T1B

Answer.....

Tyler Smith.

I've never seen a freshman at Iowa with as much talent and also pure basketball IQ. Ricky Davis was a damn good player, but not as good as Tyler Smith. He won't get the national publicity that many other freshmen will get because he's not at Duke, UNC, or some other place like that, but he's every bit as good as all of them. He is a consistent scorer. Makes unbelieveably atheltic plays. Is a great passer, solid defender, can score inside and out, and he's not a selfish player. So remember the name Tyler Smith in the coming years. If he stays 3 years, he'll be a 1st Team All-American.....guaranteed.

TheJON the BOLD wrote:If he stays 3 years, he'll be a 1st Team All-American.....guaranteed.

I love it.

MIN/PTS/REB/AST/STL/BLK/FG%/FT%/3P%/Total Pts
29.7/19.6/4.8/3.6/2.3/.3/43.9%/81.6%/41.3%/294 (PLAYER A)
31.6/15.2/4.6/3.5/1.3/.1/48.9%/68.5%/24.6%/228 (PLAYER B)

One of those is Tyler Smith. The other one is also a freshman not named Durant and Oden. And that Freshman didn't rack up numbers against shit teams. Here's some teams he has played. Michigan, Missouri, Duke

Anyone? Would you rather have Player A or Player B?

It's Stephon Curry of Davidson.

He is 6'0" and Smith is 6'7" and Curry beats him in all stats except minutes played and FG%. That's right, the little guy averages more blocks and rebounds than the 6'7" guy.

Next up...a Best Freshman not named Oden or Durant who are taller than 6'5" thread

This thread reminds me of those announcers that say supid shit like: "I was talking to Coach today and he told me that Williams is the best open court defender under 6 feet tall with 800+ on the SAT's that listens to classic rock that he has ever coached."

Wesley Johnson

IndyFrisco wrote: Next up...a Best Freshman not named Oden or Durant who are taller than 6'5" thread

Thaddeus Young, Ga Tech (6'8").

he and Javaris Crittendon pretty stout frosh F-G combo.

Player Pos GP GS Min M A FG% M A 3PT% M A FT% OFF DEF REB AST TO STL BLK PF PPG

Thaddeus Young F 13 13 26.5 5.6 11.5 49.0 1.2 3.2 38.1 1.8 2.4 74.2 2.5 3.0 5.5 2.0 1.8 1.1 0.6 2.4 14.2

Javaris Crittenton G 14 13 28.5 4.3 8.9 48.4 1.3 2.9 43.9 3.4 4.8 71.6 0.4 3.1 3.5 6.0 3.6 2.0 0.0 1.8 13.3

What's sad is that as soon as I saw who started the topic, I knew noJ was going to say Smith. I don't doubt he's the best frosh Iowa has ever had, the kid is good, but he isn't a top 10 in the country frosh.

FWIW, I'd take Chase Buddinger as the 2nd best frosh behind Oden and even ahead of Durant.

Right now I would take Durant ahead of Oden.

When fully healthly Oden may take over but Durant has been a beast so far and played better than Oden in my view.

DJ Augustine is pretty salty.

I'm not trying to list him amongst some of the names in this thread, but Tony Crocker is having a pretty good year, and, in my opinion, he's OU's best player right now... and he's a true freshman.

the_ouskull

37 and 16 for Durant today against the Buffs...sick!

Both guys are rebounding demons but Durant is showing he's the more natural scorer.

The thing is probably no more than 1-2 of you that have posted in this thread have even seen Tyler Smith play. But since ESPN isn't giving him any love since they hardly know of him, you're just assuming these other players you've mentioned are better. 6'7 small forward can score inside and out, makes highlight reel plays every day, is becoming a good defender, is an excellent passer for a guy his size, and has tremendous basketball IQ. None of the above mentioned players have the all around game of Tyler Smith. I don't care what stats Frisco threw out there about some freshman at Davidson. Stats don't tell everything. Like I said, give him time until he actually takes over the team. He's only the #2 player on the team behind Adam Haluska who is scoring 20 PPG, so obviously his stats aren't All-American numbers quite yet. The one thing that impresses me most about him is his body control. Can switch gears in air like no one I've ever seen at Iowa (except maybe Ricky Davis).

As for Clone fan that brought up Wesley Johnson......well, he is a damn good freshman with a promising career, but let's be real here. He's no Tyler Smith.

Shine wrote: FWIW, I'd take Chase Buddinger as the 2nd best frosh behind Oden and even ahead of Durant.

Rack! Budinger is tough as hell.

Chase Budinger

TheJON wrote: But since ESPN isn't giving him any love since they hardly know of him, you're just assuming these other players you've mentioned are better. 6'7 small forward can score inside and out, makes highlight reel plays every day, is becoming a good defender, is an excellent passer for a guy his size,, and has tremendous basketball IQ. None of the above mentioned players have the all around game of Tyler Smith. I don't care what stats Frisco threw out there about some freshman at Davidson. Stats don't tell everything. Like I said, give him time until he actually takes over the team. He's only the #2 player on the team behind Adam Haluska who is scoring 20 PPG, so obviously his stats aren't All-American numbers quite yet. The one thing that impresses me most about him is his body control. Can switch gears in air like no one I've ever seen at Iowa (except maybe Ricky Davis).

As for Clone fan that brought up Wesley Johnson......well, he is a damn good freshman with a promising career, but let's be real here. He's no Tyler Smith.

what the heck does switch gears in mid-air mean? and as far as assumptions, your original post is premised on the assumption that you've seen every freshman in the country who isn't Durant or Oden.....and lo! and behold, it's an Iowa player. surprise.

will Iowa, ISU, and Northern Iowa all make the Sweet 16 again this year?

I'm not afraid to make bold and unfounded statements.

- noj

Switch gears in mid-air = having great body control (which is how I should have stated it). I'm saying he can go up into a crowd, make it look like there is nothing there and then in mid-air have the presence of mind to either find an open teamate or keep his balance and still make a difficult shot. That goes back to his great basketball IQ.

You guys can deny him his love all you want, but I'll be sitting here laughing my ass off when dude's a 1st Team All-American next year.

TheJON wrote:but let's be real here.

Reality went out the window the minute you hit the submit button on this myopic topic. I'll try and keep this as simple as possible for you noJ. I've seen Tyler Smith play 3 times. I've also seen TONS of other freshmen play this year. Tyler Smith is a very good player but he isn't a top 10 national frosh.

Jonsense wrote:You guys can deny him his love all you want, but I'll be sitting here laughing my ass off when dude's a 1st Team All-American next year.

In a word, notafuckingchance.

TheJON wrote:The thing is probably no more than 1-2 of you that have posted in this thread have even seen Tyler Smith play. But since ESPN isn't giving him any love since they hardly know of him, you're just assuming these other players you've mentioned are better. 6'7 small forward can score inside and out, makes highlight reel plays every day, is becoming a good defender, is an excellent passer for a guy his size, and has tremendous basketball IQ. None of the above mentioned players have the all around game of Tyler Smith. I don't care what stats Frisco threw out there about some freshman at Davidson. Stats don't tell everything. Like I said, give him time until he actually takes over the team. He's only the #2 player on the team behind Adam Haluska who is scoring 20 PPG, so obviously his stats aren't All-American numbers quite yet. The one thing that impresses me most about him is his body control. Can switch gears in air like no one I've ever seen at Iowa (except maybe Ricky Davis).

As for Clone fan that brought up Wesley Johnson......well, he is a damn good freshman with a promising career, but let's be real here. He's no Tyler Smith.

Didn't Tyler Smith get busted for shoplifting before school started?

Sorry Jon, I'll take Wesley Johnson.

Who cares what he did off the court? It's college basketball. It's not like this is a very classy sport. Not a more crooked sport in the world than college hoops.

You can have Wesley Johnson, we'll take Tyler Smith, and Alford will keep kicking ISU's ass.

TheJON wrote: and Alford will keep kicking ISU's ass.

You are wrong.

Shoalzie wrote:37 and 16 for Durant today against the Buffs...sick!

Both guys are rebounding demons but Durant is showing he's the more natural scorer.

I wonder how well Durant would score if he only could use one hand?? Not to mention the points Oden adds to tO$U with his defense.

Durant is pretty frickin good. i saw him in person in Boulder....and he can score the ball from pretty much anywhere.

Scottie Reynolds - Villanova.

Jeebus that hurts typing cause he should be a Sooner :(