Tuesday Mixed Bag of stuff...

Some things from around College Basketball as I sit at a Starbucks in Kirkland, and play online poker:

- 6 Pac-10 teams have earned Pre-season Top 25 honors from Andy Katz at ESPN. Again, I really think ESPN is full of people who just look at who was strong the previous year and say, "ok, that looks like it could work again." UW is not listed.

- Joe Lunardi does not put UW into the first bracketology for the 2007-2008 season. Why do they even do this?

- Nick Young of USC has declared for the NBA draft. UCLA's Josh Shipp to stay.

- Former Husky Harvey Perry is transferring AGAIN. Turns out his coaches couldn't even handle I-DA-HO.

- Here is a blurb about UW in the Pac-10 Basketball Season write-up:
"WASHINGTON sophomore F Jon Brockman led the Pac-10 in double-doubles (15) and rebounding (9.6 rpg)... Sophomore G Justin Dentmon became the ninth player in school history with two 100-assist seasons... Junior G Ryan Appleby became the only Husky ever to produce two 70 three-point field goal seasons. His two-year total of 154 three-pointers ranks second on the school's all-time list behind Deon Luton (212, 1997-2000)... The Huskies swept USC and UCLA at home for the third consecutive season... Washington was 17-2 at home this season, and have posted a 60-7 (.896) over the last four seasons in Bank of America Arena. "

- Omar Wilkes, a junior guard from Cal, will not return for his senior year.

- Gonzaga is losing two players. Now all the major basketball schools in the Northwest have had players transfer this off-season. This is starting to become very fashionable.

Article on Brandon Roy

This is a great article from the Seattle Times today about Brandon Roy. Sounds like Brandon is no doubt the leader of the Blazers, and was responsible for Zach Randolph being reasonably under control this year.

Brockman, where's the love?

So, in the past few days I have been looking at draft sites across the vast internet reading mock drafts and player profiles that will give me some idea of what team are looking for and which players are being sought after.

In my studies, to my shocking acknowledgement, Jon Brockman is not rated in the top 50 Sophomores by most draft websites. Where is the love for Jon Brockman? Why do most sites not have Brockman rated highly amongst sophomores? I mean, I understand Jon is no Brenden Wright, Spencer Hawes, Greg Oden or Keving Durant. But, come'on, he is ranked behind a guy who averaged 11 points per game and only 6 boards. Shit, that is child's play for Brockman.

Looking away from Jon's lack of a two footed vertical jump, or outside jump shot, wouldn't NBA scouts dream about a player who would bring energy to the arena night in, night out? I swear, after just a 20 game season, Brockman is probably so bruised and broken that he needs a month off after the season just to heal. Diving on the floor, taking the charge, and pumping up his teammates, would be the norm for Brockman.

Potential and expectations out value hard work and great play on a daily basis with NBA scouts. Sam Bowie had a lot of potential and was a great college player, but it is still looked on as the worst draft pick in NBA history by not selecting Michael Jordan. If you are athletic and 7'0'', but have never accomplished a damn thing in your playing days is considered a better beat than the player who is hard-working, accomplished, and is a winner at every level.

If I was putting a team together, I would most certainly want a Jon Brockman on my team.

Venoy Overton Signs LOI

Venoy Overton from Seattle's Franklin High School signed his letter of intent to play at UW next year. It arrived on the campus last evening, after much speculation that the reason UW hadn't received it yet was because Venoy didn't have access to a fax machine. Dawg, it's called Kinkos, they are open 24 hours.

Anyways, his attitude is being compared to Will Conroy and Nate Robinson, both mega-ballers. Romar likes his skills, but he says the thing he likes most about Overton is his understanding on how to win. That is such a hard thing to teach, and it seems UW could use someone who desires to win.

RED-FLAG - Overton has yet to post an eligible test score to get into UW. Along with Darnell Gant, this class could be decimated by faulty test scores. Right now, this is a very solid class, with Justin Holiday and Matthew Bryan-Amaning joining Overton and Gant. Isaiah Thomas and Jru Holiday could be coming next season, and that means UW is recruiting proven winners to it's program.

One more thing on the Nelson transferring story; I am basically for this move now that I thought about it. UW will be loaded around the perimeter when Tim Morris and Joel Smith return next season, along with swingman Justin Holiday coming into the mix. With Q-Pond and Ryan Appleby already playing, where was Phil going to make an impact? His D was shaky at times, though he found success guarding smaller guards, and his offense was not refined. It has been rumored that Tim Morris has spent this entire season (transfer sit-out) working on his three point shot, and offensive moves to the basket with Husky coaches and trainers. Plus, Tim was known for his ability to play D, and we all know Joel Smith can guard along the perimeter. So, this move perhaps benefits both sides of the deal.

Sub-question: Was Nelson ran out of Seattle? Romar insists no, but remember Anthony Washington. The only big man Romar had on his roster after his first season, who was practically ran out of town to make room for future scholarship athletes. This is a developing trend we should definetly watch over the next few years. Both Washington and Nelson have picked up with Portland State, and former UW assistant Ken Boone.

We need players who can make an impact going to the basket. This was a major problem for the Huskies last year. The role, left void by B-Roy graduating, was never adopted by any of the Husky perimeter players, and it left Justin Dentmon having to do all the penetrating, leaving the D to collapse down on him when he made a move to the basket. If Joel, and Tim, along with Holiday and Q-Pond can develop aggressive moves to the basket that can free up shooters like Appleby, Joel and others, then UW might have a fighting chance next season on the offensive end.

6th player jumps ship at OSU

Marcel Jones declares for the NBA draft today from Oregon State. Won't hire an agent. Jones is likely to return, but still...will they have a team next season?

6 players have now fled this troubled and downtrodden program.

Your Pac 10 news digest

I've been super busy this week, but there were lots of interesting moves in the Pac 10 over the last week.

Wazzou:
Lost two Sophomores who played a little. I don't think this will hurt them much.

Oregon:
Resigned Ernesto, lost Oguchi. Personally, I'm fine with both of these outcomes. Oguchi always seemed to have one really good game against us a year, and along with Jordan Kent was the most annoying player on their team for me. As for Ernesto, whatever. They had a good year last year, but looked like a much different team without Brooks. Kent stole recruit Drew Vinay from Cal, but he may have a bit of an attitude problem, given that he got himself kicked off of his high school basketball team.

Oregon State:
Oregon State implodes. 5 players leaving a team does not indicate the healthiest environment. Man, if we had only won that game at OSU we'd have made the NIT.

UCLA:
Affalo declares for the draft. This is his second time declaring, so he's done in college. Seems like a smart guy. I mean, why would you stick around for your senior year on a loaded team when you could be a second round pick whose stock is dropping? Somebody is giving him some bad advice. Whatevs, it's good for UW. No word yet on Collison or Josh Shipp.

Cal:
Harden declares. He was hurt last year, and wasn't much of a factor, but he's very good. He's not hiring an agent, and I think he'll probably be back next year.

Arizona:
Marcus Williams declares and will hire an agent. See ya!

USC:
Still waiting on two of their key players, Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt.

Phil Nelson transferring to Portland State

What the fuck Nelson! I did not sit this year and watch you throw up air-ball after air-ball from the three point land so you could transfer after your first year. This was a two or three year project!

Phil Nelson has decided to transfer to Portland State. Why? What good (outside of playing time) does that serve his basketball experience? At UW you have a chance at making the NCAA's every year, you gain national exposure, and you have a chance this summer to travel to Greece and participate in an amazing travel experience.

All I have to say is that Nelson is lame. I really thought he would have stuck this one out. I actually thought the first one to transfer would be Dentmon, but even he is sticking it out.

So, that is two players, TWO PLAYERS that have transferred under Romar this season (7 total), AHH AHH AHH. Perry and Nelson are both leaving because Romar did not play them to the amount they had wished, and they jumped ship early.

Why Brandon Roy is a winner

A couple of weeks ago I pondered the thought of the Blazers drafting rather high in this upcoming draft, and what this team would look like if they traded up to grab a Wright, Oden, or Durant. I mean, I think if you are in the top-2 picks, you wouldn't trade your pick for your life (the only time in the past 15 years this was ever the consensus was the year Orlando was awarded the #1 pick and drafted Shaq!). The idea of tanking at the end of the season is a very tenuous position to be in or to think about, Bill Simmons actually writes a good article on this subject. Here is a quote from Brandon Roy about draft picks after the Blazers won the other night, and B-Roy had 25 second half points, for a career high 29 points.

"As long as I'm on the court, I'm going to keep trying to hurt that lottery selection," Roy said. "I think we got great guys in this locker room -- a great draft pick would be great, but I'm going out to win basketball games. The lottery things, I leave that to Kevin Pritchard."

The loss would have propelled the Blazers into the 5th spot in the draft...Man I love B-Roy! Easily the best rookie this year, maybe the best draft pick for the next two or three years out of last year's draft. Rudy Gay, Tyrus Thomas, LaMarcus Alderidge and the Toronto appendectomy disaster (Andrea Bargnani) have a chance to become great players down the road. But Brandon will be the best of this draft class for two to three years to come.

Name that look....

Name this face made by Husky coach Lorenzo Romar, is it:

A.) I can't believe I ate the whole thing;

B.) Bitter Beer face;

C.) Spencer forgot to put on deordorant this morning;

D.) I had Spencer for one year, and all I got was a NIT denial;

E.) What the hell am I going to do with Phil Nelson and Joe Wolfinger as my future?

F.) My best shot at winning a national title, gone to the NBA;

The answer:

All of the above

Hawes declares for the draft

Shoot. While not as dooming as it could be - he won't hire an agent - this is not the "I love UW and I'm staying" press release we were hoping for.

Hawes will get a better idea of where he stands relative to the rest of this draft class. Personally, I think he is not physical enough to be anything more than a project in the pros at this point. There is something to be said for earning millions a year early, but I think Hawes would be smart to consider where he'll stand at the end of his rookie contract. If it takes him 2 years to gain the bulk he needs to compete, I don't think he has much to loose by staying in college, and may actually be in a better position to sign a lucrative long term deal when his rookie contract up for extention. This year's draft class is so loaded that I can see teams passing on Hawes, who was once projected a top 5 pick, in order to pick a more NBA ready player like Al Hortford, Acie Law IV, Roy Hibbert, Corey Brewer, Noah, etc.

If Hawes is projected as a late lottery pick, does he withdraw? I think so. Next year should be a weaker class, with a distinct lack of players named Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

Links worth checking out

Hans Gasser knew his role.

Romar in his own words. I haven' watched it yet, because I'm at work right now. Anything with Romar in it has to be good.

Kavario Middleton, two sport Husky star? This could be interesting. There is lots of talk about this guy being the next Tony Gonzales. He's grown a couple inches in the last year and is now a 6'6", 245 pound 17 year old with a 32" vert. From the competative edge football combine preview on scout.com: "Middleton is the kind of athlete that comes around once every 5 or so years in the northwest". Currently, he's the reigning MVP of his basketball conference. From what it sounds like, he's Brockman with a vertical leap.