College Hoops Video

Jodi Meeks

Jodie Meek’s was one of the highlights for Kentucky Wildcat fans in the 2008-09 basketball season. His 54 points against Tennessee set a Kentucky record, and put Meeks on the map for the NBA draft and had him discussed in the same dialogue with Blake Griffin for the National Player of the Year Award last season. Jodie Meeks has declared for the 2009 NBA draft, but at the time of this writing had not hired an agent. With the 15 June 2009 NBA draft deadline quickly approaching, Meeks has gone on record stating he would remain in the draft if he get’s assurances that a team will pick him in the first round of the draft. Many Kentucky fans hope he comes back to join Patrick Patterson and the other star recruits heading to Lexington for a 2010 NCAA tournament run, however, Meeks will likely remain in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Jodie Meek’s Collegiate Career at Kentucky

In just one season, Jodie Meeks became one of the highest scoring Kentucky Wildcat’s guards in school history. Spending most of his sophomore season injured (many thought due to Coach G’s over-practicing of the team), Meeks started out the season scoring 39 points in a losing effort against VMI. He continued to heat up with 37 against Kansas State, and then lit up Tennessee for 54 points in January 2009. He was selected to the All SEC First Team and was a Second Team All American as voted by the AP, USBWA, NABC, and the SportingNews.com. Meeks finished the 2008-09 season averaging 23.7 points per game, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Jodie Meek’s 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

Jodie Meeks is considered a bit short at 6’4″ to play the 2 guard role in the NBA, though the upside of his shooting ability and scoring instincts make him attractive for NBA teams to go ahead and take him in the 2009 NBA draft. Meeks is solid at 211 lbs, and has a solid frame to go with excellent 3 point and free throw shooting. On the down side, Jodie Meeks is only considered an average ball handler for the NBA and is criticized for being able to create separation with his defenders. Another knock on Jodie, is that he did not win at the college level, so his ability to be the difference maker for an NBA team has been put in question at times. He has been reported to be having good workouts for NBA teams, and the Detroit Pistons have expressed a potential interest in drafting Meeks with their first round pick. One consideration for Jodie Meeks is with the expected depth of the 2010 draft, should he just go ahead and take his chances this year while working on his ball handling and dribbling? With the talent coming in to Kentucky for the 2009-10 season, its doubtful he would get the touches to improve on his scoring average so Coach Cal can keep all of the 4 and 5 star prospects happy so his stock would have a potential to dip in the 2010 draft. The Detroit Pistons have expressed a potential interest in taking Meeks in the first round, and my guess is that we will see him stay in the 2009 NBA draft.

Refs:

http://www.everyjoe.com/expertfantasy/jodie-meeks-nba-draft-nba-profile/, http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/05/2009-kentucky-wildcats-basketball-recruiting-class/, http://www.predictify.com/q/where-will-jodie-meeks-be-picked-in-2009-nba-draft-2, http://www.nbadraft.net/node/4289, http://lesterslegends.com/?p=11597, http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290132633, http://www.everyjoe.com/expertfantasy/jodie-meeks-nba-draft-nba-profile/, http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2009/02/mock-draft/, http://dcprosportsreport.com/mockdraftdatabase/nba.html,

Gerald Henderson and Tyler Hansbrough

After a slow start to his collegiate career, Gerald Henderson came out of his shell last basketball season and became the Duke Blue Devils “Go-To” option. Unlike past seasons, Henderson was able to shed some of the timidity that had marked his career at Duke so far and pulled a 16.9 ppg average to go with 2.5 assists per game and a 3 point shooting percentage of 33.6%. Henderson has decent size at 6’5″ and 215 lbs and could be a small forward or shooting guard prospect for the right NBA team.

Gerald Henderson’s Collegiate Career at Duke

Gerald Henderson is that player that came in with a lot of promise in his freshman year who just took a bit to adjust to the college basketball game. During his first year at Duke, Henderson played in about half of the games and scored at a 6.2 ppg clip with 1.1 assists per game. As he saw more playing time in his sophomore season, Henderson started to blossom and scored at a 12.7 ppg average while pulling down 4.7 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists a contest. During his junior season, Gerald Henderson started to blossom and earned first team All-ACC honors and helped Duke obtain a 2 seed for the NCAA tournament. Henderson will be forgoing his senior season at Duke to declare for the 2009 NBA draft.

Gerald Henderson’s 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

Gerald Henderson brings outstanding athleticism to any NBA team that drafts him. He is a strong defender with NBA quickness. He’s an explosive leaper and considered to already have NBA strength to help sustain through the season. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Gerald Henderson, Sr who played 13 years in the NBA. On the downside, Henderson is not considered quite tall enough for the small forward position, and needs to improve his ball handling skills to be an effective two guard for an NBA team. His free throw ability is also not great for an NBA guard who slashes and scores points from the charity stripe. Gerald Henderson does have all of the tools a first round NBA prospect requires. Because of the lack of depth in big men in this year’s draft, Henderson could find himself picked as a late lottery pick to the end of the first round of the 2009 NBA draft.

Refs:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/179366-nba-draft-prospects-gerald-henderson-duke, http://www.mynbadraft.com/NBA-Draft-Profiles-2009/Gerald-Henderson, http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20090211_Duke_s_Gerald_Henderson_blossoming.html, http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=620658, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/151449-the-what-ifs-of-duke-basketball-gerald-henderson

Kentucky's Patrick Patterson Returns for His Junior Season.

Ht: 6’8″

Wt: 223lbs

College Stats (ESPN)

Kentucky Wildcats

2007-08 16.4 PPG, 7.7 RBDS, 1.7 BLK

2008-09 17.9 PPG, 9.3 RBDS, 2.1 BLK

Awards

2007-08 CO-SEC Rookie of the Year

2008-09 2nd Team All American

Summary:

Patrick Patterson was forecast to be a low-first round pick if he had remained in the 2009 NBA Draft. With the talent coming in to Kentucky next season, Patterson has the opportunity to work on his ball handling and range in order to improve his standing for the 2010 NBA Draft. He will have true help in the low post for the first time in his collegiate career in Coach Calipari’s first season as the Wildcat’s head coach and looks to build on his first two, stellar seasons at Kentucky.

Strengths:

- Defense

- Free Throws

- Field Goal Percentage

Weaknesses:

- Ball Handling

- 3 Point Shooting

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