Rank the Big 12 Frontcourts

[BigTime]

Dallas Coach- the coaches in Waco are very high on this guy saying crazy stuff like this would be the top ranked center in the country if he played HS ball in the US. I'm always skeptical of European big men. But supposedly this kid has the size 7'0" 240 lbs and the skill- agile, can handle, pass, quick leaper, aggressive. If he is even close to the skill level that Meyer is projecting... I think you have to rate Baylor's frontcourt 4th ahead of Kansas State.

And he is eligible so he should be in Waco in July. Drew has stockpiled some talent down there. He better produce next year or his critics are going to get louder and louder.

And rightfully so.

 

[Dignon003]

Sometimes James Anderson is down low does that count?

 

[thebigabd]

Sometimes James Anderson is down low does that count?

Ummm, no. He doesnt play down low, they play 4 guards.

 

[oSuJeff97]

If the ranking includes the depth factor, there is no question that OSU is probably at the bottom of the list.

But if you are judging the effectivenss of the starting lineup, then I think OSU should be a bit higher, considering Moses nearly averaged a double-double in Big 12 play last year.

That's pretty solid for the #12 frontcourt in the league.

 

[JDSooners]

I hear you. My point was you can only say one 7 footer has been overrated for Baylor so far and that is Lomers. Big men are always hit or miss. Here's a sampling of 5 star centers from the past 7 years. I bolded the ones who were deserving of a 5 star ranking in hindsight:

2002: Jason Frazer (Villanova); Amare Stoudemire; Torin Francis (Notre Dame); Paul Davis (Mich St); Deangelo Collins

2003: James Lang; Brian Butch (Wisconsin); Kendrick Perkins; David Padgett (Kansas)

2004: Al Jefferson; Randolph Morris (UK); Robert Swift (USC); Lamarcus Aldridge (UT)

2005: Andrew Bynum (UConn)

2006: Greg Oden (Ohio St); Spencer Hawes (Washington); Brian Zoubek (Duke); Robin Lopez (Stanford); Jon Kreft; Jason Bennett (KSU)

2007: Kevin Love (UCLA); DeAndre Jordan (A&M); Kosta Koufos (Ohio St); Solomon Alabi (Florida St); Beas Hamga (UNLV)

2008: BJ Mullens (Ohio St); Ty Walker (Wake Forest); Tony Woods (Wake Forest); J'Mison Morgan (UCLA)

About a 40% success rate in predicting effective centers. A 5 star guy is labeled can't miss coming out of high school and most likely gets a number one pick by some NBA team if college was not an option. So for an apples to apples comparison...

European big men drafted in the 1st round in the last 7 years. I bold the succesful ones:

2002: Nikoloz Tskitishvili (7'0" Denver 5th pick); Nenad Krstic (6'11" NJ 24th pick)

2003: Darko Milicic (7'0" Detroit 2nd pick); Zarko Cabarkapa (7'0" Phoenix 17th pick)

2004: Andris Biedrins (6'11" GS 11th pick); Pavel Podkolzin (7'5" Utah 21st pick)

2005: Fran Vazquez (6'10" Orlando 10th pick); Johan Petro (7'0" Seattle 25th pick)

2006: Andrea Bargnani (6'10" Toronto 1st pick); Oleksiy Pecherov (7'0" Wash 18th pick)

2007: none

2008: Alexis Ajinca (7'0" Charlotte 20th pick)

3 out of 11 of those were successes in my book Krstic (before he got hurt he was a good NBA player); Biedrins and Bargnani.

So your point is well taken. A 5 star US player has a slightly higher success probability than a 5 star rated Euro.

Amazing that were are 4 players that played for the Thunder on your lists, if they could figure center out, I think they'd be a good team.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Sometimes James Anderson is down low does that count?

Umm, So James Anderson is on the "down low".

 

[boksooner]

Umm, So James Anderson is on the "down low".

funny