Bust Alert?
If you’ve been following the ’08 NBA mock drafts — understandable if you’re a Heat, Sonics, Wolves or Grizzlies fan — no doubt you’ve seen Texas A&M freshman DeAndre Jordan‘s name up there. All year Jordan has been projected to go in the Lottery were he to go pro this summer, climbing as high as #2 at one point. As of yesterday he was slotted at #7 by NBADraft.net and #9 by DraftExpress.com.
On paper it makes sense. Jordan is 7-feet tall, 19 years old, athletic as hell, and has a bulldog mentality close to the rim. I saw Jordan play once in person, at the Elite 24 Classic at Rucker Park a couple summers ago; the high schooler tried to swat everything in sight on defense and tried dunk every ball he touched on offense. He’s already a good 250-260 pounds and could add even more muscle to his frame. Long story short, the Dwight Howard comparisons Jordan was getting in high school all made total sense.
Here’s the thing, though: Jordan hasn’t done ANYTHING on the college level. When the Aggies’ season ended over the weekend at the hands of UCLA, Jordan (7.9 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.3 bpg) played all of 15 minutes, and was stuck on the bench during crunch time. Now you would think that, needing to defend Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Love, A&M coach Mark Turgeon would need his 7-foot, next-Dwight Howard on the court. Likewise, when the Aggies faced Kansas State and Michael Beasley in the Big 12 Tournament, Jordan played five whole minutes. He followed that up with a 4-minute appearance against Kansas in the conference tourney, then played just five minutes in A&M’s first-round Big Dance game against BYU.
While Jordan has had a few bright spots this season — his best game was a 16-point, 12-board, 4-block outing against Rice — most of those came against inferior competition during Texas A&M’s nonconference schedule. Against Big 12 competition he hasn’t put together one double-double. His best game recently was a 10-board, 6-block showing against Baylor, where Jordan only scored four points.
So what’s the issue? Brian Davis at the Dallas Morning News shed some light in a recent article:
The 7-footer has started only four games since mid-January. He didn’t play much at the Big 12 tournament because of an illness. Jordan gave up several quick baskets and got benched against BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“If DeAndre goes in there and plays well, he is going to play more,” A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. “But we’re just trying to win as many games as we can here.”
And later…
When asked to evaluate his season, Jordan spoke Friday in general terms and gave no indication whether he’ll come back to A&M or go into the draft.
“I’m happy with the winning season that we’re having,” Jordan said. “There are a lot of people who thought we wouldn’t make the tournament, and we did, so I’m happy with that.
“I want to get better at defense, rebounding. Just want to improve my game all around and be a better all-around player.”
And as for his future with A&M?
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Jordan said. “I’m just really focused on the NCAA Tournament.”
All evidence points to DeAndre bolting for the draft while his name is still somewhat hot and he hasn’t yet been exposed. He’s got the physical tools the NBA is looking for, and his inconsistent playing time could be more of an issue of player-coach relationships than a talent issue. Remember, there was a kid named Gerald Wallace who was in a similar situation a few years ago — a high school All-American who came off the bench in his one season at Alabama. And you see how he’s turned out.
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March 24th, 2008 at 10:15 am
AKA O says:
i would take the gamble if i was an nba gm i played with him once and he is really athletic and i think he has a bright future wheter he staying another year or not
March 24th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Celts Fan says:
damn Austin, turning yesterday’s discussion into a whole post? I like it!
He just seems like a project center. The last project center to come out was (sorry Austin) Saer Sene and that hasn’t worked out so well… To me, he seems like a smaller Sene/Thabeet and isn’t even getting tick for Texas A&M. It’s not like it’s a Marvin Williams situation where he’s stuck behind another first rounder on a title team. Just keep Sam Presti away from all A&M footage just to be safe, cuz we know the Sonics LOVE those project centers (thanks again for grabbing Danny’s guy Robert Swift and making us “settle” on Big Al. I’m pretty sure Swift couldn’t've been the centerpiece in a KG deal!) On the bright side, Johan Petro’s finally showing he’s not completely useless (not being sarcastic here. He’s been doing pretty well lately.)
I guess my thought is, for every “project center” that becomes like Tyson Chandler, there are 3 Saer Senes or Desagana Diops that don’t pan out (or at least don’t pan out for years, well after the team that spent a high pick on them lets them walk.)
March 24th, 2008 at 10:58 am
word says:
Yea imagine if Cavs got him. Lebron and this guy? No way it would be over. Because all the team would need then is some guards and they get rings. I would give that 2 years. That’s IF cavs get lucky to draft him. Either way its a good look for whatever team gets him, if he’s like Wallace? He’s a good pick.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Celts Fan says:
another name that rings a bell with this guy is Chris Wilcox. All the athleticism in the world, no basketball IQ, took like 5 years to become what he finally is now.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Austin Burton says:
Which is a guy who can’t play two good games in a row and causes every coach he has to lose hair.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Celts Fan says:
based on what even his coach is saying, that sounds about right for DeAndre.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
TJ says:
Wilcox started for a national championship team, which is a little more impressive than not playing for a team that got knocked out in the first round.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Celts Fan says:
we’re talking about NBA potential though, and Wilcox hasn’t done anything noteworthy once he got to a level where being 6’11″ and athletic alone wasn’t enough.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Celts Fan says:
*and A&M got knocked out in the 2nd round.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
GEE...Spring Break should be a national month long holiday and break! says:
He needs to stay in school and raise his stock. Simple.
March 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Celts Fan says:
problem is, his stock’s Top 10, and if he’s not careful and does stay in school, we could have Terrance Morris part 2, which means he probably will come out. Can’t say I’d blame him…
March 24th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
TJ says:
I don’t think he’s that good, but you have to leave when your stock is high. I’m a big Ohio State fan and I remember when Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd came back to school after the final four appearance where they lost to UConn. They ended up falling to the second round where they probably would have gone 1st round that year.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Herrschel says:
last time i saw this very huge big kid, hasheem thabeet at the big dance. his body size is so monstrous that his head is looking like a 12 year old. i’m wondering how this kid is developing a game, cause as far as i saw it this kid was lost in that game, he didn’t know what to do. and to all my humble opinions i now must find out that this is a draft prospect for the 1st round? the nba, where amazing happens, lol.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
all these newcomers are bums and yall keep trying to hype em up. he tall for nothing
March 24th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Celts Fan says:
You’re right man, with the title, “Bust Alert?” we must be hyping him up…
March 24th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Bone says:
This kid is a joke. I buddy of mine is a GA for a DII school that played a guarenteed game at A&M this year and he said the same basic things – athletic as all get up, no clue how to play the game.
He strikes me as they type of guy who plays basketball because he is tall, not because he likes it or wants to be good at it.
And yes, he should come out now before he gets exposed more. Look at the beating poor Roy Hibbert is taking right now. Would have been Top 10 last year, will be lucky to go Top 20 now. If you are 7’0″ and cannot average 20 ppg in college, it’s not all of a sudden going to happen in the pros.