From The Rafters is in St. Louis for the Final Four and after night one, NBA stocks were rising and falling all over Edward Jones Dome.

Up

Jawad Williams: Williams was the only Tar Heel to show up in the first half, keeping Michigan State from extending their lead beyond five points.  

In Saturday?s game he looked like Antawn Jamison reincarnate.  He has been M.I.A. throughout the Tournament, but his 20 points and 8 rebounds should go a long ways in proving to NBA scouts that he can compete at the next level.

Roger Powell: Illinois was up just one point midway through the 2nd half and Powell sparked a 11-0 run.  He scored 20 points, in a variety of ways, from spot up jump shots, to turnaround jumpers to follow-up dunks on 3-pointers and all that in just 22 minutes.

No matter how big he was in a big game, he remains only 6-6, but his performance was impressive nevertheless.

Maintained

Deron Williams: Williams began the game with a 3-pointer, giving the Illini faithful reason to believe he would have another Arizona-like game, but he scored just 2 more points over the entire game.

The story here is the defense he played on Francisco Garcia, who scored just four points.  He also controlled the Illinois offense, proving just how valuable he is, even when he?s not scoring.

Raymond Felton: Felton had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 impressive assists, but he also had 5 turnovers, as he must consider the risk/reward of the passes he makes, which either lead to dunks or beanings of cheerleaders.

Down

Francisco Garcia: 1st round draft picks shouldn?t be held to four points in the Final Four, no matter how good Deron Williams? defense might be.  He averaged 16 ppg this season, but the last two games of his college career were very disappointing.  Against West Virginia he fouled out with four minutes left in the game and against Illinois, he became part of the background and if scouts had just the Final Four to judge, he would be playing in Spain next season.

Marvin Williams: This Williams is touted as the player on UNC with the most NBA potential, but after going most of the game without scoring a point and finishing with just 2, it was difficult to see it.

He will have one more game to prove himself before the NBA draft and he would do well to make GM?s in Charlotte, New Orleans and Atlanta sleep better between now and June by giving a performance in the National Championship that warrants the hype surrounding him.

Christopher.Reina@realGM.com