Norcal College Frosh

[larry legend33]

I've been catching a lot of hoops on the tube lately and one kid keeps impressing. Impressing so much that I wouldn't be surprised if if ends up being the best player from the class of 2015. Who is this?

Marquis Chriss from Washington. 6"9 who has legit 3 pt range. Can face up and is freakishly athletic. He scores and they don't even run anything for him. I've been a big Rabb fan for obvious reasons but I wouldn't be surprised if this kid turns out better.

Rabb is probably one and done and who knows Chriss might be as well but I would love to see both of them put another year in.

 

[kiddman32]

Yeah, Marquese Chriss looks to be a good one for sure. I really liked his game in HS, but he was also frustrating to watch sometimes due to a high tendency to "take plays off".

He seems to have gotten over that habit nicely.

 

[hoopwilla]

Then compare him to 6'9 Jordan Brown. What's different high schooler to high schooler?

 

[kiddman32]

Brown is more active and consistent, plays hard all the time. I like his on-court demeanor better. Probably not quite the athlete..yet. Brown's still a sophomore, after all... I didn't see Chriss play as a sophomore, so I don't have a way of really comparing.

It often seemed like I saw half-to-three-quarters effort from Chriss for most of each game when I saw him last year... Kind of frustrating to watch.

But those all-too-short bursts of awesome that would happen from time to time... Those were shweeeeet!

 

[larry legend33]

Kiddman32 - Good assessment. Brown is further along in his development but won't be the athlete that Chriss is. Brown is very skilled at a young age which is scary.

 

[TurtleLoveCA]

I didn't like Marcus Lee for the same reason of taking plays off, except he had a tendency to take large parts of entire games off.

 

[BillyBob023]

Legend, good observation on Chriss. I saw him play the other night and he was really impressive. I am also a big Rabb fan. Different type of player but both are really good. I also agree with you that it would be nice to see both play one more year of college ball. Do not know if that will happen. I would like to think they will get good advice.

Turtle, I can understand your frustration watching some of these talented kids play in high school and not playing hard all of the time. In my opinion, the "light" goes on for these kids at different times. Sometimes they figure it out early. Brown may be an good example. In other cases it my take a change of environment, or better competition. That may be the case with Chriss. It appears to me that "light" has gone on for him and he gets it. Rabb has always had a good motor. Unfortunately, for some the "light" never goes on. .

 

[TwitterLegend]

Another Norcal college frosh worth mentioning here is Cameron Oliver at Nevada... took a little bit longer path to get there but has been outstanding on a competitive team... another freak athlete with pretty good shooting touch for a big, I would expect he'll start showing up on the NBA draft radar eventually too (not this year...)

 

[larry legend33]

I was never a big Lee fan either. He's offensive game was so bad coming out of deer valley and it's no different today at Kentucky 4 years later. You have to be able a threat on the floor.

Great call on Oliver. He's got a lot of upside. I watched the unlv vs unr game and he is the real deal.

 

[TwitterLegend]

Since I mentioned Cam Oliver in this post, he posted a 20 point 24 rebound game over the weekend... 24 rebounds a new Mountain West conference record... NICE!

 

[PAL95]

Legend, good observation on Chriss. I saw him play the other night and he was really impressive. I am also a big Rabb fan. Different type of player but both are really good. I also agree with you that it would be nice to see both play one more year of college ball. Do not know if that will happen. I would like to think they will get good advice.

Turtle, I can understand your frustration watching some of these talented kids play in high school and not playing hard all of the time. In my opinion, the "light" goes on for these kids at different times. Sometimes they figure it out early. Brown may be an good example. In other cases it my take a change of environment, or better competition. That may be the case with Chriss. It appears to me that "light" has gone on for him and he gets it. Rabb has always had a good motor. Unfortunately, for some the "light" never goes on. .

I would like to see Rabb play another year also. I have watched alot of Cal games this year and I believe the physicality of the NBA would be tough for him next year. I don't see him banging down low in the league not just yet. He will be a NBA player and that first round money might be tough to turn down. I just don't see him getting alot of minutes as a rookie if he comes out this year.

 

[TwitterLegend]

ESPN's Chad Ford now has Marquese going in the late lottery of THIS YEAR's draft... would be hard to pass on that opportunity IMO...

 

[youseechief]

Never pass on Lottery

 

[TwitterLegend]

Malik Pope was a potential lottery pick last year, decided to come back to school an has really struggled this season... cautionary example of striking while the iron is hot... Malik still has time to get things right and end up in the NBA one day but not sure if he'll ever be seen as a hotter prospect as last year...