Draftexpress-I guess AJ Price is not a drafteable player as

BRIGGS · Post #1 » by **BRIGGS** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:09 am

well:))

They focus WAY to hard on obscure international prospects who will NEVER make the NBA and forget players like AJ Price--not even listed in their top 120 draft picks over the next 2 years although he has a real chance at BE player of the year and will easily be a first round pick. He's easily a top 5 PG in the NCAA.

Post #2 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:09 am

ohhh, so you just love UCONN period, I get it now.

WillC · Post #3 » by **WillC** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:55 pm

BRIGGS's obsession with UCONN players is kind of annoying but he definitely has a good point.

MalReyn · Post #4 » by **MalReyn** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:18 pm

I do think it's a shame he hasn't been featured in any of their "Top Weekly Performer" articles, considering how well he's played this season.

My guess is he stays one more season, and gets drafted somewhere between 15-20. He's certainly always been a first-round talent ability-wise, and his consistent play of late just cements this.

EDIT: Just noticed Luke Winn and Andy Katz both wrote short pieces on him (after his great play in the ND game).

Post #5 » by **GYBE** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:23 pm

He doesn't have a good chance at BE POY.

stasher59 · Post #6 » by **stasher59** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:15 pm

You can find him under the DX Junior Rankings list at #63, I honestly never heard of about 1/3 of the players ranked ahead of him. Imagine if they included Euro players he wouldnt even crack 100. This is almost as bad as them taking Thabeet off the draft board.

MalReyn · Post #7 » by **MalReyn** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:25 pm

stasher59 wrote:You can find him under the DX Junior Rankings list at #63, I honestly never heard of about 1/3 of the players ranked ahead of him. Imagine if they included Euro players he wouldnt even crack 100. This is almost as bad as them taking Thabeet off the draft board.

I was about to jump in and defend DX, since those lists probably are only updated every few months and Price likely belonged that far down at the beginning of the season.

But then I looked at the page and saw "Last Update 1/25/2008"

I do think it's just an oversight though. Come'on JonG, get on it!

Cammo101 · Post #8 » by **Cammo101** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:37 pm

Has Briggs ever been satisfied by any UConn players ranking in anything. I would love to go back and see all his posts about the tragic shame it was that Okafor did not go ahead of Dwight Howard.

MalReyn · Post #9 » by **MalReyn** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:51 pm

Cammo101 wrote:Has Briggs ever been satisfied by any UConn players ranking in anything. I would love to go back and see all his posts about the tragic shame it was that Okafor did not go ahead of Dwight Howard.

While he did start the Thabeet thread, we haven't yet seen a thread hyping up Stanley Robinson . Probably will if he ever manages to string together 3 decent games in a row against good competition...

Seriously, everyone is a little biased, but Price and Thabeet (at least at the time he made the thread) were unquestionably underrated on DX not being anywhere on the draft board.

Cammo101 · Post #10 » by **Cammo101** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:39 pm

I think Price and Thabeet were overrated for a while, but these types of threads have spanned 5 years or so.

jemstar · Post #11 » by **jemstar** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:40 pm

BRIGGS has a point though. Over the past several weeks, you could make the claim that Price has been the best PG in the country, let alone just the Big East(he's been the best PG in the conference all season). There's been articles on SI and ESPN, and CBB analyst have been pumping him up on TV during UConn's run as one of the best PGs, yet he can't even get a blurb on Draftexpress?? Ty Lawson gets a write up during a week he hasn't even played(I understand the point they were trying to make, but still), yet Price is out there killing folks and running one of the hottest teams in the country and can't even get a weekly top performer nod.

MalReyn · Post #12 » by **MalReyn** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:06 pm

jemstar wrote:BRIGGS has a point though. Over the past several weeks, you could make the claim that Price has been the best PG in the country, let alone just the Big East(he's been the best PG in the conference all season). There's been articles on SI and ESPN, and CBB analyst have been pumping him up on TV during UConn's run as one of the best PGs, yet he can't even get a blurb on Draftexpress?? Ty Lawson gets a write up during a week he hasn't even played(I understand the point they were trying to make, but still), yet Price is out there killing folks and running one of the hottest teams in the country and can't even get a weekly top performer nod.

Nothing really to add, but welcome to the boards!

jemstar · Post #13 » by **jemstar** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:14 pm

thanks, I've been browsing for awhile now. RealGM is the best basketball only messageboard on the net

JonathanG · Post #14 » by **JonathanG** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:13 pm

I'm gonna break him down this week myself. You guys are right that we've probably slept him on him too long.

What happens sometimes with guys who play for such high profile teams is that if they play poorly again and again over an extended period of time, then it becomes very hard to remove that from your memory.

We need to keep in mind that he sat out for basically two full seasons with the health and off-court issues he had, which is a very difficult thing to come back from. So we definitely should reevaluate him with an open mind, I agree.

JonathanG · Post #15 » by **JonathanG** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:16 pm

but btw, I'm still 95% sure that he's never going to be considered a great NBA prospect because of his average physical tools.

MalReyn · Post #16 » by **MalReyn** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:04 pm

JonathanG wrote:but btw, I'm still 95% sure that he's never going to be considered a great NBA prospect because of his average physical tools.

I'm pretty surprised you consider his physical tools average. He has great quickness (not Lawson/Augustin level, but definitely NBA level), good strength, and good size for a PG.

There's a reason he was a very high recruit coming out of HS. While he wouldn't be a top-tier NBA athlete, he's natural tools are definitely NBA caliber.

JonathanG · Post #17 » by **JonathanG** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:28 pm

I guess that's where we disagree then. I've watched him live and even went out to see him practice, I don't see it the way you do. But I'm going to watch a lot of tape of his this week, make a bunch of phone calls, and maybe change my mind...

JonathanG · Post #18 » by **JonathanG** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:31 pm

btw, when I say average, I mean for an NBA point guard, not for a college player.

MalReyn · Post #19 » by **MalReyn** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:29 pm

JonathanG wrote:btw, when I say average, I mean for an NBA point guard, not for a college player.

I see. Then we're probably not that far off from each other.

For the sake of comparison, he's clearly not at the athletic level of a Jerryd Bayless, but at the same time I'd say his physical tools are equal to or better than a Darren Collison.

stasher59 · Post #20 » by **stasher59** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:41 am

I disagree with the thoughts on his NBA potential. Having DJ Augustin in a mock top ten and Price not even on the draft board is somewhat questionable. Augustin is quicker than Price and has better range from behind the ark but Price has better NBA size, a better midrange game, and plays solid D. I am not saying he would be a better pro than Augustin but I do think that it would not be a huge surprise if price goes in the first round whenever he comes out. Not too many guys under 6 foot make a huge impact in the league let alone get drafted in the top 10.