Ex-Ga Tech F Royal will transfer to George Mason (Yahoo! Sports)
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Former Georgia Tech forward Julian Royal is transferring to George Mason.
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Duke Basketball: Breaking Down Mason Plumlee’s NBA Potential
Now that Mason Plumlee’s college career is over, Duke fans will wish him well as he heads on to the NBA. But what sort of NBA player does Mason Plumlee project to be?
At 6’11” and 240 lbs, Plumlee certain has something that’s highly valued in the pros. A worst-case scenario for him is that he’s valued as a serviceable post player in a league that constantly recycles big bodies to fill the lane. So, no matter what, he’ll be in demand.
Obviously, both Plumlee and Duke fans would like to see him become more than just a tall jersey filler. Based on his skill set, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Plumlee proved to be an adept shot-blocker. His size and strength should be enough to allow him to compete in the paint with most NBA post players. He is also a good defensive rebounder. As a senior, he averaged 10 rebounds per game, and throughout his time at Duke, he consistently did a good job on the defensive glass.
Offensively, Plumlee is a capable scorer around the basket. He averaged 11.1 points as a junior and 17.1 as a senior. There’s no arguing that he can put up points from inside (via ESPN).
The concern, however, is that Plumlee’s post moves aren’t the greatest, and he never developed an outside shot.
Frequently, it was frustrating to see Plumlee fail to use a simple drop-step effectively. More often than not, he preferred to face up his post defender in order to use his quickness. While attempting to play to one’s strength illustrates a good basketball IQ, it also highlights a particular shortcoming in Plumlee’s game.
He did add a running jump hook to his forte, but that shot didn’t go down with a huge amount of consistency and it requires a great deal of space in the paint to pull it off.
The lack of a jump shot also gives NBA evaluators pause. The NBA is in love with offenses that run high screens over and over again. Because Plumlee hasn’t proven an ability to make a medium-range shot from the elbow, his effectiveness at setting screens on the perimeter is put into question.
Plumlee also didn’t defend particularly well on the perimeter. Often, on screen and rolls, he would hedge out too far and a quicker guard would jet past him. Again, the high ball screen is a staple in the NBA, and Plumlee’s weakness in that area on both defense and offense hurts his NBA upside.
All that being said, Plumlee is a good athlete, and on the right team, he could be a highly valuable asset. His ability to run the court and score in transition should ensure that he has something to offer the right type of team. In a good situation, Plumlee could be a reliable rotation player. His size, defense and inside scoring should translate into solid production even at the NBA level.
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2013 NBA Draft: 4 Possible NBA Destinations for Duke’s Mason Plumlee
In a draft full of underclassmen and one-and-dones, only two of the players projected to be selected in the first twenty picks of the 2013 NBA draft have spent a full four years in college: Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum and Duke’s Mason Plumlee. In his four years as a Blue Devil, Plumlee has developed into the one of the college game’s most dominant big men, averaging 17.1 points, 10 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in his senior season.
It is not yet clear where on the draft board Plumlee’s name is likely to fall, but barring surprising developments during the pre-draft season, he will likely hear his name called somewhere between the 10th and 20th picks.
Few teams would not benefit from selecting an experienced and well-coached big man, but a few teams in particular would immensely benefit from adding Plumlee to their roster. Here is a look at a few teams that will almost certainly give Mason Plumlee heavy consideration on draft day.
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2013 NBA Draft: 5 Possible NBA Destinations for Duke’s Mason Plumlee
In a draft full of underclassmen and one-and-dones, only two of the players projected to be selected in the first twenty picks of the 2013 NBA draft have spent a full four years in college: Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum and Duke’s Mason Plumlee. In his four years as a Blue Devil, Plumlee has developed into the one of the college game’s most dominant big men, averaging 17.1 points, 10 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in his senior season.
It is not yet clear where on the draft board Plumlee‘s name is likely to fall, but barring surprising developments during the pre-draft season, he will likely hear his name called somewhere between the 10th and 20th picks.
Few teams would not benefit from selecting an experienced and well-coached big man, but a few teams in particular would immensely benefit from adding Plumlee to their roster. Here is a look at a few teams that will almost certainly give Mason Plumlee heavy consideration on draft day.
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Duke Basketball: Who Will Replace Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee?
With just under a minute left to play against the Louisville Cardinals in the NCAA tournament—a game that quickly spiraled out of control for the Duke Blue Devils—Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee exited the floor for the final time in their college careers.
It was a disappointing end to the collegiate careers of three of the finest players to step foot on the Duke campus.
Together, they closed out their careers with a 317-54 (85.4 percent) win-loss record for the Duke basketball program. In addition, all three were a part of the Blue Devils’ fourth national championship in 2010.
Looking ahead to next season, as significant as the departures of Curry, Kelly and Plumlee are, head coach Mike Krzyzewski will have at his disposal another talented collection of players that should prove to be a championship-caliber team.
In the following three slides, I reveal the three players from Duke’s 2013-14 team who will emerge to replace the senior triad of Curry, Kelly and Plumlee and guide the Blue Devils on their quest to a fifth national title.
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Official: George Mason to join Atlantic 10 in July (Yahoo! Sports)
WASHINGTON (AP) — First VCU, now George Mason. The two mid-majors that made stunning runs to the Final Four from the Colonial Athletic Association will reunite in the Atlantic 10.
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Mason Plumlee NBA Draft 2013: Pro-Potential Projections
| School | Duke |
| Height | 6’10″ |
| Weight | 235 pounds |
| Key Stats |
17.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game this season |
Player comparisons are a major part of the draft prognosticating process, and that’s especially the case in the NBA. Perhaps the best way to gauge the potential impact of a prospect is to associate his skills with an NBA player from the past or present.
This is a fun and helpful frame of reference used to classify draft prospects.
In this video, we compare Mason Plumlee to Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as we continue the Prospect Comparison Series, in which we compare the 2013 NBA draft’s top prospects to current and recently retired NBA players.
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Northeastern digs out, beats George Mason 69-67 (Yahoo! Sports)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Jonathan Lee scored 14 points, including a layup with 3 seconds remaining, as top-seeded Northeastern defeated George Mason 69-67 Sunday in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals after trailing by 24 points before halftime.
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Mason Plumlee: Duke Forward’s Huge Night Latest Case for Player of Year Award
Mason Plumlee is having a monster season for Duke. So much so that he could well clinch the Player of the Year award when the year is all finished.
At the start of the year, you’d have been lucky to hear Plumlee‘s name as a potential candidate, with Indiana’s Cody Zeller the popular selection for the away.
Yet with a huge double-double performance in the win over fierce rivals North Carolina, the star forward provided us with the latest piece of evidence in his case for the Player of the Year award. And at the moment, it’s looking like a pretty good case.
Plumlee finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds against North Carolina, and once again, came up big when his team needed him to step up the most.
It comes after a strong start to 2013 which recently saw the senior forward pick up the National Player of the Week award last week after leading the Blue Devils to wins over N.C. State and Boston College (per Digtriad.com), but also in light of a very strong season for Duke.
See, whilst this week’s numbers against North Carolina were strong, they are simply no stronger than what Plumlee has been averaging all season.
His per-game stat-line of 18.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks are nearly exactly what he chalked up this week, and nearly exactly what he has chalked up throughout the season.
His consistency and ability to step up when Duke needs him most has been arguably the biggest factor of his game this season, and key in his POY credentials.
Plumlee continues to be the primary cog in Duke’s engine and the primary reason behind their second-place standing in the Atlantic Coast Conference at the moment.
He was No. 3 in an ESPN straw poll last week, but given his recent performances, you’d have to think Plumlee has risen up that poll somewhat in the past week.
Perhaps even all the way to the top.
Will Mason Plumlee win the 2013 Player of the Year Award?
Comment below or hit me up on Twitter: Follow @dantalintyre
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Mason Plumlee, Duke Blue Devils top NC State Wolfpack
Mason Plumlee had 30 points and Seth Curry added 26 to lead the streaking Blue Devils.
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