Hickson...best player since?

Hodge?

Before Hodge?

2/29/2008 3:38:23 PM

32. Minnesota JJ Hickson 6-9 235 PF NC State Fr.


from nbadraft.net

3/5/2008 1:21:56 PM

^^ If he stays he'll be better than Hodge. Maybe not all-around... but from a 'game impacting' standpoint, definitely.

If he leaves this year you can't put his abilities above Hodge

3/5/2008 1:28:23 PM

If JJ played with the attitude Hodge had, and sticks around, he could be disgusting.

3/5/2008 1:51:32 PM

that's a lot of ifs.

3/5/2008 2:10:46 PM

he can go, cant say he kept this team together

3/5/2008 3:06:47 PM

I can't possibly imagine his stock being high after this year.

3/5/2008 3:08:26 PM

his stock probably won't get back to where it was out of hs

3/5/2008 3:40:33 PM

You guys are out of your damn mind if you don't think JJ can improve his draft stock in another year or two.

3/5/2008 3:45:17 PM

Hickson has had a nice year but to even put him anywhere near Hodge isn't fair to Julius. Hickson is a blackhole when a double team comes, he doesn't do a good job picking his spots to block shots and he really has no intermediate game to speak of right now. I don't even care what his numbers are, I think Julius was a much more valuable player as a freshman than Hickson is.

Once Hickson improves those three he can be a Top 20 pick. I'm not sure, at his height, he is going to be a lottery pick ever, but at least he is more athletic than the Hansbrough type...


[Edited on March 5, 2008 at 3:48 PM. Reason : x]

3/5/2008 3:47:09 PM

i will say it again, hickson is a good bit worse than his numbers indicate.

he routinely gets blocked/striped in the paint by guys who have no business doing this to him, not to mention straight up dropping passes and putting up bad shot after bad shot against the double team.

not to say he's bad, but he's not one and done good, even if he goes one and done (which i think that he will).

3/5/2008 3:48:40 PM

I agree with what both of you are saying, but am completely baffled by the idea that you don't think he can improve his draft status in the coming year(s).

He's a freshman, and as we've seen, you have no idea how players will/can develop or regress.

I definitely agree that at least in terms of freshman years, Hodge was better overall than Hickson (more important, valuable, etc.)

3/5/2008 4:46:44 PM

if somehow we could cut off sean may's hands and glue them to hickson's wrists (after also cutting off hickson's hands OBVIOUSLY) i think he'd be one of the best ever

3/5/2008 4:48:40 PM

^^ i really just mean that i don't think this team is going to be very good the next few seasons.

3/5/2008 5:00:16 PM

simonn: apparently not over basketball

3/5/2008 6:07:26 PM

^haha i've been thinking that for weeks

3/5/2008 6:08:53 PM

as a state fan there is one thing you need. The fastest ability in the nation to give up hope and wait for next year

3/5/2008 6:47:11 PM

^except, state fans dont know how to do that until the end of the season. We just wallow in our own misery.


On the point of JJ though, we have 2 guards coming in next year and Degand coming back, so that should help him. Neither one of them are great, but I think they're both good enough to take some pressure off JJ, especially Mays.


I also wouldn't say he hurt his draft status by coming to State. Going to Tennessee wouldn't have helped him much, he wouldn't be the main man. I also don't buy into the fact that JJ is the cause of our "chemistry" issues. He seems as level headed as they come. Obviously he needs to work on his game, but if our other players have a problem with him, thats their problem, not his.



[Edited on March 5, 2008 at 7:00 PM. Reason : ]

3/5/2008 6:57:51 PM

If anything he will leave because he saw what happened to Costner. Fucking Costner.

3/5/2008 7:01:50 PM

^4, ^5


i wish i knew how you quit you, state basketball.

3/5/2008 9:14:00 PM

see, that's the problem, seasons like the 1983 season means our fanbase will always hold out hope and believe that miracles can happen, when most likely something of that magnitude will never happen again.

[wallace]true, they may take our seasons away, they may take our victories, BUT THEY CAN NEVER TAKE.......................OUR HOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!![/wallace]

[Edited on March 6, 2008 at 8:47 AM. Reason : ]

3/6/2008 8:38:27 AM

So I was thinking...

Hickson could turn into a Carlos Boozer type of player. I think he would need to get in the weight room and bulk a little more and solidify a 15-footer...but Boozer is close to his size and athleticism...and is killing it in the NBA right now too.

3/6/2008 9:10:06 AM

Quote :

"Neither one of them are great, but I think they're both good enough to take some pressure off JJ, especially Mays."

I personally have never seen Mays play, and I won't throw him under the bus until I see him on the court here, but from what I have heard he isn't good enough to play for anyone in the ACC. I really hope that isn't true.

3/6/2008 10:43:41 AM

Where did you hear that?

I personally don't think he'll be any kind of impact player as a freshman but I've heard very good things about his longterm potential... of course you never know. Chris Warren was a 3* unheralded PG like Mays is and is playing GREAT at Ole Miss as a true freshman...

[Edited on March 6, 2008 at 11:22 AM. Reason : x]

3/6/2008 11:22:21 AM

mays is about the same size and has a similar game style as chris wilcox , he is doing fairly well in the NBA

3/6/2008 12:53:41 PM

Chris Paul? Wilcox is a PF who is like 6'10"...

And considering Paul was one of the most heralded recruits every in North Carolina and already one of the Top 3 PG's in the NBA, I'm a bit skeptical of comparing Mays' game to him...

[Edited on March 6, 2008 at 1:11 PM. Reason : x]

3/6/2008 1:10:10 PM

I hope we aren't recruiting someone with Chris Paul's size and a similar game to Chris Wilcox.

6'1 power forward ftl.

3/6/2008 1:36:10 PM

^^ but they're about the same size!

3/6/2008 2:04:30 PM

Quote :

"mays is about the same size and has a similar game style as chris wilcox , he is doing fairly well in the NBA"

James Mays?? And Wilcox was a much more dynamic college basketball player than Mays.

3/6/2008 3:51:10 PM

3/6/2008 4:27:42 PM

^ roffle. photoshop of the year.

3/6/2008 6:21:34 PM