Friday Stock Watch (Stars and Stiffs)

STOCK UP (STARS)

Taj Gibson - USC's only formidable big man, the freshman standout certainly pulled his weight in the Trojans valiant effort against an over-talented North Carolina squad. Gibson had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and that hardly tells the story. USC dominated their fellow acronymic opponent in the first half in which Gibson had already notched a double-double (12 and 10). He was single-handedly destroying the deep Carolina front court, especially Hansbrough. In the second half, he picked up three very quick fouls (giving him four total) and had to be taken out of the game, at which point UNC immediately took over. Had Gibson stayed out of foul trouble, the Trojans could be playing Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.

Tajuan Porter - My favorite player left in the tournament, the diminuitive Oregon guard has been a hot or cold player all season long. Actually, he's been more of a burning or freezing player. Friday, he was on fire. Standing at only 5'6", Porter is often overlooked by his opponents (no pun intended). In the Sweet Sixteen matchup with UNLV he managed to torch the Runnin' Rebels with 33 points on only 17 field goal attempts. The freshman Porter was 8-12 from the three-point-line, and simply took over the game. He continues to make a convincing argument that despite his tiny stature, he could be perhaps a better shooting version of an Earl Boykins-type player at the next level; he has that same lightning quickness.

Branden Wright - Friday was a good night for freshmen. Branden Wright, the likely number 3 overall draft pick after Oden and Durant, carried a desperate UNC team to the Elite Eight. With Tyler Hansbrough pulling a disappearing act that Harry Houdini would proud of, Wright came to the rescue. Wright is almost disturbingly long and athletic, but he's more than just another player with "tremendous upside"; he's been playing phenomenal basketball and is incredibly polished for a 19-year-old. Against USC, Wright put up 21 and 9, and also proved to be the most mature player on the team, not taking an uncontested dunk with 25 seconds left, an opportunity that Reyshawn Terry would be salivating over. His maturity was more broad than that though; Wright maintained composure even when his team was trailing by 16 points, and was without question the best player on the floor in the second half of that game.

Gabe Pruitt - USC has been missing two things all season long: frontcourt depth, and true point guard. They couldn't magically manufacture another big man to solve the former, which proved to be a fatal flaw, but Pruitt did a fantastic job of satisfying the latter. The natural shooting guard successfully turned himself into a point guard, which, in addition to solidifying USC as a great team, should help Pruitt as a professional prospect. Somehow, there is more appeal to an oversized sharp-shooting point guard than an undersized shooting guard. Pruitt was able to relieve the pressure on freshman Daniel Hackett, another natural 2 who had been trying to play the point. He finished the UNC game with 13 points, 7 assists, and only 2 turnovers.

Malik Hairston - Originally the most highly touted of Oregon's potent foursome of Hairston, Taylor, Brooks, and Porter, Malik stepped it up in their victory over UNLV. At only 6'6", the shooting guard pulled down 11 boards to go along with his 14 points on only 8 shots. Hairston is a very solid shooter, a great athlete, a fantastic defender, and rock solid at 200 pounds of all muscle. The junior is relatively young for his grade--he just turned 20--and if he continues to play like this for the remainder of the tournament and into next year, he should get the NBA looks that seemed imminent when he first came to Oregon.

Al Horford - Al Horford is better than Joakim Noah. Granted, both players will be good NBA players and top-7 draft picks. Granted, Joakim Noah is more unique and interesting due to his hair, his father, and his skill set. Granted, Noah was the focal point of their championship run last year. But Al Horford has been more consistent all season. His performance on Friday was not jaw-dropping, but with 16 points and 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks, Horford continued to be extremely solid for a Gator team that is positioned for a repeat. He's a much better athlete than Noah, and handles the ball and sees the floor extremely well for a 6'10"-240 pound-power forward. He has an invaluable mid-range jump shot in his repertoire, is a great shot-blocker. Horford has put up more points, rebounds, and blocks than Noah throughout the season, and I expect him to be an All-Star at some point in his NBA career.

USC - Don't let one second half collapse fool you: this is a great basketball team. Losing only Lodrick Stewart, and retaining Gibson, Young, Pruitt and Hackett, the Trojans would be a contender next year even if they didn't bring in a single freshman. But oh yeah, didn't they get that Mayo guy? Mayo and Pruitt, with his newfound point guard skills, will be an incredible back court tandem next year. Both about 6'5" and prolific scorers, they will essential have two point guards and two shooting guards at the same time. Young is one of the best scorers in the nation, and Gibson is becoming one of the best big men. Furthermore, Mayo apparently helped Tim Floyd recruit before even getting to USC, and he's bringing his posse. The Trojans should be scary-good next year, and a championship appearance is not out of the question.


STOCK DOWN (STIFFS)

Tyler Hansbrough - It will be interesting to see whether Hansbrough will ever have a place in the NBA. Even when he plays well, it looks like he's an eight grader who has already had his growth spurt and is just stronger than his opponents but still fast. He can hit the little fade-away jumper, and he pivots and upfakes well, but he doesn't really play with his back to the basket. And he sure as hell can't play on the wing. So where does that allow him to play at the next level when opponents are bigger and stronger? I don't know. He was absolutely pathetic on Friday; it was amazing that UNC won despite his performance. Hansbrough had 5 points and 4 rebounds...maybe it wasn't just the mask that was "causing him" to play poorly. I'm glad this happened because I was sick of people talking about him disposing of the mask against MSU like it was Willis Reed running into Madison Square Garden. I think the longer Hansbrough stays in college, and the more we see that he has already reached his pinnacle, the less interest NBA teams will have in him. He better not play another game like this vs. Georgetown; Roy Hibbert might literally eat him. Either way, this over-achiever should enter the draft as soon as possible.

Ty Lawson - A bird, a plane, superman? No, that was just Ty Lawson pushing the ball up the court. He's the fastest player I've ever seen with the basketball. However, Lawson was 2-10 from the field against USC and finished with just 4 points and 4 assists despite playing 32 minutes. It's a real testament to how deep this team is that with Lawson and Hansbrough playing the games they did, UNC was still able to come away with a win. Lawson has a mountain of potential, but he needs to work on both his shot, and his shot selection--a bad combination. One possession sticks out in my mind in which Lawson stood around doing nothing before launching a deep three that smacked off the backboard. This game exposed both his strengths and weaknesses, but the latter prevailed in this one. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if he steps it up next round.

Kevin Kruger - I hate Kevin Kruger. And it's no fault of his own. Maybe I've just played on one too many AAU teams where one of the player's self-serving father is the coach. Kevin Kruger is by no means a terrible basketball player, and he belongs on the UNLV team. I'm just not convinced that he should be playing 30+ minutes every single game. But that's exactly how much his daddy... coach rather, played him in all of the tournament games. Over the three games, Kruger was 6-28 from the three point line. Over the course of the entire season, he shot under 40% from the floor and under 35% from the three-point-line. I must admit, my perspective is biased, but those stats don't lie.

Referees - I feel that two of the four games played on Friday were significantly impacted by poor officiating. The first and more obvious game was Georgetown vs. Vanderbilt. I'm all for the belief that in the end of games, refs should let the players decide the outcome; but they shouldn't swallow their whistles. On Jeff Green's game winning shot, there is absolutely no question that he traveled. He blatantly switched pivot feet. Poor Vanderbilt played their hearts out only to lose on a shot that never should have counted. The second game that I thought was very poorly officiated, especially in the closing minutes, was USC-UNC. With about 1:40 left, Hansbrough clearly went over the back on an offensive rebound. The next trip down the floor for USC, trailing only by 6, Nick Young missed a three-pointer and ended up on the ground because he was tackled after the ball left his hand; again, no call. Still only down 6, but with only 50 seconds left, Taj Gibson fouled out of the game on a ticky-tac "moving screen" in which he barely made contact with the flopping UNC player. Tim Floyd understandably protested, immediately getting a technical, and the game was over. Butler also got a few tough calls near the end of their bout with Florida. All in all, the referees made things hard for the little guys.

AJ Graves -The only real mid-major remaining fell and ugly, beloved point guard AJ Graves had a sub-par performance. Graves went 4-13 from the field and 1-6 from behind the arc, as Butler came close to Florida, but couldn't hold on. Graves has often been compared to Steve Nash, but considering how much better Nash is as a passer, I don't think Graves will be able to make it. He's a great shooter and has led Butler all season long, but he's too small and unathletic to play in the NBA unless he develops much better point guard skills. He picked a bad time to have an off-game, but he's only a junior, and Butler could have another good season next year.

Corey Brewer - Brewer was only 3-10 from the field in Florida's win over Butler, and played one of his worst overall games this season. However, it hardly slowed Florida due to strong play from both Horford and Noah. Brewer is usually a great shooter, and he's very athletic. Though his poor performance in this round of play lands him in my "stock down" category, the game won't really have much negative effect on his value. Brewer could be a late lottery pick and at worst is a mid-low first round draft choice even if he doesn't have the best tournament. We've seen enough of Brewer and this whole Florida squad over the last two years that one bad game isn't going to hurt them the way it might hurt someone like Graves who gets far fewer chances to impress over the course of their career.