’t think vitale is very interesting on that particular point.

….dirk nowitski ?…. he was playing for wurzburg (a bad team in 2nd division in the nineties) when he got drafted….ahead of doleac…. a solid ncaa player. tony parker (from Paris) got drafted (end of a first round for a finals mvp….) after solid ncaa seniors such as tinsley, haywood….

both were playing for pour teams and were scouted (at the beginning) thanks to vids…. so even if there is some korolev, tschikitshvili (….) there is also some good chance of landing a gem (at best) or a good role player if you use him the right way and stay patient.

 

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

I’m still very surprised to see ratliffe being a little bit snubbed …. he has some moves and good hands. He’s very effective….. 

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Yeah, i can remember during the 2005 draft,Vitale got extremely mad and used a curse word live on air,when some foreign guys(Fran Vasquez & Korolov) got drafted ahead of Sean May & McCants..lol…

[r377Participant]

Draft express had Miles Plumlee in their lottery at the start of this season……

[cominup7Participant]

The bigger question is why are there so few quality big men that are SR’s? You would think that by your 4th year of college you are a polished and skilled big man, but most of these guys can still barely get a double double – some even ON BAD MID-MAJOR teams! Big men with actual low post skill are a long dying breed…

I doesnt make sense to even rank these players because NONE of them will even be drafted before the middle of the 2nd rd and the only one that has a defined NBA skill is Henry Sims and his passing ability for a big

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