Hoops

AJ Ogilvy to enter Draft

Good luck to the big fella. Its going to be tough for him to realise his dream of playing in the NBA from here, but I don't think he had a lot of choice. He was clearly not growing as a player at Vandy and I doubt a transfer would have been worth it.

I still think he can become a very good player, but he desperately needs the right coach/ trainers to get his body and game to the next level.

It will be too late for the draft, but perhaps his best shot is to work his butt off to get into the Boomers rotation and get noticed at the World Championships. Maybe could be enough to convince an NBA team to sign him as a project?

This is not a testing the waters thing as he has hired an agent. He will not be going back to college.

'Also don't forget the potential NBA lockout next year', please explain.

I think he'll be as good in the NBL as that point guard who played 1 year for 36ers & then fled. 4got his name.

Once again I agree with you Paul.

For mine, his weaknesses are his lack of physicality (or apparent unwillingness to be physical) and hence his lower than expected rebounding numbers for a guy his size. Also, his inability to defend outside the key holds him back.

His major upside though is his great post play and myriad of moves, he has great touch for a big man, and has an uncanny knack of drawing contact and getting to the free throw line. He can also has a decent range for a big man but with the Vandy set up and personnel he never got a chace to show that this past season.

A predition of a D-League roster spot for next season is more likely than an NBA roster spot at this point in time. I'm not sure he will be back in Oz quickly though, as his type of game would flourish in Europe IMO and hence the cash thrown at him may be too much to ignore.

Time will always tell I guess.

After following AJ's progress throughout the past 3 years, I think there may be a few factors coming into play that have contributed to AJ making this decision.

After an amazing freshman season playing alongside SEC player of the year Shan Foster, his production has dropped off each year. Firstly, last season he battled injuries nearly all season long, and this season got off to a bad start as he battled to overcome a concussion to commence the season. He was alwaysplaying catchup from that point on. Also, the emergence of both Beal and Taylor took some of the focus off his game, thus he started to receive fewer touches. But I also think that the coaching of Stallings had something to do with this as well. In games where Vandy lost in close one's, Vandy rarely looked to the big fella. However in the close wins, they went inside to AJ and he delivered 9 times out of 10. He had some standout games scoring wise, but also some lower points, but for me this is because he was not getting the touches. AJ was therefore starting to be branded inconsistent, IMO in most cases this was unfair.

His minutes per game were well down on the past 2 seasons as well, and I think that everything combined together in not getting touches, his minutes being reduced, and some potential frustration with his coach may have played a part. Also, if AJ were to have another 'inconsistent' season as a senior, his stocks could be damaged even further.

So is nominating for the NBA draft the best thing for AJ? I really can't say. However he must have heard some positive things to nominate so early, and coupled with the fact there are not too many standout centre's that are likely to nominate for this year's draft increase his chances of geting drafted. His agent thinks he will go late first round, however I doubt he will unless he really impresses in team workouts. I can definitely see him getting picked mid-second round.

Vandy Link: http://linky.com.au/smfg3

Why aren't these cats finishing Uni to gain a degree etc?

No where near good enough for pros. He would be an average nbl player.