Tony Parker Signing with UCLA Bruins Creates Logjam in the Paint

More than Tony Parker deserves your attention on the basketball court.

The biggest recruit remaining uncommitted announced on Monday that he plans to attend UCLA next season, according to UGASports.com editor Anthony Dasher:  

"

Tony Parker has committed to UCLA

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) April 23, 2012"

The Atlanta native is coming off an incredible high school career, where he took Miller Grove High to four straight state championships and averaged 16.6 points and 11 rebounds his senior year.

The laundry list of schools on Parker’s radar had been reduced—to Duke, Georgia, UCLA, Kansas, Ohio State and Memphis—before he officially picked the Bruins.

UCLA just landed a four-star recruit to join five-star recruits Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson in what has become the premier freshman class. Heading into Monday, UCLA had the No. 3 ranked recruiting class according to ESPNU. Now they are officially No. 1.

But is this too much of a good thing?

Standing at 6’9’’ and 280 pounds, Parker is the prototypical post player that has a wide variety of moves in the paint. His jump hook is almost impossible to block. On top of his low post moves, Parker has the ability to drill a 15-foot jumper and has outstanding hands for a big guy.

While he is going to be a bit undersized against some of the Pac-12, the way he uses his body and his wide frame allow him to seal off potential shot blockers. He lives in the post, and that’s a problem for a team now filled with aggressive forwards that love to attack the basket.  

Muhammad and fellow incoming freshman Jordan Adams make a living attacking the rim and can’t have a big guy clogging up the paint and keeping the defense in the post. Parker needs to really work on his 15-foot jumper to ensure the offense doesn’t get clogged up.

And what about rising juniors David Wear and his brother Travis? Both are 6’10’’ and excel in the post. The frontcourt—and more specifically the paint—is now an incredibly crowded area for UCLA.

The Bruins have gone from a struggling program with off-the-court issues to raking in the top recruiting class in the nation, so fans need not be upset, by any means.

But—I ask again—is this going to be too much of a good thing? Last year Kentucky’s crop of freshman all complimented each other perfectly. UCLA decided to go the route of landing as much talent as possible without thinking about egos and playing style.

The Bruins now have two players that conducted big press conferences to announce their school selection. There is no doubt both Muhammad and Parker want to be the man in Westwood.

It’s going to take a masterful coaching job by Ben Howland to ensure his outstanding freshman can co-exist with each other—with each getting enough touches to stay satisfied. He also has to keep the older Bruins happy, despite losing big minutes.

I’m not here to take away from all of the excitement now surrounding the UCLA hoops team, but there is no question Howland is going to be walking the tight rope to ensure he keeps everybody happy, motivated and focused on UCLA, not the NBA. 

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