"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Chad Ford breaks down Dominic James

The NBA pre-draft camp began yesterday in Orlando, and ESPN.com's Chad Ford listed Dominic James as one of the key entrants that GM's will be watching closely:

Dominic James, PG, Marquette

James was left off the roster until the last minute despite the fact that many NBA scouts had him ranked as a late first-rounder for much of the year.

He hit a horrific shooting slump in the second half of the season and watched his stock drop. But he's got the speed, strength and explosiveness to be a NBA player. He'll need to show more floor leadership and the ability to knock down jumpers here if he wants to get back into the first round.

By Ford's best guesstimate, 42 of his top 60 potential draft picks are not participating in this week's pre-draft camp...."that would leave only 18 draft spots for the 62 players here."

IMHO, things are breaking right for Dominic James at this camp. He was called in late - so you'd expect him to be hungrier than most. In addition, as Ford points out the talent level at the camp is sub-par which should provide James with an opportunty to shine against PG prospects like Taurean Green, Mustafa Shakur, and Jared Jordan - - - none of whom figure to be able to keep up with DJ' freakish athleticism, if not overall game.

At the pre-draft camp, you can find Dominic James on Team#3 where his teammates are:
  • Winthrop's Craig Bradshaw
  • OSU's Daequan Cook
  • ORU's Caleb Green
  • Maryland's Ekene Ibekwe
  • Texas A&M's Joseph Jones
  • OSU's Ron Lewis
  • KSU's Cartier Martin
  • Loyola's Blake Schilb
  • Wright State's Dashaun Wood (MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational)
This seems like a good mix for James. Wood is the only other PG on the squad - - and both Lewis and Cook are terrific outside shooters, which should help showcase James' passing abilities (not to mention his ability to take a defender off the dribble).

Some reports indicate that ESPNU will televise certain portions of the NBA pre-draft camp this week - -we'll post a schedule here if we can track one down.

DraftExpress has an assessement of Day One of the camp here - - no mention of DJ.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Freakish athleticism" can only take a player so far. I would much rather have the passing skills of a Jared Jordan than the jumping ability of James. I'm pretty sure the Phoenix Suns would agree.

TB said...

Of course, with a career A/TO ratio of 1.90, it seems to me that James qualifies as a PG who can protect and distribute the ball effectively.

Jared Jordan does own a better career A/TO ratio than Dominic (gotta love the MAAC). Of course, Dominic's A/TO ratio is better than that of Taurean Green, Sean Singletary, and Mustafa Shakur.

Could it be possible that James is both 'freakishly' athletic and skilled?

Um, yes.

Matt said...

Blake Schilb played for Loyola Chicago, not Gonzaga.

Anonymous said...

A little defensive, NY Warrior? What kind of cut is James giving you for the unnecessary hype? Second round picks much less free agents aren't guaranteed a contract, so I would keep my day job.