Dave Sez: Scouting The ACC

January 23, 2007

Scouting The ACC

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis has an interesting article up with quotes from various NBA scouts about college players they like or dislike.

A brief synopsis of the ACC players mentioned:
Tyler Hansbrough - not athletic enough
Jared Dudley - probably can't play in the NBA
Sean Singletary - concerned about his halfcourt game
Josh McRoberts - at best, a Toni Kukoc
Brandan Wright - an obvious lottery pick
Wayne Ellington - hasn't shown NBA ability
JR Reynolds - too small to play the NBA 2
Javaris Crittenton - intriguing, but a bit too selfish
Thaddeus Young - not as good as expected

All, in all, the ACC didn't fare too well in the comments. But then, most of the comments were negative, so take that with a grain of salt.

In my admittedly worthless opinion, Wright is by far the best prospect in the ACC. The other guys I'd expect to make it:
Ty Lawson (but he's nowhere near ready)
Singletary (although I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't make it)
Hansbrough (not a star, but if he can expand his shot, he could be a Matt Harpring)
McRoberts (maybe)
Sean Williams (the body alone will get him in. He should be a Trailblazer.)
Al Thornton (he has all the tools, but needs to be a bit better at everything)
Crittenton (too good not to)
Young (needs to learn to assert himself)

There are a ton of other guys who could make it, but have a lot of work to do to get there.

(hit tip to ACC Now for the find)

Comments

(1) by Jerry (unregistered) on 01/23/2007 05:51 pm

To me, Thad Young has really not progressed as much as Tech needs him to. He has a tendency to stop moving on offense, settling for jumpers when he could easily slash through the D every trip down, and he's close to invisible on the defensive end. A lot of it is better coaching, but Wright has clearly turned out to be a better fit for UNC (and looks better to the scouts) than Young, even though Wright hasn't yet taken more than maybe three shots that weren't dunks, layups, or six-foot half hooks.

(2) by SuperJew (unregistered) on 01/23/2007 11:03 pm

Honestly, I take whatever Seth Davis and his NBA scouts with a grain of salt.

(3) by william (unregistered) on 01/25/2007 03:35 pm

Of course, none of these NBA geniuses thought that Maryland's Jesikavich (I forget how to spell it) could play in the NBA and he torched the USA up in International play. I think that the NBA is just another kind of basketball. Some of these guys might do far better in Europe, just as in soccer, some players fare better in England than in Brazil or Spain.

Most of us would state emphatically that Montross and Hansborough were/are far better than Brendan Haywood was, but it seems that few in the NBA expect Hansborough to be as successful. Joe Smith and Tim Duncan seemed pretty even in college. Some golfers are better at links courses; some players do better in a specific style.

(4) by Dave on 01/25/2007 09:35 pm

You're right about the differences between college and the NBA. Don't mistake my comments about players' NBA potential as having anything to do with their college ability.

As an example, Josh McRoberts is a better athlete, a better ball-handler and a better shooter than Tyler Hansbrough, but Hansbrough is far and away the better college player.

BTW, my posting has been thin this week because I'm now in Myrtle Beach for a long weekend of golf. The short week made my three days at work extremely busy.

I did catch the Duke game tonight. Crazy ending. I don't know how the refs decided on 4.4 seconds for the final possession. That was probably a second too much.

(5) by william (unregistered) on 01/25/2007 10:21 pm

There should be a replay to check the replay.

ESPN Classic is running the 1995 ACC tournament final with 'Sheed and Stack going against Duncan and Childress. It is going to be a long time before Wake has a time that good again.

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Posted by Dave at January 23, 2007 01:49 PM | TrackBack

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