February 25.
ESPN released the latest ranking of five-star college students in the United States.
The regular season has ended, and fans in various regions have long been looking forward to this latest ranking list.
In addition to paying attention to where the rankings of the university stars they support have risen, they also want to pay attention to how the rankings of those famous in the United States have changed.
Sonics general manager Sam Presti took over the latest list from his assistant.
"No. 1 is Ohio State's Greg Oden, No. 2 is Al Horford of Florida, No. 3 is Mike Conley of Ohio State, No. 4 is Kevin Duran of Texas special."
"The fifth is the Bruins, Zhang Jun!"
Sam Presti took a deep breath. Although the result shocked him, it was not a surprise.
After the Bruins lost to the underdog team at the University of Colorado Boulder, Zhang Jun used a series of jaw-dropping 30+ performances to lead the team to a strong rebound.
It was also at this time that the general managers and scouts of all NBA teams discovered that this freshman is fully capable of scoring 30+ in every game.
As for why the average scoring per game is only around 26 points, it's just because he doesn't want to, it's not that he can't.
In the NCAA, players who can score 30+ points every game are almost rare.
Sam Presti found the team scout's latest report on Zhang Jun.
"Zhang Jun of the Bruins team is a very special player. He is not a real shooting guard, but more like a striker who can score and impact. If he can improve his body and confrontation ability, he may be at the small forward position. do better.”
"Zhang Jun's advantage is his speed and athletic ability. His first step to break through is probably the fastest in the NCAA at present. At the same time, his breakthrough skills are also very strong. I have no doubts about the footsteps of Sam Gold, who is on the same side of him. The memory is still fresh."
"As the NCAA competition progresses, Zhang Jun has proven himself to be a qualified defender, and has a very good defensive talent, good at stealing and blocking shots, but sometimes he is a little aggressive for defense, but it turns out that his occasional gamble All that defense paid off pretty well.”
"In terms of disadvantages, Zhang Jun is not without shortcomings. His shooting is not very good, at least very unstable. Among all NCAA players who average more than 20 points per game, Zhang Jun's mid-range shooting percentage is extremely low. At this point I like to compare him to Dominic Wilkins, the human movie essence without shooting."
"I think Zhang Jun may not be a complete NBA-level forward guard. At least his ability and characteristics will make it difficult for some teams to play certain tactics, but this will not affect his future draft, nor will it affect He has the potential to be an All-Star, and he's going to be at least a top-eight pick."
"Draft template: Dominique Wilkins, Batman, Scottie Pippen, Elgin Baylor, and Julius Erving."
Sam Presti stretched out his right index and middle fingers and tapped on the table continuously.
Before that, he also went to watch another freshman talent. The template is McGrady and Garnett's Kevin Durant of the University of Texas. He also has a deep memory of the opponent's ability characteristics.
"Compared to Zhang Jun, Kevin Durant is equally talented and has more scoring methods, but he doesn't have almost unsolvable personal scoring methods."
"If you choose Durant, his scoring method is not worrying, and the degree of integration with the team is not necessary to consider at all, but whether he has the ability to end the game at a critical moment is a big question mark. "
Sam Presti took a deep breath. He thought that his draft ability belonged to the top general managers in the league, and he felt embarrassed facing two college players for the first time.
The assistant beside him reminded him: "Isn't there another Greg Oden? Judging from our current record, this year's guarantee is the top five picks in the draft. Why don't you consider him?"
Sam Presti chuckled first, then sank into the memory.
A few years ago, there was a young high school student.
When he was in high school, he was praised as: the next LeBron James, the next Wolf King Garnett, and the next Tim Duncan.
In 2005 and 2006, he was selected as the Gatorade All-American High School Player of the Year for two consecutive years, becoming the second high school student to receive this honor after LeBron James.
And his Lawrence North High School became the first team in the history of Indiana to be elected to the top of the national high school power list.
Greg Oden, who entered Florida in 2006, was directly praised as the next Bill Walton and the next Bill Russell before he even played a game.
And as soon as he entered the NCAA, he was selected as the top five-star college student in the United States, overwhelming all the star college students at the time, and his sophomore senior, the top player in the same position, Al Horford.
Before the start of the NCAA regular season, ESPN experts called him a once-in-20-year super talent, and was praised as the best defensive center after Bill Russell. UU reading www.uukanshu.com
The general manager of Reebok, Sony Vaccaro, even said convincingly when Oden chose to recuperate and deal with the injuries left by his senior year.
"Even if Oden never makes a single shot in the NCAA from now on, he will still be the No. 1 pick next year."
The assistant saw Sam Presti's chuckle, and he frowned uncomfortably: "Isn't Greg Oden worthy of our selection?"
Sam Presti said: "It can't be said that, Greg Oden is a very coveted inside player."
"Shark O'Neal is old, Howard of the Magic is still a little immature, Duncan and Garnett can only be regarded as power forwards in a strict sense, and Stoudemire of the Suns has a gorgeous offense but a little defensive ability. Weak, completely does not meet people's expectations of a traditional inside big center."
"Today's No. 1 center in the league seems to belong to the Great Wall of China from Asia."
"All teams in the NBA hope to have a new super center to win the league and regain the glory and dominance taken away by Yao Ming. Greg Oden is in line with everyone's expectations for a super center."
Although most people in the league do not admit that Yao Ming is now the No. 1 center in the NBA, his performance last season reminded everyone that Yao Ming is really the No. 1 center in the league.
He averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game. Last season, Yao Ming ranked first among centers in scoring, third in rebounds, and ninth in blocks.
As far as the first center with almost perfect personal performance, fortunately, the record of the Rockets is not outstanding. Both he and Tracy McGrady were also injured, so Yao Ming was finally selected to the third team.
This can be regarded as giving the entire league a chance to breathe.