Following 2019 draftees!!!

Slim pickins on the schedule tonight for college games other than an early start Cincinnati vs Ohio State, both teams looking to replace some big losses to the NBA.

Jarron Cumberland is on the watch list and 6'5" SG Keith Williams is a sleeper, interested to see what kind of impact mamdou diarra 6'9" freshman big from Mali can do.

For Ohio State they have Kaleb Wesson 6'9" bigman we'll see what improvements he's made, he is a pro for sure. They have 2 4-star freshman that are on my watchlist too in Luther Muhmammed 6'4" on-ball defensive specialist, and 6'9" Jadeon Ledee who's got an NBA build for sure and we'll see just how diverse his skillset is at the college level, highly unlikely either is one-and-done though.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Amazing to me that no one is mentioning Barrett, who was outstanding yesterday. I get all the buzz about Williamson. All he has to do is walk onto the floor and he's impressive, and I was impressed with him yesterday, but I was also impressed with Barrett and his ability to get to the basket whenever he wanted and finish. He made some very nice passes in traffic and managed to knock down 3 out of 7 from the three. This is not to downplay Williamson or Reddish, both of whom were impressive.

Kentucky looked unprepared for what they were about to run into. One bright spot might be Keldon Johnson who was Kentucky's only offense for while. Nick Richards needs to go back to the drawing board. Herro struggled, but Duke had something to do with that. I thought Montgomery looked good, but overall, Kentucky will be licking their wounds for a while. That was a no contest.

Barrett ended up with 33 pt's on 13 of 26 shooting while going 3 of 7 from beyond the arc. He added 4 boards, and 6 assists. Barrett is a very good passer, actually better than I expected. While the stats are impressive, what was more impressive to me was the way he played the game. Never forced anything and just picked his spots. Of course it helps if your as talented as he is.

By the same token, just about everything Williamson does seems spectacular. He has a flair for the dramatic, but as they say, if you can walk the walk etc. I'm not sure how to describe Zion. He is legitimately a freak of nature. But aside from that, he's also a very good basketball player. He has good handles and proved, at least for one game, that he's a good shooter as well. Very impressive. Reddish looks like a ready made NBA SF. If he hadn't been surrounded by Barrett and Williamson, he would have been the main topic of conversation at Duke today. He also was very impressive.

Also watched the Mich St./Kansas game. Personally, I thought the polls had Kansas ranked a bit too high. I thought they were overestimating, but, it Grimes can play like that consistently, then I think they're spot on. Grimes was very impressive scoring 21 pt's on 7 of 14 shooting while going 6 of 10 from the three. He also added 4 assists and one steal. Kansas won in what ended up being a close game, and in my opinion, Mich. St. didn't player particularly well. If they had, I think they beat Kansas.

Speaking of Michigan St. Langford was excellent, and he may be one of the best shooters in college. The question I would have is why don't they get him more shots? He scored 18 pt's on 5 of 11 shooting while going 4 of 6 from the three. He added 4 boards as well. Then you have Winston, who I'm not a fan of going 3 of 10 overall. Give Winston's shots to Langford.

Villanova looked very good and Paschall stepped up and looked like he might be one of the leaders of the team with 26 pt's, 7 boards, and 2 steals. Villanova is going to need that from him on a nightly basis. Booth did what was expected with 17 pt's, but the nice surprise was the freshman SF, Saddiq Bey, who contributed 16 pt's off the bench on 5 of 8 shooting while going 3 of 5 from the three. While the competition wasn't that great, Villanova looked like Villanova. Jay Wright is just a terrific coach. This will be a tough year for him, losing as many good players as he did, a couple unexpected. But anyone can, he can.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Kezie Okpala 29points 10 rebs 5 assists fro Stanford watch out!

Also Chuma Okeke with 20pts 9 boards 5 assists 3 stl 3 blks for Auburn.

Hachimuira scored 33 in Gonzaga's opener.

UCLA had a bunch of interesting statlines in their opener, how about 17 boards for Moses Brown? 27points 10 boards for Kris Wilkes. Jaylen jHands with 18 and 7 assists and Chris Smith with 13points 8 boards and 2 dimes.

Matisse Thybulle has 6 blocks and counting in this game... He's gonna run away with the defensive player in the pac 12 award again.

A double-double for Emmitt Williams(LSU) in 16 minutes.

Ty Jerome drops 20 for UVA.

Duke's trio shines. Keldon Johnson, Tyler Herro and EJ Montgomery showed well for UK --- Nick Richards once again was a mistake-prone disaster.
What was amazing about Hachimuira scoring 33 pt's is that he didn't take one 3 pointer. He needs to rebound a little better, but I'm nit picking at this point. I thought Zach Norvell played a good game as well with 23 pt's on just 12 shots. He went to the line 10 times and made all 10 freethrows. He also had 7 boards and 2 steals. Not bad for a SG. I also think that their freshman center Petrusev did pretty well for his first game scoring 12 pt's on 4 of 6 shooting with 5 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block in just 16 minutes of playing time.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
I have Barrett as my number one and Zion second but that may change as the season goes on. The ease Barrett scores with reminds me of Durant at Texas or Beasley at KSU.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
I have Barrett as my number one and Zion second but that may change as the season goes on. The ease Barrett scores with reminds me of Durant at Texas or Beasley at KSU.
Yeah, if I had to pick a can't miss player out of this class it would be Barrett with Williamson running a close second. I'm still not sure what Zion is, but I don't think it matters.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
Yeah, if I had to pick a can't miss player out of this class it would be Barrett with Williamson running a close second. I'm still not sure what Zion is, but I don't think it matters.
to me, he is a Julius Randle with better athleticism. I see a lot of similarities. That's not a knock on him either, Randle is a beast.
 
I have Barrett as my number one and Zion second but that may change as the season goes on. The ease Barrett scores with reminds me of Durant at Texas or Beasley at KSU.
Elite Lefties pouring into the league at a crazy rate. I am in the minority that Reddish is a better prospect than Barrett if he continues to shoot a hot 3pt%.

I think RJ would find himself at his biggest matchup advantage playing the SG spot in the NBA, which I think also puts me in the minority cuz most have him at SF. He is a great passer, I first saw him when he was a freshman in HS and his passing ability combined with being long-armed lefty and super athletic is what stood out to me the most. He's got immense defensive potential at SG too, more than Reddish.

KD was hands-down the best freshman scorer I've seen.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Rui had an Arizona Derrick Williams-esque performance for the Zags. Absolutely able to get to the rim at will against college guys (especially Idaho State-level guys) but I'm still not sure I can see that translating well to the NBA unless some team decides to build its entire offense around him. But he's strong and moves well and he's a hard worker (as we can see from how he's improved over his time in college) so he's got that over the Coke Machine.
 
What was amazing about Hachimuira scoring 33 pt's is that he didn't take one 3 pointer. He needs to rebound a little better, but I'm nit picking at this point. I thought Zach Norvell played a good game as well with 23 pt's on just 12 shots. He went to the line 10 times and made all 10 freethrows. He also had 7 boards and 2 steals. Not bad for a SG. I also think that their freshman center Petrusev did pretty well for his first game scoring 12 pt's on 4 of 6 shooting with 5 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block in just 16 minutes of playing time.
I wouldn't be worried about Rui's rebounding, he'll be a plus rebounder if his offense is good enough to get him on the floor. Very good sign. He's gonna be out of range.

Petrusev is one of the better prospects for a 4-star recruits, despite having less than ideal length his path to the league is pretty straightforward, just gotta strengthen up.

Norvell, IDK quite how he shoots it, but it's glorious. I worry about his defense but that what would put him in the Kings range.. I try to remain unbiased, but if there's one bias I hold it's towards lefties and many being discussed on this page :D. There are some generalizations about lefties having funky form but pretty results and Norvell is that to a t.
 
Amazing to me that no one is mentioning Barrett, who was outstanding yesterday. I get all the buzz about Williamson. All he has to do is walk onto the floor and he's impressive, and I was impressed with him yesterday, but I was also impressed with Barrett and his ability to get to the basket whenever he wanted and finish. He made some very nice passes in traffic and managed to knock down 3 out of 7 from the three. This is not to downplay Williamson or Reddish, both of whom were impressive.

Kentucky looked unprepared for what they were about to run into. One bright spot might be Keldon Johnson who was Kentucky's only offense for while. Nick Richards needs to go back to the drawing board. Herro struggled, but Duke had something to do with that. I thought Montgomery looked good, but overall, Kentucky will be licking their wounds for a while. That was a no contest.

Barrett ended up with 33 pt's on 13 of 26 shooting while going 3 of 7 from beyond the arc. He added 4 boards, and 6 assists. Barrett is a very good passer, actually better than I expected. While the stats are impressive, what was more impressive to me was the way he played the game. Never forced anything and just picked his spots. Of course it helps if your as talented as he is.

By the same token, just about everything Williamson does seems spectacular. He has a flair for the dramatic, but as they say, if you can walk the walk etc. I'm not sure how to describe Zion. He is legitimately a freak of nature. But aside from that, he's also a very good basketball player. He has good handles and proved, at least for one game, that he's a good shooter as well. Very impressive. Reddish looks like a ready made NBA SF. If he hadn't been surrounded by Barrett and Williamson, he would have been the main topic of conversation at Duke today. He also was very impressive.

Also watched the Mich St./Kansas game. Personally, I thought the polls had Kansas ranked a bit too high. I thought they were overestimating, but, it Grimes can play like that consistently, then I think they're spot on. Grimes was very impressive scoring 21 pt's on 7 of 14 shooting while going 6 of 10 from the three. He also added 4 assists and one steal. Kansas won in what ended up being a close game, and in my opinion, Mich. St. didn't player particularly well. If they had, I think they beat Kansas.

Speaking of Michigan St. Langford was excellent, and he may be one of the best shooters in college. The question I would have is why don't they get him more shots? He scored 18 pt's on 5 of 11 shooting while going 4 of 6 from the three. He added 4 boards as well. Then you have Winston, who I'm not a fan of going 3 of 10 overall. Give Winston's shots to Langford.

Villanova looked very good and Paschall stepped up and looked like he might be one of the leaders of the team with 26 pt's, 7 boards, and 2 steals. Villanova is going to need that from him on a nightly basis. Booth did what was expected with 17 pt's, but the nice surprise was the freshman SF, Saddiq Bey, who contributed 16 pt's off the bench on 5 of 8 shooting while going 3 of 5 from the three. While the competition wasn't that great, Villanova looked like Villanova. Jay Wright is just a terrific coach. This will be a tough year for him, losing as many good players as he did, a couple unexpected. But anyone can, he can.
Reddish to me was actually the most impressive. Anytime he shoots the lights out he gets an A+ from me is pretty much how it works.

Yeah I think Kansas is a legit #1 even over Duke. Grimes and Dotson were lights out. Kansas once again is built to beat duke. if there's anyone who can out muscle Zion it's Kansas with Udoka, plus they ran Udoka and McCormack who they're saying lost 50lbs out there together...

Keldon Johnson did look good in the face of that onslaught. Herro was really bad in the first half, they bothered him, but in the 2nd he managed to start putting up stats and contributing in other ways. They'll be fine.

Langford on Michigan St. is a kid that was ranked really high when he was really young and he seemed to fizzle out a bunch. I know last year MSU went down with him chucking up 3's in a way that annoyed me. He's got the talent though, he could be like a Brandon Paul type of figure from Illinois, but he's got a chance to get his crap together and make a roster.

Yeah as for Winston, he's just easy food vs NBA caliber PG's, too small.. Damn good shooter tho. I prefer Alterique Gilbert who's hopefully gonna be healthy for UConn this year. I might check them out tonight.

Villanova's ability to pull underrated recruits can't ever be underestimated, Saddiq Bey is a good player he's a 6'7" SG who can really put it on the floor.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Reddish to me was actually the most impressive. Anytime he shoots the lights out he gets an A+ from me is pretty much how it works.

Yeah I think Kansas is a legit #1 even over Duke. Grimes and Dotson were lights out. Kansas once again is built to beat duke. if there's anyone who can out muscle Zion it's Kansas with Udoka, plus they ran Udoka and McCormack who they're saying lost 50lbs out there together...

Keldon Johnson did look good in the face of that onslaught. Herro was really bad in the first half, they bothered him, but in the 2nd he managed to start putting up stats and contributing in other ways. They'll be fine.

Langford on Michigan St. is a kid that was ranked really high when he was really young and he seemed to fizzle out a bunch. I know last year MSU went down with him chucking up 3's in a way that annoyed me. He's got the talent though, he could be like a Brandon Paul type of figure from Illinois, but he's got a chance to get his crap together and make a roster.

Yeah as for Winston, he's just easy food vs NBA caliber PG's, too small.. Damn good shooter tho. I prefer Alterique Gilbert who's hopefully gonna be healthy for UConn this year. I might check them out tonight.

Villanova's ability to pull underrated recruits can't ever be underestimated, Saddiq Bey is a good player he's a 6'7" SG who can really put it on the floor.

Don't disagree with much of what you said. I don't have a thing against lefties, but your right that a lot of them have funky looking shots. I really like Reddish, but I'm hesitant to get on his bandwagon just yet. He had games in highschool where he looked bored or disinterested, which bothered me. Could be nothing more than a maturity problem, but I'm going to take a wait and see approach. I had the same reservations about Drummond, Wiggins, and McLemore all for different reasons, but all of them tended to disappear in games.

Reddish is a supreme talent, and if he's movitated, he could be a future all star. The game comes easy for him, and in a way that could have been part of his problem. Lack of real competition. Bottom line is, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the top three. As for Barrett, I don't see a problem with him playing SF at the next level. If you look around the league, there aren't that many SF's that would tower over him, and he does appear to have a large wingspan. I believe it's listed at 7'2", and the measurements from either the Jordan Brand classic or the other highschool all star games have been fairly accurate.
 
Don't disagree with much of what you said. I don't have a thing against lefties, but your right that a lot of them have funky looking shots. I really like Reddish, but I'm hesitant to get on his bandwagon just yet. He had games in highschool where he looked bored or disinterested, which bothered me. Could be nothing more than a maturity problem, but I'm going to take a wait and see approach. I had the same reservations about Drummond, Wiggins, and McLemore all for different reasons, but all of them tended to disappear in games.

Reddish is a supreme talent, and if he's movitated, he could be a future all star. The game comes easy for him, and in a way that could have been part of his problem. Lack of real competition. Bottom line is, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the top three. As for Barrett, I don't see a problem with him playing SF at the next level. If you look around the league, there aren't that many SF's that would tower over him, and he does appear to have a large wingspan. I believe it's listed at 7'2", and the measurements from either the Jordan Brand classic or the other highschool all star games have been fairly accurate.
When I look at Reddish, when he's shooting it well from 3, I can't help but think "Is this guy gonna average 25ppg?" If I had to guess the answer to that question eventually will be yes, he's well equipped for the job.. He looks like a possible 1st option scorer.

I do think you're probably spot on talking about lack of competition leading to lack of motive from Reddish, having him on this loaded Duke team is not really the best setting to test that though.

As for the SF or SG thing with RJ (and Cam) it's gonna be team dependant. Obviously here for the Kings they'd play SF. RJ can play SF for sure, he's added a lot of strength the last few years and that will probably continue. I am a play big guy and the idea of putting swingmen who have the quickness to cover the SG spot there to smother smaller SG's like Buddy entices me, his passing is obviously a plus even at the SG spot..

IIRC RJ Barrett's wingspan is more like 6'10 or 6'11 and Reddish is the one 7'1 or 7'2".

Barrett is a match to me in some backcourt like the Knicks with Ntilikina and Knox and that lineup is humongus with Porzingis at 4 and Mitchell Robinson at the 5.
 
I'm not sure if I buy that Sophomore Guard at Notre Dame's DJ Harvey is 6'6" as they list him but he could be flying under the radar, kid who needs to hit his 3's and he'll gain hype quickly. He's one of their highest rated recruits in a long time.
 
to me, he is a Julius Randle with better athleticism. I see a lot of similarities. That's not a knock on him either, Randle is a beast.
Zion Williamson is Grandmama 2.0. Youtube some old film of Larry Johnson. Plug and play from day one. As I mentioned earlier this week, only question with him is how will his knees hold up with that mass. I know he's not overweight, but that's a ton of mass on a 6'7 frame.

My sleeper late first, early second pick is Herb Jones of Bama. He and Collin Sexton locked down Trae Young last year. Dude is a legit 6'6/6'7, can handle, is long, and plays lock down defense. Kind of like a young Dougie Christie.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Zion Williamson is Grandmama 2.0. Youtube some old film of Larry Johnson. Plug and play from day one. As I mentioned earlier this week, only question with him is how will his knees hold up with that mass. I know he's not overweight, but that's a ton of mass on a 6'7 frame.

My sleeper late first, early second pick is Herb Jones of Bama. He and Collin Sexton locked down Trae Young last year. Dude is a legit 6'6/6'7, can handle, is long, and plays lock down defense. Kind of like a young Dougie Christie.
I get your point about Larry Johnson size wise, but there are distinct differences between the two. Williamson is a superior athlete to Johnson, and Johnson is one of the best post players in the history of the NBA. He'd screw opposition players into the floor with his moves in the post. Not many players could do what he could do. If Williamson could ever develop a post game like Johnson, the world would be his oyster. Another player that springs to mind is Bennard King.

Considering that Sexton has trouble guarding a broomstick one on one, I'll give most of the lock down credit to Jones. I've been very disappointed in Sexton so far this season. Granted, he seems to be on a dysfunctional team, but he's been downright terrible at times.
 
6'1" lefty PG Shamorie Ponds at St. Johns has some Lou Williams moves in the bag of tricks, he gets smoking hot. Sign me up for using one of the picks on him for sure, if the Kings are looking for instant offense off the bench at PG Ponds might be able to out duel Frank Mason.


Looks like the Johnnies have their best squad in a while, Ponds, Justin Simon and Mustapha Heron is a formidable backckourt.
 
Barrett, Reddish, Zion, and Bol Bol. I do like Naz Reid but that's the four top levels from what I can tell. The draft gets watery from then on.
 
I get your point about Larry Johnson size wise, but there are distinct differences between the two. Williamson is a superior athlete to Johnson, and Johnson is one of the best post players in the history of the NBA. He'd screw opposition players into the floor with his moves in the post. Not many players could do what he could do. If Williamson could ever develop a post game like Johnson, the world would be his oyster. Another player that springs to mind is Bennard King.

Considering that Sexton has trouble guarding a broomstick one on one, I'll give most of the lock down credit to Jones. I've been very disappointed in Sexton so far this season. Granted, he seems to be on a dysfunctional team, but he's been downright terrible at times.
WRT to Grandmama and Zion, I think their games are products of their era. Larry Johnson, had he grown up today, would be bombing threes and taking dudes off the bounce. And vice versa if Zion came through in Larry's era.

As for Sexton, I projected him to be like Pat Beverly. Competitive. Will try to out physical. He measured a bit smaller than I assumed and the transition to the league where you're playing against men has been a bit tougher than most assumed. Think he'll be fine over the long term though.

As for last year, Jones had Trae most of the 2h. Both did a good job of getting into his body and making him uncomfortable. It was the game where I believe Trae would have problems in the NBA because of his size and so far, nothing leads me to believe that this analysis will change. He's going to be a good NBA player, but no where near the kind of star that people hope he'll becom.
 
4-star frosh 6'6" swingman Robert Woodard at Mississippi St is a player to watch. His 3pt shot has always looked good when I've seen him and he's got plenty of defensive potential.
 
Jaxson Hayes is a 6'10, maybe 6'11" Freshman big at Texas, who I think was ranked 3-stars but has immense potential, he's skinny but long and very light on his feet. Looks like Shaka's gonna give him burn. He can shoot a bit too. Kid who had a huge late growth spurt, thats why he was ranked so low. Bit of an Anthony Randolph type of thing going on.

Also Jericho Sims 6'9" sophomore big at Texas is sure to test out like a monster at the combine, he's built for the NBA
 
Can someone name the best PGs for the next or '20 draft? Didn't see many at the mock drafts...
The best PG in either draft hands-down is Cole Anthony, the son of Greg Anthony. He will be a top 3 or 5 pick aka out of the Kings range.

6'2" Freshman Darius Garland at Vanderbilt
6'3" Sophomore Ja Morant at Murray St.
6'2" Freshman Devon Dotson at Kansas
6'5" Freshman Coby White at UNC
6'5" Freshman Ayo Dosunmu at Illinois
6'3" Freshman Immanuel Quickley at Kentucky
6'2" Sophomore Jaylen Hands at UCLA
6'5" Junior Ty Jerome at Virginia
6'1" Junior Carsen Edwards at Purdue
6'0" Sophomore Tremont Waters at LSU
6'1" Junior Lamar Peters at Mississippi St.
6'2" Sophomore Nick Weatherspoon Mississippi St.
6'2" Sophomore Lindell Wigginton Iowa St.
5'10" Junior Markus Howard Marquette

To name a few ( Add in 6'3" Tre Mann, 6'4" Nico Mannion and 6'6" Josiah James for 2020)

There's also the curious case of uber athlete 6'4" Jalen Lecque who apparently is eligible for the 2019 draft.
 
Killer start to the season for Moses Brown of UCLA. Who's easily got one-and-done 1st rd talent but is nowhere to befound on mocks. He keeps putting up stats like this, things will change quickly.

Buddy of mine used to coach this kid in AAU and he'd always tell me "I've got an all-american"

He's got major potential cuz he's actually got very good ballskills and a soft shooting touch for 7'1"