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DJO one of only four to vertical 41"; the other 3 now play for the Bengals, Texans and NY Giants

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (bamamarquettefan1)


When Murray State Coach Steve Prohm took the court in Louisville and looked across the court at Marquette warming up, the first words out of his mouth were reportedly, “Aren’t those guys missing spring practice somewhere?”
In 14 days, Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder hope to hear their names called at the NBA Draft despite reservations about their height, and my guess is one of the thank yous will go to Marquette Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Todd Smith.
Jae Crowder was not only the strongest guy at the NBA combine with 20 reps of 185-pounds on the bench, but that total was just less than the average of all NFL combine players (21).
Darius Johnson-Odom was one of only four prospects with a vertical of at least 41 inches this year â€" the other three have already signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans and New York Giants.  Of the 300 prospects to participate in either the NFL or NBA combine, here are the only seven to top 40 inches.table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}
PlayerTop verticalsWill play for …[/tr]

Kashif Moore	43.5	Cincinnati Bengals
Darius Johnson-Odom	41.5	Portland Trail Blazers?
Jerrell Jackson	41	Houston Texas
David Wilson	41	New York Giants
Chris Owusu	40.5	San Francisco 49ers
Marquis Teague	40.5
Miles Plumlee	40.5

Portland Trail Blazers invite DJO to join lottery picks
How high could DJOs stock be rising after such an impressive display?  He already went from not even being invited to Portsmouth to being invited to the combine itself, and has been the fastest rising player even in www.nbadraft.net (http://www.nbadraft.net/), which has left Crowder and DJO out of the draft until recently adding the latter.
We are now in the phase of the final weeks where GMs and Scouts don’t want any other team to know who is rising through their ranks.  We now know that more than one team was hoping that Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler would stop looking so good so that they wouldn’t be gone by their choice.  We have no way of knowing whether that is happening to DJO, Crowder or neither this year.
However, one very encouraging sign for DJO was a surprise invite from Wesley Matthews Portland Trail Blazers.  Portland has the wonderful fortune of having 6th, 11th, 40th and 41st picks in what is a very deep draft.  They chose to invite two groups of 6 players each to a team tryout to look at players for these spots.   One group was reportedly of potential lottery picks, while the other was reportedly of long-shots that seemed more likely heading for camp as undrafted players, but who they apparently saw something about that intrigued them.  The interesting thing is that when word leaked out about the two groups, DJO was in the group with potential lottery picks, while Kevin Murphy of Tennessee Tech, expected to go higher than DJO, was in the B-group.
It would seem a stretch to believe that DJO is being considered for the 11th pick, BUT with the potential of teams trading up, you can’t help but looking at the two groups and where www.draftexpress.com (http://www.draftexpress.com/) ranks each player, and conclude it is almost as hard to believe that the teams still have DJO as low as the public draft boards do.table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}
Trail Blazers Group BTrail Blazers Group A[/tr]

Kevin Murphy, Tenn Tech 40th	Jared Sullinger, OSU 7th
John Shurna, NW 73rd	Perry Jones, Bay 8th
Mitchell Watt, Buffalo 74th	Terrence Jones, Kentucky 9th
Quincy Acy, Baylor 80th	John Henson, UNC 11th
Reggie Hamilton, Oak 95th	Marquis Teague, Kent 22nd
Bradford Burgess, VCU NR	Darius Johnson-Odom, MU 47th

Could Marquette possibly have a third straight year with a stunning first round pick?  Not that Wesley Matthews was crying over not getting picked when he cashed $9 million in checks his second year out of Marquette, but it’s quite possible the strong combine performances of Crowder and DJO could have some teams considering them earlier.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2012/06/djo-one-of-only-four-to-vertical-41.html

Great writeup.

Makes me wonder if Rip City see DJO as a that much of a high-ceiling guy.  Having WesMat buzzing in management's ear can't hurt :)

DJO has a very high ceiling. Look at Russell Westbrook, of course he was a better prospect with better measurables out of college but he is very much a 2 guard playing point. He attacks like DJO and DJO arguably has a better 3 point shot already. What is concerning is if DJO can finish in the trees like Westbrook can. Us Marquette fans know he can, but others may have doubts. Of our two prospects I have much more confidence in DJO's potential than Jae's. I think both have the potential to shock people because they are both extremely intense and confident players. DJO can and will be a good player in the NBA. Once he gets his chance I have confidence he will be alot like Wes.

I thought DJO was invited to Portsmouth and declined  ?-(

Per Gery Woelful's Twitter on April 5: "MU's Jae Crowder backs out of Portsmouth Invit. tourney. No surprise. Darius Johnson-Odom reneges, too. Big mistake"

Quote from: jhags15 on June 14, 2012, 08:50:16 AM
DJO has a very high ceiling. Look at Russell Westbrook, of course he was a better prospect with better measurables out of college but he is very much a 2 guard playing point. He attacks like DJO and DJO arguably has a better 3 point shot already. What is concerning is if DJO can finish in the trees like Westbrook can. Us Marquette fans know he can, but others may have doubts. Of our two prospects I have much more confidence in DJO's potential than Jae's. I think both have the potential to shock people because they are both extremely intense and confident players. DJO can and will be a good player in the NBA. Once he gets his chance I have confidence he will be alot like Wes.

The problem is that DJO seems to initiate too much contact (out of control) when driving rather than working his body to avoid it.  This is a big change for him to have to make... If he can make it, he can be successful in the NBA.

Or who knows, the NBA doesn't call the charge like the NCAA so it may benefit him.

The more I think about it, why ISN'T DJO widely considered to be 1st round value?  He's an elite athlete among the elite athletes that has proven to be able to score at a high level at the highest level of college ball.  I know Brew has compared him to Ben Gordon before, and I think that's close to spot on.  Both are undersized 2 guards that can get hotter than hot.  DJO beat Gordon at every athletic measurement in the combine too.  He's quicker, stronger, and can jump higher, and that's saying a lot.  I think a guy like Darius is not only a safe pick in the 1st round, but one with a high upside as well.  At worst you're getting someone who can provide instant offense off the bench for 8-10 years, at best you're getting the second coming of Ben Gordon, a guy that has averaged 20+ ppg twice in under 40 mpg.  Picking between slots 20 to 30, what's not to like in DJO?

Quote from: Jamailman on June 14, 2012, 09:33:00 AM
The more I think about it, why ISN'T DJO widely considered to be 1st round value?  He's an elite athlete among the elite athletes that has proven to be able to score at a high level at the highest level of college ball.  I know Brew has compared him to Ben Gordon before, and I think that's close to spot on.  Both are undersized 2 guards that can get hotter than hot.  DJO beat Gordon at every athletic measurement in the combine too.  He's quicker, stronger, and can jump higher, and that's saying a lot.  I think a guy like Darius is not only a safe pick in the 1st round, but one with a high upside as well.  At worst you're getting someone who can provide instant offense off the bench for 8-10 years, at best you're getting the second coming of Ben Gordon, a guy that has averaged 20+ ppg twice in under 40 mpg.  Picking between slots 20 to 30, what's not to like in DJO?

Who let Isiah Thomas in the draft room?

Bama, I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure that the NFL bench rep test is at 225 lbs, not 185 lbs, which makes comparison between rep numbers not exactly 1:1.

Quote from: lawwarrior12 on June 14, 2012, 11:04:14 AM
Bama, I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure that the NFL bench rep test is at 225 lbs, not 185 lbs, which makes comparison between rep numbers not exactly 1:1.

You are correct, sir.

DJOs ball handling is what is keeping him from being looked at more highly.

Quote from: The Sultan of South Wayne on June 14, 2012, 11:39:46 AM
DJOs ball handling is what is keeping him from being looked at more highly.

Well you think about it and the only times he had horrible turnovers were when he drove 1 on 4 or 1 on 3. He is a decent ballhandler, not spectacular and certainly not a PG's ball handling skills but he is pretty solid in that area. I think if either of these 2 go first round it will be DJO.

Quote from: jhags15 on June 14, 2012, 12:16:01 PM
Well you think about it and the only times he had horrible turnovers were when he drove 1 on 4 or 1 on 3. He is a decent ballhandler, not spectacular and certainly not a PG's ball handling skills but he is pretty solid in that area. I think if either of these 2 go first round it will be DJO.

I never felt DJO had a turnover problem, but I've noticed that he seems to dribble the ball very high... I'm sure NBA scouts have noticed this.

Quote from: TomW1365 on June 14, 2012, 01:27:26 PM
I never felt DJO had a turnover problem, but I've noticed that he seems to dribble the ball very high... I'm sure NBA scouts have noticed this.

Yes...this is exactly his issue.  He also never really played the point.  In his three years at MU, I don't recall him playing point for even a possession or two.

I'm more surprised Plumlee had a 40.5" vert!!!

I don't think DJO's maxvertical translates to the NBA game (or NCAA) .  Granted it a nice to have and speaks to his overall athletic ability, but his 33 inch no-step (above average, but not elite) is probably much more accurate as far as how he jumps while he's driving toward the hoop. When he gets to set up his steps correctly on a tip attempt (Louisville) or on a breakaway (Youtube: DJO NC Pro AM) he can fly, but in 3 years I've never see him break down a defender and crush it. Like Hards_Alumni mentioned, his game is more look for contact and try to score, rather than fly over you like a Westbrook.

After Buzz, is Todd Smith the most important person to Marquette's success? It seems like losing him would hurt more than losing Benford or Aki has.

Quote from: TrueBlueAndGold on June 14, 2012, 02:48:49 PM
After Buzz, is Todd Smith the most important person to Marquette's success? It seems like losing him would hurt more than losing Benford or Aki has.

No.  There are a lot of good S&C guys out there.  Good recruiters like Benford or Chew are much harder to find.

Quote from: lawwarrior12 on June 14, 2012, 11:04:14 AM
Bama, I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure that the NFL bench rep test is at 225 lbs, not 185 lbs, which makes comparison between rep numbers not exactly 1:1.

Great catch - sorry for the mistake.  Yes, I guess even the strongest guy in the NBA is probably well below average for the NFL.  My bad.

Quote from: TrueBlueAndGold on June 14, 2012, 02:48:49 PM
After Buzz, is Todd Smith the most important person to Marquette's success? It seems like losing him would hurt more than losing Benford or Aki has.

Yes. There is no greater recruiting tool.

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