The FanHouse realizes that not everyone digs March Madness. Some of us enjoy our basketball on a taller, more expensive, professional level. Even so, it's almost impossible to completely ignore the media buzz around the tournament, so we present you with this handy guide to potential 2007/2008 NBA prospects who will be, for a couple of more weeks anyway, playing basketball and filling CBS airtime for free.Also see:
East Regional, Parts One & Two
Midwest Regional, Parts One & Two
West Regional, Parts One & Two
South Regional, Parts One & Two
Likely to one day wear an NBA uniform:
Joakim Noah, 6-11 Junior, Florida. Noah is well-known throughout the basketblogosphere. He picked a fight with a Kentucky cheerleader, he's a far worse dancer than Mark Madsen, he tells opponents that he's their daddy. If you walk into a sports bar this weekend anywhere other than Gainesville and announce "Joakim Noah is a douche," you'll probably get some free drinks. But take off the hater goggles and you'll see Noah could be a very good pro. Douche or not, his defense is top-notch, he won't be outworked by anyone, and he seems to have that thing all the great roleplayers do.
Best Guess: Andrei Kirilenko with biceps, ADD, and bad hair. Already an evolved Anderson Varejao.
Al Horford, 6-9 Junior, Florida. Horford should end up as the best pro player out of the Florida bunch. He might be as good as Al Jefferson right now. Tremendous hands for a big, fully developed physically, excellent rebounder and defender. If some coach can teach him some of Karl Malone's moves, Horford has a real chance to be 2007's clear third banana behind Oden and Durant.
Best Guess: A tougher Chris Webber minus the jumper. Thaddeus Young, 6-8 Freshman, Georgia Tech. Young is one of those players you have to watch to understand. Best athlete since the 2004 draft, probably. Death-defying leaper, explosive, atomic, radioactive, all that jazz. Can't shoot, but has Ron Artest Syndrome -- he thinks he's Fred Hoiberg. Under the right coach, he could become the wing edition of Amare Stoudemire. I'd doubt it, though. The world just isn't that fun.
Best Guess: Antawn Jamison wearing Moon Shoes.
Marcus Williams, 6-7 Sophomore, Arizona. Most pundits say Marcus Williams has maintained his stock over the past year: He would've been a mid-1st guy after his freshman year, and he'll be a mid-1st guy this draft. But to this observer, the vanishing of his deep-shooting ability has put a question mark on his pro future. He needs to shoot well behind the arc to give Zona a chance and to be a good pro player.
Best Guess: John Salmons with Josh Howard as a longshot.
Also see:
East Regional, Parts One & Two
Midwest Regional, Parts One & Two
West Regional, Parts One & Two
South Regional, Parts One & Two
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Thaddeus Young can't shoot? 51% FG, 42% on Threes, and 74% on FTs. Not too shabby.
Ther is no way Noah is 6'11, more likely 6'9-10. His defense is not that great, he just blocks shots of smaller college guards. This guy was pretty much a consensus #1 pick last year if he came out and hes only going to be Anderson Varejao? Kirilenko is a stretch b/c he can actually defend SFs b/c of his length and his speed. Noah is too slow to guard an athletic SF, and too short to battle a PF on the low block. I can only see him coming off the bench as the 6th man.
The crazy thing is that Al Jefferson would be a junior this year, same as Horford...and he's putting up serious numbers every night.
Yeah, not sure what's up with the Thaddeus Young can't shoot bit - he's a terrific 3 point shooter for a forward (heck, for anyone). He shot well over 40% for the season and absolutely killed UNC because he could shoot off the pick and roll with Crittenton and they had no answer for it.
Thad's problems right now stem from his ball handling, he can't take advantage of his athleticism as much as he should because he's still somewhat shaky with the ball and doesn't go to his right hand very well.
Horford looks like the kind of guy Auerbach would draft, underpay, refuse to start (thus making him angry), and then send in off the bench to brutalize people... sort of a Soul Luscutoff.
If I had Ming, I'd trade up to get Ho watching his back for the next decade....maybe even give up Batman and that little Skip To My Lou motherlover.
Alan -- you're right that Noah isn't 6'11. He's actually a shade over 7 feet. Well known little "secret" to SEC fans. Noah doesn't like being listed in the media guide as a seven footer. He stood eye to eye with Greg Oden when Florida played Ohio State. He is also noticably taller -- at least two inches -- than Al Horford, who is 6 foot ten. Not sure how you're evaluating height, but your methods aren't very accurate.