1st round pick-some help from Gurus please

[brandies]

Mock drafts have us picking these individuals, any thoughts. I plead ignorant to basketball.

Cedric Simmons (NC State, 6-9, 225, PF, So.)
Hilton Armstrong (UConn, 6-11, 245, PF/C, Sr.)
Alexander Johnson (Florida State, 6-10, 230, Jr.)
Shawne Williams (Memphis, 6-9, 225, SF, Fr.)
Mouhamed Saer Sene, C/F, Verviers-Pepinster (Belgium):

[XxSpearheadxX]

I am torn between Cedric Simmons and Alexander Johnson, I think I like Alexander Johnson better - and part of that is he will be easier to get.


I think unless something happens or AJ farted and answered his cellphone while being interviewed by Eddie Jordan, I really can't see EJ or Ernie passing him up - especially since Kenyon Martin was such an integral part of Jordan's offensive scheme in NJersey and AJ is very similar.

He has a sweet turnaround also and was severely misused by FSU in his Freshman and Junior years, his sophmore year being more Alex's own fault IMO.

[brandies]

Thanks for the information

[santanaistheman]

Simmons and Johnson are probably number 1 and 2 for the wizards right now.

Simmons was very inconsistant for NCST last year. He put up 28 on duke and sheldon williams but didn't do much besides that. Although he is pretty raw and inconsistant he has the ideal NBA PF body and can run the floor extremely well. He is a solid defender and has the ability to turn into a top shot blocker. The wizards are high on him for those reasons as well as his experience with the princeton offense. His is projected as a late lottery pick and the way things are looking right now, in order to get him the wizards will have to trade up.

Alexander Johnson is my personal favorite and as spearhead said he should be easier to get. He is very similar to Simmons in that he has an NBA body, is extremely athletic for a 6-9 6-10 guy, can run the floor extremely well and block shots. He is a physical force and has a decent mid range shot and can even hit the 3 on occasion. He is also an extremely hard worker. His downside is that he is older (23) and never lived up to high expectations at fsu (which wasn't really his fault cause they never had other guys around him who could get him the ball). I believe he is the most overlooked prospect in the draft and will be a major steal in the mid to late 1st round.

[mojobo]

who was the other big man that was pretty good for fsu this year, or am i making stuff up

[Warhead36]

Would love to get Simmons.

Would be happy to get Johnson.

Would be content to get Armstrong.

Would be disappointed to get Sene.

Would be pissed to get Williams.

[clathel]

Would love to get Simmons.

Would be happy to get Johnson.

Would be content to get Armstrong.

Would be disappointed to get Sene.

Would be pissed to get Williams.

You actually want an NCAA kid w/o fundamental basketball skills over an international player that has been taught well the fundametals?
Why would you be disappointed w/Sene?

Maybe you havent read the write up on that kid....with a good offensive coach he could turn into a monster in the middle....he is great defensively but needs help with his passing, catching passes and scoring but is good at boxing out and getting offensive rebounds and great at defensive rebounds and blocks. He has enough speed to cause mismatches at PF and C and enough size to cause mismatches at SF and SG. He is expected to blossom, at best, into a Nowitzki type player....We need a guy with that type of potential....not a slightly above decent bench player like Haywood again and that is what we will get with Williams, Davis, Johnson, Armstrong or Simmons or any other NCAA kid at pick 18 this year.

[Fergasun]

I have no clue who the Wizards will draft nor how that player will play in the NBA...

Drafting in the NBA is like going to Vegas for the weekend.

[Warhead36]

You actually want an NCAA kid w/o fundamental basketball skills over an international player that has been taught well the fundametals?
Why would you be disappointed w/Sene?

Maybe you havent read the write up on that kid....with a good offensive coach he could turn into a monster in the middle....he is great defensively but needs help with his passing, catching passes and scoring but is good at boxing out and getting offensive rebounds and great at defensive rebounds and blocks. He has enough speed to cause mismatches at PF and C and enough size to cause mismatches at SF and SG. He is expected to blossom, at best, into a Nowitzki type player....We need a guy with that type of potential....not a slightly above decent bench player like Haywood again and that is what we will get with Williams, Davis, Johnson, Armstrong or Simmons or any other NCAA kid at pick 18 this year.

By NCAA kid w/o fundamental skills I'm guessing you mean Hilton Armstrong.

I'd rather have Hilton than Sene because he can contribute something right now. Sene may have higher "upside" but how many guys with very high upside bust out? Besides we have enough big men projects.

Sene averaged something like 5 PPG and 3 RPG playing in Belgium or Senegal or wherever the hell he played. He is years away. Not just one or two. He probably won't even be starting material for at least three seasons.

[Nighthawk]

I'll repeat for the umpteenth time, "I would touch Hilton Armstrong with a 10 foot pole."

I will throw a brick through my television if the Wizards draft Hilton Armstrong.

Okay, that's a lie. First, I'd have to go out in the back yard and get one, but then I'd come back and throw a brick through my television if the Wizards draft Hilton Armstrong.

This is the last guy I'd want on my team. I hope some other team in our division or conference picks him so we can be assured that they wasted their 1st round pick.

[XxSpearheadxX]

I don't want Hilton either, but I don't know if I'd go that far about it.


I would be slightly dissapointed though - yet another athletic 6'10 guy who can block shots but isn't the best rebounder, gets pushed around and it is one of the worst finishers around the basket I've seen in a long time.

Oh yeah, we already have him - his name is Jared - and at least he has handles.



As far as the previous post which claimed that Muhmoud Saer Sene projects an optimal end product anything close to dirk nowitzki, I can't really respond to that because I'll just be mean.

There is only one international player in this draft who wouldn't get schooled by any other player in the first round, and that is Bargnani - and he is rare, not your normal european.

Saer didn't even know what a basketball was until he was 18 years old.

[jjcskins]

Saer didn't even know what a basketball was until he was 18 years old.

Didn't you ever see "The Air Up There"?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109067/

:D