A college player to watch:

bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Yeah, I know the college season hasn't started yet, but I just thought I would give an occasional heads up on who to watch. This is a guy that I was interested in seeing play last year, but unfortuately got injured. He's raw, but if your interested in a defensive shotblocker (Bricky) who has at least some offensive game, then you might be interested. He's a project and will remain one for some time. But I think he's ahead of where Thabeet was entering his Sophmore year.
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/solomon-alabi
 
Yeah, I watched a couple of games of his that were being replayed on some of the sports channels I have and he's intriguing but we'll see if he's anything more than a Dalembert type.
 
Vlade4GM said:
Yeah, I watched a couple of games of his that were being replayed on some of the sports channels I have and he's intriguing but we'll see if he's anything more than a Dalembert type.
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Agreed! Its reported that he has a good work ethic. If so, that alone might raise him to a higher level than Dalembert.. As you said, we'll see..
 
He passes the eye test, but when ever I've watched him play I just came out thinking about how raw he was. I'm interested to see his teammate Chris Singleton, he didn't really look all that great in his freshmen year and he was way hyped coming out of high school.
 
SacTownKid said:
He passes the eye test, but when ever I've watched him play I just came out thinking about how raw he was. I'm interested to see his teammate Chris Singleton, he didn't really look all that great in his freshmen year and he was way hyped coming out of high school.
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Well, to be honest, he didn't play much his first year, due to his injury. Technically he was a redshirt freshman last year. But your right, he's very raw. But if you were to compare him to Thabeet in his freshman year, I would say he's ahead of where Thabeet was. I realize thats not saying much, but if he's a quicker read, he may well amount to something we desire, a defensive presence..

Singleton has a ways to go. He relies on his athleticism too much. His outside shot needs work and so does his ballhandling. There's no doubt he has talent, but he's a long way from NBA ready. It'll be interesting to watch his development. I see Alabi as a high first round pick by the end of this next college season. I can't say the same for Singleton.
 
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i might get some heat for this but im ma say lance stephenson from cincinnati
he will bring problems but he flat out play
 
bajaden said:
Well, to be honest, he didn't play much his first year, due to his injury. Technically he was a redshirt freshman last year. But your right, he's very raw. But if you were to compare him to Thabeet in his freshman year, I would say he's ahead of where Thabeet was. I realize thats not saying much, but if he's a quicker read, he may well amount to something we desire, a defensive presence..

Singleton has a ways to go. He relies on his athleticism too much. His outside shot needs work and so does his ballhandling. There's no doubt he has talent, but he's a long way from NBA ready. It'll be interesting to watch his development. I see Alabi as a high first round pick by the end of this next college season. I can't say the same for Singleton.
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I think the question with Singleton is what is he? He really tried to force himself into showing he's a real 3 but I think he is probably going to be more like a Josh Smith, better as an athletic PF.
 
SacTownKid said:
I think the question with Singleton is what is he? He really tried to force himself into showing he's a real 3 but I think he is probably going to be more like a Josh Smith, better as an athletic PF.
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Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. Right now he's more of slash to the basket and dunk the ball player. I'm not sure what he is at the moment. Hopefully he'll start to define himself this year. He's certainly a great athlete. The part of his game that bothered me the most was his ballhandling. He really needs to improve that. Especially if he going to be a SF, which at the moment is his body type.
 
He's the guy I was talking about last year. He is definitely more talented than Thabeet. Unlike Thabeet, I'd definitely be interested in drafting him. I've seen him make a hook shot without doing it in four mechanical steps (unlike Thabeet). If Fl State got anybody in recruiting that can make some shots, they could be a final 4 team next year.
 
Kingster said:
He's the guy I was talking about last year. He is definitely more talented than Thabeet. Unlike Thabeet, I'd definitely be interested in drafting him. I've seen him make a hook shot without doing it in four mechanical steps (unlike Thabeet). If Fl State got anybody in recruiting that can make some shots, they could be a final 4 team next year.
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I don't ever see him being a great offensive player, but unlike Thabeet, I don't see him just being present. He seems to have a feel for the offense and certainly has great defensive instincts. Someone needs to tell him about the the ball being on the way down rule though. I think Florida St. will be pretty good this year. But your right, they need someone on the outside to keep the other team honest.
 
I got my eye on two GT guys next year in Favors and Shumpert. I think Shumpert is going to surprise a lot of people.
 
SacTownKid said:
He passes the eye test, but when ever I've watched him play I just came out thinking about how raw he was. I'm interested to see his teammate Chris Singleton, he didn't really look all that great in his freshmen year and he was way hyped coming out of high school.
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I know that a lot of people think.. African players tend to be picked up because of size/athleticism.. He seems really well rounded though.. Not as raw as many of the others we have seen coming over recently. I think he can carve a niche as long as he works on his positioning.
 
Vlade4GM said:
I got my eye on two GT guys next year in Favors and Shumpert. I think Shumpert is going to surprise a lot of people.
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Well at the moment Favors looks like a can't miss player. Of course thats been said about a lot of players coming out of highschool. Something tells me he's the real deal though.

Funny you should bring up Shumpert. Considering we just drafted Evans and the controversy surrounding him, why not draft another player who's position insn't defined. Is he a point guard or a shooting guard? Personaly I don't care, and I think both these guys are going to be pretty good. I can't wait for the college season to begin..:)
 
Gary said:
I know that a lot of people think.. African players tend to be picked up because of size/athleticism.. He seems really well rounded though.. Not as raw as many of the others we have seen coming over recently. I think he can carve a niche as long as he works on his positioning.
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Yeah I agree. He's already a force defensively, and his offense is reasonable, but certainly needs a lot of work. I don't want to get ahead of myself and proclaim him the next Mutumbo, but he's a very interesting player with a lot of upside.
 
bajaden said:
Well at the moment Favors looks like a can't miss player. Of course thats been said about a lot of players coming out of highschool. Something tells me he's the real deal though.

Funny you should bring up Shumpert. Considering we just drafted Evans and the controversy surrounding him, why not draft another player who's position insn't defined. Is he a point guard or a shooting guard? Personaly I don't care, and I think both these guys are going to be pretty good. I can't wait for the college season to begin..:)
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Yeah, it should be a good one this year. What I like about Favors is that from what little I've seen of him he seems very focused on the defensive end and playing his man. His offensive potential is up in the air, but he can be a Okafor type I think, similar body and athleticism.
 
Vlade4GM said:
Yeah, it should be a good one this year. What I like about Favors is that from what little I've seen of him he seems very focused on the defensive end and playing his man. His offensive potential is up in the air, but he can be a Okafor type I think, similar body and athleticism.
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Its shaping up to be a pretty decent draft this coming year. Whereas the Kings biggest area of need seems to be big men, thats where I'll draw the line if I have to choose between games. I'm also anxious to see this kid Henry play. So far its a fairly attractive highschool class.
 
I'm really intrigued to see what Favors can do. He seems awfully talented and athletic, but is he a Tyrus Thomas (ie everythings there, but doesn't know how to put it together)? Remains to be seen...

Like the upside of Alabi, too. Seems like he could be an improved version of Thabeet.

Other guys I'm intrigued to see develop this season (and who I like for the Kings) are Wall, Donatas, Evan Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu, and John Henson.

Not too big on Willie Warren or Cole Aldrich as lottery picks, but think they'll be pretty good players.
 
One and Done said:
I'm really intrigued to see what Favors can do. He seems awfully talented and athletic, but is he a Tyrus Thomas (ie everythings there, but doesn't know how to put it together)? Remains to be seen...

Like the upside of Alabi, too. Seems like he could be an improved version of Thabeet.

Other guys I'm intrigued to see develop this season (and who I like for the Kings) are Wall, Donatas, Evan Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu, and John Henson.

Not too big on Willie Warren or Cole Aldrich as lottery picks, but think they'll be pretty good players.
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With Aldrich I think it all depends on his play this year. He seems to have pretty good basketball IQ. With so few really big men out there, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the lottery. Aminu is certainly blessed athleticly, but needs to learn how to play the game and improve his shot. He made a wise decision to return for another year. Another guy to keep your eye on is Xavior Henry. Not much fanfare yet, but I think he's going to be pretty good.:)
 
One and Done said:
I'm really intrigued to see what Favors can do. He seems awfully talented and athletic, but is he a Tyrus Thomas (ie everythings there, but doesn't know how to put it together)? Remains to be seen...

Like the upside of Alabi, too. Seems like he could be an improved version of Thabeet.

Other guys I'm intrigued to see develop this season (and who I like for the Kings) are Wall, Donatas, Evan Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu, and John Henson.

Not too big on Willie Warren or Cole Aldrich as lottery picks, but think they'll be pretty good players.
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Good question, gotta be totally honest, I don't see what the hype is all about. Now I'll reserve judgement until the season starts, but I just haven't been all that blown away by what I've seen. I see a 6'9" kid bullying around smaller guys in most of what I've seen.

Two guys that I am really excited to see are Xavier Henry and Demarcus Cousins. They look like very special players to me.
 
I've been wondering about Henry - he seems to have all the makings of a good SG from what I've seen, plus he's ranked high on the recruiting boards. But he's pretty low on draft boards...wonder what the deal is there.
 
One and Done said:
I've been wondering about Henry - he seems to have all the makings of a good SG from what I've seen, plus he's ranked high on the recruiting boards. But he's pretty low on draft boards...wonder what the deal is there.
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Cousins has been too, from what I've seen, they are WRONG! Every year they have guys real low and they end up jumping quite a bit.
 
Vlade4GM said:
Henry seems sort of one dimensional to me.
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Considering that all I have to go on are the McDonalds games and the USA games, I really don't have enough to go on. But what I've seen, I've liked. He just seemed to have a good court awareness. We'll see. It looks like a decent freshman class though. Of course last year did too.:rolleyes:
 
bajaden said:
Considering that all I have to go on are the McDonalds games and the USA games, I really don't have enough to go on. But what I've seen, I've liked. He just seemed to have a good court awareness. We'll see. It looks like a decent freshman class though. Of course last year did too.:rolleyes:
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True, but I think this one has been recognized for a long time. Couldn't have two stinkers in a row could we???
 
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