Five Questions that will be Answered During the 2015-16 College Basketball Season
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Who Really is the Best Freshman of the 2015 Class ?
This incoming crop of freshmen has been hyped pretty hard at the top end of the class.
Ben Simmons and Skal Labissiere are at the center of the argument ” Who is the best of the 2015 freshmen crop?”, with Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown possessing enough skill to also stake a claim to the top spot of this class.
It is hard to not like Ben Simmons. He is only a 6-foot-10 forward with versatility. With the trajectory that the modern game of basketball is going, which is “positionless basketball”, Ben Simmons becomes the prototypical player for today’s era of basketball.
By the time Simmons game reaches it’s full maturity, he should be able to face-up in isolation, post-up defenders, initiate offense like a point guard, run the fast break, shoot, rebound, and assist. He should basically be able to do it all.
Skal Labissiere is part of the post player resurgence that is slowly coming back to the game.
He has some tough shoes to fill coming to Kentucky after Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein were just in Lexington controlling the blocks.
Labissiere is more of a finesse post player as compared to Towns and Cauley-Stein which is not a bad thing, and will easily be a lottery pick come NBA Draft time.
Jaylen Brown and Brandon Ingram are two of the best freshman wing players coming into this season.
Jaylen Brown is explosive and has the physical strength at 6-foot-7, 217 pounds to absorb punishment when he penetrates in to the paint.
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He is a pretty consistent outside shooter and can get any shot he wants off the dribble.
What Ingram lacks in strength he makes up for in length at 6-foot-9, 195 pounds. He also can get his off of the bounce and get to the rim at will.
He has great body control and is able to use his arm length to finish around the basket with either hand.
Though Simmons and Labissiere are supposed to be head-and-shoulders above the rest of the class, Brown and Ingram are actually closer to the top than they get credit for.
It is going to be interesting to see who ends up being the most impactful freshman of this group.
Next: Will the New 30-Second Shot Clock Make the Game More Exciting?