2010 NBA Draft article

[DWKB]

Article from yahoo interviewing scouts about NCAA basketball players and their draft status. Whether they were right to come out or stay in school. (LOL at the Davendorf quote)

Who got it right:

Chase Budinger
Junior F Arizona
6-7, 218
Scout’s comment: “He didn’t have the best year, but it’s probably time for him to come out, because he’ll obviously be a first-round guy, just not a lottery pick, like he’s projected before. He definitely listened to NBA people who talked to him when he was testing the waters last year, because his defense has gotten better, and the signs of softness he used to show disappeared the night that guy stepped on his face. So even though he had some off nights, some of his intangibles improved, which was a big thing for him going into the season.”

Sherron Collins
Junior G Kansas
5-11, 200
Scout’s comment: “Coming back was a good move for him. He’s a good player, but I don’t know how high he would’ve gone. He’ll help himself by coming back – mainly because this is such a deep draft for point guards. You’ve got Teague, Lawson, Mills, Flynn, Holiday, Curry. Next year he won’t have so much competition, which means he could end up in the first round with some guaranteed money.”

Another scout: “He’ll improve his stock simply by waiting a year and getting out of this point-guard-deep draft. He’s a great player, but I’m not sure he’d jump any of the top-10 point guards. Next year there’s no question that he could go in the first round.”

Jonny Flynn
Sophomore G Syracuse
6-0, 185
Scout’s comment: “He really helped himself late. He fought his way into the first round, which is great, because earlier in the year a lot of teams had doubts about him. Is he big enough? Can he shoot it? Is he a facilitator? There were a lot of question marks. By the end of the year he had answered all of those questions. I think it’d be a little reckless of him to sign with an agent, but who knows? Maybe he got some good feedback from someone.”

Another scout: “I think he’s terrific. I’ve loved him since I saw him at the Nike Hoops Summit a couple of years ago and then at the Reebok Roundball Classic, when he was D-ing up O.J. Mayo. He’s tough as hell.”

Who got it wrong:

Cole Aldrich
Sophomore C Kansas
6-11, 245
Scout’s comment: “He had probably played his way into the top 10. Why did he go back? Defensively, he can contribute right now. Offensively he’s still raw. He’s 6-11. He moves OK and he plays with confidence. He’s got that good length, that good knack for blocking shots. That gives you value in our league. He really developed this year. He reminds of Marreese Speights from Florida last year. He spent all that time on the bench playing behind Joakim Noah and Al Horford. He got beat up for a few years but, when his time came, he was ready to go. The same thing happened with Aldrich after playing behind Darnell Jackson, Darrell Arthur and Sasha Kaun. He would’ve been a lottery pick this year and he’ll be a lottery pick next year – maybe a top-5 guy. If it’s all about money, maybe he should’ve come out and grabbed the sure thing. With him that obviously wasn’t the case.”

Eric Devendorf
Junior G Syracuse
6-4, 180
Scout’s comment: “I have no idea why he came out. I have no thoughts on Eric Devendorf. He’s not someone we even discuss.”

Jrue Holiday
Freshman G UCLA
6-3, 180
Scout’s comment: “He’s an interesting one, because he was so heralded going into his freshman year, but then he was real quiet. I think he’s more in a “test-the-waters” mode. I doubt he signs with an agent – at least not early. He just needs to feel things out. The big thing right now is that he just hasn’t done much yet. He hasn’t produced. He averaged eight points and three assists last year. I know he was on a good team with a lot of experience, but still … look at that loss to Villanova in the NCAA tournament. He was non-existent. People were saying, ‘This kid is a long ways away.’ Plus, what position is he? He’s 6-foot-3 and playing the two for UCLA. He barely played point guard for them at all. So can he play point? Can he run the show? Maybe so. We just need to see more. That’s what’s hard about those one-and-dones. We don’t have much time to watch them.”

 

[Russ Smith]

I continue to be baffled at why some NBA scouts are apparently enamored with Jrue that much. In the part about Sherron Collins he mentions Jrue as one of the other PG's that would compete with Collins and push him down the draft. Other than size what does Jrue have over Collins? Collins is much quicker, a much better ballhandler, a MUCH better shooter, he's tougher, and I think he even defends better. The one advantage Holiday has is he's taller and has a special feel as a passer(and he's younger).

I still think he'll be back at UCLA becuase I don't think he'll workout well but I'm surprised at the scout comments that suggest he still could go top 10. Someone on BRO made this point and I think it's really good, if you never saw Jrue play in HS and were only evaluating him on his one season at UCLA you wouldn't even remotely consider him that good of a prospect. The entire thing with him is he was so good in HS, even against other top flight kids in AAU or camps, that some people are writing off how he played at UCLA.

In the section on Jrue he does point out how invisible he was against Nova, 3 different guards from Nova outplayed Jrue head to head in that game, not even close.

If he gets drafted top 10 it will shock me, it's unprecedented for a guard to do that little in one season in college and go that high, that only happens to bigs.