This will be Melo's last year in Orange

[Czar]

I think we're way ahead of ourselves projecting Melo as no worse than a top 10 pick after one exhibition game.

I hear what people are saying about Melo being a 7 footer and all that, but he needs to show a ton more to be a top 10 pick.

Again, Daniel Orton got drafted on 10 mpg alone. Melo only has to show he has a pulse and no knee or foot injuries.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Fab is going to be drooled over for potential but that doesn't necessarilly mean he will leave. Think of Warrick. Jonny also came back as well and may have if he was around a number 20 pick.

The kid is a slightly goofy smiling lovable kid and a less me only type. After a good season this year he should be in high spirits to stay with a winning team.

He could stay up his draft stock and play on another stacked basketball team. No reason we couldn't give Fab 30 minutes Bay 20 and DC and Rak 15 as Fresh sophmores. Especially with the loss of Joseph.

The problem is outside of Sullinger and maybe Davis you will have a hard time finding a better big man the Melo. Melo had a Future NBA All Star ceiling potential look after yesterday.

Centers are an entire different ballgame sir. There are different rules on drafting 7 footers. You dont necessarily have to prove very much to get taken. And no one was drooling over stick skinny Hak Warrick as an underclassman.

 

[Cuse_1999]

Warrick would have been a lottery pick after his sophomore year. He had his coming out party during the NCAA title run and the scouts were drooling over his potential. His athletic ability was sick for his height. And they were going to draft him high on potential.

When he came back for his junior and senior year, the sample size the scouts had to go on became much larger and it showed that his potential was not nearly what the scouts thought it was after his sophomore year. He actually hurt his stock by returning for his junior and senior year

 

[Czar]

Warrick would have been a lottery pick after his sophomore year. He had his coming out party during the NCAA title run and the scouts were drooling over his potential. His athletic ability was sick for his height. And they were going to draft him high on potential.

When he came back for his junior and senior year, the sample size the scouts had to go on became much larger and it showed that his potential was not nearly what the scouts thought it was after his sophomore year. He actually hurt his stock by returning for his junior and senior year

Do you write alternate history Civil War books as well?

 

[OttoMets]

Warrick would have been a lottery pick after his sophomore year. He had his coming out party during the NCAA title run and the scouts were drooling over his potential. His athletic ability was sick for his height. And they were going to draft him high on potential.

I don't agree with that, but it does remind me of a terrific Boeheim quote. After (or maybe during) the Final Four weekend, a reporter asked Boeheim about the possibility that Warrick might leave for the draft. Boeheim replied, "The draft? For what, the Army?"

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Warrick was not even on nbadraft.net until the summer before his senior year. He was certainly not on any radars after soph season.

 

[Rocco]

I would say Melo is here for at least through his junior year. Only way he leaves earlier than that is if he gets kicked off the team.

 

[Czar]

I would say Melo is here for at least through his junior year. Only way he leaves earlier than that is if he gets kicked off the team.

He's only here through junior year if the NBA remains locked out.

 

[Rocco]

He's only here through junior year if the NBA remains locked out.

He would have to make several drastic improvements before that happened.

 

[jordoo]

I tend to agree with the Fab to the NBA after this season crowd. Not because he will be an AA or anything but because NBA scouts will see him run, jump, block, pass and shot. They will be impressed with what he can do physically and how much he has improved his body. They will look at that frame and draft him on potential. The kid has better skills than a lot of bigs, sure he still needs to figure out hiow to use those skills but he has them and he has a better frame and physical gifts than a majority of big men. That combination gets him drafted IMO.

 

[Knicks411]

Again, Daniel Orton got drafted on 10 mpg alone. Melo only has to show he has a pulse and no knee or foot injuries.

I understand that. And Daniel Orton showed a lot more than Fab Melo has so far. And Orton was picked 29th, not inside the top 10. And Orton only played 10 minutes per game because he was stuck behind a guy who went #5 overall, and a guy who went #14. And Orton actually played well int he 13 minutes a game he played, as opposed to what Fab did last year.

Are you really saying if the NBA draft was tomorrow you think Fab would be a top 10 pick? I understand teams draft on potential and all that, but this seems like a bit of a a stretch. Could he be a top 10 pick, if he continues to improve this year? Sure. But to project it now as almost lock seems to be going way too far.

I'll definitely bet anyone right now $50 that Fab is not a top 10 pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

And I can't believe Hakim would've been a lottery pick after his soph year. 2 years later he was picked 19th.

 

[Knicks411]

Just to follow up, I checked out what some of the draft "experts" are saying.

Chad Ford: Hasn't updated Melo since Jan 12, but has updated some players as recently as last week. He had Fab 94th. If he was anywhere close to the top 10, you can bet he'd have updated it.

Nba Draft.net: Doesn't have Fab in either their 2012 OR 2013 mock.

Draft express: Doesn't have them in their 2012 mock draft.

 

[Czar]

Just to follow up, I checked out what some of the draft "experts" are saying.

Chad Ford: Hasn't updated Melo since Jan 12, but has updated some players as recently as last week. He had Fab 94th. If he was anywhere close to the top 10, you can bet he'd have updated it.

Nba Draft.net: Doesn't have Fab in either their 2012 OR 2013 mock.

Draft express: Doesn't have them in their 2012 mock draft.

None of them are doing anything due to the lockout. Ford has only updated the guys that were projected to be drafted last year.

Orton went 29th because he was a generous 6'10". Melo is a legit seven footer. If he even shows an improvement over last season, he's drafted. All signs point to that being true. We'll have a better picture a month from now, but just assuming he maintains projected production, he's gone.

 

[Knicks411]

Orton went 29th because he was a generous 6'10". Melo is a legit seven footer. If he even shows an improvement over last season, he's drafted. All signs point to that being true. We'll have a better picture a month from now, but just assuming he maintains projected production, he's gone.

Couple of points.

What is his "projected production"? Based on what? What he did last year? The one exhibition game? What do you think is a reasonable year for him this year?

Also, him being "gone" is much different than a guaranteed top 10 pick. I could absolutely see him being drafted, but that's not the same as him being a top 10 pick unless he falls off.

 

[Czar]

Couple of points.

What is his "projected production"? Based on what? What he did last year? The one exhibition game? What do you think is a reasonable year for him this year?

Also, him being "gone" is much different than a guaranteed top 10 pick. I could absolutely see him being drafted, but that's not the same as him being a top 10 pick unless he falls off.

Projected: 12 ppg, 8 rebounds, block and a half ppg. That gets him top ten. Having a pulse gets him drafted.

 

[Knicks411]

Ok, I don't know about top 10 exactly, but sure, that's easily first round, probably top 20 material at worst.

Here's hoping he has that kind of year...

 

[senorpalmer]

Projected: 12 ppg, 8 rebounds, block and a half ppg. That gets him top ten. Having a pulse gets him drafted.

I was gonna toss the same numbers out there in a slightly different context; as soon as Fab can produce those over a season, he's gone. He's physically gifted, possessing the stature of a legit NBA center, his skills just have to start to catch up. It remains to be seen what he'll do against legit D1 competition vs. a D2 exhibition, but he looked like a vastly improved player out there on Tuesday.