Hoops

How many college Seniors will play NBL next year?

And check out my recent interview with Maynard here:

Timeout with Corey Maynard: A Bulldog by nature

And Maynard has now been named NEC player of the week!

Maynard named Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week

Here is a link to a list of all the Aussies in college this season: Aussies in College: The Complete Listing for Men 2013/14

You can also see how they have been going in a New Year article I put together complete with all the stats for each player, and I have a crack at ranking them from 1-15:

NCAA Spotlight on the Aussie Men: The top 15 with all the stats

Honestly, out of the current seniors, only the following are likely to be able to get a gig at NBL level or even overseas in a decent league immediately:

- Cameron BAIRSTOW - improving shot at NBA otherwise D-League or Europe
- Angus Brandt - he had quite a bit of interest from Europe (he starred in OSU's out of season trip there before ACL), but is a definite NBL prospect. Will be better than Allen.
- Jordan Vandenberg - he is a definite NBL prospect, but Europe may also throw him some offers as guys like him don't grow on trees
- Corey Maynard - definite NBL contributor right away - similar in some ways to Tomlinson but is a better scorer
- Majok Majok - he is a definite NBL prospect but may also like his chances in chasing Europe given his size and length. Asian leagues may also throw some money at him.

Nathan Sobey, Christian Salecich and Chris Patton could work their way onto a roster, especially if the league expands. Patton has the great chance given his size and presence in the paint - maybe a 10-12th man?

As other have pointed out, Jeromie Hill has red-shirted this season due to injury and will be returning next year as a 5th year senior.

Jordy Page is no longer enrolled at Saint Mary's following his knee injury and is currently a free agent, but whether he is fully fit yet I don't know.

McMath and Devlin I don't think can get there, and Hodgson has not shown enough for me to even pass judgement.

Of course, time will tell, but if we get more NBL teams, the chances of even more guys the following year from the juniors increases too.

seriously cj bruton is well past his time . well past 6man impact

seriously cj bruton is well past his time . well past 6man impact

Yeah, obviously there was a few years gap between his rookie year and when they won the championship.

But my point is that had the Dragons not given him the opportunities at the start of his career to become a star, he may not have hung around.

Point is, the Dragons gave him opportunities and he rewarded them for their faith in him.

What will Creek do? Hmm

Nope, NZ wouldn't get Page.

The old Breakers used to get Aussies.

Their new culture seems geared towards developing internal talent. Before they got Page, they would upgrade Burton, lure Ruscoe back etc.

Mitch McCarron can flat out play!

Currently averaging 27.9ppg and 9.3rpg.

Crazy numbers really.

Oh, and want to know how he is doing that:

72 % from FG
80 % from 3 (12/15)
72 % from FT.


Better averages than Worthington and Barlow -- and look how their careers have worked out.

I think a player like McCarron is what this league needs -- we need a young player who can put the ball through the hoop, especially a PG.

I know scoring may not be their 'classical role' but it does bother me how many players we get in the league, especially guards, who are one-dimensional and can't do much.

It does bother me that in this league, just having a PG that can dribble the ball up and get a team into their sets makes him a "good role player". Cooper was a classic example of this.

Let's get some young guys with flair. Let them play their game, shoot the ball etc. And the argument "the young guys don't deserve shots because they're not as efficient as the veterans" is flawed (thanks to Hinder)

Creek, for example, is a victim of how teams allocate minutes, opportunities and shots based on your age.

I remember when Ingles entered the league, got a massive opportunity. Souths unearthed a star and won a championship.

The 'Team - Young Player' relationship can be mutual (but all the coaches etc seem to think not).

Re: Jorden Page

Returned to Australia before the season to rehab knee injury.

But, he had a final year of eligibility remaining.

This was because he had another knee injury a few years ago and appeared in such few games he was granted a medical redshirt.

Think he has being all healed for a couple of months now. Unsure as to why he didn't go back. Maybe he didn't want to rush back into it and just return here and do a proper rehab, before giving the NBL a crack next season.

Looking at Eurobasket, the top of the bunch don't seem to have dual citizenship, which could of course work in our favour, but you'd think that Bairstow would be slightly ahead of where Motum was and he's only a Skippy and playing in Italia... I think he'd be the only one that would be any chance to not come back though...

Really hoping to get Brandt back home to Sydney next season... Having a legit 5 backup would be awesome...

I think we're going to see Bairstow do a Motum if he can't catch the eye of an NBA team, which is unfortunate... Imagine how the league could look like if we had the likes of Motum, Bairstow, Greenwood, all being able to contribute to the league over the next season or two, even if only for a couple of seasons... Makes me wish the NBL had a "top level rookie fund" where no matter what team they signed with, they chipped in to lift their salary up over what would normally be able to be afforded by an NBL team...

I know I keep bringing this up, and I know I'd rather being playing over in Italy as well, but if college kids can be lured to come play back home in front of family and friends, english speaking environment, possibly develop their skills more and get a higher profile to score a better gig in Europe in one or two seasons, that can only be good things for the NBL as well as the players...

I HOPE a team in the NBL can lure Cam Bairstow.