Orlando went well enough for Aaron Gray that he likely will be drafted before the end of the 1st round. What will likely help Gray to be considered the 3d best college Center prospect is the withdrawal of Hibbert and two other Center prospects who bailed on Orlando (ESPN Insider subs.).

Reasons weren’t given but the feeling among teams is that all of the players were advised not to play for fear that it would unnecessarily hurt their status. BC’s Jared Dudley was surprised that Williams wasn’t here Tuesday after he said [Sean] Williams had texted him to say he was coming. So Dudley said he figured that Williams was told not to come by his representation. Hardin is the only player on this list that hasn’t signed with an agent. Cal’s staff claims that [DeVon] Hardin will return to the Bears unless he were assured that he is in the top 20. Currently, he is not projected to go that high. Hardin has been nursing multiple injuries the past two seasons.

Sean Williams was kicked off of the BC basketball team after numerous suspensions and second chances for various infractions. The final was testing positive (again) for marijuana. So Sean Williams representation thinks that not sending him to Orlando to compete after not playing for over half this past season and big red flags about character and work ethic. He’s got potential, but the risks make him a late-second or free agent signing. Oddly enough, the rumors are that the Knicks or the Nets might go with him in the first round and that’s why he didn’t show.

DeVon Hardin has been seriously injury prone at Cal, and now doesn’t show to even get a physical. Yeah, that’s a solid choice for a pick. Nothing to worry there. Maybe some rank them ahead of Gray, but Hardin is likely heading back to Cal unless some team makes him a guarantee in the first round.

Additionally, Ante Tomic out of Croatia is also out of the NBA Draft (Insider subs). That further reduces the big man pool.
Gray made a positive impression.

Thus far, he has shown scouts that he’s been working on his body by coming into the camp in good shape after losing weight and he’s done well in drills that focus on half-court offense (pick and rolls, etc.).

He’s now got to go through the individual workouts. No, he’s not going to be a star, but he will likely be a solid role-player/back-up for a team. He’s going to get drafted late in the first or early-second. When there are only 60 picks in a draft, that isn’t too bad. If he goes to a team that plays half-court and doesn’t try to run, he will be a valuable addition. And if he ever grasps the concept of footwork, he could become a draft steal.
The sad thing, is that some Pitt fans would be more pissed if he did improve and succeed in the NBA. If like so many big men, he still gets better after appearing to plateau at times. If his game continued to improve and he became a starter or god forbid, an all-star. They’d complain that he obviously didn’t work hard enough at Pitt, a choker. That he was a bust or that the coaches failed to get more out of him.

Yes, Gray is a 7-footer. He was closing in on that height coming out of high school. And who exactly did Pitt have to battle for his services? Not Temple (when they were still relevant), Villanova, UConn, Syracuse and other powers in the Philly/East Coast area. Pitt’s main competition to get Gray was Rutgers. His size didn’t matter when his game was completely lacking.
He was a complete project that in his 4 years at Pitt got to 2nd Team All-American in his final year, All-Big East for two straight years, Most Improved in the Big East in 2006, got to the Big East Championship in the past two years and the Sweet 16.

We all wanted more.  Hell, many of us have been wanting more for years.  In some ways, it’s getting a little more frustrating the last couple of years because things seem to be so much closer than ever. Yet, Pitt still hasn’t made it.

It seems that for some, if Pitt hasn’t made it yet, then the individual players shouldn’t be able to succeed.

Overall, Aaron Gray was one of the most consistent performers at the Orlando camp, and that as much as anything else probably solidified his status.

While it is important to remember that Aaron Gray will have limitations in the NBA, he has a great chance at carving out a long career as a rotation big man at the next level, particularly if he continues to shed weight the way he has nicely over the past two months.

…

The physical limitations of Gray were also displayed this week in Orlando, and were especially apparent on the defensive end of the floor. The 7-footer lacks the speed to get up and down the floor quickly, and will be much better off in a half-court oriented system in the NBA. Gray lacks the reaction time to be an active defensive player, and at times will stand flat-footed on the ground as a rebound sails by him in his area. He isn’t afraid to use his body against players down on the block, but this can only take you so far in the NBA.

Today Gray will be taking part in a workout session with about 20 other players.

As a result, a large number of other teams also are expected to be present when approximately 20 players take the floor today, including Boston College’s Jared Dudley and Florida point guard Taurean Green.

Jason Smith, a 240-pound 7-footer from Colorado State whose stock reportedly has risen, also is expected to be part of the group along with Daequan Cook – a gifted freshman shooter who played with Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. at Ohio State – Pittsburgh center Aaron Gray, Nevada forward Nick Fazekas and North Carolina swingman Reyshawn Terry. Arizona’s LaMarcus Williams and UCLA’s Arron Afflalo, two players who didn’t participate last week, may work out today or tomorrow.

Four teams tried to share the cost of this workout and keep it to themselves, but the NBA rules about when the “private” workouts could take place prohibited it from being closed. Instead they had to open it up to all the other teams or having to cancel it.

After seeing some reports killing Gray early in the week, it seems he has been among the most consistent performers at Orlando.

Pittsburgh center Aaron Gray is the only player in Orlando who is averaging more than six rebounds and 14 points per game. Gray has posted averages of 15.5 points and seven rebounds in his two games to date, with another game this afternoon.

That naturally has the revisions going on how Gray has looked at the camp and his draft status. At the very least, the concession is that he hasn’t slid in the draft projections.

Aaron Gray had yet another solid performance here today, following up on his good performance yesterday, and he’s thus far succeeded in not hurting his stock here at the camp, though not really improving it much either. Gray got all his scores coming off post-ups and pick-and-rolls, getting to the basket and hitting a lay-up or going to the line, or by settling for a turnaround jumper from about five feet away from the basket.

…

Gray had two very nice back-to-the-basket plays on the game, one coming on a turnaround jumper off the glass from five feet out, and the other coming on a fake spin one way into a spin back the other, where he laid the ball perfectly in the basket after spending just a second with his eye on the hoop, showing good awareness of where he was with the ball.

Gray scored 16 points of 5-9 shooting and a stunning 6-7 of FTs.

Apparently, a lot of teams and people watching this are still most impressed that Gray has slimmed down further (Insider subs.)

Gray probably will move up a few spots in the draft just by showing up to camp in great shape. His body is clearly more chiseled, his abs ripped and his stamina better than at Pittsburgh.

He put up a very solid performance on both ends of the floor — though he was lacking much in the way of competition.

Again, being in such great shape, in preparation for the NBA draft camp goes a ways to showing NBA scouts and people how serious and willing to work hard Gray is.

Pittsburgh center Aaron Gray continued to show off his streamlined physique and bulked-up offensive game. After delivering 15 points and nine rebounds Wednesday, Gray returned with a 16-point, five-rebound effort Thursday. Gray has shown scouts that he has a traditional big man’s power game, muscling up shots close to the basket while also being active on both backboards. Gray has been a bigger presence in the lane than he was when I saw him during the season for the Panthers.

Over at Hoopsworld, they have several writers offering takes and reporting on players.

One current NBA assistant coach had this to say: “Everyone wants to talk about what he can’t do, but he’s an NBA player.” The scout noted that he will likely be a late first round or early second round selection which was right about where most people had him slotted before he came to camp.

…

At 7’ 270 pounds, Gray provides the presence in the middle that so many teams are after. But don’t look for Gray on a running team. He isn’t the fastest big man out there — “He is what he is,” said one scout — but another assistant coach contends that he can succeed with the right guards getting him the ball inside.

You know, I know I mentioned Eastern Conference teams would likely grab him, but I could also see him working in the Spurs system.

Again, something of mixed views. No one seemed to think he dominated, but the views varied from decent to bad. The squad he is on looked really bad. Considering all the players are trying to get drafted, none of them were really helped as they got smacked 106-84.

In practice, before the actual game, Gray apparently got abused by a smaller teammate.

In a full-court practice against players from his own team – there are six squads at the camp – Gray was dominated by unheralded Coleman Collins, an undersized power forward from Virginia Tech who at 6-foot-8 and 205 pounds has a major physical disadvantage against the former Pitt star.

Collins had his shot working and did not look the least bit tentative against Gray, who was being outworked at both ends of the floor and could not find his shot.

Things got a little better during the scrimmage when he didn’t have to worry about Collins – who scored a camp-high 22 in his game – but Gray still was poor defensively and seemed to get the bulk of his 15 points (seven at the foul line) due to his size advantage, a dominating edge he won’t always have in the NBA.

When asked if he felt the need to dominate, considering he is one of a small group of players at the camp with first-round potential, Gray admitted to feeling some extra pressure.

“Maybe a little bit, you definitely think about it,” Gray said. “You just wanna go out there and show teams there’s a lot of positives to your game and I think I did that. Hopefully, I’ll continue to do that.”

Hopefully, Gray will relax a little and just play rather than seek to impress. The Collins kid apparently had a bit of a breakout game — or he just had his shot that day. He abused Syracuse’s Daryl Watkins in the game. Not that Gray should want to be compared to Watkins — ever. Demetris Nichols led the winning squad with 18 points and looked good.

Gray was 7-10 at the free throw line, which of course is a bit surprising. Part of the problem was that on Gray’s squad, the point guard was Virginia’s Sean Singletary, who showed nothing but inconsistency. Gray may not have been as bad as that report made him seem.

Aaron Gray was solid though unspectacular with 15 points and a game high 9 boards. He attempted a few dunks where he was just a bit too far from the rim and either got his shot stuffed or had the ball go off the rim. Gray got to the line bunch converting 7-10.

Gray still did the job on rebounds. Getting to the line at least meant he was trying to go to the basket. With his size, he will be drafted. Gray has to remember he is simply playing to get drafted before the end of the first round. This isn’t about being a fringe draft pick.

The other thing Gray needs to remember is that he has to be looking to Eastern Conference teams. Teams that prefer the half-court offense.

Aaron Gray, who struggled mightily on Tuesday, redeemed himself with his play on Wednesday… that is when he could catch the ball. Gray again struggled to catch passes with any amount of force behind them, and it’s obvious he really struggles in a high-tempo game. However, when the game slows down and he has time to get low-post position, he’s very tough to stop. He finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds during the scrimmage.

That’s going to be the part of his game that needs more work regardless of the style of play. Catching the ball on the move. He’s got to improve on his cut and catch. It’s not an uncommon problem for big centers, and takes time. The one thing Gray can point to is that he has been willing to work and improve on his game his whole time at Pitt.

Well, in the time since the season ended and yesterday’s start of the NBA Orlando Pre-draft camp, Aaron Gray has had a lot of time to really work on getting ready. Physically, he seems to look great.

Aaron Gray 7-1 280 C Pittsburgh Sr. — It appears as though he’s lost a good 15-20 pounds. He’s still a plodder, but he’s moving a little better than he was during the season. It’s obvious he’s put some hard work into losing weight and adding mobility. We’ll see how that added cardio translates to his play over the next three days.

He is on Team 5 that includes Curtis Sumpter (Villanova) as the only other Big East player.

While Gray’s improved physique is noticeable, his opportunities to show what he can do aren’t.

The first thing that stands out about Gray is his improved physique. Gray is much closer to obtaining his ideal playing shape, a testament to the work he’s been putting into his draft preparation.

Unfortunately for Gray, the pre-draft camp doesn’t cater to his strengths as a half-court player who is best when being fed in the post. The first day of scrimmages proved this point out as Gray didn’t act as much more than an observer. He’ll have to be more vocal if he wants to command the attention of his teammates to the point of having an impact.

That would be the concern at this draft camp. The style is definitely a lot more running. Not many other big men in camp, so a lot more wing players and guards.

Still Gray is a 7-footer and with noticeable work on his body, that will help. It lets NBA teams know how serious he is about playing in the NBA and his willingness to work hard.

UPDATE (2:34): One other observation, was less flattering to Gray’s performance.

One player predicted by many to be a late first round pick or early second rounder is Pittsburgh 7-footer Aaron Gray. On Tuesday, Gray didn’t look like a player who fit the aforementioned criteria. He had trouble catching the ball in traffic and often looked clumsy in transition. He was at least competing on the defensive end which left a number of GM’s with hope for the big man heading into play Wednesday.

Gray looked awkward and clumsy at times?

Last week’s NBA Draft Lottery was a huge surprise. I was about as shocked by that as I’ll get for anything related to the NBA. With all of the teams set in their draft spots (and as I write this I’m laughing at the Celtics), it’s much easier to accuartely predict where draft prospects will go once the order is known. Teams with needs at a certain spot who draft higher will allow a player to rise a few spots.

With that, it’s time to look at where old friend Aaron Gray is predicted to go. With the draft about a month away, he rose from the mid-late 2nd round all the way to the first pick of the second (and final) round. That pick belongs to Seattle, who is either going to land Greg Oden or Kevin Durant based on who Portland takes. Simply put, if Durant goes first and Oden falls to the Sonics, Gray won’t being their second round pick. Chances are, however, that Oden goes #1 and Seattle picks up Durant who will be playing the small forward spot in the NBA.

Again, this is all speculation and guesswork. It’s pretty safe to say he won’t be going Top 10 though, like some thought he might before the 2006-07 season tipped off.

Unlike Chris Taft from a couple years ago, Aaron Gray’s draft status has remained relatively unchanged in over a year. He is still expected to be taken in the first round, somewhere in the 20s. For the NBA, he is a solid, unremarkable, serviceable big man. He will be a good back-up occasional starter for years. This is not a bad thing.

Hoopsworld.com has a good profile and explanation for his draft status.

He might be big, but size sometimes takes away from speed and explosiveness, which limits his ceiling on the defensive end of the floor in the NBA. Many scouting reports call his inability to block a ton of shots or rebound out of position his greatest weaknesses. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to try; it just means that he’s not particularly athletic.

But how many freakishly athletic true centers are really out there? Teams are always taking gambles in the draft, especially on big guys, and there are plenty of teams that could use a backup center (or even a starter) with a chance to put some points on the board, post up for a few easy ones, command a double-team, work some passes off the block. Gray can do those things, which is why you should expect to see him off the board in the first round of this June’s draft. He’s probably not a lottery pick, but he could fall somewhere in the 15-25 range, especially to teams like Detroit, Washington, and (why not) his home-state team, the Philadelphia 76ers, who if the season ended today would pick right around 18.

Sounds about right.

Another Monday has arrived (and it’s a “Big Monday” for the Panthers tonight on ESPN) which means all kinds of different polls and numbers can be seen left and right. First we start with the two Top 25 polls, both of which bumped Pitt up to 7th in the nation. The six teams in front of Pitt are the same and in a matching order in both polls with teams such as Duke (who had a win handed to them last week), Oregon, and Texas A&M.

Next we get something interesting from the Big East Basketball Report: RPI ratings for Big East teams composed of stats just from conference games. From that, here’s what we get through yesterday’s game.

….TEAM………..CONFERENCE RPI………CONF SOS….SOS RANK
Marquette—————.5846——————.5218———–4
Pittsburgh—————.5594——————.4709———-13
Louisville—————-.5508——————.5020———-9
Villanova—————-.5418——————.5507———–2
Syracuse—————–.5368——————.5137———–7
Notre Dame————-.5268——————.4941————11
Georgetown————-.5260——————.4690———–14
West Virginia———–.5069——————.4676———-15
DePaul——————.4973——————.5215———–5
Connecticut————.4946——————.5584————1
Providence————–.4940——————.4748———-12
St. John’s—————-.4653——————.5133———-8
Seton Hall—————.4516——————.4949———10
South Florida———–.4446——————.5303———-3
Cincinnati—————.4181——————.5191———–6
Rutgers——————.4019——————.4525———-16

I don’t think it would be expected to see Pitt at anywhere but the top two or three slots at this point through conference play.

The weekly conference poll they run there also came out for the new week with Pitt checking in at number one. The top five looks like so:

1) Pittsburgh (16): 286 pts.
2) Marquette (2): 269 pts.
3) Georgetown: 245 pts.
4) Notre Dame: 228 pts.
5) Louisville: 208 pts.

I found it a bit surprising that more voters did not give their first place vote to Marquette and the voting followed how things have gone the past few weeks.

Also following suit from last week were the player of the week, Dominic James, and freshman of the week, Scottie Reynolds from a ‘Nova team we’ll see tonight, both of which were voted into those spots for the second straight week.
Also a few notes from ESPN Insider who now have Aaron Gray as their #22 draft prospect.

Positives: Gray is a legit 7-footer, and he has the girth (he weighs in at 270) to handle the middle full time. He’s a good rebounder, especially on the offensive boards. Excellent hands. Good lower body strength helps him hold position in the paint. Nice baby hook. Good perimeter shooter.

Negatives: He’s not a very good athlete, and weight has been an issue in the past. With the NBA moving toward an up-tempo style, Gray’s type of game is less valued than it’s been in the past. Not much of a shot blocker. Poor free throw shooter.

Summary: For a second straight season, Gray continues to prove that he’s a legit NBA center prospect, despite scouts’ misgivings. He’s moved from the first round bubble to a pretty firm first round pick.

Two freshmen, Texas’ Kevin Durant and OSU’s Greg Oden, are battling it out to be in the #1 spot according to both ESPN and anyone who has eyes and has seen either of them play.

Jay Bilas also has Gray as his Big East Player of the Year so far (Insider subs.).

Big East
Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh: The most productive player on the top team in the league. Gray stands just above the rest in a season when there is no signature player or team, at least by traditional Big East standards. Gray is having a great season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds and shooting just under 60 percent from the field.

Fran Fraschilla and Doug Gottlieb both took Dominic James over Gray.