Big Board #8

As the widget to the left of your screen gets longer and longer, I get more and more excited for draft day.  I went to the Syracuse/Rutgers game last night and came away again impressed with Wesley Johnson because of how remarkably consistent he is.  He's similar to Iguodala in how much he blends in with the game, not forcing too much or making flashy plays, but seemingly always the right one.  He had a decent 11 and 10 last night with 2 assists, 2 steals and a block.  But he was always in on the action and made good decisions with the ball.  If Thad or Andre is not here next year, Wes Johnson anywhere from 2-4 would be OK by me. 

Anyway, let's get back to the voting.  We had our first international player take a spot with Donatas raking in 22 votes (good for over a quarter of the vote), but second place was again close.  I'm adding Patrick Patterson to the voting here, and if you don't know about him, he's the most consistent player on John Wall's Kentucky Wildcats.  He's listed at either 6'8 or 6'9 depending on where you're reading it, but I'd lean more towards the former.  His game is similar to Elton Brand's was about 6 years ago.  He can step out and hit the 10 footer, but he's predominantly a low block player, averaging 16.6 points on only 11 shots at a 63% clip (!!!).  He can also hit the occasional three, shooting 42% from beyond this season.  Despite the emergence of rebound-swiping freshmen Demarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton, Pat takes in 8.1 per game.  He's also judicious with his turnovers, averaging less than 1 in 32 minutes of play. 

Screw it -- I'm adding Demarcus too.  Devin Ebanks hasn't gotten enough love yet to merit staying on the list, so the freshman Cousins is hopping on.  He's getting 15-9 in less than 20 minutes per game.  It's unconscious how efficient John Calipari is making his freshman big man.  While his post game is less than refined, he's so money on the boards, it's hard to ignore him.  6'11, 260 and somewhere between a big power forward and a slightly below average center.  His athleticism has led nbadraft.net to comp him with Andray Blatche, but I'd say Cousins is thicker and tougher down low. 

OK, I've written too much.  Vote or die liberty ballers, liberty ballers vote or die.