Kevin Love & O.J. Mayo Tracker - Detroit Pistons Fan Community

buddahfan · #1 (**permalink**) 09-04-2007, 10:25 AM

It is going to be an exciting year again in Pac 10 basketball. I am not forgetting about Pac 10 football, but this thread will be about two of the top collegiate hoops freshmen in the country.

Believe it or not the Trojans actually played a game over the weekend

Quote:

USC Defeats Culiacan 102-82 In Exhibition Game In Mexico

Trojan freshman Davon Jefferson and O.J. Mayo lead USC with 29 points each.

Sept. 2, 2007

CULIACAN, SINOLOA, MEXICO - The USC men's basketball team led by 29 points each by freshmen Davon Jefferson and O.J. Mayo defeated the Caballeros de Culiacan 102-82 tonight (Sept. 1) in an exhibition game played in Culiacan, Mexico.

USC Defeats Culiacan 102-82 In Exhibition Game In Mexico :: Trojan freshman Davon Jefferson and O.J. Mayo lead USC with 29 points each

O.J. Mayo
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2007-2008 Outlook: People putting out “pre-preseason” All-America teams and not including Mayo just aren’t thinking clearly. Mayo is an instant 20-5-5 presence, and you can be sure that Tim Floyd will find a way to make the most out of his immensely talented recruit – both in terms of Mayo’s development, and the overall success of his program.......

As far as the draft goes, Mayo isn’t on a different level compared to the other 2008 Top 5 hopefuls in the way that Oden and Durant were this year, but his NBA eligibility will still give league bottom feeders plenty of reason to think about tanking come next spring.

[Read Full Article]

DraftExpress Profile: O.J. Mayo

Kevin Love
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Quote:

August 5, 2007
Love has shown a skill level that is absolutely unheard of amongst big men in the college ranks—knocking down NBA 3-pointers with ease, putting the ball on the floor with either hand, using pump-fakes, spin-moves, jump-stops and creating his own shot with fantastic footwork. He’s rebounding the ball well, throwing beautiful outlet passes, contesting shots around the basket, and even coming up with a few blocks on occasion.

Love’s body looks better and better every time we see him, as he’s shed a good amount of weight and is now probably only 10 pounds or so away from being in optimal shape. He can’t necessarily be called an athletic player, but playing next to or going up against physically gifted big men like Brook Lopez, Steven Hill and Robert Dozier, he has looked absolutely fine and has not had a problem doing whatever he wants out on the floor.

In the voluntary workout in between sessions he decided to show up for, Love looked just as impressive. This setting is tailor made to show off his terrific skill-level and fundamentals—and he did a great job draining shot after shot, kissing 15 footers off the glass after a sweet pivot move, conducting step-back moves, turnarounds, and much more. He’s really making an excellent case for himself to be considered a one and done lottery prospect with what he’s showing so far. He’ll be ready to deliver at the collegiate level from day one.

[Read Full Article]

DraftExpress Profile: Kevin Love

DraftExpress - NBA Draft, NCAA/International Basketball Website.

buddahfan · #2 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Love already mixing it up in practice

Freshman post player absorbs punishment from Aboya, dishes out some of his own, and enjoys both experiences.

By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 14, 2007
Kevin Love is enthusiastic after two days of UCLA basketball practice. He wasn't shy about saying that junior forward Alfred Aboya knocked him down four times. "And that doesn't happen very often," Love said.

Speaking after Love on a conference call Saturday, Coach Ben Howland wondered if Love had mentioned how many players he had knocked down. And the answer was no. "It was a few," Howland said.

While Love said it was fun watching televised snippets of other teams cavorting through "Midnight Madness" practices, many of them filled with more singing, dancing and goofing around than actual basketball, UCLA's prized freshman post player said what he went through -- "practices lots longer and higher intensity than what I'm used to" -- was more useful than getting some TV time at midnight. "We're trying to get an edge on everybody else," Love said.

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Quote:

Mayo's first shot inside the Galen Center was an airball Friday night during a two-ball competition in which he was paired with a female student, but the freshman redeemed himself by scoring 17 points during the scrimmage. "Everyone had fun," Mayo said. "That was the main thing, to make sure we had fun."

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buddahfan · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 05:09 PM

Quote:

By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 20, 2007

Love takes hits during practice

Freshman finds the going rough under the basket

Welcome to college basketball, Kevin Love.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland said his star freshman post player has been kneed in the left calf each of the last three days and has a back covered in scratch marks.

"Someone scratched the heck out of him," Howland said after Friday's practice. "I checked everybody's fingernails today. Fingernails that are long are very dangerous."

So are the strong legs of Alfred Aboya and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

Howland said Aboya's knee has hit Love's calf twice and Mbah a Moute has struck it once and the bruising was bad enough that Love sat out five minutes of practice.

"He's pretty tough," Howland said of the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Love. "But it's so physical down there. He's constantly getting beat up."

Quote:

By Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 20, 2007

Still, Coach Tim Floyd expressed confidence in his team's outside shooters, who will benefit from the addition of freshman guard O.J. Mayo.

"It's a question, it's just not a huge concern," Floyd said. "We've still got some guys who can shoot the ball."

Floyd noted that Lewis and Hackett shot well from three-point range after slow starts. After making only 20% through his first 15 games, Lewis shot 41.7% the rest of the season. Hackett made 38.1% in his last 18 games after shooting only 21.4% in his first 19 games.

"They both went through some freshman adjustments and shot it better later in the year," Floyd said.

Mayo said he had confidence in nearly all of his teammates to make three-pointers, including forwards Kasey Cunningham, Keith Wilkinson, Kyle Austin and Taj Gibson. What about 7-foot center Mamadou Diarra?

"He'll try," Mayo said, breaking into a smile.

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BillLaimbeer · #4 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 05:21 PM

Buddah,

Why are you so excited about Kevin Love? He isn't even the best player on his team, is he?

buddahfan · #5 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillLaimbeer

Buddah,

Why are you so excited about Kevin Love? He isn't even the best player on his team, is he?

Freshmen

2008 Mock Draft if he comes out after this coming year he is ranked #5

Quote:

Love has shown a skill level that is absolutely unheard of amongst big men in the college ranks—knocking down NBA 3-pointers with ease, putting the ball on the floor with either hand, using pump-fakes, spin-moves, jump-stops and creating his own shot with fantastic footwork. He’s rebounding the ball well, throwing beautiful outlet passes, contesting shots around the basket, and even coming up with a few blocks on occasion.

Love’s body looks better and better every time we see him, as he’s shed a good amount of weight and is now probably only 10 pounds or so away from being in optimal shape. He can’t necessarily be called an athletic player, but playing next to or going up against physically gifted big men like Brook Lopez, Steven Hill and Robert Dozier, he has looked absolutely fine and has not had a problem doing whatever he wants out on the floor.

In the voluntary workout in between sessions he decided to show up for, Love looked just as impressive. This setting is tailor made to show off his terrific skill-level and fundamentals—and he did a great job draining shot after shot, kissing 15 footers off the glass after a sweet pivot move, conducting step-back moves, turnarounds, and much more. He’s really making an excellent case for himself to be considered a one and done lottery prospect with what he’s showing so far. He’ll be ready to deliver at the collegiate level from day one.
[Read Full Article]

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Incoming freshman Kevin Love (Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year) was rated seventh among the nation's best post men. Love was also named to the Super 6 Freshmen team.

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Kevin Love's performance at last summer's ABCD camp cemented his status as one of the elite players in the nation. Lake Oswego's (Ore.) 6-foot-10, 255-pound power forward is ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2007 by RISE and is headed to UCLA next year.

Photo by Tim Llewellyn

DraftExpress Profile: Kevin Love

RiseMag.com > Photo Galleries > Kevin Love Gallery > Love at ABCD

Athlon Sports Picks UCLA as its National Champion in 2008 - Junior point guard Darren Collison listed as No. 1 floor leader.

Next year's freshman class has 4 of the top 30 prospects in the country led by Jrue Holiday.

Quote:

Stellar recruits commit to UCLA

Several highly touted prospects in remarkably strong 2008 class show intent to join the Bruins

David Woods (Contact)
Published: Monday, July 9, 2007

In just four years, Ben Howland has reestablished UCLA as both an elite team on the court and an elite program in recruiting circles
.
Last week, Howland received a verbal commitment from the class of 2008’s Jrue Holiday, a guard prospect from North Hollywood’s Campbell Hall who is ranked by Scout.com as the No. 5 overall prospect in the country. Some have said Holiday is the best guard prospect out of Southern California since Baron Davis.

Holiday will not be the only topflight recruit coming to Westwood in ’08.
The combo guard will be joined by Malcolm Lee, Jerime Anderson and Drew Gordon – all highly touted recruits.

Lee is a dynamic guard who can play anywhere from point guard to small forward and is rated as the No. 17 overall prospect in the country.

Anderson is a true point guard who rates as the No. 29 prospect,

and Gordon is a slightly undersized center and the No. 30 prospect in the nation.

The Daily Bruin - Stellar recruits commit to UCLA

BillLaimbeer · #6 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 09:27 PM

At NBADraft.net:

Love is ranked #17 for the 2008 NBA Draft. His teammate Darren Collison is ranked at #11.

NBADraft.net | Home

roscoe36 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillLaimbeer

His teammate Darren Collison is ranked at #11.

Are you saying we need a Darren Collison tracker?

BillLaimbeer · #8 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roscoe36

Are you saying we need a Darren Collison tracker?

If I had my way, there would be a separate tracker for every player in the Pac-10.

buddahfan · #9 (**permalink**) 10-21-2007, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillLaimbeer

At NBADraft.net:

Love is ranked #17 for the 2008 NBA Draft. His teammate Darren Collison is ranked at #11.

NBADraft.net | Home

Love is only a freshman.

Collison is a junior.

I didn't create this link to give the impression and I have never posted that Love at this point is better than Collison.

So yes I agree with you that Love is not the best Bruin player at this time. By March Madness. Lets see what happens.

I really like Collison's game a lot. I think he will be better than Jordan Farmar.

buddahfan · #10 (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Love reaches out to the Wizard for advice, history

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

WESTWOOD, Calif. -- Ask John Wooden, UCLA's living treasure, how he's doing, and the legendary 97-year-old coach will respond with a still-quick wit and say, "Well, I'm here!"

He is. And, for however long he can continue to offer guidance or a living history of the UCLA program, Bruins freshman Kevin Love is going to listen.

ESPN - Katz: Love gets rare talks with the Wizard - Men's College Basketball