Comments on: Damion James and the 2009 NBA Draft

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:46:30 +0000

Damion’s chances at increasing his draft status is “iffy” by coming back his next year. They would look at his impressive numbers and those could be cancelled out by his age.
There is no doubt that James, while will never probably be a NBA starter, could be a a nice guy to bring off the bench. NY Knicks would be a great fit for James imo.

By: uthookem

uthookem — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:37:04 +0000

When I was in school I once passed Chris Mihm in front of Gregory, I had a class with Gabe Muoneke, and I’ve eaten at a Chili’s. No doubt James is gone/coming back.

Hook ‘em!

By: Kafka

Kafka — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:35:24 +0000

I am biased towards Damion (one of my two favorite UT basketball players) so that could be influencing my thinking.

The upside for Damion is that he is currently weak on some skills that can be improved a bunch with enough practise. His ball handling is weak so there is a lot of upside in that area.

He is (probably) going to improve his shooting sufficiently to contribute to floor spacing (very nice when a power forward can do this).

He will, once he focuses on it, develop a decent postup game.

Damion has upside because he is still a bit raw as a player. I don’t understand why he is still deficient in these areas but I think he will improve quite a bit with the right coaching and enough effort.

NBA body (to me) means that you are robust enough to withstand the rigors of the NBA competition. He is going to be able to run, jump, and bang with the big boys.

By: Nordberg

Nordberg — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:05:50 +0000

Without getting into it, I have a very very close contact with Damion, and even Damion doesn’t know for sure what he’s going to do. But if I had to bet one way or the other, I’d bet that he leaves. And he will, if he hears that he’ll for sure go in the first round.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:51:26 +0000

Kafka,

Your conclusion that James has tremendous upside doesn’t match your description of his game.

Also, people always say that James has an “NBA body.” And while he certainly has the physique, doesn’t having an NBA body include being tall (or in the parlance of our times, long) enough to play a position for which you have the requisite skill?

By: Horncasting

Horncasting — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:59:48 +0000

But another OB poster claims to know James pretty well and says he is for sure gone.

By: Steve Nebraska

Steve Nebraska — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:37:28 +0000

Dexter Pittman was there too, for the weekly “Stare Helplessly at an Awesome Blossom” portion of his conditioning program.

By: HenryJames

HenryJames — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:29:23 +0000

Someone on Orangebloods just posted this:

My brother works at the Chili’s at 35 and 290 and Damion James, who frequents the location, is currently there with a “strength coach” (I can only assume he means Todd Wright). Damion was overheard saying he would be back next season. Take it FWIW.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:15:05 +0000

Chad Ford from the WWL.

By: Kafka

Kafka — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:38:07 +0000

Damion will be a fine rebounder in the NBA. He has the power, jumping ability, quickness, aggression, and anticipation that it takes to be an outstanding rebounder.

He has an NBA body and stays healthy. He has a great attitude, is not going to embarrass a franchise with irresponsible behavior, and is going to work hard to improve.

He will have a tough time defending Tim Duncan but a lot of power forwards have that problem. He is going to need to learn how to flop. He may not be tall for a PF but he is strong and fast and should be decent at denying position and fronting. He is great at providing help D and has been well schooled in D by one of the master D coaches in the world.

It seems to me that he is stuck being a shortish power forward. I can’t see him defending small forwards in the NBA (they are just too quick and nimble).

He is probably going to be a good outside shooter eventually. If (huge if) he can improve his ball handling a bunch (which should have happened by now), he can make it very tough for the big power forwards to guard him and much more useful on the break.

Damion has a tremendous upside. I think he’ll go in the first round if he declares for the NBA. If he returns to the horns, the horns have a decent chance to go all the way.