Post by aar on Jan 24, 2009 23:29:27 GMT -5
1a) Leon Camby C 6'11'' 220 21 B D+ D B+ C+ A
His last name may be his prophecy because from the looks of things, Camby is a near duplicate of his NBA namesake Marcus Camby. Like Camby, he played at a less established program (DePaul) and took it to great heights, elevating the team to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 respectively.
Camby is an underweight big man who plays inspired basketball on both ends of the floor.
Before he can be completely compared to Marcus, he needs to improve his rebounding, which many expect to happen over the years.
His weaknesses are glaring, his ball-handling needs work, he's pretty slow for his size and his outside shooting is very limited.
He is both a great shot blocker and great perimeter defender. He has a nice touch around the basket, but needs to add strength in order to be a real post threat, something that a few Reward Camps and Training Camps can achieve.
1b) Theo Finley SF 6'8'' 210 20 B- B- C+ B C- A
Like Camby, Finley is also eerily similar to his namesake Michael Finley. A great offensive player who will only get better, a solid passer with great foot speed and an above-average defender for a player his age.
Training camps will be the decider between Camby and Finley when it comes to being the better prospect, because they are very even.
The difference is that Finley's upside looks to be fantastic. He reminds many of an unpolished version of LeBron James or another version of Rudy Gay coming into the draft.
In his sophomore year at Oklahoma, Finley was First Team All-Big 12 and averaged 16.7 ppg with 4.5 apg.
However, unlike James, Finley really needs to work on his strength and rebounding skills.
With his skill set and upside, it would not be a shock to see Finley selected in the top-3 and the same can be said for Camby.
3) Ivan Cann C 7'0'' 244 20 B D D A- C+ B
Cann is the most exciting defensive big man in this draft, with an unprecedented amount of post defense, stealing and shot blocking skills this early in his career.
Cann reminds many of Pacers big man Ty Walker, they have very similar skills and aside from Cann being slower and less conditioned than Walker, he is Cann's most accurate comparison.
At Marquette, Cann was All-NCAA Defense as a Freshman and Sophomore, averaging 3.3 bpg and 1.7 spg over his collegiate career.
The only thing stopping Cann from being on the top of this list is his poor offensive awareness. He often looks lost on the offensive end and it results in poor offensive rebounding and poor post positioning at times. He needs to be more assertive.
Expect Cann to go in the lottery or possibly way higher if teams put an emphasis on defense.
4) Carlos Ruiz SF 6'8'' 200 20 C+ A- C+ C+ C- B
Ruiz is an exceptionally well-rounded talent who many consider to be the most intriguing prospect in the FBB class.
Ruiz is insanely fast, like point guard fast and also a good ballhandler. He'll never be a point guard, but he could easily be a starting or backup shooting guard, as well as small forward, his natural position.
Ruiz came by way of Puerto Rico and ended up at UTEP, making him easily the best Puerto Rican NBA prospect in NCAA history.
Like Finley, his biggest issue is his lack of strength and rebounding. If he had C+ rebounding, he'd likely be the top prospect in this draft, it is the only glaring weakness that he has.
At his age and with his skill-set, he could be an amazing prospect and will likely go top-10.
5) Deion Terpening PG 6'2'' 182 22 C+ C+ B+ C+ D+ B
If you look at Terpening, he compares to Kemba Walker's draft ratings of C+ C B+ C+ C A and aside from Terpening's inability to rebound, the two have very similar offensive games.
Terpening can take you inside or out and is an absolutely spectacular passer. He will rack up assists at the next level. He's not quite as quick as Kemba, but has similar ball-handling skills.
Terpening will also rack up steals because of his length (he has a 6'5" wingspan), but his perimeter defense needs a little bit of work.
Also, Terpening is a tough and determined kid, he played all four years in college because he wanted to be the best player he could be before going pro - he still doesn't believe he's there yet, although he was certainly the best player in his conference, playing at Western Kentucky.
His last name may be his prophecy because from the looks of things, Camby is a near duplicate of his NBA namesake Marcus Camby. Like Camby, he played at a less established program (DePaul) and took it to great heights, elevating the team to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 respectively.
Camby is an underweight big man who plays inspired basketball on both ends of the floor.
Before he can be completely compared to Marcus, he needs to improve his rebounding, which many expect to happen over the years.
His weaknesses are glaring, his ball-handling needs work, he's pretty slow for his size and his outside shooting is very limited.
He is both a great shot blocker and great perimeter defender. He has a nice touch around the basket, but needs to add strength in order to be a real post threat, something that a few Reward Camps and Training Camps can achieve.
1b) Theo Finley SF 6'8'' 210 20 B- B- C+ B C- A
Like Camby, Finley is also eerily similar to his namesake Michael Finley. A great offensive player who will only get better, a solid passer with great foot speed and an above-average defender for a player his age.
Training camps will be the decider between Camby and Finley when it comes to being the better prospect, because they are very even.
The difference is that Finley's upside looks to be fantastic. He reminds many of an unpolished version of LeBron James or another version of Rudy Gay coming into the draft.
In his sophomore year at Oklahoma, Finley was First Team All-Big 12 and averaged 16.7 ppg with 4.5 apg.
However, unlike James, Finley really needs to work on his strength and rebounding skills.
With his skill set and upside, it would not be a shock to see Finley selected in the top-3 and the same can be said for Camby.
3) Ivan Cann C 7'0'' 244 20 B D D A- C+ B
Cann is the most exciting defensive big man in this draft, with an unprecedented amount of post defense, stealing and shot blocking skills this early in his career.
Cann reminds many of Pacers big man Ty Walker, they have very similar skills and aside from Cann being slower and less conditioned than Walker, he is Cann's most accurate comparison.
At Marquette, Cann was All-NCAA Defense as a Freshman and Sophomore, averaging 3.3 bpg and 1.7 spg over his collegiate career.
The only thing stopping Cann from being on the top of this list is his poor offensive awareness. He often looks lost on the offensive end and it results in poor offensive rebounding and poor post positioning at times. He needs to be more assertive.
Expect Cann to go in the lottery or possibly way higher if teams put an emphasis on defense.
4) Carlos Ruiz SF 6'8'' 200 20 C+ A- C+ C+ C- B
Ruiz is an exceptionally well-rounded talent who many consider to be the most intriguing prospect in the FBB class.
Ruiz is insanely fast, like point guard fast and also a good ballhandler. He'll never be a point guard, but he could easily be a starting or backup shooting guard, as well as small forward, his natural position.
Ruiz came by way of Puerto Rico and ended up at UTEP, making him easily the best Puerto Rican NBA prospect in NCAA history.
Like Finley, his biggest issue is his lack of strength and rebounding. If he had C+ rebounding, he'd likely be the top prospect in this draft, it is the only glaring weakness that he has.
At his age and with his skill-set, he could be an amazing prospect and will likely go top-10.
5) Deion Terpening PG 6'2'' 182 22 C+ C+ B+ C+ D+ B
If you look at Terpening, he compares to Kemba Walker's draft ratings of C+ C B+ C+ C A and aside from Terpening's inability to rebound, the two have very similar offensive games.
Terpening can take you inside or out and is an absolutely spectacular passer. He will rack up assists at the next level. He's not quite as quick as Kemba, but has similar ball-handling skills.
Terpening will also rack up steals because of his length (he has a 6'5" wingspan), but his perimeter defense needs a little bit of work.
Also, Terpening is a tough and determined kid, he played all four years in college because he wanted to be the best player he could be before going pro - he still doesn't believe he's there yet, although he was certainly the best player in his conference, playing at Western Kentucky.
