NBA Draft Prospects: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ricky Rubio’s Offseason Plans

First off, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gets the vjl110 treatment over at canishoopus:

"Unlike the case with Oladipo, the comparison model pumps out a group of largely uninteresting comps for KCP. This Mar 7, 2013; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) drives the ball up the court against the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Georgia defeated Kentucky 72-62. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sportsreally should not be too concerning though as I think it says more about how weird his college line is. 8.7 rebounds and 8.6 3PA per 40 is getting into Troy Murphy or Kevin Love territory… but KCP is doing it from the two spot. It isn’t like he is just floating around under the hoop on defense either given his impressive 2.5 steals per 40 rate.I like KCP a lot but his shot distribution makes me a little uncomfortable. He fails to get to the rim and settles for jumpers far too often. In this sense he is the opposite prospect of Oladipo and not in a flattering way. KCP can still be useful without being a major threat to attack the paint, but I think it puts a cap on his potential and may make him more dependent on pairing with a complimentary point guard.The biggest issue that stands out to me with KCP is how weird his lack of media hype is. He is a high usage guard who averaged 18.5 points per game as a sophomore and was similarly prolific (though in fewer minutes) through the first half of his freshman season. His numbers and highlights tell the story of a physically dominant athlete who slams home dunks and makes impressive plays. In short… he is the type of player ESPN et al. usually drool over. What did the poor guy do to miss out on all of the media attention? I started asking this question earlier last season when KCP was performing better than the much more popular freshman shooting guards Rivers, Beal and Waiters but he started missing shots and I shut up. This season KCP held strong throughout the entire season and still got minimal love. That may be changing as I see him slide up the mock drafts weekly, but I am still left baffled by his omission from the spotlight."

Ricky Rubio gets a year-in-review post at timberwolves.com with some nice highlights (the Rising Stars Challenge pass to Bradley Beal was my favorite gif of the year) and this nice detail on Ricky’s summer plans:

"Rubio spent last summer in the Twin Cities while rehabbing that left knee, working closely with physical therapist Andre Deloya as well as the rest of the Wolves’ training staff. He worked tirelessly trying to return to the court within the first two months of the regular season, and he succeeded with his Dec. 15 return.This year will be a little different.Rubio said he plans to spend his offseason back in Spain this summer. The goal was to take three weeks off after the season and then get back to work—during that time, he did spend a few days in Minnesota before heading to Puerto Rico with a few of his Wolves teammates.It’s a new challenge for Rubio, who has never had a traditional NBA offseason. Last year he focused on getting healthy. This year, he has the chance to truly prepare for the upcoming campaign knowing exactly what the rigors of an NBA season is like.“It’s something I always thought about … since I was 14,” said Rubio, referring to NBA offseason preparation. “I didn’t have a lot of time to work on my things [last year], and I’m going to do it.”"