^^

Quote :

"lowering his status out of the lottery"

You're an idiot if you think Hickson is a lottery pick at this point.

12/31/2007 3:07:29 PM

let's also not forget the games where he hasn't had much impact as well.

12/31/2007 3:09:09 PM

^Correct.

Like I wrote before, if he dominates the ACC like he did the WCU, then he'll get some draft talk. Right now he's overshadowed by a lot of other freshmen. And Handsdouch will be the only big man talked about in the ACC.

12/31/2007 3:14:46 PM

He definitely has NBA talent. It is still very early but if he leaves this year there is a good chance he could be another Ced Simmons or Josh Powell. Another year or two with Sid and he could develop into a dominant NBA 4.

Right now, I'd say he has the following strengths and areas that need improvement:

Strengths:
Strength
Agility and balance
Overall athleticism/mobility/leaping ability
Help defense/shot blocking
Establishing offensive position to receive the ball
Efficient post moves around the basket
Offensive IQ
Consistent Effort

Areas for improvement
One-on-one defense
Rebounding (consistently getting in good rebounding position)
Ball security
Passing
Consistency of mid-range jump shot

12/31/2007 3:29:22 PM

^agree with that list

and let's keep in mind that he's only 6'9", which means he really needs to improve on some of those weaknesses before he's a solid lottery pick

12/31/2007 4:33:10 PM

my main thing is at 6'9 and his size, he's prob a power forward at best and until he shows that he can consistently hit some sort of a jumpshot, he wont rank high on draft lists

there are tons of 6'9 guys in the NBA who can finish, but its about creating your shot, playing decent defense and being able to score outside of the painted area

12/31/2007 6:51:40 PM

Quote :

"Since when did the NBA draft on skill and not potential, did you miss the last decade where there were always 2 high schoolers in the top ten? "

And hickson is better now than when simmons went into the draft as a sophomore

12/31/2007 6:55:04 PM

i like hickson but i think that he fucks up the rhythm of the team. they don't seem to be on the same beat like they were last year but that could be because we lost atsur.

1/1/2008 1:33:35 PM

^

I am almost certain it's because we lost Atsur. Atsur wasn't extremely athletic, but he knew how to distribute the basketball very well and played smart alot of the time.


If we had a highly rated point guard running our offense this year (i.e., Chris Wright), then we'd be a top 10 team combined with the inside presence JJ Hickson has been producing (stats-wise) and the experience of the guards (Gavin Grant, Courtney Fells) and the continuing strength of our frontcourt (assuming Brandon Costner elevates his game like he did last year...).

However, I do think that we are well on our way to getting to that "top 10" status, although people are just going to have to be really patient. For example, we only lose Gavin Grant this year, and bring in a good point guard next year in Julius Mays... We would already have Marques/Javi here for a year, so that makes our PG position next year very experienced and 3 deep. And If Hickson stays, that's a pretty good damn team for next year...

1/1/2008 1:49:43 PM

Quote :

"We would already have Marques/Javi here for a year, so that makes our PG position next year very experienced and 3 deep."

Farnold also

4 deep.

Although I wouldn't be surprised if Johnson moves to the 2.

1/1/2008 2:49:12 PM

Quote :

"I am almost certain it's because we lost Atsur"

of course it was

he was the floor general, the players say he was one of the most determined, respectful and yet dirtiest in game players they have played with or against.


the thing with Atsur that made him so good, he knew how to make the weird passes thanks to Herbs system, he could drive off the screen, pass off the screen or shoot the 3 for an extremely good and NEEDED %.

triple threat point is hard to beat, he just lacked the speed and size, but the IQ was tremendous

1/1/2008 2:52:03 PM

he's still gone after the year

1/1/2008 3:25:30 PM

Quote :

"You're an idiot if you think Hickson is a lottery pick at this point."

There has never been a more clueless statement in the history of sports. go ahead and name 15 guys that will be drafted over Hickson right now. Charlie Villanueva, Ced Simmons, Wilcox, and an entrie list of high school seniors were all lottery picks. Hickson has easily proven he's a lottery pick, they don't draft on current ability, and they don't downgrade you because your team has no point guard to get you the ball. Have you seen an NBA draft before? How do you explain the Kwame brown's of the world, he dominated high school, well woopty do, and was the number one pick. Our own Ced Simmons wasn't even close to where JJ is right now 15 games into his frosh season, complete ignorance on your part.


[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 4:07 PM. Reason : .]

1/1/2008 4:03:15 PM

The fact that you cite Simmons as an example of a lottery pick proves you're an idiot.

1/1/2008 5:25:19 PM

yea he missed it by a pick, that obviously supports your claim that Hickson isn't a lottery pick , or right now or whatever, kid was a lottery pick out of high school if they would have let him. I like the name calling though, it's been a while since I was on the playground for recess. Can we bttt this thread for the folks who a) think Hickson will be around next season (unless he tears his ACL) and b) won't be a lottery pick

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 5:58 PM. Reason : .]

1/1/2008 5:56:58 PM

i think he could be drafted after this season if he wanted to be. the question is whether he'll choose to stay with the team or not.

1/1/2008 5:59:04 PM

Quote :

"kid was a lottery pick out of high school if they would have let him"

Really? Anyone that actually knows anything about basketball say that or is that just your opinion?

I haven't seen him on anyone's top 10 list this year. So why would you assume he's a guaranteed lottery pick? I guess you know more than the scouts do.

I think right now, he'd be a first rounder. But I think he'll be here at least 2 years unless he really dominates the ACC. If he's in the top-10 on the draft boards, I could see him going. But he's not there yet.

1/1/2008 6:16:42 PM

Quote :

"Really? Anyone that actually knows anything about basketball say that or is that just your opinion?"

haha wow you just proved your ignorance on this situation.

solid.

1/1/2008 6:23:39 PM

1/1/2008 6:32:42 PM

Hickson won ROW in the ACC.

http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9200&ATCLID=1357510

Quote :

"averaged 23.0 points and 11.5 rebounds and shot .938 from the field (15-of-16) and .813 from the free throw line (13-of-16) in victories over Seton Hall and Western Carolina."

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 6:53 PM. Reason : Nice stats]

1/1/2008 6:50:07 PM

4 points and 1 rebound for Hickson. Anyone that actually watched the game know why he didn't show up today?

1/5/2008 6:39:15 PM

^ everytime he touched the ball they were there stripping it. He has to work on those hands.

1/5/2008 6:45:12 PM

He only played 21 minutes. Was he not hustling?

From what I could hear, it sounded like we didn't even try to get the ball down low. 18 of a our 40 shot attempts were from 3. And we only made 6.

1/5/2008 6:51:10 PM

i think they did a pretty good job of denying hickson the ball, although we didn't do the best job of getting it to him...

1/5/2008 6:57:23 PM

big thing was that they mobbed anyone in the paint, up to 3 and 4 deep. he didn't have a chance this game.

1/5/2008 7:22:59 PM

and it's going to be that way all season unless somebody starts sinking some 3's

1/5/2008 8:05:50 PM

there's no excuse for guards pulling the ball out of his hands

1/5/2008 8:07:50 PM

They played zone the whole game and we know how well we play against zone D...


Until we learn how to drive and kick out and sink some 3s, no one will play man to man on us, which is where we really shine.

Without guard play to complement the front court, there's no chance for Hickson.

1/5/2008 8:10:20 PM

Quote :

"there's no excuse for guards pulling the ball out of his hands"

this shit happens to mccauley and costner all the time too. it's fucking ridiculous.

1/5/2008 11:37:59 PM

Quote :

" I think right now, he'd be a first rounder."

This sounds about right. I think the amount of freshmen talent that will head to the NBA this year(guys who will be ahead of Hickson) will push him out of being a lottery pick, but he would probably still be a 1st. This freshmen class is unreal, and most of them are one and done type guys. Some of the past years he might have been a lottery pick. Guys are drafted based on potential, especially that young, not always how they do in college. All it takes is a good run in March though to raise value quickly, to bad we won't be playing.

[Edited on January 6, 2008 at 12:07 AM. Reason : ,]

1/6/2008 12:07:19 AM

umm, the nit is played in March... dumbass!

1/6/2008 12:08:15 AM

What about that new sub-NIT tourney?

I bet we could dominate that shit.

1/6/2008 12:09:37 AM

damn, Hickson has a 2.0 Points Per Shot(PPS) average.

to put into perspective, guys who go to the foul line a lot(ahem Hansblow, who has more FTs made than FGs made) can easily sway this stat, but hes only at 1.83


that .706 shooting percentage is beastly as well

1/9/2008 9:48:37 PM

he got pretty pissed tonight when costner hit some threes. It was like he was whining for the ball and thought it should have gone to him. He needs to mature a little. Also got swatted a couple of times He will be here again next year I believe and hope.

1/10/2008 2:10:29 AM

yeah he got embarrassed one time when he was swatted.. had state been away the crowd would've erupted about it

1/10/2008 6:22:07 AM

I totally agree. He will still be a late 1st rounder (and thus mayybe stay one more year) unless we show up to play during ACC play in a big way, but he has been exposed by some inferior opponents (like the lurchy white guy on NC-C last night).

I did not see him whining for the ball when costner hit those threes. I think he was mad that the guy kept elbowing him in the post when vying for rebound position.... The foul calling last night was blatantly biased against us with such a large lead and NC-C was allowed to be much more physical....

[Edited on January 10, 2008 at 7:34 AM. Reason : sp]

1/10/2008 7:32:41 AM

i also didn't notice any whining when costner hit those 3s.

1/10/2008 7:45:01 AM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0801/cfb.top.freshman/content.10.html

1/10/2008 8:41:45 PM

Quote :

"he got pretty pissed tonight when costner hit some threes. It was like he was whining for the ball and thought it should have gone to him. He needs to mature a little."

as others have said he wasn't whining

DAMN YOU COSTNER QUIT HITTING 3'S AND THROW IT DOWN LOW SO I CAN SCORE ONE LESS POINT PER BASKET

1/10/2008 8:50:10 PM

javi was pissed at hickson about something after fells got hurt. He had a mad look on his face and went to sid while pointing at hickson the whole time. I don't think hickson came back in the game after that.

1/10/2008 9:13:15 PM

He better not foul out half way through the first half against UNC

1/10/2008 11:31:55 PM

Quote :

"I don't think hickson came back in the game after that."

fells got injured in the first half

hickson had 12 before the half, 1 after the half

he HAD to have come back

1/10/2008 11:51:43 PM

Ok i guess you didn't pay attention as brandon tried to grab jj and he was like (where you sway your arms away from someone and are pissed) and brandon said calm down. He was pissed for not being fed the ball.

1/11/2008 1:02:17 AM

just a general note...players obviously dont always agree with each other and get along all the time...as long as they RESPECT each other, and respect the coach, they can still play together...i guess i'm just trying to say if they were jawing at each other a little its nothing out of the ordinary, especially when you have new lineups and have to re-allocate stats of injured players

1/11/2008 1:08:37 AM

don't know if this has been posted yet:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=FreshmanWatch-080123&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

if you dont have insider:

Quote :

"First-round locks J. J. Hickson, F, North Carolina State Hickson is an athletic big man with an NBA frame and the ability to score from 15 feet and in. He's shown good ability as a shot-blocker and a rebounder and has been shooting with extreme efficiency from the field. Although scouts say he's raw and could use another year in school, the combination of length, athleticism and efficency is usually a potent one come draft time. His stock is harder to judge because of his rawness, but most scouts have him going somewhere in the mid-first round. "

great.

1/23/2008 4:24:50 PM

Well, we all said we wanted more State players in the NBA

1/23/2008 4:28:26 PM

It's been lonely since Todd Fuller left

1/23/2008 4:29:53 PM

I for one want State players to succeed in the NBA. I don't doubt Hickson would be a first rounder this year, but think he would benefit significantly from an extra year to develop his game and solidify himself as a top pick.

1/23/2008 4:32:23 PM

Quote :

"Although scouts say he's raw and could use another year in school"

duuuuuuurrrr

so what does it take to be a scout these days, two eyes and a lot of free time?


seriously though, i hope he stays 1 more year. for his sake and for the benefit of the team.

1/23/2008 4:35:24 PM

[Edited on January 23, 2008 at 4:36 PM. Reason : wtf boozer?]

1/23/2008 4:35:56 PM