2015 NBA Draft Rankings: February 14th, Featured Player Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns was the biggest winner in this week's NBA Draft Rankings, jumping up two spots to #2 overall.  Towns is blessed with tremendous size and athleticism, but it was his toughness and physicality against a very good LSU front line that earned him the rankings jump.

If you look around at other ranking lists, you'll find that Duke center Jahlil Okafor is #1 in almost every one.  While Okafor is as polished offensively as any college big man I've seen in a long time, he doesn't play with anywhere near the effort and fight that Towns does.  Towns imposes his will on the game at all times and never takes a play off.  He seemingly grabs every ball that comes close to his area, and he dominates the glass in his 20 minutes per game.  This mentality wins games, and players who play like this work hard to improve.

While Towns' offensive game isn't quite as smooth as Okafor's, it's not that far off.  Okafor has better touch around the basket, but Towns is much better dealing with contact.  Physical play can take Okafor out of position and out of his game at times, while Towns appears to thrive on it.  Towns runs the court extremely well, has a great jump hook, and nearly always wins the battle for position down low.  He's even shown a very nice looking outside jump-shot.

Towns is also the much better defensive player.  He's an intimidating rim defender, blocking over two shots per game in his limited minutes.  He uses his length and athleticism to deny opponents around the basket, and he has the quickness to keep up with smaller players on the perimeter.  Towns is also far better when it comes to being in the right position and helping his teammates defensively.  For all these reasons, Karl-Anthony Towns has now taken over the #1 center spot.

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	Stanley Johnson	SF/SG	Arizona	6'7”	245	Freshman
4	Jahlil Okafor	C	Duke	7'0”	265	Freshman
5	Devin Booker	SG	Kentucky	6'5”	185	Freshman
6	Bobby Portis	PF	Arkansas	6'10”	231	Sophomore
7	Jerian Grant	PG	Notre Dame	6'5"	202	Senior
8	Cameron Payne	PG	Murray St.	6'2”	180	Sophomore
9	Gary Payton II	PG	Oregon St.	6'3”	175	Junior
10	Michael Qualls	SG/SF	Arkansas	6'6”	210	Junior
11	Treveon Graham	SG/SF	VCU	6'6"	220	Senior
12	Emmanuel Moodiay*	PG	China	6'5”	190	Freshman
13	Myles Turner	C	Texas	7'0”	240	Freshman
14	Cliff Alexander	PF	Arizona	6'8”	250	Freshman
15	Jerelle Martin	PF	LSU	6'10”	236	Sophomore
16	Malcolm Hill	SG/SF	Illinois	6'6”	230	Sophomore
17	Trey Lyles	PF	Kentucky	6'10”	255	Freshman
18	Domantas Sabonis	PF	Gonzaga	6'11”	210	Freshman
19	Kelly Oubre	SF	Kansas	6'7”	190	Freshman
20	Justin Anderson	SG	Virginia	6'5”	210	Junior
21	Caris LeVert	SG	Michigan	6'7"	200	Junior
22	Delon Wright	PG	Utah	6'5”	190	Senior
23	Derrick Marks	PG	Boise St.	6'3"	204	Senior
24	Daniel Hamilton	SG	UCONN	6'6”	175	Freshman
25	Justise Winslow	SF/SG	Duke	6'6”	218	Freshman
26	Taurean Waller-Prince	SF	Baylor	6'7"	215	Junior
27	Kevon Looney	SF	UCLA	6'8”	200	Freshman
28	Zak Irvin	SG/SF	Michigan	6'6”	215	Sophomore
29	Buddy Hield	SG	Oklahoma	6'5”	208	Junior
30	Corey Hawkins	PG	UC Davis	6'3”	195	Senior
31	Dorian Finney-Smith	SF/PF	Florida	6'8"	218	Junior
32	Malcolm Brogdon	SG	Virginia	6'5”	217	Junior
33	Rakeem Christmas	PF	Syracuse	6'9"	250	Senior
34	Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	SF/SG	Arizona	6'6”	220	Sophomore
35	Terry Rozier	PG	Louisville	6'1”	190	Sophomore
36	Montrezl Harrell	PF	Louisville	6'8”	235	Junior
37	Tyrone Wallace	SG/PG	California	6'5”	200	Junior
38	Jordan Mickey	SF	LSU	6'8”	220	Sophomore
39	Frank Kaminsky	PF/C	Wisconsin	7'0”	234	Senior
40	Sam Dekkar	SF	Wisconsin	6'9"	220	Junior
41	Christian Wood	PF	UNLV	6'11”	220	Sophomore
42	Kris Dunn	PG	Providence	6'3"	205	Sophomore
43	Jaron Blossomgame	SF	Clemson	6'7”	215	Sophomore
44	Jamel Artis	PF/SF	Pitt	6'7”	220	Sophomore
45	Denzel Livingston	SG	Incarnate Word	6'4”	178	Senior
46	Michael Gbinije	SG/SF	Syracuse	6'7”	200	Junior
47	Yogi Ferrell	PG	Indiana	6'0"	178	Junior
48	Romelo Trimble	PG	Maryland	6'2”	175	Freshman
49	Sir'Dominic Pointer	SG/SF	St. John's	6'6"	196	Senior
50	Jakob Poeltl	C	Utah	7'0”	235	Freshman
51	Dillon Brooks	SF/SG	Oregon	6'5”	205	Freshman
52	Willie Cauley-Stein	C	Kentucky	7'0"	244	Junior
53	LeBryan Nash	SF	Oklahoma St	6'7"	220	Senior
54	Wayne Selden	SG	Kansas	6'5”	230	Sophomore
55	Dakari Johnson	C	Kentucky	6'11”	260	Sophomore
56	Corey Walden	PG/SG	E. Kentucky	6'2”	206	Senior
57	Georges Niang	SF	Iowa St.	6'8"	230	Junior
58	David Laury	PF	Iona	6'9”	245	Senior
59	Xavier Rathan-Mayes	PG	Florida St.	6'4”	180	Freshman
60	A.J. English	SG	Iona	6'4”	190	Junior
61	R.J. Hunter	SG	Georgia St.	6'6”	190	Junior
62	Tyler Harvey	SG	E. Washington	6'4”	185	Sophomore
63	Angel Delgado	PF	Seton Hall	6'9”	215	Freshman
64	Demetrius Jackson	PG	Notre Dame	6'1”	195	Sophomore
65	Xavier Johnson	SF	Colorado	6'7”	230	Junior
66	James Blackmon Jr.	SG/PG	Indiana	6'4”	190	Freshman
67	Ron Baker	SG	Wichita St.	6'3”	222	Junior
68	Branden Dawson	SF	Michigan St.	6'6"	225	Senior
69	Anthony Brown	SG/SF	Stanford	6'6"	215	Senior
70	D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera	SG/PG	Georgetown	6'3”	218	Junior

2015 NBA Draft Rankings: February 6th

Not much has changed at the top of my NBA Draft Rankings over the past couple weeks, but things have and will continue to fluctuate as we head into the last month of the regular season.  Last time I listed the top 100, but this time only 66 are worthy of a spot on the list.

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	Jahlil Okafor	C	Duke	7'0”	265	Freshman
3	Stanley Johnson	SF/SG	Arizona	6'7”	245	Freshman
4	Karl Towns Jr	C	Kentucky	6'11”	248	Freshman
5	Devin Booker	SG	Kentucky	6'5”	185	Freshman
6	Bobby Portis	PF	Arkansas	6'10”	231	Sophomore
7	Myles Turner	C	Texas	7'0”	240	Freshman
8	Jerian Grant	PG	Notre Dame	6'5"	202	Senior
9	Treveon Graham	SG/SF	VCU	6'6"	220	Senior
10	Cliff Alexander	PF	Arizona	6'8”	250	Freshman
11	Buddy Hield	SG	Oklahoma	6'5”	208	Junior
12	Trey Lyles	PF	Kentucky	6'10”	255	Freshman
13	Domantas Sabonis	PF	Gonzaga	6'11”	210	Freshman
14	Justin Anderson	SG	Virginia	6'5”	210	Junior
15	Emmanuel Moodiay?	PG	China	6'5”	190	Freshman
16	Gary Payton II	PG	Oregon St.	6'3”	175	Junior
17	Caris LeVert	SG	Michigan	6'7"	200	Junior
18	Michael Qualls	SG/SF	Arkansas	6'6”	210	Junior
19	Kelly Oubre	SF	Kansas	6'7”	190	Freshman
20	Corey Hawkins	PG	UC Davis	6'3”	195	Senior
21	Derrick Marks	PG	Boise St.	6'3"	204	Senior
22	Malcolm Hill	SG/SF	Illinois	6'6”	230	Sophomore
23	Daniel Hamilton	SG	UCONN	6'6”	175	Freshman
24	Dorian Finney-Smith	SF/PF	Florida	6'8"	218	Junior
25	Jordan Mickey	SF	LSU	6'8”	220	Sophomore
26	Kevon Looney	SF	UCLA	6'8”	200	Freshman
27	Cameron Payne	PG	Murray St.	6'2”	180	Sophomore
28	Malcolm Brogdon	SG	Virginia	6'5”	217	Junior
29	Justise Winslow	SF/SG	Duke	6'6”	218	Freshman
30	Delon Wright	PG	Utah	6'5”	190	Senior
31	Terry Rozier	PG	Louisville	6'1”	190	Sophomore
32	Rakeem Christmas	PF	Syracuse	6'9"	250	Senior
33	Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	SF/SG	Arizona	6'6”	220	Sophomore
34	Montrezl Harrell	PF	Louisville	6'8”	235	Junior
35	Tyrone Wallace	SG/PG	California	6'5”	200	Junior
36	Xavier Johnson	SF	Colorado	6'7”	230	Junior
37	R.J. Hunter	SG	Georgia St.	6'6”	190	Junior
38	Tyler Harvey	SG	E. Washington	6'4”	185	Sophomore
39	Frank Kaminsky	PF/C	Wisconsin	7'0”	234	Senior
40	Sam Dekkar	SF	Wisconsin	6'9"	220	Junior
41	Christian Wood	PF	UNLV	6'11”	220	Sophomore
42	Michael Gbinije	SG/SF	Syracuse	6'7”	200	Junior
43	Sir'Dominic Pointer	SG/SF	St. John's	6'6"	196	Senior
44	Taurean Waller-Prince	SF	Baylor	6'7"	215	Junior
45	Kris Dunn	PG	Providence	6'3"	205	Sophomore
46	Jakob Poeltl	C	Utah	7'0”	235	Freshman
47	Danuel House	SG/SF	Texas A&M	6'7"	195	Junior
48	Jerelle Martin	PF	LSU	6'10”	236	Sophomore
49	Georges Niang	SF	Iowa St.	6'8"	230	Junior
50	Dillon Brooks	SF/SG	Oregon	6'5”	205	Freshman
51	Tim Quarterman	PG/SG	LSU	6'6”	187	Sophomore
52	James Blackmon Jr.	SG/PG	Indiana	6'4”	190	Freshman
53	Zak Irvin	SG/SF	Michigan	6'6”	215	Sophomore
54	Dakari Johnson	C	Kentucky	6'11”	260	Sophomore
55	Xavier Rathan-Mayes	PG	Florida St.	6'4”	180	Freshman
56	Denzel Valentine	PG/SG	Michigan St.	6'5”	220	Junior
57	David Laury	PF	Iona	6'9”	245	Senior
58	A.J. English	SG	Iona	6'4”	190	Junior
59	Theo Pinson	SG/SF	UNC	6'6”	190	Freshman
60	Shawn Long	PF	Louisiana Lafayette	6'9”	245	Senior
61	Branden Dawson	SF	Michigan St.	6'6"	225	Senior
62	Anthony Brown	SG/SF	Stanford	6'6"	215	Senior
63	Ron Baker	SG	Wichita St.	6'3”	222	Junior
64	D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera	SG/PG	Georgetown	6'3”	218	Junior
65	Romelo Trimble	PG	Maryland	6'2”	175	Freshman
66	Demetrius Jackson	PG	Notre Dame	6'1”	195	Sophomore

College Basketball Team Rankings: February 6th

I've been keeping team rankings all season as a way to find the best individual players, and to know who to pick in my brackets come tournament time.  I've included how many times I've seen each team and the date of the last game I saw to give some perspective on how much information I have on them.  Please don't make fun of the absurd amount of time I've spent watching college basketball.  Hopefully it will be slightly less embarrassing when someone starts paying me to do it.

 22-0

2015 Team Rankings		Games Seen	Last
1	Kentucky	7	12/27/14
2	Virginia	7	02/02/15
3	Gonzaga	6	01/15/15
4	Arizona	8	01/18/15
5	Duke	8	01/31/15
6	Kansas	10	01/17/15
7	Wisconsin	7	12/31/14
8	Notre Dame	7	01/17/15
9	UNC	16	02/02/15
10	Louisville	7	01/31/15
11	Oklahoma	6	01/05/15
12	Baylor	7	01/17/15
13	Ohio St.	8	01/13/15
14	Villanova	7	12/31/14
15	Iowa St.*	5	01/17/15
16	Maryland	5	12/30/14
17	Oklahoma St.*	5	01/06/15
18	Michigan St.	4	12/14/14
19	Utah	8	01/18/15
20	Iowa	3	12/20/14
21	Arkansas	5	01/22/15
22	Texas	7	01/17/15
23	Wichita St.	7	01/11/15
24	Butler*	3	12/31/14
25	Texas A&M	2	12/09/14
26	Ole Miss	1	12/08/14
27	West Virginia*	4	01/17/15
28	Murray St.	2	01/15/15
29	Tulsa	2	01/13/15
30	Miami*	3	01/17/15
31	Syracuse	7	01/26/15
32	Indiana	4	01/10/15
33	St. John's	6	01/31/15
34	VCU	5	01/13/15
35	Providence	4	01/31/15
36	N. Iowa	5	01/01/15
37	Clemson	3	01/17/15
38	Georgetown	6	01/13/15
39	LSU*	4	01/10/15
40	Xavier	3	12/28/14
41	Georgia	5	01/14/15
42	DePaul	1	01/13/15
43	Stephen F. Austin	1	11/18/14
44	Stanford	3	12/23/14
45	San Diego St.	4	12/17/14
46	UCLA*	6	01/22/15
47	Seton Hall	3	12/31/14
48	Alabama*	4	01/22/15
49	Florida*	4	01/07/15
50	SMU	2	01/03/15

Team Assessments: North Carolina Tar Heels

 

As my alma mater and team I watch the most every season, it's only fitting that the first team assessment of 2015 is the North Carolina Tar Heels. Prior to last weekend UNC was 17-4 and 8-1 in the ACC. They arrived in Louisville riding a six-game winning streak and sitting comfortably in 2^nd place, only a game behind league-leading Virginia. The Heels jumped out to a huge lead against the Cardinals, only to watch an 18-point second-half lead evaporate in one of the most pathetic segments of basketball I've ever watched.

UNC panicked and wilted under the pressure of Louisville's press, turning the ball over 19 times and ultimately getting beat-down in overtime by 10. When I think of adjectives to describe this Carolina performance, the first words that come to mind are scared, soft, and poorly-coached.

Fast forward to Monday night, where the Tar Heels played a good first half before ultimately getting bullied and outplayed by a much tougher Virginia team in Chapel Hill. At 17-6 and now 7-3 in the ACC, the season takes on a much different look than it did just a week ago. UNC starts a three-game road trip at Boston College on Saturday, and if the Tar Heels drop all three they're all the sudden on the NCAA tournament bubble. While I don't expect this to happen, a team that started the year with National Championship hopes now looks like a prime candidate for a first-round upset.

There are several very concerning issues for the Tar Heels. The most obvious problem is the fact that there's only one player who can consistently make outside shots. I'm not sure how a school that can pretty much recruit whoever it wants can continue to put teams on the floor that can't shoot the ball, but it's happened a couple years in a row now. With shooting being the first thing most people think about when you mention the game of basketball, it's hard to believe UNC can't convince a few more kids with deadly J's to join the program.

Beyond the shooting, the most troubling aspect of this team is the lack of toughness and intensity. This UNC squad is a group of “nice” guys who shy away from physical contact, and it lacks a player that consistently imposes himself on the game from start to finish. The level of aggression of each player comes and goes throughout the game, and Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson are the only two players I'd ever say have dominating thoughts. Theo Pinson is the guy I think could have brought and inspired this mentality on a regular basis, but he's out with a broken foot and was having trouble getting playing time anyway.

When I look at the top teams in the country, the one thing they all have is competitive toughness. You need a team full of guys that dig deep to dominate every possession and destroy each opponent, and UNC has lacked this essential characteristic for a few years. P.J. Hairston brought this quality to the team during his time at Carolina, but he was typically in the doghouse and eventually kicked off the team. Tyler Hansbrough was a legend in this category.

The lack of fiercely-aggressive competitors is becoming a reoccurring issue. Failing to even come close to optimizing the lineups on the floor has been a major problem as well. At what point do you have to put the blame for this squarely on the coach? Who is responsible for bringing in talent and divvying up the playing time? I know he's a Hall of Famer, but even the best begin to lose their abilities at some point. 

Roy Williams hasn't been recruiting enough players with the grit and fight you need to win championships in college basketball in recent years, and he's making the mistake of keeping them on the bench when he does have them. He either needs more help, or it's time for 'Ol Roy to make his way to the golf course for a permanent vacation.

Don't get me wrong. I'm extremely grateful to Roy Williams for restoring the program and bringing two championships to the University I love so much. However, as I watch UNC basketball lose a little something each passing year, I can't help but think just how long this could take to play out. Kentucky, Kansas, Duke. These are the programs North Carolina has been compared to for decades, and right now the Tar Heels are not on that level.

I know I'm not the only Carolina fan who's thought about the next leader of the program, and I have a name for UNC's Athletic Director...Gregg Marshall at Wichita State. It's time to start thinking about the future.