"Young man can score in a closet with no lights on"

**Brackins99** · 02-19-2009, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by cycloneryan

He is not a lottery pick. He is good, but you cant tell me CB would be one of the first 15 players to enter the draft.

This has been widely regarded as one of the weakest drafts in some years. Also, there arent a lot of bigmen in it. Look at the last draft; the guys that are similiar players to Brackins went 12th- Jason Thompson and 21st- Ryan Anderson. This is a weaker draft w/out a lot of quality bigs so Brackins could definately go late lottery. Craig to me is a better prospect than Patrick Patterson, Ty Lawson, BJ Mullens, Earl Clark, Willie Warren- all of whom are projected lotto picks.

**cyclonenum1** · 02-19-2009, 11:03 AM

I find all of these Brackins threads/posts on this site very interesting. Most of them are saying that it is in his "best interests" to stay another year...when, in fact that is very debatable. What is crystal clear is that it is in ISU's best interests that he stay another year. And I totally get that...we are ISU fans first and Brackins fans because he is at ISU (I do find it interesting that some of our fans appear to be McDermott fans first and ISU fans second...but I digress).

As I have previously said, this will not really be resolved until the pre draft camps when they do a total physical accounting of these guys (measure their vertical, measure the size of their hands, their actual ht/wt, etc.) and they play against other potential draftees. This is when guys come from nowhere to be a lottery pick and when guys fall from the lottery area to a low first rounder, a second rounder, or even sometimes to a non-drafted guy.

If he is in the lottery, it is clearly in his best interests to go. You all need to remember, the NBA does not draft on college numbers or on the finished product...they draft on body size/type and potential. If he is a lower first round it is a crap shoot. If he is round 2 he probably should stay.

One thing that does concern me is his age. Because he went to prep school he is an "old" sophomore. The NBA has clearly shown that they prefer guys to be younger rather than older...this may put some pressure on him to come out now rather than next year when he is another year older.

**cycloneworld** · 02-19-2009, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by cyclonenum1

I find all of these Brackins threads/posts on this site very interesting. Most of them are saying that it is in his "best interests" to stay another year...when, in fact that is very debatable.

Who is saying that? Definitely not "most".

People are debating whether or not he would benefit by coming back for one more year. Not many, if any, are saying its in his "best interests."

[/quote]If he is in the lottery, it is clearly in his best interests to go. You all need to remember, the NBA does not draft on college numbers or on the finished product...they draft on body size/type and potential. If he is a lower first round it is a crap shoot. If he is round 2 he probably should stay.[/quote]

I agree with you about being a lottery pick...he should go. If he was a late first rounder, personally I would stay and I think CB would benefit greatly...from a basketball and $$$ standpoint.

If he is a second round pick, there is no question he should stay. You could be out of the league in a year.

**jahfg** · 02-19-2009, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by cycloneworld

Who is saying that? Definitely not "most".

People are debating whether or not he would benefit by coming back for one more year. Not many, if any, are saying its in his "best interests."

If he is in the lottery, it is clearly in his best interests to go. You all need to remember, the NBA does not draft on college numbers or on the finished product...they draft on body size/type and potential. If he is a lower first round it is a crap shoot. If he is round 2 he probably should stay.[/quote]

I agree with you about being a lottery pick...he should go. If he was a late first rounder, personally I would stay and I think CB would benefit greatly...from a basketball and $$$ standpoint.

If he is a second round pick, there is no question he should stay. You could be out of the league in a year.[/QUOTE]

You will quickly learn that cyclonenum1's version of "most" is 3-5.

**EYEoftheSTORM** · 02-19-2009, 01:03 PM

even last night showed that Craig Brackins should not be going to the NBA..... Sure he did score alot of points 19 i believe, but he did take alot of bad shots and had a couple times where you could still see room for development....

I like him staying for next year but bolting after we have a good yer next year as well....

Good for us though because he will be a top lottery pick though and alot more exposure for ISU, and possible bigger ISU recruits.....HB

**EYEoftheSTORM** · 02-19-2009, 01:06 PM

oh oh oh and i dont want to forget about Ejim too

**chuckd4735** · 02-19-2009, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by BryceC

It's harder to improve your game in the pros, when you have no other responsibilities and can afford to think and play basketball 24/7? I would be shocked if that were the case.

Once your in the NBA you have a lot more travel time, and a lot more games, which leads to very little time for practice, or anything else for that matter. If your not performing up to NBA standards, you are either going to be benched or you get sent down to the D-league to work on it. In college you have a lot more help coming from the coaches, and you have a lot more time to practice during the season.

Craig has a few areas which he could shape up which would result in him being a much better NBA player, much higher draft pick, and bring a bigger NBA paycheck.

**cybsball20** · 02-19-2009, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by chuckd4735

Good point...however, I would just hate to see Craig dash early, and get stuck in D-league for years.

College coaches are better teachers of the fundamentals of basketball than NBA coaches. When you hit the pros, you are expected to have all areas of your game ready to go, and if you don't, it's off to the D-league until you figure it out.

I just feel that Brackins could GREATLY benefit from one more year of college ball. Again, he made huge strides from year one to year two. Why would anyone think he would not have a great opportunity to be a sure fire lottery pick in 2010 after year three of college ball?

Originally Posted by chuckd4735

Once your in the NBA you have a lot more travel time, and a lot more games, which leads to very little time for practice, or anything else for that matter. If your not performing up to NBA standards, you are either going to be benched or you get sent down to the D-league to work on it. In college you have a lot more help coming from the coaches, and you have a lot more time to practice during the season.

Craig has a few areas which he could shape up which would result in him being a much better NBA player, much higher draft pick, and bring a bigger NBA paycheck.

I'm getting the impression that you know very little about how the NBA operates... As an NBA player your one and only job is to be a better player. No studying, no classes, more time in the weight room and far more time on the practice court, especially as a young player. There are no restrictions on practice time, or contact time with coaches and the coaches are skilled and schooled on the NBA game. They play more games but have a MUCH longer season, which means more practice time and more time in the day to work on the little things... They don't ship first rounders off to the D-league, they keep them up so they can work with the staff and players and learn the NBA game the way it's supposed to be learned. If Craig even has the potential to be a lottery pick then he needs to go pro...

**d4nim4l** · 02-19-2009, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by ISUFan22

However, I do wonder about his ability on the team/program aspect...you have to at least a little. And individually, Craig is very strong right now and I'm not sure how much better he can get on a bad team that appears to be going nowhere. At least for right now...

As odd as this sounds I am wondering if Greg is learning on the job as far as the program side of things goes. At UNI he had to recruit guys to play in a dome, in Cedar Falls, in the MVC. When he first got to Iowa State he probably felt things to be similar and didn't realize our conferenc affiliation, past history and academics could recruit different players.

That is starting to show with landing guys like Colvin and Gilstrap. Who would never sniff UNI. So I believe Greg is learning how to recruit to a bigger school on the fly.

My biggest concern is his ability to coach guards. That seems to be the area we have lacked the most in as far as improvements go. Defensively he seems to get it. I don't know about offense.

Do we have someone on staff with a guard background that can provide the necessary teaching to compliment the improvement our bigs are making?

**Wesley** · 02-19-2009, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by chuckd4735

Brackins would be making a mistake if he left after this year. This year’s team will be losing Peterson and Hulaska, so I have a hard time believing that next year is going to be nothing but better than this year, for everyone involved.

Craig has a few things he needs to improve on before he takes his game to the NBA, and like some have mentioned, he has the chance to be a top draft pick and possible Big 12 (maybe national) POTY next year if he sticks around and improves his game in the off season. The jump he made from year one to year two was phenomenal, and I think the jump he could make from year two to year three could make him one of the greatest ISU basketball players ever!

The nice thiong about being alower first rounder is you go to a decent team and youi have time to sit on the bench to learn. IMO, Craig needs another year of college to bulk up.

**Wesley** · 02-19-2009, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by d4nim4l

As odd as this sounds I am wondering if Greg is learning on the job as far as the program side of things goes. At UNI he had to recruit guys to play in a dome, in Cedar Falls, in the MVC. When he first got to Iowa State he probably felt things to be similar and didn't realize our conferenc affiliation, past history and academics could recruit different players.

That is starting to show with landing guys like Colvin and Gilstrap. Who would never sniff UNI. So I believe Greg is learning how to recruit to a bigger school on the fly.

My biggest concern is his ability to coach guards. That seems to be the area we have lacked the most in as far as improvements go. Defensively he seems to get it. I don't know about offense.

Do we have someone on staff with a guard background that can provide the necessary teaching to compliment the improvement our bigs are making?

GUARDS? WHAT GUARDS? Oh those. Yeah, if we took four of our guards and could put them in one biody, we would have a hell of a player.

**CycloneYoda** · 02-19-2009, 02:07 PM

Remember what Calipari said about Derrick Rose last year: "If he wants to do what's right for his family, he will go pro. If he wants to do what's right for my family, he will stay."

**StLouisClone** · 02-19-2009, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by trajanJ

He was the best player on the floor. That guy has some serious talent and upside. I would be shocked if he stayed. Players leaving early helps future recruiting because it's what all the great players want to do.

Spoken like a true Jayhawk fan who wants to see Brackins leave early. I am glad Craig is a Cyclone, but he wasn't the best player on the floor last night. That award goes to Aldrich and/or Collins.

Aldrich: 22 points on 9 for 12 shooting, 11 boards, 0 assists and 5 turnovers.

Collins: 22 points on 9 for 17 shooting, 2 boards, 6 assists and 0 turnovers.

Brackins: 20 points on 7 for 21 shooting, 11 boards, 0 assists and 3 turnovers.

My only problem with Brackins game right now is his shot selection. He takes too many shots fading away from the basket, and he's not shooting it well at all from the outside. I love the improved rebounding, but I still maintain that he's going to have to get his FG% north of 50% in order to be an early draft pick. Just take a look at how many other 6'9" guys there are in D1 college basketball who are shooting 55% or better.

http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/...?sportCode=MBB

We're all a little "too close" to Brackins and it's skewing our perceptions of his readiness for the NBA.

**StLouisClone** · 02-19-2009, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by CycloneYoda

Remember what Calipari said about Derrick Rose last year: "If he wants to do what's right for his family, he will go pro. If he wants to do what's right for my family, he will stay."

Are you trying to compare Brackins to Rose? A guy whose team finishes last or nearly last in his conference compared to a guy whose team played for the NC.

**cybsball20** · 02-19-2009, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by StLouisClone

My only problem with Brackins game right now is his shot selection. He takes too many shots fading away from the basket, and he's not shooting it well at all from the outside. I love the improved rebounding, but I still maintain that he's going to have to get his FG% north of 50% in order to be an early draft pick. Just take a look at how many other 6'9" guys there are in D1 college basketball who are shooting 55% or better.

NCAA® Weekly Rankings

We're all a little "too close" to Brackins and it's skewing our perceptions of his readiness for the NBA.

I would imagine most of those other guys score the majority of their points in the paint. Craig gets most of his points in the mid range, the same spot he will have to get them in the NBA. I would bet most of those guys shooting over 50% in college will have a REALLY hard time scoring when they get the ball face up 15-17 feet away.