Looking ahead to the 2023 Draft

Damn UCLA's Jaylen Clarke has an Achillies Injury. It's unclear on the severity but he's been ruled out for the rest of the season...


On the UCLA front Amari Bailey had one of his best games in college today 26 points on 8/12 from the field.
 
Baylor lost to ISU today but 6'7 225lb Junior Jalen Bridges was truly spectacular in this one scoring 28 points on 10/11 fg's (7/8 from 3) along wiht 5 rebs 2ast 3 stls
 
22 points in 18 minutes for Kyle Filipkowski in Duke's super impressive beatdown of a solid team (Pitt). They seem to be peaking at the right time.

Lively and Tyrese Proctor also played excellent in this one and Whitehead was pretty good too.
 
@Ozymandias

Starting to look into Whitehead into a bit. Does he compare at all to AJ Griffin? Major high school prospect, elite shooting stroke, excellent athleticism, not producing up to expectation his freshman year because of an injury?

There's some real flashes, but almost all of it is with the shooting. I guess pretty similar to the role Griffin played for Duke in that season. Do you think he's a riser once we get into workouts, etc? I assume the athleticism and shooting will really start to pop
 
@Ozymandias

Starting to look into Whitehead into a bit. Does he compare at all to AJ Griffin? Major high school prospect, elite shooting stroke, excellent athleticism, not producing up to expectation his freshman year because of an injury?

There's some real flashes, but almost all of it is with the shooting. I guess pretty similar to the role Griffin played for Duke in that season. Do you think he's a riser once we get into workouts, etc? I assume the athleticism and shooting will really start to pop
Well there are certainly parallels with AJ Griffin and both of those players are bigtime recruits from near my neck of the woods, so I followed them well before college, when I first saw Dariq Whitehead he was ~6'4" (a prototypical 'early bloomer' for sure) n now he's listed at 6'7, which I'm not sure if I quite believe, he's probably 6'5 and some change n will be listed at 6'6.. (wingspan should be ~6'10)

I mean if you think Whitehead has an elite shooting stroke, and when I watch him this year he certainly hits all his 3's same as Griffin last season, then pretty much stop right there and he's our guy. I'm weary of conceding that though TBH --- obviously how he shoots 3's for teams in workouts will be a determining factor, so I'm very interested to hear any of those rumors. He also wont turn 19 til after the draft so he's a full year younger than some of these other "freshman". He certainly gets his feet set and lets those 3's fly with confidence which is encouraging.

I think Whitehead is pretty good at getting downhill, he's not super right hand dominant which is something I've always noticed, he can drive n finish both ways.. I've always thought he had sort of shades of Jimmy Butler (who was a very different player back in college, he didnt have the killer footwork offensively that people have come to know him for, that was developed in the NBA)

I'm quite sure AJ Griffin is a more explosive raw athelete. Whitehead id describe more as a powerful and also smooth athlete, who's also good in the open floor. I suspect this is one of the reasons we've seen him projected in the Kings range. He's stout and tough and projects to be a good defender, I think Mike Brown would like him.

Perhaps I'm offbase, n perhaps this is such a grey area its insignfigant(though I'd argue, just look at Sabonis success at C this season as to why these determinations can be SUPER important), but AJ Griffin to me always seemed like more Forward-y and Whitehead I'd see as more of as an oversized powerful guard.

Whitehead to me seems well-seasoned for a youngster, I dont think much will phase him. He's ready to contribute at the NBA level, which is why he might be a great match here. If you saw him 5 years ago, he looked destined to play in the NBA and he's been preparing accordingly, I always root for the players who get used as sorta poster childs like Whitehead was, as so many flame out and its lame their name was used to generate clicks, in that regard he's in the same boat as Jarace Walker.

I think that to really isolate Whitehead from his team and just scan over his stats is really a misstep in not telling the whole story. Scheyers job in year 1 has been far more difficult than I anticipated, but he's doign great which I did see coming, he's done a pretty good job integrating all these talented freshman at once. Whiteheads injury sure didnt help but I dont think it's that big of a deal.

Duke is playing some of its best basketball right now. Tyrese Proctor has truly been excellent of late. There's 11 minutes left in their game vs Miami now as I'm writing this and their up 5 with a team of teenagers vs Miami's cohort of super duper seniors. I'll cutmyself off here, there will be a lot of Dariq Whitehead posts between now and the draft, he's definitely worth a super thorough investigation.

Sidy Cissoko deserves mention too though. As of this moment I'm still kinda on the fence about who i'd prefer.
 
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What a collapse by Arkansas WOWOWOWOW

Nick Smith will go very high in this draft, this game sure isn't gonna help his cause though

WOW


Now this is a bit of a Henry Coleman III special going on... This is a massacre on the boards which isn't on Smith but sheesh, this is actually super ugly.

Arkansas started this season looking like a Lion and went out like a Lamb...
 
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Baylor Scheierman was 1 assist short of a triple double last game and no one posted highlights...

So i guess I'll just post this insane gamewinner from last season..


I know there's a few Tucker DeVries fans in here, but to me this player seems way safer.
 
Tyler Kolek is such a good college basketball player. I have a great respect for how this kid plays the game.

Its cliche af, but he plays the game the right way, moreso than almost anyone else in the nation..

Marquette moves on, they take out UConn in the Big East Semi Finals, one win from the regular season championship and the post season championship.
 
One of the silver linings of the Zakai Ziegler injury for Tennessee is that 6'6 Josiah James is forced into PG duties.

today it went horribly wrong vs Mizzou. (and SHEEESH Kobe Brown with an insane stat line [thats the real draftwatcher headline from thsi game], he's doing everything in his power to get drafted.)

yesterday vs Ole Miss it went great. James is destined for the G-League, former 5star recruit who's got tools they just arent very sharp, his name has been orbiting all these recent drafts.

Hope he plays much better in the big tourney than he did today, cuz honestly Tennessee is gonna faceplant if he doesnt.


the other silver lining, which is a far more underrated but also far more encouraging storyline is Jahmai Mashack is forced into the starting lineup.. This kid has a frame like Victor Oladipo and he's built to be a bigtime plus defender, even at the NBA level, so we'll see what kinda offense he can muster up. He's primed for a big step-up in role and production next year, so he gets some much needed reps ahead of time. Keep an eye on him, EXCELLENT defender.
 
I cant wait to see what Malik Reneau is gonna do on this IU team next year with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Hood-Schfino gone.

They'll obviously be way worse, but he's probably gonna have a huge step up in production, n if their lucky Tamar Bates will too.
 
When did Smith rejoin the Razorbacks?
Theres this great website thats actually a search engine called Google, you may have heard about it, its been around a while and quite popular.

When you ask questions like that to Google you get instant answers, it pulls up relevant news articles, its fantastic. This method I've found to be far superior in every conceivable aspect than asking people on message boards n waiting for replies.

Its said you can take a horse to water but cant make them drink. So this is as far as I'll answer your question, good luck in your search I think if you put forth even minimal effort you'll find what your looking for. You dont even need to type anything further, just copy(ctrl + C) and paste (ctrl + V) your exact question to google, then hit enter and the magic will happen.

 
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Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
That’s not condescending at all.
I mean, for the love of God, sorry we disagreed on the Brandon Miller stuff.

Smith has been gone from Arkansas for basically the entire year, I wasn't aware that he was back. I won't make the mistake of engaging Ozy again. Whoops.
 
Tyler Kolek is up to #50 on ESPN's best available!!!!! GOOD FOR HIM!!!!!
As I've said before this player is a most excellent college PG. The more you watch him the more you know he's certainly a pro. Tough, high BBIQ, big shot taker and a big shot maker, take 0 plays off, extreme hustle player will compete for every 50/50 ball in his vicinity. looks like he could fit in as a backup in the league to me as hes also a good passer and good shooter.

Glad to see he's getting some hype. Many of the PG's above him on the board are simply not as reliable. Its funny, I feel like people didnt see Kolek play, even with Marquette being as good as they are, which is preposterous but I remain convinced of that.

He had to win the Big East Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding player in the Big East Tournament to get mentioned somewhere.. Crazy.. He's a legit 6'2" or maybe even 6'3 too, you'd think he'd be a midget with the way he's been overlooked most of this season.

Marquette was hands-down the best team to watch in the nation IMO, they were a joy to watch, n Kolek played a major part in that (their frontcourt is exceptional as well), not only did they consistently get results but the team just gelled and kept playing better and better. Sorta like the Kings honestly, they too have a bigman who stacks crazy assists #'s like Sabonis, n Kolek sure is a cold-blooded left handed PG in the clutch..

Im a Kentucky fan but they were completely miserable to watch in comparison, they were more like watching collection of odd peices, compared to a team like Marquette, emphasis on the word TEAM. Who knows if they get eliminated early or win the whole damn tournament, honestly I dont even care, but I do sorta hope they make a real run so people can see what they're about.

He turns 22 on March 27th. He was a 3-star recruit despite being very productive on the AAU circut playing for Middlesex Magic, which is how he's freinds with NBA champion Pat Connaughton, who's sorta like a mentor, Connaughton played for the same AAU squad n goes back to reconnect. Connaughton once told him "when I was your age no one believed I could make the NBA".. To me stories like that are what its all about, excited to see the next chapter.
 
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Tyler Kolek is up to #50 on ESPN's best available!!!!! GOOD FOR HIM!!!!!
As I've said before this player is a most excellent college PG. The more you watch him the more you know he's certainly a pro. Tough, high BBIQ, big shot taker and a big shot maker, take 0 plays off, extreme hustle player will compete for every 50/50 ball in his vicinity. looks like he could fit in as a backup in the league to me as hes also a good passer and good shooter.

Glad to see he's getting some hype. Many of the PG's above him on the board are simply not as reliable. Its funny, I feel like people didnt see Kolek play, even with Marquette being as good as they are, which is preposterous but I remain convinced of that.

He had to win the Big East Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding player in the Big East Tournament to get mentioned somewhere.. Crazy.. He's a legit 6'2" or maybe even 6'3 too, you'd think he'd be a midget with the way he's been overlooked most of this season.

Marquette was hands-down the best team to watch in the nation IMO, they were a joy to watch, n Kolek played a major part in that (their frontcourt is exceptional as well), not only did they consistently get results but the team just gelled and kept playing better and better. Sorta like the Kings honestly, they too have a bigman who stacks crazy assists #'s like Sabonis, n Kolek sure is a cold-blooded left handed PG in the clutch..

Im a Kentucky fan but they were completely miserable to watch in comparison, they were more like watching collection of odd peices, compared to a team like Marquette, emphasis on the word TEAM. Who knows if they get eliminated early or win the whole damn tournament, honestly I dont even care, but I do sorta hope they make a real run so people can see what they're about.

He turns 22 on March 27th. He was a 3-star recruit despite being very productive on the AAU circut playing for Middlesex Magic, which is how he's freinds with NBA champion Pat Connaughton, who's sorta like a mentor, Connaughton played for the same AAU squad n goes back to reconnect. Connaughton once told him "when I was your age no one believed I could make the NBA".. To me stories like that are what its all about, excited to see the next chapter.
I’d be really surprised if he comes out this year. They’re doing something special in Marquette and he’s a big part of it. I think he’d probably only come out if he makes a huge March madness run(very possible), and a team guarantees him a standard rookie contract. I don’t know the finances of Marquette basketball, but I think he might make more there than on a 2-way contract.

He’s not the flashiest player, but he does all the right things and makes all the right passes.

Thinking about it more, if Marquette has a big run, Kam Jones might get his name in the draft talk mix too. He’s a player capable of getting hot at the right time like Caleb Love… Love should’ve declared last year.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Well there are certainly parallels with AJ Griffin and both of those players are bigtime recruits from near my neck of the woods, so I followed them well before college, when I first saw Dariq Whitehead he was ~6'4" (a prototypical 'early bloomer' for sure) n now he's listed at 6'7, which I'm not sure if I quite believe, he's probably 6'5 and some change n will be listed at 6'6.. (wingspan should be ~6'10)

I mean if you think Whitehead has an elite shooting stroke, and when I watch him this year he certainly hits all his 3's same as Griffin last season, then pretty much stop right there and he's our guy. I'm weary of conceding that though TBH --- obviously how he shoots 3's for teams in workouts will be a determining factor, so I'm very interested to hear any of those rumors. He also wont turn 19 til after the draft so he's a full year younger than some of these other "freshman". He certainly gets his feet set and lets those 3's fly with confidence which is encouraging.

I think Whitehead is pretty good at getting downhill, he's not super right hand dominant which is something I've always noticed, he can drive n finish both ways.. I've always thought he had sort of shades of Jimmy Butler (who was a very different player back in college, he didnt have the killer footwork offensively that people have come to know him for, that was developed in the NBA)

I'm quite sure AJ Griffin is a more explosive raw athelete. Whitehead id describe more as a powerful and also smooth athlete, who's also good in the open floor. I suspect this is one of the reasons we've seen him projected in the Kings range. He's stout and tough and projects to be a good defender, I think Mike Brown would like him.

Perhaps I'm offbase, n perhaps this is such a grey area its insignfigant(though I'd argue, just look at Sabonis success at C this season as to why these determinations can be SUPER important), but AJ Griffin to me always seemed like more Forward-y and Whitehead I'd see as more of as an oversized powerful guard.

Whitehead to me seems well-seasoned for a youngster, I dont think much will phase him. He's ready to contribute at the NBA level, which is why he might be a great match here. If you saw him 5 years ago, he looked destined to play in the NBA and he's been preparing accordingly, I always root for the players who get used as sorta poster childs like Whitehead was, as so many flame out and its lame their name was used to generate clicks, in that regard he's in the same boat as Jarace Walker.

I think that to really isolate Whitehead from his team and just scan over his stats is really a misstep in not telling the whole story. Scheyers job in year 1 has been far more difficult than I anticipated, but he's doign great which I did see coming, he's done a pretty good job integrating all these talented freshman at once. Whiteheads injury sure didnt help but I dont think it's that big of a deal.

Duke is playing some of its best basketball right now. Tyrese Proctor has truly been excellent of late. There's 11 minutes left in their game vs Miami now as I'm writing this and their up 5 with a team of teenagers vs Miami's cohort of super duper seniors. I'll cutmyself off here, there will be a lot of Dariq Whitehead posts between now and the draft, he's definitely worth a super thorough investigation.

Sidy Cissoko deserves mention too though. As of this moment I'm still kinda on the fence about who i'd prefer.
Personally, I'm struggling with Whitehead. He's shooting the ball well, but if you watched him play in highschool, he looked like a different player. Way more athletic and aggressive. I realize he's playing within a system that's somewhat restrictive, but I wonder if he'll get that athleticism back that he seems to have lost with the injury. Is he a player who could be available for us at say 24, I think right now that's likely. But if suddenly comes to life in the tournamant, that could change. I'm still not sold on him, but haven't given up on his either!
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Watched the Missouri/Utah St. game. Great competitive game with Utah St. giving Missouri everything they could handle and St. held a two point lead at the half. And then, Kobe Brown happened for Missouri. First a spin move on the baseline and a reverse dunk. Then he hit an open three, then he hit a contested three. He followed that with a drive and got fouled where he made one of two. Next time, a side step three that was contested and nothing but net. Kobe scored 12 consecetive points to give Missouri the lead.

Kobe is one of my favorite players in the draft. He'll likely go 2nd rd because he's a senior, and I think he's definitely NBA talent, whose surprisingly athletic for 6'7", 250 Lb player. He's a solid defender and rebounder who has shot around 44% from three all year long while taking over 3 a game. I admit be biased since Missouri is my home state. Regardless, he's a very good basketball player and would be a steal in the 2nd round.

I have to mention the other player that exploded in the 2nd half of that game and that's D'Moi Hodge. He sort of took over where Brown left off hitting one unconcious three after another. He's also a player who's shot the three at over 40% for the entire year.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Theres this great website thats actually a search engine called Google, you may have heard about it, its been around a while and quite popular.

When you ask questions like that to Google you get instant answers, it pulls up relevant news articles, its fantastic. This method I've found to be far superior in every conceivable aspect than asking people on message boards n waiting for replies.

Its said you can take a horse to water but cant make them drink. So this is as far as I'll answer your question, good luck in your search I think if you put forth even minimal effort you'll find what your looking for. You dont even need to type anything further, just copy(ctrl + C) and paste (ctrl + V) your exact question to google, then hit enter and the magic will happen.

Just a word of advice my friend. I try to treat everyone on this forum with respect, unless they don't deserve it. And there are some of those out there. But the Capt isn't one of them. Besides being a friend who I know personally, he's a very smart man, and a very fair man. You may have taken is comment about Nick Smith as some sort of challenge to your knowledge, but knowing the Capt. he was asking a question. He knew that Smith had been injured, but didn't know he'd returned to active service.

Not everyone on this forum has the time, or the interest to spend as much time as you or I do keeping up with every college player out there. That's why they read what you and I have to say. So my advice is, to take questions like the Capt's as a sign of recognition that your a person they come to for answers, and treat those questions with respect. Take that for what it's worth! And it's meant in respect!
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
I haven't bothered to look it up, but how many times has Arizona had the number one or two spot in the tournament and went out in the first round? Unbelievable! What a huge disappointment for the Arizona fans. Arizona had a chance to put that game away a few times in the game and didn't. This is what happens when you let an underdog hang around and start to believe. The fact that Arizona's best scorer, Tubelis, touched the ball only once in the last five Arizona's posessions didn't help. College basketball is all about having good guard play, and Arizona didn't have that at the end of the game. Well done Princeton!!
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
I haven't bothered to look it up, but how many times has Arizona had the number one or two spot in the tournament and went out in the first round? Unbelievable!
Don't know about Arizona and losing as a #2 seed, but they haven't ever lost in the first round as a #1. Only one team has ever managed that dubious feat - Virginia back in 2018, the year before they won their championship. But in their last three appearances, they have that championship, and then three instances of getting bounced in the first round as a #1, a #4, and today again as a #4 seed. Now I'd consider THAT a disappointment. And when Virginia hired Bennett I was ready to crown him as the next coach to enter the active pantheon. I don't know if he gets to be in there now.
 
Guys this Arizona team is not very good.. Way worse than last years team with Koloko, ud be crazy to think otherwise.. The most talented player on the roster is 17 year old Kylan Boswell, n he plays 15 mins per game.


Tosan Evbuomwan on PRINCTON THo!!! I've made posts about him here!!! What a showing!! He's a sleeper fr. Hope that gets him some more draft hype. He's got a crazy story. No doubt that player is a pro in some form, he deserves looks in the league, he's got a diverse skillset n he's certainly been playing great in the big games lately, he was excellent in the Ivy League tournament as well.
 
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You'd have to be crazy to trust a team led by Courtney Ramey.. Player is a 5th year senior and he's still got major jekyl and hyde tendencies 39% from the floor.

Honestly one of the main reasons I never liked this Arizona team.. 5th year players like that are SO boring to evaluate.. its like, why the heck is this guy still here???

He shot 54% from the FT line this season... your 5th year starting PG... They put their eggs in the wrong basket... how much worse would that team be if Ramey didnt play a single game n they just handedd the keys to Boswell in year 1? I say not much, n possibly they'd be better.
 
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Virginia was also the beneficiary of a weaker than usual ACC and not to be trusted, their most talented player, Reece Beekman, who falls a little farther in every update/mock I see (from top of the 2nd to the very bottom of the 2nd) is simply not a consistent source of offense, n a defense first guy.


Shedrick actually played great in this game for UVA and they still lose. That sure was a great shot the kid hit on Furman though. what a crazy ending sequence.
 
How about the showing from Julian Reese on Maryland today though! For draft evaluation purposes that was one of the best performances of today IMO... Hope he keeps up that sorta play, he'll get noticed real quick with the way he's big and strong and explosive


Similalry Kobe Brown with another really strong showing for Mizzou.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
I haven't bothered to look it up, but how many times has Arizona had the number one or two spot in the tournament and went out in the first round? Unbelievable! What a huge disappointment for the Arizona fans. Arizona had a chance to put that game away a few times in the game and didn't. This is what happens when you let an underdog hang around and start to believe. The fact that Arizona's best scorer, Tubelis, touched the ball only once in the last five Arizona's posessions didn't help. College basketball is all about having good guard play, and Arizona didn't have that at the end of the game. Well done Princeton!!
I think this is the second time.
I don't think we were ever one. But Santa Clara in 1993. Also in 1992 they lost as a 3 to East Tennessee and a few years ago to Buffalo as a 4 seed (this was the year Virginia lost as #1 overall), among other major tourney disappointments.

didn't see the game but extremely irritated reading the reports and looking at the game log.

That said, I didn't see this team getting past the sweet 16.
 
Absolutely dreadful first half for Kris Murray... Iowa is getting smothered by Auburns defense. Lets see if they can get any momentum going in this 2nd half they should consider themselves a bit lucky this is only a 2 possession game.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Absolutely dreadful first half for Kris Murray... Iowa is getting smothered by Auburns defense. Lets see if they can get any momentum going in this 2nd half they should consider themselves a bit lucky this is only a 2 possession game.
oh good, we can draft Kris Murray in the 20s and Tubelis with Indy's second rounder in my "all irrational pick your faves" draft.

***note I'm not really advocating this. But I also have no fricking clue who to draft in our likely spots.