ANTHONY THOMPSON- Projects high!

[tiptop]

I saw Anthony Thompson this past summer in an event in Las Vegas. He is going to be the real deal! He is long, athletic and extremely mobile up and down the court.

He weighs about 180 now, and will be about 220 when it is all said and done, because he has a great frame to build upon. He is still very immature, but in two years he will fill out and be a monster in the MVC. He may even grow another inch or two.

This is a monumtental pull by the Braves coaching staff. So many of these supposed "high school ranking experts" never look at projection. They only look at how good the kids are now! Take Patrick O'Bryant for instance! Not one ranking service had this kid on any of their rating lists, why? Because they can't project talent.

Thompson will be one of those who climbs the ladder in future years, just watch and see.

I can't wait to see him in action at the TOCC at Thanksgiving!

[tornado]

tiptop, thanks for taking the time to post your observations of Anthony Thompson.
Lots of fans have been wanting someone who's seen him tell what they think.
I am very anxiously awaiting the tourney at Thanksgiving.

Note-- We moved this topic to the Basketball Fan Talk board from the Recruiting board so it would be seen by more people.

[mexicobufan]

TipTop, can you give more information on his play from what you saw? You may be the first to actually see him play so we want as much info as possible. Thanks for posting.

[tornado]

tiptop did answer on the recruiting forum, but here is what he said about Anthony Thompson.
By the way, I can tell you that from what I know about Mr. "tiptop", he is fully capable of making these assessments, and he is someone who can be believed with these opinions.

Alonzo Edwards is a beast! He is 6'7" 220 and a warrior on both ends of the court. He is fun to watch with his vicious slams off the drive and with his open court finishes. He is a combo forward who dominates in low at the high school level, but will need to be more of a face up 3 at Nebraska. His biggest weakness is ball handling and ball movement skills from the wing.

Anthony Thompson is not as good as Alonzo at this stage in the game.........but Thompson's upside is bigger and better. It is extremely hard to find a 6'10" player with the athleticism, quickness and length that Thompson possesses. He has tools you just can't teach. If he continues to grow to 6'11" 220, he will be a more dominant collegiate player than Edwards within two years.

Maturity plays a big part in high school player's domination. If you look at the NBA draft, every year half the players drafted are players who were never even rated in the top 100 as high school seniors. Why? Because they haven't fully matured yet.

Channing Frye, Patrick O'Bryant, Devin Harris, Jamal Crawford, Gilbert Arenas, Dwyane Wade, the list goes on forever!

Look at all the top high school stalwarts of the past 10 years: Kelvin Torbert, Dajuan Wagner, Ousmanne Cisse, Ronnie Fields, etc., etc. These are players who matured early and topped out as players.

When Thompson develops, watch out! He could be the top player in the MVC by his Junior season! And by the way, he is way ahead of Anthony Tolliver at the same stage.

[Big Mike]

I cannot wait to see him play in the CC for the 1st time.......he sounds very exciting and his upside seems very promising! From now on he will be AT to me!

[flipper]

sounds like another great player coming to bu!! coach les has to be one of the best recruiters ever to caoch at bu.

[BradleyBrave]

Not to be a negative nelly, as I do think Thompson projects very high. However, I will put more credence in such an evaluation when it comes from a non-partial observer who isn't organizing a big high school tournament in the town this kid is going to be playing in.

[flipper]

Not to be a negative nelly, as I do think Thompson projects very high. However, I will put more credence in such an evaluation when it comes from a non-partial observer who isn't organizing a big high school tournament in the town this kid is going to be playing in.

well. at least we are all objective.