Joakim Noah and Taurean Green showed the country why they are anything but overrated on primetime television on Saturday night; Rudy Gay thinks it's way too early to be calling his season a disappointment; Don't call PJ Tucker a tweener; Quincy Douby explodes for 41 points in the Carrier Dome; Matt Haryasz wants to carry Stanford on his back to an unlikely at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, and Curtis Stinson puts up an impressive triple-double with style.
Joakim Noah, 6-11, center, sophomore, Florida
28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 11-13 FG, 4-6 FT
Jonathan Givony
Going into this season, most NBA scouts would tell you that the only top-20 first round prospects participating in the first Florida-Kentucky showdown involve the likes of Rajon Rondo, Corey Brewer and Al Horford. We hinted at Noah looking like Floridas best NBA prospect before the season started from the scrimmages we saw, but no one really could have expected the kind of improvement Noah has shown over from being a scrawny, timid, overmatched freshman to the dominant force he became in the Kentucky game this past weekend.
On primetime television and in front of dozens of NBA scouts, Noah took his team on his back and completely destroyed anyone the Wildcats threw his way. He ran the floor like a man possessed, established deep position time after time in the paint to finish emphatically, blocked numerous shots and altered countless others, and fired up the sold out and incredibly loud Florida crowd on the way to a blowout win over their archrival Kentucky Wildcats. Being a near 7-footer with excellent length and plenty of bounce to his step Noah was always going to draw attention from the NBA, but the way he changes the game with his sheer tenacity and aggressiveness puts him in a rare class when talking about big men prospects in college basketball.
Its tough not to like the way Noah leaves everything out on the floor every time he plays. You can tell that he truly loves playing basketball and winning games, and his terrific attitude comes out in almost everything he does; whether its showing an excellent understanding passing unselfishly out of the post, handling the ball for short stretches and finding the open man, fighting and scrapping all night long inside the paint, showing a good touch and plenty of coordination finishing in difficult situations around the rim, or just being a warrior out on the floor and sparking his team and the fans.
Noah still needs more time in college to continue to add bulk to his extremely lanky frame and work on his fairly imited offensive arsenal that mostly revolves around layups and dunks at this point in his development. His shooting stroke is very unconventional as he releases the ball awkwardly from his chest, and still struggles to hold position in the paint for rebounds and utilize his back to the basket game. With that said, he is clearly improving from game to game and shows the type of motor that players like Randolph Morris could only dream of. He seems to be enjoying himself immensely playing with what appears to be the most talented sophomore class in college basketball with the Florida Gators, which is why sticking around for another year might not seem like such a bad idea for one of the most passionate players in the country.
On primetime television and in front of dozens of NBA scouts, Noah took his team on his back and completely destroyed anyone the Wildcats threw his way. He ran the floor like a man possessed, established deep position time after time in the paint to finish emphatically, blocked numerous shots and altered countless others, and fired up the sold out and incredibly loud Florida crowd on the way to a blowout win over their archrival Kentucky Wildcats. Being a near 7-footer with excellent length and plenty of bounce to his step Noah was always going to draw attention from the NBA, but the way he changes the game with his sheer tenacity and aggressiveness puts him in a rare class when talking about big men prospects in college basketball.
Its tough not to like the way Noah leaves everything out on the floor every time he plays. You can tell that he truly loves playing basketball and winning games, and his terrific attitude comes out in almost everything he does; whether its showing an excellent understanding passing unselfishly out of the post, handling the ball for short stretches and finding the open man, fighting and scrapping all night long inside the paint, showing a good touch and plenty of coordination finishing in difficult situations around the rim, or just being a warrior out on the floor and sparking his team and the fans.
Noah still needs more time in college to continue to add bulk to his extremely lanky frame and work on his fairly imited offensive arsenal that mostly revolves around layups and dunks at this point in his development. His shooting stroke is very unconventional as he releases the ball awkwardly from his chest, and still struggles to hold position in the paint for rebounds and utilize his back to the basket game. With that said, he is clearly improving from game to game and shows the type of motor that players like Randolph Morris could only dream of. He seems to be enjoying himself immensely playing with what appears to be the most talented sophomore class in college basketball with the Florida Gators, which is why sticking around for another year might not seem like such a bad idea for one of the most passionate players in the country.