As the NCAA Tournament begins, many players are still bouncing up and down big boards. The tournament is a chance for many of them to cement their place in this year’s draft.
What’s more mad than March? Don’t answer that. The point is it’s time for us to scribble in our picks for our NCAA brackets, and in about three weeks most of us will be looking forward to next year’s bracket. The minority will be looking down at others acting like they can predict the future because their bracket wasn’t busted.
It’s all in good fun.
But while tourney tyrants scramble between brackets, 64 teams prepare for the d0-or-die scenario they’ve been awaiting all year. While all that weighs down their minds now is what it would be like to taste confetti, some players need the NCAA tournament to solidify their draft stocks.
Here are five players who need to have a great performance in the NCAA tournament to help them come June:
1. Adreian Payne – Michigan State PF 6-10, 245 lbs
Payne is just now starting to poke his way into the lottery conversation, and with a Big Ten Championship under his belt, why not? He gets up and down the floor very well for a big man. Getting out in transition makes up less than 10 percent of his offensive touches — big fella, duh — but he plays above the rim and can finish with authority. What made me fall in love with Payne is his ability to stretch the floor. He knocks down about half of his catch-and-shoot jump shots and shoots 42 percent from three.
He can shoot off the dribble and going to his right, but he needs to improve his ball handling. He reminds me a lot of Greg Monroe with his versatility. If Payne can lead the Spartans deep into the tourney, I think he can challenge the Noah Vonleh’s of the world and creep into the end of the lottery.
2. Jarnell Stokes – Tennessee PF 6-8, 260lbs
Stokes has been a double-double machine this season. He’s averaged about 15 points and 10 rebounds a game (brushes dirt off shoulder). Though his Tennessee Volunteers ran into the nation’s top-ranked team in the SEC Tournament and got bounced out one game before the conference title game. In the SEC semi-finals, Stokes went against a brutal and relentless Gators defense and still put up 13 points and 7 rebounds.
He reminds me of DeMarcus Cousins with his wide body and put-back ability. Stokes cleans the offensive glass like his mom won’t let him have dessert just yet. To put it in perspective, in three years Stokes has racked up 319 offensive boards — good enough for third all-time in the SEC. If he can flash a mid-range game, I think there is a definite possibility he gets taken in the first round. But his Vols are hanging on by a thread for an NCAA tourney birth. They’ll have to play their way in and let Stokes lead the charge from there
3. Scottie Wilbekin – Florida PG 6-2, 185 lbs
Honestly, I don’t know why scouts disregard Wilbekin so much. Yes, he had off-the-court issues in the past, but the guy can ball. He’s been called the best point guard in the country, most recently by ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes. Wilbekin is without a doubt one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball. In four years at Florida, he’s averaged a defensive rating of about 94 (estimated points per 100 possessions). He plays the passing lane like a vulture. In that full-court press that Billy Donovan loves so much, Wilbekin thrives. He swarms to the basketball and explodes to the rim.
On the offensive end, he needs to work on his shot selection. Sometimes he hoists the ball up out of no where, and he believes it’s going in every time. He also has to improve his transition passing. Wilbekin knows how to get to the line and finish at the rim, but he has to do a better job creating for his teammates in the open floor. He was named SEC Player of the Year and the MVP of the SEC Tournament. With Florida poised to make a national title run, he may just creep into the late-first/early-second round discussion.
4. Shabazz Napier – UConn PG 6-1, 180 lbs
Napier torched those Gators with a lucky heave early in the year, but his game is well deserving of praise. He averaged about 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists a game this season. Let’s be real, he’s not even a threat to be a lottery pick. Napier is a shooter, lacking the size and awareness to mold an all-around game. But teams need shooters. He tends to fade on a lot of jumpers, but hey, he makes ’em. He makes things more difficult than they have to be when he takes it to the rim, opting for a circus shot over simply taking the contact and laying it in.
Some would call that being crafty, but if he had more muscle he could take the boo boo and get the bucket. He’s a career 36.9 percent shooter from three while at UConn. He’s a playmaker. Teams are always looking for guys to come off the bench and create offensively. Napier can do that. If the Huskies make a run, it’s probably because Napier is leading the charge offensively, and that might catapult him to an early-second round spot.
5. C.J. Fair – Syracuse PF 6-8, 215 lbs
It seems like yesterday Fair was being tossed in as a possible top-10 pick candidate. He and Tyler Ennis were leading a top-ranked ‘Cuse, but the Orange lost five of its last seven and got knocked out of the ACC Tournament by N.C. State, who nearly gave ‘Cuse its first loss this season — Boston College did it four days later. Fair had 20 points in only two of those five losses, and the loss to Boston College was in overtime.
Fair is a scorer. Rebounding is not his strong suit, which will have to change if he wants to play power forward in the NBA. In all likelihood, he’ll have to convert to small forward, but the 28 percent from three he posted this year will have to change. To be fair, he’s had a down year behind the arc. In his four years at Syracuse, Fair’s averaged 34.5 percent from deep. But his field goal percentage dipped below 45 this season. With all of the recent struggles for the Orange, Fair needs to step up and show scouts he can survive in the NBA. Right now Ennis is leading that team, but he’s a freshman. If Fair can supply the senior leadership the team needs, he might get back into scouts’ good graces.
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