Early observations from the NCAA tourney

While my better half has been staying with t.s. and the nephews for most of the last 10 days I've had far more free time to watch basketball than is probably good for me.

And while I've haven't watched anything close to all the games that have been on TV, two draft prospects in particular have jumped out at me.

Joakim Noah - 6'11" PF from Florida. Wow. Plays with a ton of energy and is all over the court on defense. Not very strong but is quick and intelligent enough to be a fantastic interior presence either in zone or on help D. Ballhandling is good enough to successfully bring the ball up the court against the full court press. Reminds me of a less offensively talented but more enthusiastic Marcus Camby, when the later was at UMass. Doesn't have much of a back-to-the-basket game, but that can be taught.

Brandon Roy - 6'5" SG from Washington. Not the most athletic SG out there, but a great all around player. Boy is he fun to watch. Somewhat like Pierce in his ability to consistently get to the basket despite not having the quickest first step in the game. Uses a great sense of court spacing to create mid-range jump shots. Because he doesn't look like a top-tier athletic talent he probably won't ever become a lock-down perimeter defender or a crowd-pleasing, ticket-selling dunker. Will certainly be compared unfavorably to players like Rudy Gay and Tyrus Thomas in this regard. He plays hard on every possession, however, and clearly understands the game. If you like Ryan Gomes' game you'll really like Roy as well. Easy to imagine him as an excellent starter and complementary player on a team with existing All Stars and shooters.