Andrew Nembhard provides the Zags with the veteran guard presence needed to make a deep run.Ĭoach K is one of the greatest coaches of all time, but he hasn’t done a great job adjusting to the one-and-done era. He can defensively take on stronger big men, allowing Chet to roam around and clean up blocked shots. Drew Timme’s presence is huge for Gonzaga. But, it’s impossible to play better than Holmgren is right now, shooting 62% from the floor and 43% from 3. You can question the competition in the WCC. He has the uncanny ability to attack the rim from the top of the key and create his threes off the dribble for a seven-footer. Chet has shown an ability to initiate offense off the dribble. All concerns about his defense have to be alleviated after he has averaged 3.6 blocks a game this year. But, Chet Holmgren has transitioned to the collegiate level just fine. Defensively, the length and shot-blocking ability of Smith and Walker Kessler makes it nearly impossible to score on Auburn inside.īeing 7 feet tall and 195 pounds there were some concerns about his frame. Ultimately, Smith’s shotmaking ability gives Auburn instant offense, making it very difficult for other teams to make runs. In addition, Auburn still hasn’t worked out the offensive hierarchy between Smith and KD Johnson, which could come back to haunt them in March. Auburn has looked to other players in clutch situations this year despite Jabari’s ability to make difficult shots. The only concern with Smith related to the NCAA tournament is that Auburn hasn’t used him enough. Even with defenders in his air space, Smith has no problem rising and hitting tough shots over them. Smith can take any shot he wants simply by shooting over smaller defenders. Standing 6 foot 10, Jabari Smith has been an assassin for Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers. Luckily for Chet, Jabari, and Paolo, there is tons of talent around them. Our years of watching college basketball have taught us that it takes much more than just one good player to win at this level. This year, we should add another data point to this duos conversation as Duke freshmen AJ Griffin and Paolo Banchero are both projected top 5 picks. So even if you have 2 top picks, you better hope you have more than enough talent around them, or expect that one of them can perform at the level of Anthony Davis, who is one of the greatest college players we have ever seen. And Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett were eliminated in the elite eight. Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins suffered an early exit in the round of 32. The aforementioned Davis and MKG pair cut down the nets. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins made the elite eight. Greg Oden and Mike Conley reached the 2007 national championship game. There have been multiple other college pairings of top 5 one and done’s. The only ones to cut down the nets were Michael Kidd Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, who conveniently played together, and Jahlil Okafor in 2015. Auburn, Gonzaga, and Duke have the pieces around them, but their stars need to take them to the promised land.
They will have a unique opportunity to make March memories as they each play for teams that have been ranked #1 at some point this year and will be top 2 seeds in next week’s bracket. Holmgren, Smith, and Banchero are the projected top 3 picks in this year’s draft. Star freshmen Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith, and Paolo Banchero are dominating the headlines and early NBA mock drafts. This dangerous precedent brings us to the precipice of the NCAA tournament. Before Jalen Suggs took Gonzaga to the national title game last year, it had been six years since a top 5 one-and-done pick took his team to the final four. But, only 9 out of the 47 top 5 one and done have reached the final four in their lone college season. Most of the one and done have experienced moderate tournament success. But in the tournament, experienced guards and 3 point shooting teams with depth have cut down the nets.
Fabulous freshman taking over the storylines during the regular season. Those 47 players provide us with an interesting sample size for how far a college team can go with a freshman as its best player. Since 2007, 47 out of 75 top 5 NBA draft picks have been college freshmen. The One and Done revolution has taken college basketball by storm.
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