Here goes-
JC -A -The only reason it's not an A+ is his D. In the 45+ years I've been watching Wake bball, the only player who improved as much was Tim. I can't think of any other in the ACC. Offensively, he's off the charts.
Bryant - A (slightly lower than JC) - His game improved massively. He's a true leader. Down the stretch, he had four straight 20+ games and six of the last eight. Should improve on D with help from Chaundee. Here's something we should look at for next year. In the games he got 8+ FTA, he shot 90.7%. If he adds, a hesitation move breaks and drives, it shouldn't be hard to average close to that number next year. Along with Frank Jackson will be the best returning PG in the ACC.
Keyshawn - B He could be the ultimate 6th man. Can really shoot, was a leader, but his D is bad. But don't get too upset. If you think about, there are very, very few excellent shooters who play good D.
Austin - B See Keyshawn and add toughness. His fearlessness as a shooter gave the team confidence and was big in big games.
Sam- B This is the one that will surprise many of you. This year was effectively his senior year in HS. The kid seems to be a sponge and has a solid bball IQ. He rarely made the same mistake twice. His hands and feet are above average. He really needs to strengthen his hands. Don't be shocked to see a big improvement next year.
Dinos B/B- - He would have gotten a B if he kept his motor up. He gave up part of his game for the team. His D got better but still is sub-par. One thing he did really well was box out to allow the guards to get rebounds which really helped our offense. He'll need to step it up next year.
Brandon B/B- His D really improved over the season. He needs to develop a stop and shoot a 5'-7' pull up J rather than driving and getting smacked down. He played really hard, but needs to learn to play different tempos. He was a solid back-up.
Mitchell - C His D is terrible but he tries very hard. He has a great bball IQ but not that much talent. Stop driving! It will be interesting to see how he takes to losing a lot of PT next year.
Doral - C Had a few moments but didn't seem to improve. Next years makes or breaks his career.
Greg C It was interesting to see him play down the stretch. He was never the same player after his injury. You have to give him credit for not giving up and doing the right things.
Other Frosh - I Neither Wash nor Donovan played enough to know much of anything about them.
Danny A- No expert in the country had us going 9-9 in the outrageously strong ACC. No expert has us making the NCAAT. This alone gets Danny to a B or above. The monumental improvement of JC elevates the grade. As does the improvement of Bryant. Taking a band of non-Top 75 players and creating a Top 10 offense is also extraordinary. We could have been marginally better on D, but not much. we simply didn't have the players. No, desire and hard play will never make it possible for Keyshawn, Mitchell or Austin to cover one of the army of plus to star wings in the ACC. You can dream that it would, but no coach could get Austin to cover Tatum or Mitchell to cover XRM.
Team A- Would have been an A with a win last night. These guys played their asses off. They got more out of their talent than any expert saw coming. They played to and above their talents and were a team. That's the best thing you can say about a team.
JC -A -The only reason it's not an A+ is his D. In the 45+ years I've been watching Wake bball, the only player who improved as much was Tim. I can't think of any other in the ACC. Offensively, he's off the charts.
Bryant - A (slightly lower than JC) - His game improved massively. He's a true leader. Down the stretch, he had four straight 20+ games and six of the last eight. Should improve on D with help from Chaundee. Here's something we should look at for next year. In the games he got 8+ FTA, he shot 90.7%. If he adds, a hesitation move breaks and drives, it shouldn't be hard to average close to that number next year. Along with Frank Jackson will be the best returning PG in the ACC.
Keyshawn - B He could be the ultimate 6th man. Can really shoot, was a leader, but his D is bad. But don't get too upset. If you think about, there are very, very few excellent shooters who play good D.
Austin - B See Keyshawn and add toughness. His fearlessness as a shooter gave the team confidence and was big in big games.
Sam- B This is the one that will surprise many of you. This year was effectively his senior year in HS. The kid seems to be a sponge and has a solid bball IQ. He rarely made the same mistake twice. His hands and feet are above average. He really needs to strengthen his hands. Don't be shocked to see a big improvement next year.
Dinos B/B- - He would have gotten a B if he kept his motor up. He gave up part of his game for the team. His D got better but still is sub-par. One thing he did really well was box out to allow the guards to get rebounds which really helped our offense. He'll need to step it up next year.
Brandon B/B- His D really improved over the season. He needs to develop a stop and shoot a 5'-7' pull up J rather than driving and getting smacked down. He played really hard, but needs to learn to play different tempos. He was a solid back-up.
Mitchell - C His D is terrible but he tries very hard. He has a great bball IQ but not that much talent. Stop driving! It will be interesting to see how he takes to losing a lot of PT next year.
Doral - C Had a few moments but didn't seem to improve. Next years makes or breaks his career.
Greg C It was interesting to see him play down the stretch. He was never the same player after his injury. You have to give him credit for not giving up and doing the right things.
Other Frosh - I Neither Wash nor Donovan played enough to know much of anything about them.
Danny A- No expert in the country had us going 9-9 in the outrageously strong ACC. No expert has us making the NCAAT. This alone gets Danny to a B or above. The monumental improvement of JC elevates the grade. As does the improvement of Bryant. Taking a band of non-Top 75 players and creating a Top 10 offense is also extraordinary. We could have been marginally better on D, but not much. we simply didn't have the players. No, desire and hard play will never make it possible for Keyshawn, Mitchell or Austin to cover one of the army of plus to star wings in the ACC. You can dream that it would, but no coach could get Austin to cover Tatum or Mitchell to cover XRM.
Team A- Would have been an A with a win last night. These guys played their asses off. They got more out of their talent than any expert saw coming. They played to and above their talents and were a team. That's the best thing you can say about a team.
