Shawn Siegel's Blog

This is the first of five articles this week analyzing the 2007 NBA Draft prospects. Today I'll focus on the weak set of point guards, followed by shooting guards and so on. Following the position analysis, I'll present the statistical projections for this year's players (along with a look at how I did projecting last year's NBA rookies).

Early Offseason All-Rookie Team Projection

First Team
G. Derrick Rose - Memphis
G. OJ Mayo - USC
G. Nick Calathes - Florida
F. Michael Beasley - Kansas state
C. Kevin Love - UCLA

Second Team
G. Eric Gordon - Indiana
G. Austin Freeman - Georgetown
F. Corey Stokes - Villanova
F. Donte Green - Syracuse
F. Alex Tyus - Florida

Third Team
G. Corey Chandler - Rutgers
G. Alex Legion - Michigan
F. Kyle Singler - Duke
F. JaJuan Johnson - Purdue
C. DeAndre Jordan - Texas A&M

This early projection of the 2007-08 All-American teams will be updated as official NBA Draft decisions are made.

First Team All-American
G. Sean Singletary
G. Chris Lofton
F. Brandon Rush
F. Julian Wright
F. Tyler Hansbrough

Second Team All-American
G. Darren Collison
G. Chris Douglas-Roberts
G. Drew Neitzel
F. Chase Budinger
C. Brook Lopez

Third Team All-American
G. DJ Augustin
G. Dominic James
F. Terrence Williams
F. Michael Beasley
F. Richard Hendrix

Fouth Team All-American
G. Mike Conley
G. Javaris Crittenton
G. Derrick Rose
F. Ryan Anderson
C. Taj Gibson

1. UCLA - Back to back Final Four trips could yield championship if Afflalo returns.
2. Kansas - Even if one of Rush or Wright go pro, this is a top 5 team.. but there's a good chance they wont win it all.
3. North Carolina - This assumes Wright is gone but Hansbrough returns. This team is still loaded regardless.
4. Memphis - Even without Derrick Rose, Calipari's squad is primed for a Final Four run.
5. Louisville - With continued improvement from Derrick Caracter, there's no limit to the Cards success.

- NIT semifinals last night.. a pair of close 1-point games. Clemson will face West Virginia in the finals and hope to get one back for the ACC after Georgetown upset UNC. KC Rivers had 19 points for the Tigers..coming off a season-best 29 in the quarterfinals win over Syracuse. Rivers should emerge as a national star next season.

- Yesterday's UCLA-Kansas game went just as planned. The Bruins were able to shut down Kansas' offense just like SIU did.. but unlike the Salukis, UCLA had a hot Arron Afflalo coming off two subpar games which enabled them to pull away. The only thing that's gone more according to plan is this tournament in general. I don't see Oregon or Georgetown ending that trend unforutnately..

- Following Tubby Smith's lead, Randolph Morris bolted Lexington.. siging with uber-bad GM Isiah Thomas and the Knicks. Not a bad move by the Knicks, but better for Morris.. who turned not getting drafted into a 2 year 1.6 million dollar contract. Articles proclaim Morris is a solid addition for the Knicks' "playoff push", but I can pretty much guarantee Morris will have absolutely no impact on this year's playoff race.

- Getting Steve Alford (assuming it official happens) is a steal for New Mexico. His 152-106 record might not be overwhelming, but Alford brings a few things to the table that you have to love.

A) Publicity. No one particularly paid any attention to the firing of Ritchie McKay.. and except for some love for Danny Granger, no one has paid any attention to New Mexico the past few years.

We're only a week through the 2007 Big Dance.. but its never too early to start thinking about next year's Tournament. Here's an early projection of the 2008 NCAA Tournament field:

Big East (8) - Louisville - (DePaul, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, UCONN, West Virginia)**
Pac-10 (6) - UCLA - (Arizona, Stanford, USC, Washington, Washington State)
SEC (6) - Kentucky - (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee)
ACC - UNC (5) - (Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State)
Big 12 (4) - Kansas - (Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas)

- Amazingly, all of this year's Sweet Sixteen teams came into last week within the Top 22 of the CHN Top 50. The "lowest" ranked team was Tennessee at #22. In the AP and Coaches Poll, they were all within the Top 34.