March 2011 Basketball Wiretap

Scout Calls Anthony Davis 'Most Talented, Most Complete' Freshman Big In A Decade

Oct 29, 2011 11:48 AM

Anthony Davis will continue Kentucky's run of successful freshmen during the tenure of John Calipari.

One NBA scout who has seen multiple Kentucky practices said Davis is the "most talented, most complete" freshman big man he has seen in a decade.

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter)

Tags: Anthony Davis, Kentucky Wildcats, NCAA, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General, NCAA B-Ball IQ

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Drummond Breaks Nose, Suffers Concussion

Oct 28, 2011 7:14 PM

Andre Drummond broke his nose and suffered a mild concussion during practice on Friday.

Drummond will wear a mask for six to eight weeks.

“This sucks. Mild concussion and I broke my nose. #worstdayever,” Drummond wrote on Twitter.

ZagsBlog.com

Tags: Andre Drummond, UConn Huskies, NCAA, NCAA Injury, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

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Thomas Robinson Hyperextends Knee

Oct 28, 2011 11:52 AM

Thomas Robinson hyperextended his left knee during a Thursday practice session.

The severity of the injury is unknown.

"The results from the MRI were positive for Thomas," Bill Self said. "He will take a couple of days off to let it calm down."

Robinson is expected to be one of the best forwards in the country, filling the void for Kansas created by the departure of the Morris twins.

Gary Parrish/CBS Sports

Tags: Thomas Robinson, Kansas Jayhawks, NCAA, NCAA Injury, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

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Kabongo Described As Cross Between UT Point Guards Ford, Augustin

Oct 21, 2011 11:41 AM

Rick Barnes said Myck Kabongo has all the tools to become the next great point guard for a program that has produced standouts such as T.J. Ford and D.J. Augustin. 

"He's somewhere in between those two," Barnes said of Kabongo. "He's extremely fast like T.J., but T.J. would pace his game. Myck is a more full throttle. Forget the cruise control. He'd be great this weekend at Talledega. He can beat everyone down the floor with the ball, but he's going to learn to change his pace from time to time so our team can get into a flow." 

Kabongo played high school ball for hard-nosed coach Dan Hurley at St. Benedict's Prep. 

"He got me ready, mentally," Kabongo said of Hurley. "Some of these [freshmen] have never been at schools where coaches are going to get after them every day. That's what Coach Barnes does. I just let the young guys know, ‘You can't take it personal. It's part of the game. You've got to be coachable. You can't let what he says on the court affect you off the court.'" 

Barnes couldn't say enough good things about Kabongo's attitude -- "I've never seen him in a bad mood."

Jason King/ESPN

Tags: Myck Kabongo Lukusa, Texas Longhorns, High School, NCAA, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General, NCAA B-Ball IQ

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Terrence Ross Expected To Have Breakout Season

Oct 16, 2011 10:36 PM

Terrence Ross is projected to have an excellent sophomore season at Washington.

Despite starting just four games and averaging 8.0 points as a freshman, Ross has been projected as a Pac-12 MVP candidate and a lottery pick in next year's NBA draft.

"What makes him special is his ability to go out and just get you a bucket and the fashion that he does it," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "You can count on one or two hands guys around the country that can really shoot the ball from the perimeter, but yet have the type of athleticism that they can go in the middle and finish on anyone.

"There's not a lot of guys like that, and Terrence is one of those guys. It's just eye-popping."

While Ross is a gifted scorer, he needs to improve his defense.

"I'm working on what the coaches are trying to teach me," he said. "I'm trying to become a complete player and not just somebody who can score.

"So I think you'll see a different type of game from me. I learned how to be more consistent and what that means. It means playing hard every possession, which isn't easy. But it's something I'm ready to do."

Seattle Times

Tags: Terrence Ross, Washington Huskies, NCAA, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General, NCAA B-Ball IQ

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Sources: Front Office Execs Allowed To Attend College Practices

Oct 14, 2011 8:20 PM

The NBA will allow executives and scouts to attend college basketball practices during the lockout, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The league initially barred team personnel from attending practices.

The league office relented on its original rules after team executives lobbied hard about how much of their player evaluation depends on the ability to attend practices, as well as games. 

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Tags: NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General, NBA CBA

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Sullinger Drops Body-Fat From 16.1 To 12.1

Oct 14, 2011 1:57 AM

Jared Sullinger has dropped 20 pounds and lowered his body-fat percentage from 16.7 to 12.1 during the offseason.

Thad Matta is eager for Sullinger to be more versatile and mobile.

"It's just the simple fact of what type of moves I'm going to use," Sullinger said. "It's not always going to be body-type stuff. It's going to be more finesse moves, sometimes. I'm going to switch it up this year."

Plain-Dealer

Tags: Jared Sullinger, Ohio State Buckeyes, NCAA, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General, NCAA B-Ball IQ

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2012 NBA Draft Class Could Be 'Most Scrutinized Ever'

Oct 13, 2011 4:32 PM

General managers and scouts will be watching the upcoming college basketball season more closely than any in memory if the NBA's lockout continues.

"With no NBA season to conduct and follow, all of us will be turning our energy to scouting for new players," said one general manager. "The players in this year's draft will be under the most scrutiny of any players ever if we lose the season."

Chad Ford/ESPN

Tags: NCAA, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

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GM: Most Teams In Lottery Would Be Responsible For Losing 11-12 Season

Oct 13, 2011 4:30 PM

If the NBA loses the 11-12 season, the question of how to handle the 2012 NBA Draft becomes a problematic situation.

Several general managers believe the easiest thing is to redo the 2011 lottery for 2012 with the same odds.

"The draft is there for the worst teams to improve," another GM said. "The teams that were in the lottery in 2011 are still the worst teams in the league. It makes sense that they'd have the best odds of landing the best players in the draft."

There is sharp criticism that runs counter to that logic.

"That would be totally unfair to a number of teams," said a GM from a Western Conference team. "Most of the worst teams in the league would improve with the players they collected in the 2011 draft. Also, with a whole season lost, a number of teams will be left with a pretty depleted roster. Why should teams be rewarded twice for mediocrity? Most of the teams that are in the lottery are the ones that are also going to be responsible for us losing the season. The most poorly run franchises are the ones that need the hard cap. They're the same ones that need revenue sharing. Should we just give them extra draft picks, too?"

Chad Ford/ESPN

Tags: NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

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Dedmon Breaks Bone In Right Hand

Oct 13, 2011 2:28 PM

Dewayne Dedmon broke a bone in his right hand during a team workout and will be limited in practice for the next two or three weeks.

Dedmon will have the opportunity to participate in defensive and non-contact drills with the Trojans as he recovers, the school announced.

Dedmon, a 7-footer, now is being discussed as an NBA prospect. USC associate head coach Bob Cantu raves about his athleticism and energy.

“When I went to junior college, I wasn’t thinking about it like that,” Dedmon told Sporting News in August. “I was planning to go to J.C., get my degree and get a job. When I got scholarship offers, that’s when things started changing.”

Mike DeCourcy/Sporting News

Tags: Dewayne Dedmon, USC Trojans, NCAA, NCAA Injury, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

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Drummond Staying Late, Working On Shooting Mechanics

Hartford Courant

Jones III Was Motivated By Suspension To Remain At Baylor

Slam

Drummond Won't Receive Penalty For Adidas Promotion

Connecticut Post

Anthony Davis Focused On Kentucky, Not NBA Draft

Lexington Herald-Leader