Meet Will Blalock & Cheick Samb

[Matt]

Full Name: Will Blalock
Birth Place: Boston, MA
Height: 6-0 (listed as low as 5'11" on other sites)
Weight: 200 lbs.
Position: Guard
Class: Junior

PPG 15.4 | APG 6.1 | RPG 3.3

Click here to watch video

Strengths: Blalock is a deceptively strong, athletic point guard with a massive wingspan for someone his size. He’s a true point guard with strong ball-handling and passing skills. Blalock has a quick first step and does well in the lane, especially excelling on the drive-and-dish, where he uses his good court vision and passing to exploit defensive seams. He can take the ball to the basket or pull-up in the lane. Blalock runs the break just as well as he does a halfcourt set, making good decisions and getting the ball to the open man. Blalock is a scrappy defender who uses his length and good hands to harass his opponent.

Weaknesses: Blalock’s biggest weakness is his outside jumper. He is an adequate shooter from behind the arc, but lacks consistency and has not shown NBA range. Blalock struggled from the free-throw line in his junior year, shooting only 66 percent. Defensively, his team exclusively played zone defense, so it’s tough to assess how he’d adjust to playing man-to-man. He’s slightly undersized, though has the length to partially make up for it.

Outlook: Blalock, a junior, was a three-year starter at point guard for Iowa State, and improved each year. He could be drafted towards the end of the second round, and has a good enough combination of skill and physical attributes to be a good backup point guard in the NBA.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/33802

The image above has been resized. Click on it to see the full version.

[Anthony]

Hello Blalock.

[Matt]

Full Name: Samb Chiekh Tidiane
Position: Center Height/Weight: 7-1 (2.15 m) / 195 (88.5 kg)
Birthdate: October 22, 1984 (Senegal)
High School:
Team: WTC Cornella (Spain) Country: Senegal

Originally an early entry candidate for the 2005 NBA Draft before withdrawing his name from consideration.

Career Highlights: Played his first year at the professional level with WTC Cornella in the Spanish LEB2 league. Also appeared with Winterthur F.C. Barcelona with their U-20 team in the Circuito Sub-20, a four-phase competition organized by the Spanish basketball leagues separate from their regular seasons. Had previously signed a multi-year contract in the summer of 2004 with Unelco Tenerife in the Spanish ACB, the country’s top professional league, but did not appear in any games with the senior team. Attended Arona Basket Sur Academy in Spain’s Canary Islands in 2003-04.

2005-06: Averaged 9.6 points and team highs of 7.7 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots for WTC Cornella in the Spanish LEB2 regular season. Led the league in blocked shots, registering more blocks than the totals of every other team in the league except for one. Averaged 9.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.5 blocked shots in four playoff contests. With Winterthur F.C. Barcelona in the Circuito Sub-20, averaged 9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.1 blocked shots in 11 total contests.

2004-05: Played for Tenerife’s affiliated club which was not at the pro team level. Practiced with the senior team.

Strengths: Raw, lean shot-blocker who has tremendous upside as a prospect.

http://www.nba.com/draft2006/profiles/CheickSamb.html

ANALYSIS: Few players who will be picked in the 2006 NBA Draft have less experience than Samb, but that doesn't mean he isn't an exciting prospect. On the contrary, Samb has exhibited shotblocking abilities that would put him among the best rejecters in Europe, if only he had enough experience to play at a higher level. Samb played his first professional season this year in LEB2, which is the third-highest professional league in Spain. He signed a contract with Unelco Tenerife, a club in the ACB, Spain's highest level, but he has competed at lower levels in order to gain experience. In his first season, Samb blocked more shots himself than all but one of the teams in LEB2. He also averaged 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, pretty good numbers considering his utter lack of experience. With a normal progression, Samb might be ready to play at Spain's highest level, the ACB, in two more years. In the past, clever NBA teams have selected prospects like Samb and let them develop in Europe for a few years before signing them to play in the NBA. Denver drafted Francisco Elson in 1999, then let him develop for four years in Spain until they felt he was ready for the NBA. Elson has had three productive seasons as a frontcourt reserve for the Nuggets. Perhaps some team will show the same foresight and draft Samb.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/bas...ers/59877.html

[Laxation]

He has massive lips...

Hopefully he can turn into something like Diop and be a decent contributor... He doesnt really have to do anything though, he helped us get rid of Evans. He should be starting.

[Anthony]

The new shaq stopper.

[FP22]

One Hundred and Ninety-Five Pounds.. oh my

[Cross]

One Hundred and Ninety-Five Pounds.. oh my

SKinny as fuck. He needs to hit the gym...

[Laxation]

One Hundred and Ninety-Five Pounds.. oh my

Typo maybe? Thats just tiny... Jesus christ, he better be athletic

[FP22]

Looking around on the net I've see 195, 215, 220, and 240 for his weight. Clearly no one has a clue.

[FP22]

One Hundred and Ninety-Five Pounds.. oh my

Typo maybe? Thats just tiny... Jesus christ, he better be athletic

Can you imagine Amir and this dude with some added weight/strength playing PF and C in 3-4 years?