Top 25 College Basketball Players

[Rocco]

1. Doug McDermott, Creighton

2. Marcus Smart, Ok St

3. Lamar Patterson, Pitt... seems about 10 spots too high



4. Tyler Ennis, Syracuse Orange
Up until a couple of weeks ago this would have seemed like a very high ranking for Ennis on a list like this. Now it's conventional wisdom, and it should be. In a close game against Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome over the weekend, Jim Boeheim was perfectly content to have the ball in his freshman point guard's hands in crunch time. You know the rest: Syracuse came away with a 59-54 win.


Ennis is logging huge minutes for the Orange (only C.J. Fair is on the floor more often) and he has been excellent on both offense and defense. And while he shoots a very normal 44 percent on his attempts inside the arc, he offsets that with perimeter accuracy and one of the nation's highest steal rates. That kind of two-way productivity has put Ennis at the top of this freshman class in terms of Win Shares, a measure of points produced and allowed during a player's minutes. Thanks to Ennis (and to Trevor Cooney's defense and 3-point shooting), the 18-0 Orange have replaced the estimable likes of Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche without missing a beat.



5. Julius Randle, UK

6. Jabari Parker, Duke

7. DeAndre Kane, Iowa St (he should be #3 IMO)

8. Jordan Adams, UCLA

9. Joel Embiid, Kansas





10. C.J. Fair, Syracuse Orange
Before this season I was a little skeptical as to whether Fair would be able to step in to the featured-scorer role for the Orange as effectively and seamlessly as everyone seemed to assume he would. Well, that's exactly what he has done. Score one for "everyone."


Fair is option No. 1 for the Syracuse offense, he's almost always on the floor (having played 91 percent of the available minutes) and is making just a hair less than half his 2s. To date the Syracuse offense has scored 1.12 points per possession in ACC play. That number is better than I thought it would be because Fair (not unlike Ennis and Trevor Cooney) has been better than I thought he would be.



Per John Gasaway...

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-col...eads-nation-top-25-players-college-basketball





Not too shabby boys.

 

[moqui]

the closing minutes of the Pitt game were really something else. That kind of calm, clutch performance elevates the player beyond his mere numbers. The national media were already coming around to the fact that Tyler was very good; now we are all beginning to realize that he is actually one of Those Guys; the ones who are absolutely going to get you a bucket or get to the line on the critical, must-score possessions. We've had any number of stars and great players, but this is the first time since Melo that we've had That Guy (2010 kinda/sorta had it in Arinze, but his FT shooting limited his effectiveness)

 

[DoctorBombay]

Consistency is what separates the special ones, IMO.
Tyler Ennis is like clockwork & as Doris Burke said during the game: "He almost has an internal clock that tells him when the shot-clock is running down or the team needs a big play. And he does it with the same calm, cool demeanor on his face".
Melo was like that also- you always knew what you were gonna get from him each & every game.

 

[cusetown1]

I recall Billy Packer calling Melo our "calming effect" during the NT game. I can't help but feel the same way about Ennis when we need a big play. He really has a calming effect on this team.

 

[Chosen0ne]

So we have 2 of the top 10 players in college basketball