WCC Mentions on ESPN

Wow... Chad Ford mentions eight players in a regular men's basketball article about the upcoming NBA draft, and two of them are WCC players. Amazing:

Who's Hot
Patrick Mills, PG, St. Mary's
Mills played for the Australian national team in the Olympics and gave Team USA fits with his quickness. Chris Paul and Deron Williams both had a difficult time guarding him. Mills ended up leading Australia with 20 points in its quarterfinal loss to Team USA. His performance was enough for scouts to start buzzing about his potential to be a mid-first-round pick.

Who's Not
Austin Daye, SF, Gonzaga
Daye got a huge scare when he hurt himself in LeBron's camp. Originally, reports were that he tore his ACL; however, ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported that Daye was told by doctors at UCLA that he had a bone bruise and a minor, low-grade tear that wouldn't require surgery.

While Gonzaga coaches are saying Daye is ready to start playing again, the loss of a summer to work on his game could have an impact on his development. Combine that with the lackluster performance he was having at the camp before the injury and scouts are no longer banking on him as a high lottery pick next year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftWatch-080922&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1

Mills was definitely a standout in those Olympics. I that first game against Australia was one of the the closer games the US played...

That's interesting what is written about Austin Daye. If one were to listen to some folks he's the next coming of Jordan,D. Wade, or Lebron..... Hmmm. Only the rest of WCC can hope there is some rust after a unfortunate summer for him. I thought it was interesting how much the Center from Tulsa's stock had shot up with the Scouts.

MesaPilot1 wrote:That's interesting what is written about Austin Daye. If one were to listen to some Gonzaga folks he's the next coming of Jordan,D. Wade, or Lebron..... Hmmm. Only the rest of WCC can hope there is some rust after a unfortunate summer for him. I thought it was interesting how much the Center from Tulsa's stock had shot up with the Scouts.

Fixed your post.

Way to get those Zaggetes fans fired up about the Pilots. But, it is the Truth isn't it. I do think there is a foot weakness in Spokane though, their 7 foot next coming of Dwight Howard is out now. I think Jasonn, Hegarty, and Kramer need to apply an MMA foot stomp in the next game.(Downs, Heifelt(SP),now Sacre) At least it may keep the score closer this year.

Rob's Jacket wrote:

MesaPilot1 wrote:That's interesting what is written about Austin Daye. If one were to listen to some Gonzaga folks he's the next coming of Jordan,D. Wade, or Lebron..... Hmmm. Only the rest of WCC can hope there is some rust after a unfortunate summer for him. I thought it was interesting how much the Center from Tulsa's stock had shot up with the Scouts.

Fixed your post.

My thoughts exactly.
Edit:
So, how many All-Star teams has their boy Adam Morrison made? And Blazer fans wanted him instead of Roy and Aldridge...

Even better... remember the endless threads on their board about how Morrison would be a better pro than Roy? Too bad they banned all the UW fans before they could come back and crow about it.

Anyway, I don't think there's anything endemic in Spokane in regards to stress fractures in the same way I don't think there's anything endemic to UP women's soccer and ACLs. It's just a case of lousy luck.

As for Austin Daye... I think he is indeed super talented and will be a good NBA player - he has the size and shooting range. However, I also think that he's a bit selfish out on the court. That worked with Morrison, but this incarnation of the Zags has Pargo, Bouldin, Gray, Heytvelt, Downs, etc on it, and a few of those guys have NBA aspirations of their own. It's possible (not saying it's likely, but it's possible) that team chemistry could be a problem for that team, especially if they start running into some adversity early on with all the injuries. Of all the questions about GU's team this year (and there aren't many other than injuries given the stockpile of talent) I think that is the biggest one. Can Pargo live with being second fiddle to Daye? Can Daye be happy just filling a role and not dominating the offense? We'll just have to wait and see...