When we made our “Top Ten International Players to Watch during March Madness” list out, we made a huge mistake by not including USC’s Daniel Hackett in our initial list. Going into this weekend’s final four, we’ve watched the games and done the research, in order to followup on our list and re-ranking the players as to their performances.NR. (-2) Dogus Balbay, the point guard from Turkey finished his two games with just 7 points, 3 assists, and team-high EIGHT TURNOVERS. Balbay had a negative assist/turnover ratio, and that’s not a good thing for the starting point guard, nor is it good for his standing on this list. Balbay moves down from #9 to not-ranked solely because of his turnovers.
10. (-1) Kristof Ongenaet the senior from Syracuse did not score a single point during March Madness. That’s probably because Ongenaet did not even attempt a single shot; however, he finished with 7 rebounds in 17 minutes. Why is he #8, not much was expected of him. Weird that Ongenaet registered a DNP against lowly Stephen F. Austin. He makes the list above Balbay because despite not making much of a positive impact, Ongenaet didn’t hurt his team when he was on the court.
9. (-5) Luke Nevill’s fifth-seeded Utah Utes were bounced by twelfth-seeded Arizona State. Nevill scored 12 points and hauled in 6 rebounds in the loss, respectable numbers, but the Utes needed much more from Nevill. Arizona swarmed the 7-2 Aussie, and highlighted weaknesses in his game. Even so, despite his poor performance, Nevill remains on the NBA’s radar under the category of “You can’t teach height.”
8. (-1) Jonathan Tavernari, the Brazilian forward who was recruited in high school under an intense recruiting controversy scored 9 points in BYU’s loss to Texas A&M, all from 3-pointers. Before the loss, Tavernari said that “there’s more to life than basketball…My progress as a person has been as great, if not better, than my progress as a basketball player.” That’s all nice and good because his performance was nothing to write home about.
7. (-2) Artsiom Parakhouski helped Radford get to the tournament, but nobody on Radford’s team, including Parakhouski could help them upset the #1 Tarheels. Although the 6-11 Parakhouski scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against North Carolina, he only shot 3-15 against the UNC’s long frontline and Radford was drummed by 43 points. From Belarus, Parakhousksi will be returning to Radford for his Senior season.
6. (+2) As always, Alfred Aboya gave it his all in U.C.L.A.’s two games. The 6-9 Cameroonian put up 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals in UCLA’s victory against Virginia Commonwealth and 9 points, 8 rebounds in a loss to the Villanova. Aboya helped UCLA by making 10 of his 11 free throws in both games. The 24-year-old senior will stay with the Cameroonian National Team and try his hand with the NBA next season.
5. (-3) Greivis Vasquez (Venezuela) It’s unclear if Vasquez’s performances during March Madness helped elevate his NBA draft status. He did average 22.5 points (27 in Maryland’s first round victory) in two games. Perhaps the most versatile guard in the country, he is a sure-fire first rounder, where he’ll be selected is the question. What is clear is that Vasquez played badly against a Memphis team that Vasquez insisted would be unable to compete in the ACC. Maryland lost to Memphis 89-70, and was ousted in the second round.
4. (NR) Daniel Hackett (Italy) We made a mistake of not including Hackett in our initial list. And boy are we paying for it. The 6-5 point guard from Pesaro, Italy comes in as #4 on our list with sincere apologies. The lefty averaged 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.3 steals in three games,while leading USC to the Sweet Sixteen.
3. (=) Samardo Samuels (Jamaica) and all of Louisville’s team are disappointed after losing to Michigan State. Samuels finished the game without a single point, whereas he averaged 14 points per game in all of Louisville’s victories during March Madness. As a Freshman scoring 12 points per game, Samuels is no doubt considering his options to enter the NBA draft. He’s a couple inches short by NBA standards, but he has potential. Every player would benefit with another year in the NCAA, and Samuels might consider returning because the Cards will be stacked next year.
2. (-1) Hasheem Thabeet, the low-voiced Tanzanian, is still standing tall in the tournament. In his first four games, the Defensive Player of the Year averaged 11.5 points, 11.25 rebounds, and 2 blocks which included a couple underwhelming games against Texas A&M and Missouri. UConn faces Michigan State next. The Spartans have the bodies to pound Thabeet, including 6’10” Bosnian Goran Suton, as well as little-used 7-footer Nigerian Idong Ibok. Whatever the outcome, expect Thabeet to join the NBA this year, being selected in the lottery.
1. (+5) Goran Suton the Bosnian Big Man is having a wonderful tournament thus far jumping from #6 to #1 on our list. Suton has had the best overall performances of all the players on the list. It’s not just because Michigan State is in the Final Four, but Suton has turned his game up significantly. In four tournament games Suton is averaging 14.3 points, 12 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 steals, 1.25 blocks, and has shot 5-10 from behind the arc (50%), all those numbers are way above his season averages of 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks.
And the Spartans have periodically run their offense through Suton to great success; this was especially true against Louisville. Suton registered a double-double against Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels, 19 points and 10 rebounds, as well as 4 assists. A Senior, Suton will no doubt try his luck in the 2009 NBA draft, whether or not he is selected depends on his performance. It’s most-likely, we’ll be hearing about Suton in the Euroleague.
Keep an eye out for our piece featuring Thabeet and Suton before the end of the day. To check out our initial rankings of these players, read: Top Ten International Players to Watch during March Madness
99649
