UW's Tucker a Winner, but is He Good Enough?

Alando Tucker has the labels of Big 10 Player of the Year, 1st All American, Wisconsin's All-Time scoring leader. Unfortunately for him, all of those accolades are not enough to give him a most coveted label this time of the year: first round lock. In this years loaded draft, Tucker will have to sweat out the draft process while guys he outperformed in college go above him. There's a strong possibility he won't hear his name until Round 2. Whats wrong with the guy? Lets take a look at his game.

At 6'5'' 210lb, Tucker has good size for an NBA 2 guard. The problem is his best position is power-forward. Excellent athleticism; great leaper, fast running the floor, agile laterally. Good strength in the legs and upper body. Strong defender who consistently neutrlizes his man. Rebounding a bit dissapointing considering size and athleticism; earlier in his career he was a ferocious offensive rebounder but he seems to have cooled his feistiness there. Good on slashes to the hoop and can finish difficult shots in the paint. Charecter and attitude may be the best in the whole draft; charimatic leader on and off the court (he doesn't drink or smoke and has earned his college degree). With all that being, Tuckers offensive game is far too raw for a 23 year old 5th year senior prospect. Not a distributor. Handle is poor; he handles on par with the average NBA 4-man but remember he is 6'5''! Don't be misled by his FG%, his shooting mechanics are poor (trust the lousy FT%). He has a bit of a two-handed release and his ball is very flat. Has some deep range on his jumper, but is an NBA team really going to want this guy shooting from the perimeter? Gets his points on shots that generally won't be there in the NBA. Ultimately, the problem with Tucker is that he is a 4 in a 2's body.

For Alando Tucker to stick in the NBA, he will have to play dogged defense, crash the offensive glass, become a loose ball kamikaze, and stick the occasional jump shot. He has the athleticism and the intangibles to make it but does he have the skills? He must learn to play the role of specialist (his speciality being energy guy off the bench) after playing the role of college superstar at UW. He might be worth a gamble late in the 1st round, but my guess is he'll be an early 2nd round pick come draft night.

USC's Young Rising up Draft Boards

Nick Young HAD been something of an under appreciated talent at USC. Yeah he was All-Pac 10 twice, led his team to the Sweet 16 this year and showed enough talent to be on the NBA radar screen the last 2 years. But he was tucked away on the West Coast on an underrated team and his game could be best described as smooth, not flashy or fiery enough to make the national headlines or Sports Center highlights. So why has he gone from "bubble first rounder" to lottery-projected in many mock drafts the last month? The simple answer is that pure talent always seems to rise this time of the year (and Young certainly is a "pure talent"), but taking a deeper look at Young's NBA ready game provides the more comprehensive answer.

The 6'6'' 205 lb Young has very good size for an NBA 2 guard and has enough size to swing to 3 for a smaller lineup: long arms, wide hips, big hands. He is not the most explosive athlete but he is a very good one (think Josh Howard type athleticism); blessed with great body control, Young is one of those players who looks smoother than everyone else on the floor. Offensively he plays as a pure wing and he stays on the wing, he doesn't over dribble or bog down the offense. He likes the mid range jumper and can get the shot off with ease because of a smooth handle, nice elevation and a wide frame which creates separation (he has a nice turnaround jump shot from the right side of the floor that is pure butter). Defensive ability is good; he is not shutdown but he will be able to neutralize his man in the NBA with his size, strong hand usage and good lateral agility. Don't confuse him with a point guard or even a combo guard; he's not a great distributor and though he can handle the ball, he doesn't operate much at the top of circle. Rebounding is average at best and will probably never be a strength of his. Intangibles are very good; he is a confident, unselfish player who plays within the team system. Intensity and focus are questionable as he has been inconsistent during his career (Aaron Afflalo he is not). Young projects as a legitimate starter and 15 plus point scorer in the NBA for many years.

Nick Young should be able to fit in on just about any team in the league. He is a pure wingman who can get his shots in the flow of the offense, play solid defense and bring solid character. I would personally rate Young as a top 10 or maybe Top 7 player in the draft, ahead of some more prominent names like Julian Wright, Joakim Noah and Jeff Green. He may need to toughen up a little bit and he certainly cannot be a teams #1 option, but I really think Nick Young could be a championship type player, a 3rd or 4th guy on a great team. Charlotte would be wise to consider the late-rising Young at 8, as they could use a throwback wing who plays the right way (unlike a certain mustached showboat we all know too well).

Here Comes Portland

1) Portland wins lottery. 2) Portland uses #1 pick draft Greg Oden. 3)Therefore, Portland is now a title contender waiting to happen. That's how great of a player Greg Oden is going to be (and already is). One truly great player (particularly Center) can change a teams fortunes immediately, particularly when the player is as unselfish as Greg Oden. With him and their existing core, the Blazers have the foundation to go deep into the playoffs, maybe as soon as next season.

Greg Oden is 7'1'' 260lb but seems even bigger on the court, if that's possible. And he possess many other attributes on top of the size: Explosive hops and flexible legs, great hands (soft and strong on offense and for rebounding, hammer-like usage on defense), high shoulders and long arms, speed of a small forward, quality and improving post moves, soft touch in the paint and at the line, giant court presence at all times, unselfish, quiet fire to win, likable personality. Bottom line: the best NBA prospect since Tim Duncan (with the potential to be better than TD, he's a better athlete).

The Portland cupboard was looking well-stocked even before the addition of Oden. Now it is simply overflowing. Brandon Roy looks like a 10 year rock in the backcourt. Not a true PG, but similar to Deron Williams and the late Dennis Johnson with his bulldozer strength to get in the paint, rock solid defense and winning court presence. LaMarcus Aldridge is tremendously springy for a 7 footer, with a nice touch and a fundamentally sound defensive and rebounding game. Winning court demeanor is a positive, but heart condition makes him a tainted prospect. Zach Randolph had better REALLY shape up now or the Blazers will look to ship him out. Though improved last season, Randolph must now realize it his not his show and learn to fit in around Oden and Roy. Still, his bruising frame, quick feet and immaculate hands make him a rare NBA commodity: 20 points, 10 rebounds. Don't disregard their other pieces either. Jarret Jack can be a low-level starting PG in the NBA (whether that's actually a compliment is another story). Martell Webster has a big time stroke and a solid frame, but he needs to learn the other phases of the game. Joel Pryzbilla is a serviceable big man off the bench and Travis Outlaw can change a game with his shot blocking and free-throw inducing drives to the hoop.

Their mojo lost after the infamous Game 7 loss to the Lakers in West Finals back in 2000, the Blazers are back with a vengeance. They should be a title contender by 2009 or 2010.

KU's Wright a Risky Draft Prospect

Lets break down the talented Kansas Sophomore forward who declared for the draft on April 9th.

The Chicago native is tremendously versatile. He runs the floor unusually well for a 6'8'' player. Wright really thrives in the full-court game with his ability to push the ball and find open teammates; he does this as well (if not better) than many guards. Wright is a well-built athlete who looks great on the hoof, blessed with long arms, strong legs and quick feet. He gets after it on defense and is able to defend either forward position (he's quick enough to slide his feet on the perimeter, stout enough to bang down on the block). An unselfish player almost to a fault, Wright will find a way to fit in on just about any team in the NBA, regardless of their style of play or his role on the team (he appears to be a high character individual and is a team player).

Despite all of these strenghts, the weaknesses in Wrights game are what may doom him to "perrenial tease" status once he is in the league. The soon-to-be 20 year old is simply not very strong with the ball in tight spaces; against Southern Illinois ( a mid-major team with no notable NBA prospects), Wright struggled securing rebounds which he was in position to snatch and often had his dribble disrupted by smaller, slower, less-talented players. His spotty mid-range shooting and poor free-throw shooting are major concerns; he does not posses the deft touch of a scoring forward. His in-and-out focus and lackadasical body language bring question to whether his mental game is strong enough for the NBA.

Wright's stock may have peaked during the Big 12 Conference season, when Kansas looked unbeatable and Wright had a 33 point breakout game vs. Missouri on national TV. His NCAA tournament performances vs. Southern Illinois and UCLA (7 and 8 points respectively) have his stock sinking at the moment. Still, Wright should not slip out of the lottery; look for him to go somewhere between picks 7-15 on draft night. Declaring this season ensures Wright will not suffer from the overexposure and nitpicking endured by fellow enigmatic forward Josh McRoberts of Duke, a sure-fire Top10 pick had he declared last year who's reeling draft stock (a projected 15-30 pick ) will cost him millions of guranteed NBA dollars this June.