The college basketball season is over after North Carolina and Gonzaga wrote the final chapter at the Final Four on Monday night in University of Phoenix Stadium. College basketball fanatics want to know if their team’s best players will stay in school or go to the pros. Some have already made up their minds, one way or another. Some have gone halfway by declaring for the draft but not signing an agent, meaning they can withdraw. Regardless of status, here are players who did themselves no favors with their March Madness showings.
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona Wildcats
The reality about Markkanen is that he has all the basic tools in his possession, but the question is how well he will use them on a consistent basis. Markkanen, being from Finland, is used to the international game and not American basketball. He did develop through the course of the season, but the NCAA Tournament – with increased scrutiny and pressure plus more attention from opposing defenses – was very rough for him. He didn’t shoot the long ball very well, and he was muscled out of the post by Saint Mary’s, which did not have a reputation as being a very physical team.
Against Xavier, a number 11 seed, Markkanen was rattled. He disappeared from the game and he didn’t ask for the ball late in regulation when Xavier made a fierce comeback. He made bad fouls on defense which gave Xavier free throws. Coach Sean Miller didn’t give his Arizona star plays in which he got the ball in the last minute. The game was a disaster, and NBA people could find that game hard to ignore, even with his diverse skill set.
Dillon Brooks, Oregon Ducks
There were a few games in the NCAA Tournament in which Brooks played at a decent level, but he never had a great game. The complicating factor is that Brooks’ teammates, Tyler Dorsey and Jordan Bell, enjoyed breakout NCAA Tournaments. They were both very hot in March Madness, playing with great confidence, better than they had all season. To some extent, Brooks deferred to players on his team who were riding the hot hand.
However, in the Final Four against North Carolina, neither Dorsey nor Bell – and especially Bell – were in top form. They both struggled for long periods of the semifinal game. Brooks was supposed to step in and make a difference. Instead, he took bad shots, played lazy defense, and fouled out with a few minutes left. His body language was bad. He got frustrated. None of those developments are very encouraging for his NBA Draft stock. He might overcome them, but he probably dropped several draft spots.
Grayson Allen, Duke Blue Devils
The lack of patience on offense, the launching of long threes in a panicky way when Duke fell behind South Carolina – these and other poor inclinations hijacked Grayson Allen’s NCAA Tournament. Duke should not have lost to South Carolina, even though the Gamecocks did catch fire in this tournament. Scouts pay attention to defense as well as offense, and they will see that for all the ways in which Allen’s offense suffered in this tournament, his defense wasn’t able to compensate at the other end of the floor. There was nothing in this tournament which improved people’s perceptions of Allen, period.
Malik Monk, Kentucky Wildcats
The thing about Monk is that he hits some really tough shots under pressure. He did late in Kentucky’s Elite Eight loss to North Carolina. That is something NBA people will notice. Yet, Monk so often seems to do nothing before the final two minutes. He never got going in the NCAA Tournament. Opponents challenged him, and he didn’t cope well, putting up rushed shots that were often off balance. He also struggled to get free of defenders, which reinforced his poor shot selection. Monk doesn’t look like a high-end player, at least not consistently enough to merit lottery-pick draft status. He frankly could use another season at Kentucky.
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