 An Unnecessarily Exhaustive Guide To The 2010/11 NCAA Tournament, Part 1: Southwestern Region
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| 2011-03-15 |
They do it mainly with defense, and that defense is anchored by future lottery pick, Chris Singleton. Singleton is 6'9, very athletic and has long arms, the prototypical body type for a small forward/new era power forward if ever there was one. He combines the physical tools with timing, good hands and good defensive effort, and is one of the best defensive players in the nation. No, check that - he is the best, the single most disruptive individual force boasted by any team in the whole of college basketball. And while he pales offensively compared to defensively, Singleton still does enough on that end to lead FSU in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game. (No one else scores in double figures, although Derwin Kitchen's 9.9ppg can probably get a mulligan.) Singleton has improved his free throw and three point strokes, tightened up his ball handling slightly, stopped throwing as many insanely bad passes, and developed a fledgling post game, something he never previously had. He is still not much of a ball handler or shooter, but his physical tools avail him easy looks anyway, and he is dynamite in transition.
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2011 NBA Draft Diary
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| 2011-06-25 |
Pick 18: Chris Singleton's slide down the draft board is ended before it becomes embarrassing, as Washington stops the rot at #18. Washington earlier had a choice between Singleton and Jan Vesely, and now they've wound up with both. They're happy. They should be.
On his way to the podium, Singleton needs two goes at putting his hat on. Must Improve: Putting On Hats. In his interview with a now completely invisible Mark Jones, Singleton touts his ability to defend all spots 1 through 4. It's more likely to be 3 through 5, but Singleton and Vesely combine to be a hell of an imposing forward pairing. Add that to JaVale McGee, and it's a tough unit to score on. Singleton's offensive role is less apparent, and struggles when asked to create half court offense, but that shouldn't happen in the NBA. If the Wizards push the tempo, he'll find a niche offensively.
I don't think Washington needs Yi Jianlian any more.
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Sham's unnecessarily great big draft board: Small Forwards
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| 2011-06-23 |
 I'd be OK with calling Chris Singleton "Professor Chaos." Don't know about you.
Chris Singleton - Singleton was as disruptive of a defensive force as there was in college basketball last season. With his frame, athleticism and reach, he seemed to be everywhere, a constantly disruptive force and bringer of chaos and destruction, and now, this puny world, uh, will bow down to him. Everything about that half of the floor should translate easily.
Offensively, Singleton is more awkward. He is certainly not talented, but it will be tough to find a niche; much as he may prefer to handle and shoot from the perimeter, he is rather average at both. There's also nothing more than a rudimentary post-up game, and as much as Singleton wants to be a ball handler and slasher go-to type, he isn't. If he were to stick to spotting up, getting out and running, and using the looks facilitated by his physical tools, this would be better. (The greater spacing offered up by the NBA game, as well as the increased pace, could both be big helps to him. As could going to a team with a playmaking point guard better than Derwyn Kitchen.)
Vesely is enjoying somewhat more hype to Singleton because he's bigger, and, to the American audience, more of an unknown. Singleton has been on ESPN for a few years, so while his strengths are well established, they are also now assumed, whereas the Vesely learning curve continues. Truth be told, the two are pretty comparable. Vesely's size, upside and what have you will more than likely see him go before Chris, but if you wanted Vesely and he's already off the board, Singleton is the logical back-up plan.
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Note: Non-US teams that the player
has played for are, unless stated otherwise, from the top division in
that nation. If league or division name is expressly stated, it's not
the top division. The only exceptions to this are the rare occasions where
no one league is said to be above the other, such as with the JBL/BJ League
split inJapan.
In the event where more than one agent is listed, this is because the
player has more than one agent. This is rather commonplace - a lot of
times, a player will sign with a big agency, and they will have both primary
and secondary agents from within that agency to handle their affairs.
(Where that happens, the primary agent is listed first.) Also, foreign
players tend to have both American and domestic agents. Where the details
of such are known, they are listed.
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