Top pro prospects by region

[ephoya04]

Chad Ford does a rundown of the top NBA prospects by region starting with the east...its Insider but here is the link:

insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryDate=20070311&name=ford_chad

Hopefully the boys aren't reading this because the list goes as follows:

1-Kevin Durant (no surprise)
2-Brandan Wright
3-Jeff Green
4-DJ Augustin
5-Roy Hibbert

Since it's insider I know the moderators will get angry at me if I copy and paste the whole thing, so some highlights:

Jeff Green:

The Good: ...Green can do anything his team needs him to. ...His defense and energy on both ends of the floor can be infectious.


The Bad: Is he too unselfish? ...that trait seems to disappear when the Hoyas really need him to assert himself. Green isn't an elite athlete and can be a streak shooter from long-range.


The Upside: Green is the type of player who every NBA coach will fall in love with. ...If he leads Georgetown deep into the Tournament (a real possibility) he's probably a lock for the lottery.

Roy Hibbert

The Good: ...has excellent fundamentals on both ends of the floor and has improved greatly from season to season...Has turned from an average to an excellent shot-blocker this season.


The Bad: ...isn't an elite athlete and still needs polish...just a mediocre rebounder in college...doesn't always take over the game like his talent suggests he should.


The Upside: ...His 18-point, 12-rebound dominant performance over Pittsburgh big man Aaron Gray in the Big East tournament finals impressed a lot of folks. He puts up two big games like that in the NCAA Tournament and the guy has a shot at the late lottery.


Hopefully that's enough editing for the moderators

[GUHoya07]

Jeff isn't an elite athlete? what?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

guhoya2007 said:

Jeff isn't an elite athlete? what?

Yeah. He isn't. Tell everyone you know with connections to the NBA.

[lichoya68]

JEFF IS NOT ELITE JEFF IS NOT ELITE HES ONLY JEFF A GOOD TEAMATE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT INDIVIDUAL AWARDS JUST HIS TEAM WINNING NOT A GOOD FUTURE PRO TILL NEXT YEAR PLEASE NOT READY PLEASE GOHOYAS GO JEFF GO ROY GO DAJUANN GO EVERYBODY GO HOYAS GO HOYAS STAY JEFF

[SFHoya99]

Jeff is not an elite athlete for the NBA. It's his skills and smarts that put him over the top, but everyone in the NBA is athletic. The elite athletes in the NBa are the Dwight Howards, Kobe Bryants, Josh Smiths, Tracy McGradys, etc. Jeff isn't at that level ahtleticism wise. That doesn't mean he won't be a very good NBA player.

If this sounds like I'm dogging Jeff, I'm not. It's just that "elite"... will he be a Top 20-30 athlete in the NBA?

[lichoya68]

yes sf good analyst.. jeff is not ready not elite stay just a little bit longer yes goh oays stay hoya stay

[alleninxis]

I've been thinking about his athleticism and its my thought that whenever he goes in the draft he's going to turn a lota heads in the predraft workouts. I think we see glimpses of how athletic he is when he wants to turn it on

[ephoya04]

I agree with SF...Jeff is never going to wow you with his athleticism, and that is by NO MEANS a knock on Jeff...he doesn't jump out of the gym or have a super explosive first step...even on his own team, I'd argue PEJr and Big Ticket are better athletes than he is...but Jeff doesn't rely on being athletic, he relies on being smart and capitalizing on the situation. This is what analysts mean when they say he "plays within himself". I think the best analogy in baseball would be in baseball when you look at defensive outfielders...some players make all the catches because they are great athletes and can cover a ton of ground with sheer speed and athleticism and use it to cover up mistakes in their first step or positioning. Others always are in the right position, always take the right line to the ball etc. Again, no knock on Jeff b/c Magette and Wilcox are superiors athlete to Jeff but will never be as good basketball players as Jeff.

[NJHoya95]

I don't understand this. Can he not jump? His dunk against Marquette showed all-world athleticism. His block on Devendorf at the Dome showed his superior speed and timing. Just beause he is under control doesn't mean that he is not a superior athlete. Does he get tired? He didnt come out of the game against ND.

At the Duke game some Duke fan was asking me about him and I was singing his praises. I told him he was an absolute lottery lock. Later in the 2nd half he jumped over McRoberts for an O board. I turned to the guy and asked if there was any one on Duke who could do that. He just shook his head.

[SFHoya99]

It's semantics. What's your definition of elite?

For me, there's 300+ players in the NBA, about 200-250 of them actually play. I'd consider the top 5% of anything to be elite -- so we're talking Top 10-15 players in the league. Do you think Jeff will be one of Top 15 athletes in the NBA?

You may have a different view of the word "elite."

[FewFAC]

I'd take Jeff over a Paul Pierce or Carmelo everyday, but that's just me.

[MCIGuy]

Well, I hope Roy is reading this because Chad and nbadraft.net are the only holdouts who have Roy that low in the first place. Most so-called experts have Roy solidly in the lottery and even ahead of Jeff. If Roy keeps reading Chad's comments he'll think he is no-sure thing.

[ephoya04]

fewfac said:

I'd take Jeff over a Paul Pierce or Carmelo everyday, but that's just me.

I love Jeff too, but you are talking about two bonafide NBA All-Stars there