Though he passed up a lottery pick contract, Cook can still afford an Escalade complete with feet from Ulohos.
With this year's Basketball Buckeyes on the shelf until Coppin State comes to town December 10th, I figured I'd accomodate a recent reader request and provide a quick update on Miami rookie, instead of Buckeye sophomore, Daequan Cook.
Certainly, Cook's decision to leave OSU after his freshman season (21st pick) was questioned because he could have used another year of seasoning that would've have likely made him a lottery pick but even though he cost himself some serious dough it looks like he might have worked his way into the rotation down in South Beach. Why not? The team is garbage so playing a promising rook only makes sense.
He's averaging 11 ppg on the season and his minutes are on the uptick after playing in just 2 of Miami's first 6 games. The door opened when D Wade went down for a spell affording Cook minutes in 4 straight games. Cook responded shooting nearly 50% from the floor averaging a modest 8.3 ppg while committing only 2 turnovers. Not dazzling numbers, but solid complimentary numbers for a guy playing for a coach who hates rookies.
Cook caught the flu about the same time Wade came back and missed the next three games but his play in the last four has given Riley even more reason to insert Cook into the lineup. He's averaged 12.3 ppg, shot 100% (16/16) from the stripe and turned it over just 3 times in 86 minutes. As a result, Riley has indicated we'll see more of Da Quan on da floor.
The beat writers have also taken notice including one who suggests its time for Cook to start and a couple dudes who like to rank stuff have Cook listed as one of their top 10 rookies.
I can't say I'm shocked he's earning some praise but the real question is whether he can continue to improve and then produce consistent performances considering his ups and downs in Columbus. One thing is certain, nobody thought Cook would have a better rookie season than his fellow running mates Oden and Conley but that's exactly what's going to happen.
Comments
Wished he could have helped more in the tournament last year. It was obvious he didn't want to play college basketball.
How about a quick update on if Ron Lewis is ballin anywhere? If anyone knows.
I wonder if his mom is doing her Matta dance right now?
Ron is playing for Leuven, a team in Belgium.
Also:
Ivan Harris - Lappeenrannan NMKY (Finland)
Terence Dials - Pau (France)
Je'Kel Foster - Paris-Levallois (France)
J.J. Sullinger - ASCO Slask (Poland)
Brian Brown - Bremerhaven (Germany)
Matt Sylvester - Cyprus
Brent Darby - Sassari (Italy)
Boban Savovic - Bourg-en-Bressev (France)
That came from a where are they now? blog by bob baptist of the columbus dispatch in mid-august this year.
Nice work Shoeworker. Hopefully Boban isn't banging his sponsors in France.
LOL You are the best Buckeye Blogger of all-time. That is some balanced and fair reporting.
I admit to thinking that Cook would fall flat on his face in the pros. I detest NBA basketball, and no number of Buckeyes in the league will incline me to watch it, but I wish him well. I agree that if told a year ago that Cook would have a better first year than Oden or Conley, I'd have fallen over dead. Conley, to my mind, seemed the most ready to play.
The real question is this: Which former Buckeye has it worse - Ivan Harris or Matt Sylvester? What would make you pull your hair out by the roots first - playing in Finland, or Cyprus?
Cyprus?! Wow.
Actually Sylvester's back has not allowed him to pursue basketball, he has been doing some studio work for a couple of Columbus radio/tv stations recently. However Cyprus would not be an ideal place to play.
Britton - glad you enjoyed the post...you think I didn't know you really meant "profile daequan!" when you suggested we catch everyone up to speed on the rookies? Nobody had Quan's back more than you during last year's roller coaster ride...
LOL I am just glad to see that you are a fair and balanced guy. I know that he is going to hit a wall at some point in the season so I wanted to see something good while things were going good. Thanks again.