Draft Watch: NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals

I will repeat some players here, but that is who I watched.

-LeVance Fields, Pittsburgh: the more I watch this guy play, the more I like him. Fields has a lot of quickness and a lot of mental toughness. Last night was not the first time he has hit a shot with the clock winding down. The senior is probably not going to get drafted though.

The reason is probably his height. He is simply too small and does not have the great point guard skills you need in the pros. Interesting comparison I heard Friday morning on Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio. Doug Gottlieb compared him to Connecticut's Khalid El-Amin and Michigan State's Mateen Cleeves. Neither made it in the league. But both were instrumental to a national championship team.

Fields takes some bad shots, but plays on raw emotion. He just may not have enough to get drafted.

DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh: I have gushed about Blair a lot already, but I feel like I need to do it again. Blair is a fantastic rebounder -- watch him pull down boards in traffic, it is simply incredible -- and a steadying force in the post. His size will limit him in the NBA, but he is really starting to remind me of Kendrick Perkins. He is a very tough guy and will be a steady force off someone's bench.

-Tyreke Evans, Memphis: this kid is going to be very good. I did not get to see a whole lot of the game Thursday, but 31 points from a freshman in the regional semifinal cannot be ignored. Sad to see him out of the tournament so soon (plus I hate Missouri -- REMEMBER THE ALAMO!). But what I saw was quite impressive. I hope he stays another year, but would not be surprised if he is in the draft.

NBADraft.net has him going 26th and DraftExpress.com has him at No. 9. So clearly there is a lot of room for this guy to grow. The potential is so tantalizing.

-Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler, Duke: I want to say this, everyone on Duke is horribly overrated. Villanova shut them down last night in one of the most impressive defensive efforts. Henderson and Singler both struggled to get anything going for their team. Credit Villanova for a fantastic defensive effort. But neither of these guys looked impressive in big spots. They are complementary pieces at best.

Yet Henderson is expected to be a lottery pick. Go figure.

UPDATE: Adding some of those Carolina guys.

Ty Lawson is a really good point guard. He has great court vision and really understands pace. The way he is running North Carolina is the same way Steve Nash ran the Phoenix Suns so many years ago.

It will be interesting to see what he can do with a slower paced team. But he has been masterful with Carolina this year. A great tournament was exactly what he needed to make him the top point guard in the draft. NBADraft.net has him going No. 20 at the moment.