The House of Blue

Glad to hear he is already getting to work out with Wiltjer and WCS. Can't wait until he gets his timing down. GBB!!

What did he say?

Thanks romp.

Well of course he wouldn't be as far along as he would have been had he already been on campus. That's a no-brainer.

Plus, I'm not sure people realize this but Noel isn't going to be counted on to score a ton of points next season. He'll be asked to do one thing and one thing only: protect the rim. And he'll be very good at that.

The latest concerns over Noel comes from Chad Ford:

Nerlens Noel, F/C, Kentucky Wildcats
Noel showed up at the adidas Nations camp last weekend and, by virtually every account, was a major disappointment. While longtime high school gurus knew that Noel was incredibly raw, NBA scouts got a pretty big taste of just how raw he was. Offensively, Noel struggled to do anything other than dunk the ball. Defensively he showed why he was a terrific shot-blocker, but did little else to impress.

Last year Anthony Davis showed up at the LeBron James Skills Academy and virtually every scout in attendance claimed he was the best prospect there. I couldn't find anyone who was willing to say the same about Noel.

"He's got the raw abilities, but he doesn't have any of the intangibles of Anthony Davis," one scout said. "I think he's going to get better and [UK coach John Calipari] will help him a lot. But I told my GM to temper his expectations. We're probably going to see a season closer to Andre Drummond's than Anthony Davis."

Noel began the season in late June ranked No. 1 on our Big Board. A lot of NBA scouts are now questioning whether he really belongs there. On the other hand, if Noel isn't No. 1, then who is? No one had a clear favorite to replace him.

It's tough for a true center to do a lot in what are essentially pickup games. He'll get his stuff together and be fine. At a minimum he'll be super on defense and a good rebounder, which is all we'll need.