NBA Draft 2011: Jimmer Fredette and 10 Top Names Faltering Before the Draft
The 2011 NBA Draft is only a week away, and many top players that were high on most expert's lists have fallen down the ranks a little bit since the draft talk started a few months back.
Some players were built off of the hype they had during this past season in college basketball and have somewhat fizzled out during the months after the NCAA season ending.
Here are Jimmer Fredette and the top 10 names that are losing ground before the NBA Draft takes place next week.
1. Jimmer Fredette, Guard, BYU
1 of 10
During a whirlwind season at BYU this past year, guard Jimmer Fredette had all the basketball world following his every move despite the lack of coverage available to the common fan due to the Mountain West's terrible TV deal that had them exclusively on their The Mountain Network, CBS Sports College Network and Versus—except for tournaments and the one game that CBS picked-up form CBS College Sports when Mountain West power-houses San Diego State and BYU met back in February.
The 23-year-old Fredette led the nation in scoring with 28.9 PPG to go along with 3.4 rebounds and 4.3 assist per game last season.
Jimmer is known to be able shoot the ball virtually from anywhere and could be expected to hit just about an shot he put up. Jimmer taking 28'-30' three-point shots was very common this past season, a feature that helped build up Jimmer Nation this past season.
At the end of the NCAA tournament when all the NBA Draft talk started JImmer Fredette was high on most experts' list despite his lack of NBA size coming in at 6'3" (really is more like 6'2")which should be cause for concern seeing that Fredette will be a point guard in the NBA and his passing skills are far less sound than his shooting ability—not to mention question marks surrounding his defensive play.
After being ranked as high as No. 8 on some expert's mock draft's in April, Fredette has falling slowly but surely, now being predicted to be taken in the 15-20 range. This can be attributed to the Jimmer Mania cooling off a bit since he is not on ESPN every night with his highlight reel of his latest playing over-and-over.
2. Tristan Thompson, Forward, Texas
2 of 10
Tristan Thompson's stock has fallen not for what he has done, but rather what he has yet to do.
Thompson has one year of college ball under his belt—which was pretty impressive averaging 13 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game—but many feel he still has a lot of room to grow and improve on, which he would be better suited doing that in the college ranks opposed to the NBA.
He was once being talked bout going as high as the No. 4 pick. Now in most mock draft's Thompson is usually around the 13-17 range.
3. Donatas Motiejunas, Power Forward, Lithuania
3 of 10
The seven-foot tall Donatas Motiejunas has the potential to be a powerful presence in the paint, but he needs to add to his 220—pound frame which is far undersized for his height.
He already is known as a reliable scorer in Lithuania, and is a skilled passer for a player of his size.
He is falling in the ranks due to his thin build (as noted earlier), his lack of a quality perimeter shooting, and his habit of expressing poor body language when he is not having his best game.
He was considered a late lottery pick, around the 10-13 range, but now is being projected to be selected in the 19-23 pick in the draft.
With a lot of bulking up and some work on his outside game, Motiejunas could be come a dominant player at the five spot for any team willing to put in the necessary work to get him where he can be.
4. Darius Morris, Point Guard, Michigan
4 of 10
Darius Morris is an above average sized point guard who has the potential to be a top ten pick. Unfortunately his shooting needs to be improved along with a list of other area of his game so he has been falling down the draft ladder since the first mock drafts started to pop up in the spring.
With his size advantage, Morris has the opportunity to shine in the NBA at the point, but first and for most he needs to start making strides a becoming a more reliable shooter to go along with his great court vision and ball control.
Morris could be a top 13 pick if he stayed in college another year and worked on his offensive game more, since that's out of the question he has fallen to the 20-26 range in this year's draft.
Morris averaged a modest 15 points per game and 6.7 assist in his sophomore year at Michigan. He would benefit his game more if he stayed at least one more year at Michigan to better his skills there—case-in-point Jimmer Fredette returning for his senior year when he couldn't get a promise from an NBA team to be selected in the first round last year.
Again, like a lot of the picks in this year's draft it will be a gamble taking some of the player's who have excellent potential, but we all know just because the potential is there, not every player has the determination or motivation to reach that potential.
5. Nikola Vucevic, Center, USC
5 of 10
With the 7'0" Nikola Vucevic being compared to Enes Kantar, his draft position keeps slipping due to Kantar having a slight edge on who's the better of the two.
Even though one might think the next team in line after Kantar is selected would just take Vucevic as a consolation is wrong.
Even though it has nothing to do with his game, the comparison hurts Vucevic in my eyes, since people are associating him with someone who is more revered and can give the wrong feel for a player when they are being called the weaker of the two.
Aspects of his game that are hurting his draft position are his lack of natural athletic talent and his below-average ball handling skills. With most big men in the league now having somewhat decent ball control, this area hurts Vucevic the most, because if you can't trust him to be able to protect the ball when he is banging down low to get a high percentage shot off, then his size is pretty much a non-factor.
6. Bismack Biyombo, Power Forward, Spain
6 of 10
Bismack Biyombo came-out of nowhere and was quickly at the top of many analyst's mock draft bards early on.
Biyomobo is known for his extraordinary athleticism and his defensive and rebounding prowess. The biggest soft spot with his game would be his offensive play.
After receiving little playing time in his last season in the Spanish league, the ACB, He only averaged 6.6 points per-game to go along with his 4.3 blocked shots a game, in just 16 minutes per game.
HE has started to fall because he had no real big opportunities to prove that he has worked on his offensive game. He also has question marks about how old he really is. Some reports state that he is 18 and some have him as old as 22 years old.
7. Enes Kanter, Center, Turkey
7 of 10
Enes Kanter, the 6'11" center from Turkey, was high on many experts list's early on. Some even had him going in the top four picks in the 2011 draft.
Now Kanter is slipping which can be largely due to him not being allowed to play with Kentucky this past season after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Instead of going back to Turkey and playing over there until the draft rolled around he opted to stay at Kentucky and go to school.
Now he will be going on close to a ear without any real in-game play, and it hasn't allowed him a proper showcase to give scouts a little taste of what he has been working on over the past year.
Whatever team takes a chance with Kanter will reap the biggest benefits of any team that will draft a player with lingering questions about his play.
I feel that Kanter has the biggest up-side out of anyone in the first round and it's would be a shame for him to fall out of the top ten in this year's NBA Draft.
8. Alec Burks, Point Guard, Colorado
8 of 10
Coming in hot out of the cold University of Colorado, Alec Burks, a 6'6" shooting guard has begun to free fall a bit in the draft rankings.
I have seen him projected to be selected as high as No. 6 and now I'm getting the feeling he will go anywhere from the 11-17 range.
Falling out of the exclusive lottery pick zone will cost him big bucks when it come down to contract signing time.
His fall in the rankings is mostly in part to his lack of a consistent three-point shot—got the majority of his almost 21 points-per game with his excellent ability to penetrate the lane—and his poor play when he is without the ball.
Besides that he is praised for his athletic ability and his natural ability to score, so getting his outside shot to the level his penetration game is key to Burks success in the NBA.
9. Josh Selby, Point Guard, Kentucky
9 of 10
Even though 6'1" Josh Selby missed the first nine games for the Kentucky Wildcats for rules violations, he the Kentucky and thought he would for go his three remaining years left at Kentucky and give the NBA a shot.
After a rocky start, Selby showed signs of why he was the No.1 prospect coming out of high school in 2010. Then he suffered another set-back when he injured his foot in January of this year and wasn't the same player after.
If Selby was to stay in college at-least one more season and show why he was so highly touted coming out of high school he may very well be a top five pick and on his way to early success in the NBA.
Instead he will face a lot of skepticism and will have to work on his game against the best players in the world, something that is easier said than done and could test one's confidence.
10. Shelvin Mack, Point Guard, Butler
10 of 10
Shelvin Mack was great to watch in college playing for the Butler Bulldogs. He was a critical part in their consecutive national title game bids, which has put Butler on the NCAA map.
After averaging 16 points per game in his final year at Butler, his upside is he is an incredible penetrater who has tremendous ball handling skills.
His downsides are that even though he has range on his shot, he is still thought of as an inconstant jump shooter who lacks the NBA level of athleticism.
Out of the 10 players listed in my list, Mack is the only one I see falling out of the first round—where he had been a projected mid-to-late first round choice— and into right into the second round, where if the right team picks him up, he could turn into a steal down the line.
