In the past five months we've had four players -- Winslow, Johnson, Oubre and Croatia's Mario Hezonja -- ranked as the top wing on our Big Board. All of them are bunched tightly together in the six to 12 range in our Top 100.
With March Madness the last chance to show scouts what they have to offer on the court, it looks like Winslow might finally be gaining the upper hand.
Winslow spent some of November and all of December ranked as the top wing in the draft. But injuries and some poor shooting hurt his stock in January. Lately, he's been out to prove to scouts that their initial ranking of him was the correct one. He's been very convincing playing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to Okafor's Anthony Davis. Winslow scored just six points in a win against Robert Morris, but he had 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 block in that 24-minute span. Against San Diego State, he was awesome: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 4 steals. He doesn't have to score to affect the game. Scouts were raving about Winslow after the game and if you were to ask me who has helped themselves the most in the tournament, right now the answer would be Winslow. If the draft were held today, I think scouts would take him as the first wing.
Johnson cleaned up against Texas Southern on Thursday, scoring 22 points and shooting 4-for-5 from 3. But against a more athletic Ohio State, he really struggled, shooting just 1-for-12 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3. Johnson's shooting touch generally has been solid all season; it's his struggles finishing at the basket that have scouts worried. For someone so strong and athletic, he's shooting just 53 percent on shots at the rim. That's partly why, despite solid production all season, scouts aren't ready to commit to him as a top-10 pick.
Oubre didn't dominate either of Kansas' games. He was better on Friday against New Mexico State, going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Against Wichita State on Sunday, he was just 3-for-9 from the field and 0-for-3 from 3. He had five rebounds, but never really got it going for the Jayhawks. That has been Oubre in a nutshell all season. Incredible talent, spotty production. While we have him ranked one spot ahead of Johnson on our Big Board because of his upside, the truth is scouts are pretty evenly split between the two. This might come down to who dominates in head-to-head workouts.
And on a side note -- Hezonja had zero points in 11 minutes versus Valencia on Sunday in the ACB and zero points in eight minutes versus Crvena Zvedza on Thursday in Euroleague play, so it's not like he's lighting up Europe at the moment.
FWIW.
With March Madness the last chance to show scouts what they have to offer on the court, it looks like Winslow might finally be gaining the upper hand.
Winslow spent some of November and all of December ranked as the top wing in the draft. But injuries and some poor shooting hurt his stock in January. Lately, he's been out to prove to scouts that their initial ranking of him was the correct one. He's been very convincing playing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to Okafor's Anthony Davis. Winslow scored just six points in a win against Robert Morris, but he had 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 block in that 24-minute span. Against San Diego State, he was awesome: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 4 steals. He doesn't have to score to affect the game. Scouts were raving about Winslow after the game and if you were to ask me who has helped themselves the most in the tournament, right now the answer would be Winslow. If the draft were held today, I think scouts would take him as the first wing.
Johnson cleaned up against Texas Southern on Thursday, scoring 22 points and shooting 4-for-5 from 3. But against a more athletic Ohio State, he really struggled, shooting just 1-for-12 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3. Johnson's shooting touch generally has been solid all season; it's his struggles finishing at the basket that have scouts worried. For someone so strong and athletic, he's shooting just 53 percent on shots at the rim. That's partly why, despite solid production all season, scouts aren't ready to commit to him as a top-10 pick.
Oubre didn't dominate either of Kansas' games. He was better on Friday against New Mexico State, going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Against Wichita State on Sunday, he was just 3-for-9 from the field and 0-for-3 from 3. He had five rebounds, but never really got it going for the Jayhawks. That has been Oubre in a nutshell all season. Incredible talent, spotty production. While we have him ranked one spot ahead of Johnson on our Big Board because of his upside, the truth is scouts are pretty evenly split between the two. This might come down to who dominates in head-to-head workouts.
And on a side note -- Hezonja had zero points in 11 minutes versus Valencia on Sunday in the ACB and zero points in eight minutes versus Crvena Zvedza on Thursday in Euroleague play, so it's not like he's lighting up Europe at the moment.
FWIW.
