Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving Topic - Eaton, (Not Eating)

After Oklahoma St. fell to 1-2 at the Maui invitational and 2-3 on the season, Doug Gottlieb’s head seemed like it was about to explode. And his main complaint was the lack of development of McDonald’s All-American Guard Byron Eaton.

Byron Eaton, Okl. St.  PPG  RPG  APG  MPG 
Freshman               7.8  2.3  3.2 23.7 
Sophomore              7.7  2.6  3.6 24.7 
First Junior Games     6.2  2.8  3.0 20.4 


Eaton’s numbers are worse when you consider Oklahoma St. is really hoping he’ll still be a star for his team. Bobby Frasor’s PPG also went down last year, but his role was largely supplanted by Ty Lawson.

Bobby Frasor, UNC      PPG  RPG  APG  MPG 
Freshman               6.4  2.2  4.4 27.5 
Sophomore              2.4  0.7  1.6 10.1 
First Junior Games     5.3  1.3  2.0 16.0 


Outside of Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts, the Junior McDonald’s All-American class was never hyped to the same degree as the recent classes. This was because it was the last class to have players jump straight to the NBA. In fact, seven of the MAA’s went straight to the NBA, and two others (McRoberts and Julian Wright) jumped last year. Here’s how the other 15 have fared in their debut games this year:

Juniors                PPG  RPG  APG  MPG Results
Richard Hendrix, Alab 25.0 15.7  1.7 30.3 L Belmont, W Troy, Mercer
Jon Brockman, Wash.   22.5 12.5  1.3 30.8 L TexasA&M, W Utah, EWash, NJTech
Tyler Hansbrough, UNC 22.3 10.3  0.3 25.7 Beat Davidson, Iona, SC State
Eric Devendorf, Syr   15.8  3.0  4.3 37.3 L Ohio St., W St. Joes, Siena, Fordham
Korvotney Barber, Aub 15.0  8.0  0.8 26.5 L Tulane, W Kenn, AlabSt, CharS
Danny Green, UNC      13.7  5.0  1.7 20.3 Beat Davidson, Iona, SC State
Mario Chalmers, Kans  12.0  2.8  5.8 26.8 Beat NAriz,ULMon,UMKC,Washb
Brandon Costner, NCSt 10.3  8.0  2.7 32.3 L New Orleans, W W&M, Rider
Greg Paulus, Duke      8.0  2.2  4.6 26.6 Beat Marq,Ill,Princ,NewMexSt,NCCen
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU   7.3  5.7  2.0 22.0 L OklSt,ArSt, W Cham,SELou,McN
Byron Eaton, Okl. St.  6.2  2.8  3.0 20.4 L Marq,Ill, NTex, W LSU,PVAM
Bobby Frasor, UNC      5.3  1.3  2.0 16.0 Beat Davidson, Iona, SC State
Luke Zeller, N. Dame   5.0  2.5  0.8 14.8 L G. Tech, Baylor, W Monmouth, LIU


Two players transferred and are starting their first full year with their new teams:

Transfers              PPG  RPG  APG  MPG Results
Micah Downs, Gonzaga   6.7  4.3  2.0 26.0 Beat Montana, Idaho, UCRiverside
Eric Boateng, Ariz St  5.0  4.3  0.0 15.0 L Illinois, W LSU, Princeton


Many of the above names are known nationally, but it is worth noting that three of these players appear to have taken a more starring role in their junior season:

Richard Hendrix, Alab  PPG  RPG  APG  MPG 
Freshman               9.4  8.0  0.8 27.1 
Sophomore             14.6  8.7  1.9 27.6 
First Junior Games    25.0 15.7  1.7 30.3 
     
Jon Brockman, Wash.    PPG  RPG  APG  MPG 
Freshman               8.4  6.5  0.7 24.1 
Sophomore             14.2  9.6  1.1 28.8 
First Junior Games    22.5 12.5  1.3 30.8 
          
Korvotney Barber, Aub  PPG  RPG  APG  MPG 
Freshman               6.8  4.8  0.4 21.3 
Sophomore             11.3  6.6  1.1 25.5 
First Junior Games    15.0  8.0  0.8 26.5


It is unclear whether or not they can keep this up, but if you haven’t heard about Hendrix, Brockman, and Barber in the hype for Love, Mayo, and Beasley, maybe you should have.

Tournament Action

Again, I’ve been too busy eating Apple Pie and Turkey to watch much basketball, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

CBE Classic: UCLA made a terrific second half rally to defeat Michigan St. late Tuesday Night.

Maui Invitational: The final day produced three good games, Chaminade edged Princeton, Arizona St. edged LSU, and Duke edged Marquette.

NIT: Jonny Flynn’s early heroics came to an end as he went 0-6 from the floor and watched fellow freshman MAA Kosta Koufos make a statement. And despite a 21-15 double double from Jon Brockman (listed above), Washington fell to Texas A&M in the other semifinal.

Great Alaska Shootout: For the second year in a row, Butler found early tournament success, crushing Michigan in the first quarterfinal matchup. Butler will face Virginia Tech on Friday.

The Anaheim Classic and Old Spice Classic are just kicking off. I’ll have more comments later in the week. Happy Thanksgiving!