2015 NBA Draft Player Rankings: February 28th

With roughly a month to play, the fight for the #1 pick is likely down to three players.  D'Angelo Russell continues to hold on to my top spot in the rankings, but who I'd actually select first would come down to the needs of the team I had.  Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jahlil Okafor are the only three players that have ascended to the top spot in my rankings this season, and I'd be pretty surprised to see any other player selected #1 in June's draft.

2014-2015 PLAYER RANKING LIST
Rank	Player	Position	Team	Height	Weight	Year
1	D'Angelo Russell	SG/PG	Ohio St.	6'5”	180	Freshman
2	Karl-Anthony Towns	C	Kentucky	6'11”	248	Freshman
3	Jahlil Okafor	C	Duke	7'0”	265	Freshman
4	Stanley Johnson	SF/SG	Arizona	6'7”	245	Freshman
5	Daniel Hamilton	SG	UCONN	6'6”	175	Freshman
6	Devin Booker	SG	Kentucky	6'5”	185	Freshman
7	Jerian Grant	PG	Notre Dame	6'5"	202	Senior
8	Cameron Payne	PG	Murray St.	6'2”	180	Sophomore
9	Justise Winslow	SF/SG	Duke	6'6”	218	Freshman
10	Emmanuel Moodiay*	PG	China	6'5”	190	Freshman
11	Bobby Portis	PF	Arkansas	6'10”	231	Sophomore
12	Michael Qualls	SG/SF	Arkansas	6'6”	210	Junior
13	Myles Turner	C	Texas	7'0”	240	Freshman
14	Trey Lyles	PF	Kentucky	6'10”	255	Freshman
15	Domantas Sabonis	PF	Gonzaga	6'11”	210	Freshman
16	Michael Gbinije	SG/SF	Syracuse	6'7”	200	Junior
17	Treveon Graham	SG/SF	VCU	6'6"	220	Senior
18	Malcolm Hill	SG/SF	Illinois	6'6”	230	Sophomore
19	Justin Anderson	SG	Virginia	6'5”	210	Junior
20	Kris Dunn	PG	Providence	6'3"	205	Sophomore
21	Romelo Trimble	PG	Maryland	6'2”	175	Freshman
22	Zak Irvin	SG/SF	Michigan	6'6”	215	Sophomore
23	Kevon Looney	SF	UCLA	6'8”	200	Freshman
24	Taurean Waller-Prince	SF	Baylor	6'7"	215	Junior
25	Denzel Livingston	SG	Incarnate Word	6'4”	178	Senior
26	Corey Hawkins	PG	UC Davis	6'3”	195	Senior
27	Willie Cauley-Stein	C	Kentucky	7'0"	244	Junior
28	Delon Wright	PG	Utah	6'5”	190	Senior
29	Kelly Oubre	SF	Kansas	6'7”	190	Freshman
30	Gary Payton II	PG	Oregon St.	6'3”	175	Junior
31	Frank Kaminsky	PF/C	Wisconsin	7'0”	234	Senior
32	Derrick Marks	PG	Boise St.	6'3"	204	Senior
33	Terry Rozier	PG	Louisville	6'1”	190	Sophomore
34	Rakeem Christmas	PF	Syracuse	6'9"	250	Senior
35	Norman Powell	SG	UCLA	6'4"	215	Senior
36	Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	SF/SG	Arizona	6'6”	220	Sophomore
37	Malcolm Brogdon	SG	Virginia	6'5”	217	Junior
38	Yogi Ferrell	PG	Indiana	6'0"	178	Junior
39	Montrezl Harrell	PF	Louisville	6'8”	235	Junior
40	Jerelle Martin	PF	LSU	6'10”	236	Sophomore
41	Cliff Alexander	PF	Arizona	6'8”	250	Freshman
42	Caris LeVert	SG	Michigan	6'7"	200	Junior
43	Tyrone Wallace	SG/PG	California	6'5”	200	Junior
44	Jamel Artis	PF/SF	Pitt	6'7”	220	Sophomore
45	Christian Wood	PF	UNLV	6'11”	220	Sophomore
46	Jaron Blossomgame	SF	Clemson	6'7”	215	Sophomore
47	Sam Dekkar	SF	Wisconsin	6'9"	220	Junior
48	Buddy Hield	SG	Oklahoma	6'5”	208	Junior
49	Sir'Dominic Pointer	SG/SF	St. John's	6'6"	196	Senior
50	Jordan Mickey	SF	LSU	6'8”	220	Sophomore
51	Dakari Johnson	C	Kentucky	6'11”	260	Sophomore
52	Branden Dawson	SF	Michigan St.	6'6"	225	Senior
53	A.J. English	SG	Iona	6'4”	190	Junior
54	Demetrius Jackson	PG	Notre Dame	6'1”	195	Sophomore
55	Denzel Valentine	PG/SG	Michigan St.	6'5”	220	Junior
56	Corey Walden	PG/SG	E. Kentucky	6'2”	206	Senior
57	Joseph Young	SG/PG	Oregon	6'2”	185	Senior
58	James Blackmon Jr.	SG/PG	Indiana	6'4”	190	Freshman
59	Tyus Jones	PG	Duke	6'1”	171	Freshman
60	Darrun Hilliard	SG	Villanova	6'6"	205	Senior

College Basketball Team Rankings: February 28th

We're a day away from March, and my rankings are still pretty boring at the top.  The top 7 teams have separated themselves as the National Title Contenders for 2015.  While there's a small chance someone from the rest of the pack could pull a miracle, the NCAA Tournament Champion will most likely come from the current top 7.

This week's biggest winners were:

SMU, who moved from #47 in my last poll to #12 this week.  AND

N.C. State, who exploded out of nowhere to debut in the poll at #37 after huge wins at Louisville and North Carolina.

2015 Team Rankings		Games Seen	Last
1	Kentucky	10	02/17/15
2	Duke	12	02/18/15
3	Wisconsin	8	02/15/15
4	Virginia	8	02/07/15
5	Arizona	9	02/21/15
6	Gonzaga	8	02/21/15
7	Villanova	9	02/14/15
8	Kansas	12	01/24/15
9	Notre Dame	8	01/28/15
10	Iowa St.	6	02/14/15
11	Utah	10	02/22/15
12	SMU	3	02/07/15
13	Oklahoma	7	01/19/15
14	Louisville	8	02/07/15
15	Maryland	7	02/11/15
16	Michigan St.	6	02/22/15
17	West Virginia	5	02/14/15
18	Arkansas	6	02/14/15
19	Murray St.	3	01/22/15
20	Baylor	8	02/09/15
21	Syracuse	8	02/14/15
22	UNC	21	02/24/15
23	Ohio St.	9	01/29/15
24	Oklahoma St.	6	02/09/15
25	Tulsa	4	02/12/15
26	Texas	8	01/24/15
27	N. Iowa	6	01/31/15
28	Wichita St.	8	01/31/15
29	Butler	5	02/14/15
30	Georgetown	7	02/17/15
31	Purdue	3	02/19/15
32	Xavier	4	01/31/15
33	Temple	2	02/10/15
34	Ole Miss	4	02/14/15
35	Iowa	4	02/25/15
36	Pittsburgh	2	02/14/15
37	N.C. State	6	02/24/15
38	St. John's	7	02/17/15
39	UCONN	7	02/12/15
40	C. Michigan	1	01/06/15
41	Miami	3	01/17/15
42	Providence	5	02/11/15
43	Indiana	6	02/19/15
44	Illinois	8	02/25/15
45	Oregon	7	02/22/15
46	UCLA	9	02/21/15
47	Texas A&M	3	02/04/15
48	Toledo	2	01/06/15
49	LSU	6	02/10/15
50	VCU	6	01/31/15
	On the Radar
	Cincinnati	5	02/10/15
	San Diego St.	6	02/08/15
	Boise St.	6	02/08/15
	BYU	4	12/27/14
	Buffalo	4	02/21/15
	Georgia	5	01/14/15
	Clemson	3	01/17/15
	Michigan	7	01/13/15
	UC Davis	3	02/19/15
	Stanford	3	12/23/14
	Kansas St.	4	01/17/15
	Memphis	3	01/15/15
	Colorado St.	4	01/24/15
	Iona	3	02/13/15
	Stephen F. Austin	2	02/14/15
	Louisiana Tech	2	01/29/15

Team Assessments: Duke Blue Devils

Right now I think Duke is probably the second best team in college basketball.  The problem for the Blue Devils is there are many challengers for the second position, while #1 Kentucky is light years ahead of everyone else.

Freshman center Jahlil Okafor is unstoppable on the offensive end, but that's hardly the only weapon Duke has at its disposal.  Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, Matt Jones, and Grayson Allen give the Blue Devils four deadly shooters from three-point range, while Cook and Tyus Jones provide two point-guard options more than capable of running the team.  Justise Winslow is a future first-round NBA draft pick who does everything well.  He's a lock-down defender who loves doing the dirty work, but he can also carry the load offensively when needed.  He's a fiery competitor who brings fight and toughness to the team, an area where inside players Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee make solid contributions as well.

Duke's major weakness is at the defensive end of the floor.  Duke's starting guards are small and often lack the size and strength to lock down their opponents.  The Blue Devils have been victimized by opposing guards in all three of their losses this season, but Coach K found a great way to compensate by employing a zone defense against Louisville's lightning quick guard tandem.  He'll likely need to use that zone several more times this season, and I'm sure he'll know when to do it.

As good as likely #1 pick Jahlil Okafor is offensively, his defense leaves a lot to be desired.  He isn't explosively athletic, and a majority of the time he doesn't appear to be working very hard on the defensive end.  He's also very confused when he's pulled away from the basket, often finding himself out of position and leaving open lanes to the rim. 

The best sign for Duke this season is they've risen to the occasion in the biggest games.  After losing a late lead at Notre Dame, Duke went on the road and beat then-unbeaten Virginia.  They followed that great comeback with a total destruction of the Fighting Irish in the rematch of their last loss, then knocked off Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. 

 

Duke hosts North Carolina tonight in what is always a huge game, but today's tilt has the potential to get ugly fast.  This Tar Heel team has shown a lack of fight and toughness much too often this season, and if they come into Cameron Indoor Stadium with this same weak mentality they could get blown out of the building early on.  I'm hoping for a special performance from a UNC team that desperately needs a confidence booster, but I've fully prepared myself for another disappointing loss.  This Duke team is very good, and they're one of the few teams with a shot at cutting down the nets at the end of the season.

Team Assessments: Kentucky Wildcats

 

The 2015 Kentucky Wildcats have a very real chance to be the best team in college basketball history.  No team has even come close to matching their combination of size, length, and athleticism, and these qualities combined with their extreme competitive toughness make this version of Kentucky the greatest defensive team I've ever seen.  They're bigger, faster, and more talented than anyone in the nation, and it will take a heroic effort from one of the other top teams mixed with a sub-par game by the Wildcats to knock them off.

The only chink in the armor is the fact that Kentucky doesn't play its best lineup that often.  When the Wildcats put the lineup of Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Willie Cauley-Stein on the floor, they will blow out anyone in the country every time.  Luckily for the rest of the teams in college basketball, this lineup doesn't spend a whole lot of time on the court together.  Despite this, every combination plays with great toughness and effort, and their roster is stocked with seven-footers, outside shooters, and lock-down defenders.  Beating them is almost impossible.

One other potential road block to their undefeated season is that center Willie Cauley-Stein is the only consistent contributor who has completed his sophomore season.  Kentucky's youth could certainly be an issue if someone manages to jump out to a early lead in the tournament, but I still think their plethora of future NBA stars will ultimately rise to the occasion.  No team in the country has anywhere near the talent Kentucky possesses, and Coach Calipari has his team playing as hard as anyone on a nightly basis.  It's pretty hard to envision anyone stopping the Wildcats from winning their second title in four seasons, but crazier things have happened.

College Basketball Team Rankings: February 14th

There wasn't much change at the top, but there was a good amount of activity in the bottom half of my college basketball rankings this week.  The big winner in this edition was the Mid-American Conference.  Central Michigan and Toledo gave the little-known conference two spots in this week's top 50, while three other members sit just outside but on the radar.

2015 Team Rankings		Games Seen	Last
1	Kentucky	9	02/10/15
2	Duke	10	02/09/15
3	Virginia	7	02/02/15
4	Gonzaga	6	01/15/15
5	Arizona	8	01/18/15
6	Kansas	11	01/19/15
7	Wisconsin	7	12/31/14
8	Oklahoma	7	01/19/15
9	Notre Dame	8	01/28/15
10	UNC	17	02/07/15
11	Louisville	7	01/31/15
12	Ohio St.	8	01/13/15
13	Villanova	7	12/31/14
14	Murray St.	3	01/22/15
15	Maryland	6	02/11/15
16	Oklahoma St.	5	01/06/15
17	Iowa St.	5	01/17/15
18	Baylor	7	01/17/15
19	Utah	8	01/18/15
20	Iowa	3	12/20/14
21	Arkansas	5	01/22/15
22	Indiana	5	02/11/15
23	Wichita St.	7	01/11/15
24	Texas A&M	3	02/04/15
25	West Virginia	4	01/17/15
26	Butler	4	01/13/15
27	Syracuse	7	01/26/15
28	Michigan St.	5	02/07/15
29	Stephen F. Austin	1	11/18/14
30	Georgetown	6	01/13/15
31	Illinois	5	02/07/15
32	LSU	6	02/10/15
33	Pittsburgh	1	12/13/14
34	Xavier	3	12/28/14
35	Boise St.	5	02/08/15
36	Georgia	5	01/14/15
37	Purdue	2	12/31/14
38	Miami	3	01/17/15
39	VCU	6	01/31/15
40	N. Iowa	5	01/01/15
41	Texas	7	01/17/15
42	Clemson	3	01/17/15
43	Providence	4	01/31/15
44	Ole Miss	3	02/04/15
45	Oregon	5	12/22/14
46	Cincinnati	3	01/03/15
47	SMU	2	01/03/15
48	Toledo	2	01/06/15
49	C. Michigan	1	01/06/15
50	E. Washington	2	12/20/14
	On the Radar
	Akron	2	02/07/15
	Bowling Green	1	01/21/15
	Tulsa	2	01/13/15
	Buffalo	3	02/07/15
	St. John's	6	01/31/15
	San Diego St.	5	02/08/15
	Michigan	7	01/13/15
	UCONN	6	01/13/15
	Oregon St.	5	02/11/15
	Temple	1	12/14/14
	UC Davis	2	01/10/15
	E. Kentucky	1	02/05/15
	Georgia St.	1	11/17/14
	Iona	2	02/06/15
	California	6	12/22/14
	UCLA	7	02/11/15
	BYU	4	12/27/14