Mighty early NBA draft analysis

By Gary Bedore     Nov 19, 2014

KENTUCKY 72, KANSAS 40

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) pushes the ball up the court against Kentucky during the first half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Box score

KEEGAN RATINGS

? Admitting the sample size is “ridiculously small,” ESPN’s Chad Ford nonetheless issued some grades for various NBA prospects after speaking with some scouts over the weekend.

The players included Kansas University’s Kelly Oubre Jr., Cliff Alexander and Wayne Selden Jr.

“After the (UC Santa Barbara) game head coach Bill Self said it was a coach’s decision on holding Oubre out (all but four minutes) and told reporters that Oubre was young. That doesn’t sound good. Oubre is an elite-level talent, but it sounds like he might already be in Self’s doghouse. He didn’t mind playing young players like Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid last season,” Ford wrote.

Alexander earned a B-plus and Selden a C-minus.

“Alexander … infused the second team with some serious energy. With juniors Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor getting the starts in the frontcourt, Alexander could end up playing this role all season. But as long as he gets minutes and keeps impacting the game this way, it shouldn’t affect his draft stock,” Ford wrote.

“Last season Selden (10 points vs Gauchos) had legit injury issues that kept him from dominating the way scouts thought he could. He’s healthy now and his stock will start to plummet quickly if he doesn’t improve,” Ford wrote.


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