NBA Draft

This is an updating of the player rankings I did up at the end of January. A few quick notes on these rankings: There’s a maximum of 40 points in this system. The rankings are based entirely on statistics. The statistics used are different for each position. I don’t make any allowance for player ages, so freshmen and sophomores will have more room for improvement than juniors and seniors. The number isn’t meant to be a final ranking, just a reflection of how each player stands up statistically … [Read more...] about NBA Draft Update

This past summer I came up with a numerical ranking system for college prospects. The systems ranks players stats compared with those that previously successful prospects did well in. The rankings are done differently for each position, but only in the sense that different stat categories are considered. The system gives a maximum of 40 points. Any player above 35 should be considered a likely future star. From 30-35 is a potential star and at the very least a player who should make the league … [Read more...] about A Look At NCAA Prospects So Far

This being a relatively new category of prospects, I don’t have the history to draw on that I do with the 5 traditional positions. While I could give the combo standards to pass, like the 7 RSB40 for SGs, the best thing for now might be to look at how well they do the things that are most important. To me that would be showing the ability to play PG in a pinch, good scoring ability and strong defense. While his numbers were pretty awful overall for a guard prospect last year, Daniel … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2007: Combo Guards

For the PGs the important standards seem to be as follows: A FG pct. of .450, 18.0 P40, 5.0 A40 and 6.5 RSB40. Unlike SGs, it seems that the better a PG does in each one of these categories, the better he plays as a pro. Of particular importance seems to be a high number of assists. The 5.0 A40 number I tossed up there is more of a minimum. The best pro PGs racked up at least 7 assists per 40 minutes in college. Scoring isn’t as important as it is for the other positions, but scoring … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2007: Point Guards

One thing I found looking at past SGs is that it’s more important for them to reach certain levels of performance in a number of stats rather than excel in one or two particular areas. Specifically there are four numbers that seem to be important for SG prospects to reach: A FG pct. of at least .420, a P40 of 20, an A/TO of at least 0.8 and a combined rebounds, steals and blocks per 40 minutes of at least 7. While it’s great if the player excels in any one of these four areas, it’s … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2007: Shooting Guards

Of all the positions, the SFs have been hardest for me to get a handle on. With the other 4, I can point to certain statistics or a combination of statistics that seem to be a pretty good predictor of success. With SFs, that just isn’t there. The reason is because there are two types of SFs out there. There’s the 2.5, who is more guard-like. This player can slide into the backcourt as either a point forward or a SG in a big lineup. Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson are examples of … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2007: Small Forwards