Adam Morrison and Leon Powe made official Wednesday
afternoon what had long been expected.
The Gonzaga and Cal forwards
announced that they were entering their names into the NBA Draft pools, Morrison
leaving no doubt that he was forfeiting his final season of eligibility with the
Bulldogs while Powe left the door slightly ajar for the possibility of his
returning for at least one of the two remaining seasons he could play for the
Golden Bears if he was so inclined.
It’s difficult to envision a
scenario in which the 6-foot-8 Morrison slips too far away from the first five
selections on the evening of June 28.
But, although he isn’t nearly as
well thought of as Morrison is by NBA talent evaluators, the consensus of NBA
talent evaluators is that Powe, who scouts believe is a bit shorter than his
listed 6-8, has also played his final college game.
First, thoughts on their NBA
potential:
Morrison should almost immediately
be a dependable scorer for any franchise that drafts him and, eventually, could
evolve into a player capable of averaging something close to 20 points per
game.
Offensively, there isn’t much he is
lacking. He’s already got a highest-level “middle game”, with an uncanny ability
to score while floating through the lane, even while being challenged by shot
blockers. Other than J.J. Redick,
there hasn’t been a player on the college level in quite a while who moves as
well off the ball as Morrison does.
He’s slick and clever enough with
the ball to beat most defenders off the dribble, he has a solid post-up game and
is an underrated passer – especially into post.
Yes, his quickness is a lot closer
to “mediocre” than “exceptional” but his baseline to baseline speed is better
than many realize.
He’ll be an “average” to “pretty
good” rebounder, in large part because of his nose for the ball, exceptional
hands and determination.
As for his ability as a defender .
. . well, relax. The bashing is unwarranted. Not many college All-Americas,
especially those (like Morrison) whose teams spent a great deal of time playing
zone, come into the NBA as very good defenders.
Powe is quick, strong and
determined enough to be a pretty good rebounder on the NBA level, even as an
“undersized four (power forward)”.
His perimeter shot is decent,
although he isn’t much of a driving threat after more than a couple of
dribbles.
Many scouts voice the same praise,
as well as concerns, over his NBA potential as they do when discussing Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech), another
comparable-sized underclassmen who has tossed his name into the draft
mix.
So, how good will Gonzaga be
without Morrison and Cal (likely) without Powe?
I’d say better than some might
suspect right now.
With Derek Raivio, Pierre
Marie-Altidor-Cespedes and Jeremy Pargo returning and joined by the mostly highly recruited guard (Matt Bouldin of Colorado) the Bulldogs have
signed from the school ranks, the team’s backcourt play should be considerably
improved.
David Pendergraft will get first dibs
on Morrison’s spot in the lineup but he’ll pushed for playing time once Kansas
transfer Micah Downs – the only
McDonald’s All-America to enroll at Gonzaga – becomes eligible in
mid-December.
And returnees Sean Mallon and Josh Heytvelt (who could blossom into a
full-fledged star next season, if healthy and if consistent) should be more than
capable in the post positions.
Even without Morrison, the Bulldogs
should only “slip” into the 15 to 25 stratosphere of the preseason
ratings.
As for Cal, the Golden Bears –
despite the probable loss of the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading scorer and
rebounder in Powe – should return to
the NCAA Tournament and could make a
run at a conference title, especially if UCLA (Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo) and Arizona (Mustafa Shakur) take a backcourt hit
via the loss of underclassmen to the NBA Draft and Washington can’t adequately
replace everything that Brandon Roy
gave the Huskies.
You can count on 6-10 DeVon Hardin becoming one of the
country’s dominant low-post players next season as a junior. His averages as a
sophomore (7.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) don’t begin to illustrate why
NBA people think so much of his long-term potential as a power forward in their
league.
Ayinde Ubaka (14.5 points and 3.8
assists per game) will go into his senior season as one of the most underrated
guards in the country – just like
Roy did in
Seattle this past season. He’s not
nearly the overall player that Roy
is but there aren’t going to be many better playmakers anywhere.
Omar Wilkes will team with Ubaka to
form one of the West’s best backcourts. And look for Ben Braun’s undervalued (nationally)
recruiting class to pay immediate dividends.
BOUNCING AROUND THE
COUNTRY:
*Look for Vance Walberg, hired away from
Fresno
City
College Tuesday as the coach at
Pepperdine, to bring as much commitment to full-court defense and fast-paced
offense as nearly any program in the country.
He coached Stanford guard Chris Hernandez at
Fresno’s Clovis West High and his
teams routinely beat clubs in
California with more talent
(including Santa Ana Mater Dei and Compton Dominguez) because of their
pressing/trapping style of defense and rapid-fire, fast-breaking approach to
offense.
*The likely 2007-08 NCAA Freshman
of the Year was on display for the Southern California All-Stars during an
Easter high school traveling team tournament in Las
Vegas.
Center Kevin Love (who is currently a junior
at Lake Oswego in Oregon) helped the SoCal team overwhelm some pretty good
opposition and he will be doing some overwhelming himself during his freshman
(and, likely, only) season on the college level.
He can have every bit the impact
that Greg Oden will have for the
Ohio State Buckeyes next season.
Where will he play in college? He
lists Duke, North Carolina and
UCLA as his final three choices.
But it was hard finding anyone in
Las Vegas who doesn’t think he’ll
eventual suit up for the Bruins.
“We’re going to playing against
that guy in two seasons,” a Pac 10 head coach said Saturday night, shaking his
head while watching Love demonstrate more low-post polish than many NBA centers
and throwing outlet passes that would have made the two greatest ever at it, Bill Walton and Wes Unseld, proud.
*Kelly Williams, a coach for the
Southern California All-Stars team that won the Las Vegas Tournament, is the
father of Connecticut junior Marcus Williams.
He said that his son (expected to
be the first “pure” point guard drafted) will announce his intentions of
entering the NBA Draft pool next week.
*Just checking: Has
North Carolina
State hired a coach yet?
Inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame last April, Frank Burlison is Scout.com’s national basketball expert and is also a columnist for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He can be reached at frank.burlison@presstelegram.com.
Read more of Burlison’s pieces at www.frankhoops.com.