Since we've completely remade the roster, I was wondering how much pro-level talent people think we have.

Fardaws and Tyson seem like NBA guys to me. ND feels like he has NBA upside (at least per the Nuggets exec who visited practice last year). Maybe if Celestine comes back from injury strong, he's a borderline NBA prospect or good-quality overseas league?

Askew had NBA projections out of high school but I feel he may have been slightly overranked and I am not sure if he really has NBA level talent. Maybe good overseas league? Tough to judge seeing as he was forced to play in a poor system and out of position this past year.

Grant seems like he has the potential to go pro, just needs more development. And I'll wait to see how our freshmen Rodney and Devin look before making projections.

Thoughts?

Fardaws and Tyson need to take a big, big next step to be NBA caliber.

eastcoastcal said:

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Since we've completely remade the roster, I was wondering how much pro-level talent people think we have.

Fardaws and Tyson seem like NBA guys to me. ND feels like he has NBA upside (at least per the Nuggets exec who visited practice last year). Maybe if Celestine comes back from injury strong, he's a borderline NBA prospect or good-quality overseas league?

Askew had NBA projections out of high school but I feel he may have been slightly overranked and I am not sure if he really has NBA level talent. Maybe good overseas league? Tough to judge seeing as he was forced to play in a poor system and out of position this past year.

Grant seems like he has the potential to go pro, just needs more development. And I'll wait to see how our freshmen Rodney and Devin look before making projections.

Thoughts?

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The highlights I've seen of the new guys is limited, so I may amend this analysis after a game or two, but I don't think any of them are NBA players.

Aimak has a shot because of his size, but I don't think he's athletic enough to defend the pick and roll, so he'd get eaten alive.

Cone also has a shot if his shooting is for real.

I think Tyson can develop into a legit NBA prospect.

He has size, athleticism and he's a great defender/shooter. Fits the 3 & D mold well, IMO.

Fardaws can be an NBA prospect if he continues to improve his body (which he already has done since he last saw the court at Texas Tech) as well as his outside shot on higher volume (which has been efficient in small samples).

fascinating, analysis of prospects with little data/film and then a comment, granular on Farwads pick and roll mobility? Based on ?? He poses great agility for the position from 10 sec of his tape, and that is also why MM is so valued by the players, to train for the NBA..

It takes a bit of film to see the big guy is not overestimated when folks talked possible top 10 lottery pick, going into last yr.-broken foot,11 games.
His tape is one of the most impressive, in all the critical ways for success and impact at the nba level.

The rest,: we are lucky the make-up, and Madsen snagged them to win now, great college talent but have had to play 4 +yrs to max and prove and expand their game. Like Cone, VTech needed scoring so at 5'11" but with an insane high elevation
on his jumper, moved to 2 guard and avg 25/game in the ACC.
To make the NBA, he stepped down to NAU to demonstrate point/lead guard at is height, and will do the same for CAL. Huge, prime of their college game players "gets" MM and the big dude stated they would recruit and did.nal 8 team,

One or both stated we are recruiting the portal and putting together a final 4 final 4,8 roster. Reminds me of the Baylor path and slogan for their programs & their NC win: "Get old, stay old". (I will take that methodology in todays env, vs Brown, Bird, Rabb, T Wallace....injuries /1 or 2 and done)

hbear777 said:

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fascinating, analysis of prospects with little data/film and then a comment, granular on Farwads pick and roll mobility? Based on ?? He poses great agility for the position from 10 sec of his tape, and that is also why MM is so valued by the players, to train for the NBA..

It takes a bit of film to see the big guy is not overestimated when folks talked possible top 10 lottery pick, going into last yr.-broken foot,11 games.
His tape is one of the most impressive, in all the critical ways for success and impact at the nba level.

The rest,: we are lucky the make-up, and Madsen snagged them to win now, great college talent but have had to play 4 +yrs to max and prove and expand their game. Like Cone, VTech needed scoring so at 5'11" but with an insane high elevation
on his jumper, moved to 2 guard and avg 25/game in the ACC.
To make the NBA, he stepped down to NAU to demonstrate point/lead guard at is height, and will do the same for CAL. Huge, prime of their college game players "gets" MM and the big dude stated they would recruit and did.nal 8 team,

One or both stated we are recruiting the portal and putting together a final 4 final 4,8 roster. Reminds me of the Baylor path and slogan for their programs & their NC win: "Get old, stay old". (I will take that methodology in todays env, vs Brown, Bird, Rabb, T Wallace....injuries /1 or 2 and done)

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Strange comment. I noted the limitations of my analysis at the outset. Are you the gate keeper for who can have an opinion? How much film do I need before you would not deride my opinion? As I said, I'll watch a few games and then have a better informed opinion.

My comment that he has a shot at making the NBA was intended as a very high compliment! Given what I've seen, I disagree with your comment that he has "great agility for the position," compared to other NBA players (though I would love to be wrong). But I still think he has a shot at the NBA. But you seem overly optimistic about any player's chances of making the NBA. Some really great college basketball players have not made the NBA. I think it's very hard to make the NBA.

My opinion that he is not a slam dunk, 10-year NBA player does not mean I think he will be terrible next year. My opinion that no one on our roster is a slam dunk, 10-year NBA player does not mean I think Cal will be terrible next year, either.

stu said:

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For the players I've seen I'd say NBA is at best far in the future. Right now I'm eager to see how good we look in Pac-12 play.

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Best statement on this thread. Quality of words is better than quantity of words.

hbear777 said:

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fascinating, analysis of prospects with little data/film and then a comment, granular on Farwads pick and roll mobility? Based on ?? He poses great agility for the position from 10 sec of his tape, and that is also why MM is so valued by the players, to train for the NBA..

It takes a bit of film to see the big guy is not overestimated when folks talked possible top 10 lottery pick, going into last yr.-broken foot,11 games.
His tape is one of the most impressive, in all the critical ways for success and impact at the nba level.

The rest,: we are lucky the make-up, and Madsen snagged them to win now, great college talent but have had to play 4 +yrs to max and prove and expand their game. Like Cone, VTech needed scoring so at 5'11" but with an insane high elevation
on his jumper, moved to 2 guard and avg 25/game in the ACC.
To make the NBA, he stepped down to NAU to demonstrate point/lead guard at is height, and will do the same for CAL. Huge, prime of their college game players "gets" MM and the big dude stated they would recruit and did.nal 8 team,

One or both stated we are recruiting the portal and putting together a final 4 final 4,8 roster. Reminds me of the Baylor path and slogan for their programs & their NC win: "Get old, stay old". (I will take that methodology in todays env, vs Brown, Bird, Rabb, T Wallace....injuries /1 or 2 and done)

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"No Country For College Big Men"

Because of the way the NBA has changed, 3 of the best players in college basketball went unpicked in the 2023 NBA Draft. 😢

- Adama Sanogo (UConn): 2023 F4 MOP
- Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky): 2022 NPOY
- Drew Timme (Gonzaga): 1st Team All-American pic.twitter.com/ZCIA3iaf6L

— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) June 23, 2023

GMP said:

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hbear777 said:

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fascinating, analysis of prospects with little data/film and then a comment, granular on Farwads pick and roll mobility? Based on ?? He poses great agility for the position from 10 sec of his tape, and that is also why MM is so valued by the players, to train for the NBA..

It takes a bit of film to see the big guy is not overestimated when folks talked possible top 10 lottery pick, going into last yr.-broken foot,11 games.
His tape is one of the most impressive, in all the critical ways for success and impact at the nba level.

The rest,: we are lucky the make-up, and Madsen snagged them to win now, great college talent but have had to play 4 +yrs to max and prove and expand their game. Like Cone, VTech needed scoring so at 5'11" but with an insane high elevation
on his jumper, moved to 2 guard and avg 25/game in the ACC.
To make the NBA, he stepped down to NAU to demonstrate point/lead guard at is height, and will do the same for CAL. Huge, prime of their college game players "gets" MM and the big dude stated they would recruit and did.nal 8 team,

One or both stated we are recruiting the portal and putting together a final 4 final 4,8 roster. Reminds me of the Baylor path and slogan for their programs & their NC win: "Get old, stay old". (I will take that methodology in todays env, vs Brown, Bird, Rabb, T Wallace....injuries /1 or 2 and done)

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Strange comment. I noted the limitations of my analysis at the outset. Are you the gate keeper for who can have an opinion? How much film do I need before you would not deride my opinion? As I said, I'll watch a few games and then have a better informed opinion.

My comment that he has a shot at making the NBA was intended as a very high compliment! Given what I've seen, I disagree with your comment that he has "great agility for the position," compared to other NBA players (though I would love to be wrong). But I still think he has a shot at the NBA. But you seem overly optimistic about any player's chances of making the NBA. Some really great college basketball players have not made the NBA. I think it's very hard to make the NBA.

My opinion that he is not a slam dunk, 10-year NBA player does not mean I think he will be terrible next year. My opinion that no one on our roster is a slam dunk, 10-year NBA player does not mean I think Cal will be terrible next year, either.

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To GMP's point, trayce Jackson Davis was easily one of the top 5 best college players last year. He's super athletic and can defend. And yet, even for him, it's unclear whether he will survive in the NBA.

boredom said:

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It's great that Cal has decided to actually try to have a basketball program for the first time in like 7 years. Very happy about that. Also happy that Madsen has brought in some guys who seem like actual major conference players. Also great.

With that said, just because they're hopefully better than the guys who got us 3 wins doesn't make them NBA players, much less lottery picks. To be honest, I haven't seen Fardaws play yet. But talking about him as a top 10 draft pick is nuts. He'll be 25 next year. Top 10 picks his age are on their 2nd NBA contracts. The entire top 10 this year was 1 and done (or didn't even go to college). The oldest player drafted at all was a year younger than Fardaws currently is (so 2 years by next draft).

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Perhaps that will change when the UC Berkeley Bears cut down the nets on April 8, in charming Glendale AZ.

hbear777 said:

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fascinating, analysis of prospects with little data/film and then a comment, granular on Farwads pick and roll mobility? Based on ?? He poses great agility for the position from 10 sec of his tape, and that is also why MM is so valued by the players, to train for the NBA..

It takes a bit of film to see the big guy is not overestimated when folks talked possible top 10 lottery pick, going into last yr.-broken foot,11 games.
His tape is one of the most impressive, in all the critical ways for success and impact at the nba level.

The rest,: we are lucky the make-up, and Madsen snagged them to win now, great college talent but have had to play 4 +yrs to max and prove and expand their game. Like Cone, VTech needed scoring so at 5'11" but with an insane high elevation
on his jumper, moved to 2 guard and avg 25/game in the ACC.
To make the NBA, he stepped down to NAU to demonstrate point/lead guard at is height, and will do the same for CAL. Huge, prime of their college game players "gets" MM and the big dude stated they would recruit and did.nal 8 team,

One or both stated we are recruiting the portal and putting together a final 4 final 4,8 roster. Reminds me of the Baylor path and slogan for their programs & their NC win: "Get old, stay old". (I will take that methodology in todays env, vs Brown, Bird, Rabb, T Wallace....injuries /1 or 2 and done)

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I had trouble following the language in your post. I think your post may have been written in haste. Hopefully you can explain what you meant.

The statement about Mr. Cone seems to be in error, or at least it seems to be misinformed. I don't remember when Jalen Cone was moved to the 2 guard at Virginia Tech. It did happen, but he was not greatly effective at either 2 guard or point guard while on that team.

See https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jalen-cone-1.html

As a freshman at Virginia Tech, Cone played 32 games, averaging 8 points and less than one assist per game. In 21 ACC games, he averaged 12.5 points, and 0.7 assists. He had only one 20 point game, scoring 20 against Miami. As a soph, Cone played in only 15 games, averaging 9.2 points. In 11 ACC games, he averaged 8 points and less than one assist per game. Again he had only one 20 point game, scoring 23 vs Louisville. Based on the record he did not average 25 points in the ACC, or even score 25 in a single game. Either this is an error in your post, or maybe it was a prediction, or something else. The reason I belabor the point is that I think his performance is very important in evaluating him, even though he was a frosh and soph, that was the only time he played against and with top level players in real games, except for a small sample at lesser programs. I have some hope for him, because he has shown he can have hot shooting nights, and he also does make his free throws. He has struggled a lot with injuries, but seems to be relatively free of them now.

6956bear said:

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The NBA loves athletic guys with high upsides. Players that stay 4 years in college are often not drafted. But that does not mean they cannot be very good college players and still have a shot at an NBA career. The Miami Heat played several guys just this past season that went undrafted by NBA teams. Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson were all undrafted.

On the current Cal roster IMO Jaylon Tyson has the best shot at the NBA. Has enough athletic ability and can score at 3 levels. He may not have a single dominant feature to his game but is above average in most everything. He is not a great athlete but is not a stiff.

Aimaq may be able to secure a roster spot as well. He is a terrific rebounder and has some range to his shot. Again not a great athlete by NBA standards but there are a lot of guys in the NBA that are far from elite athletes. But they do not get drafted generally.

I am mostly concerned about how these players project for Cal. Madsen plays a style that will allow players to showcase some skills. The team may not have a bunch of NBA guys but I do believe they have future pros. Europe provides a great place for guys to earn a nice living playing hoops.

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Europe, Australia, Korea….all nice post-grad job locations.

I suspect the answer is Zero

tequila4kapp said:

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I suspect the answer is Zero

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I agree that none likely are drafted. But I would not be surprised if a couple show up on an NBA roster at some point in their careers. A lot of undrafted players are in the league. And you can field terrific college teams that have have no future draftees on the roster.

tequila4kapp said:

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6956bear said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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I suspect the answer is Zero

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I agree that none likely are drafted. But I would not be surprised if a couple show up on an NBA roster at some point in their careers. A lot of undrafted players are in the league. And you can field terrific college teams that have have no future draftees on the roster.

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Completely agree. I expect Cal to have a really nice squad, probably make the tourney. It's going to be fun again.

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My expectation is we will be competitive and I can realistically keep rooting for us deep into the season to win enough to get in the tournament.