WRAL: Pack’s Hickson “Trying to Get to” the NBA

07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball147

Would N.C. State freshman J.J. Hickson turn professional after one season?

Perhaps. On Tuesday, in one-on-one interview with WRAL, he addressed whether he’d consider the NBA after this season.

“Being a competitor, the next level is the NBA. That’s what I’m trying to get to,” Hickson said. “If the opportunity is there, I’ll look at it then and sit down with my parents and my coaching staff.

“If it’s not there, I wouldn’t mind coming back to school and doing another year or however many it takes.”

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07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball

147 Responses to WRAL: Pack’s Hickson “Trying to Get to” the NBA

  1. Par Shooter 02/27/2008 at 10:52 AM #

    JJ has been gone since before he got here. No biggie, Sid knew it and should have been planning for it. He made the conscious decision to take a one-and-doner and that’s his call. I don’t have a problem with it but it damn sure isn’t a viable excuse for poor performance next year since it should have been factored into the equation all along.

    In reading the N&O article this morning I couldn’t help but wonder how much JJ’s nba-centric attitude has hurt our team dynamic. It seems pretty clear to me that it’s been all about moving along for him all year which should be no surprise. Perhaps this was an awkward chemistry situation that Sid wasn’t equipped to handle due to his inexperience in dealing with college kids. If nothing else I hope he’s learned something from this disaster.

  2. PackGirl 02/27/2008 at 10:53 AM #

    Did anyone see the Tudor article in the N&O today about our point guard situation? Looks like Lowe is blaming Degand’s injury for the team’s poor play this year:

    “Lowe said the loss of Degand affected the Pack “tremendously.”

    “We had a point guard who was playing pretty good for us and had the ability — really the only guy who had the ability — to get by someone and create for other people,” Lowe said this week. “That set us back more than anything. Now, trying to do that with two young, inexperienced point guards is a very difficult thing to do.”

    I just don’t buy this – I don’t see us being much better with Degand in there, and that’s assuming he continued to improve. Looks like a very weak excuse for a bad season to me.

  3. beowolf 02/27/2008 at 10:59 AM #

    I didn’t think Degand was doing that much better for us either, but perhaps with him we could have been more up-tempo and had less of a learning/abusing curve at PG. That would have helped in some games. This season was a disappointment before Degand went down, however.

  4. blackdom 02/27/2008 at 11:02 AM #

    Degand the Desame problem………Hes is not the answer ,hey jj might hit double figures tonight up hes stock. A perfect team for him to show up against he shines in garbage time and against crap teams !

  5. lush 02/27/2008 at 11:02 AM #

    i dont know why everyone here is so sure JJ is a lock to be drafted. there is no way he is a lottery pick. he is not on anyone’s mock draft for a first round pick. he is not even listed as a top 10 player at his position (pf).

    i think a kid is stupid not to go pro if he is projected to be a high pick.

    a perfect example in football is matt leinart. if he goes pro as a junior in 05 he is the #1 pick and gets 50 million instead of alex smith. but he waits and becomes the 10th pic(maybe) the next year and only gets a fraction of that contract.

  6. pacman23 02/27/2008 at 11:04 AM #

    The N&O:”Is he (Hickson) leaving after his freshman season for the NBA?
    His answer remains the same, even with the Pack (15-12, 4-9 ACC) stumbling late in the season, losing its past five games heading into tonight’s game against Florida State (16-12, 5-8).
    “I haven’t made any decisions yet,” he said. “If the opportunity is there, I’m going to sit down with my parents and the coaching staff and we’ll go from there.
    “But right now, I’m not worried about that. We’ve got games in college right now. The NBA isn’t going anywhere.”
    Hickson said the “opportunity” probably means a slot among the NBA’s lottery picks — one of the top 14 players chosen in the draft. A few mock drafts by league analysts have the 6-foot-9, 242-pounder possibly taken that high, and others project him going later in the first round.
    NBA scouts are reluctant to publicly comment on college underclassmen. Privately, some say Hickson’s body, skill level, work ethic and potential would make him a first-rounder this year.
    “But whether it’s first or second round, I’m still going to sit down and go over it — no matter what happens,” Hickson said. “If the opportunity is not there, I can come back to school for another year or two or whatever.
    “I knew from the start the NBA would always be there. I just want to take my time and not put any pressure on myself.”
    Does Hickson think he’s ready for the NBA?
    “Being a competitor, yeah, I think I’m ready,” he said. “I think I can … do a lot of things. But I think I haven’t even begun to show teams what I can do right now because of the double-teams or whatever.”
    In State’s 78-60 loss Sunday at Virginia, Hickson did not score in the first half. He closed with seven points and five rebounds, and he made four of State’s 25 turnovers.
    “I felt against Virginia I had one of my worst games of the season,” he said. “In the first half, I couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean.
    “I’ve come to understand things like that happen. I’ve just got to stay focused and concentrate more. I have to learn how to adapt to different situations.”
    But losing has taken a toll.
    “I feel I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself,” he said. “I’ve been putting pressure on myself to do whatever — score more points, get more rebounds, more blocks, play harder on defense.
    “I’ve just got to come out and play my game. I need to get back to where I was at the beginning of the year — just relaxing and playing basketball.”
    Hickson and the Pack also wants to get back to winning.
    “The only thing keeping us sane right now is knowing we have a couple more games in our conference and we have a chance to win the ACC championship,” he said. “That keeps us sane. If not for that, I think a lot of people would be losing a lot of hair.
    “Losing is unacceptable. We’ve got to turn it around and win games. Our will to win has to be bigger than our opponents’.”
    Isn’t great that they’re just finally figuring THAT out. My goodness, that was obvious several weeks ago.
    It may be good riddance if he leaves, because we haven’t done a damn thing except for regress with him in the lineup. Maybe HE is the problem and not the solution we all thought he’d be.

    Another quote that has been mentioned but not really discussed:
    In context from the N&O, “No hustle.
    No focus.
    No fight.
    No fire.
    Grant gives no validity to such criticism and insisted it doesn’t irritate or hurt him.
    “I can take it,” he said. “I don’t pay any attention to that,” he said. “They don’t know what we’re going through.”
    It’s that last sentence that has had me thinking all week.
    What, pray tell, are you going through Gavin?
    We need to know, because we just don’t understand why we are witnessing a complete disintegration of this “team” and this season.
    Is it JJ playing at the expense of Costner or McCauley?
    Is it the coaches?
    Is it the fans turning on the team early in the season after a couple of embarrassing losses and compounding that by “writing off the season” when we still had a legitimate shot at getting into the NCAA, if the team had played to its’ potential?
    Is it a combination of all of the above?
    Please do tell us, Gavin!
    One last thing-isn’t it refreshing to know that we probably only have four games left to this season? Because it has been so painful to try and watch lately. I haven’t even watched a whole game for a couple of weeks, and I’ll be recording tonight. If, for some strange reason, we actually win tonight, I’ll probably consider watching it later. I have no hopes are expectations at this point at all. It’s so very sad to see the worst season this program has experienced since the year they ran Jimmy V out of town.

  7. blackdom 02/27/2008 at 11:05 AM #

    and even Degands injury was the problem ,Lowes just figuring it out now???Sweet ………you are all right give him more time .But I guess Degand was not going all out against NO and ECU???

  8. PackGirl 02/27/2008 at 11:05 AM #

    Degand was the PG for NO and ECU losses – not impressive. Also, the idea that he was “the only guy who had the ability get by someone and create for some people” is ludicrous. Degand was quick, a decent ballhandler and shooter (when he finally decided to take a shot) but his biggest weakness was his inability to get the ball inside. Javi has been better at that.

  9. Rochester 02/27/2008 at 11:13 AM #

    Unless it was Degand’s responsibility to do all the boxing out for the whole team I think it’s tough to blame our disappointing fall all on his injury. Yes, it hurt when he went down, but we weren’t exactly blowing teams away with him on the floor.

    This sadly sounds like an excuse, and like Sid’s throwing Javi under the bus.

  10. packbackr04 02/27/2008 at 11:14 AM #

    well alleluya! has anyone read Andrew Jones’ articel this am? here is the best news ive heard in 4 months….

    “There’s reason to believe Brandon Costner will leave, as was his original plan – he graduates this summer – even if it means spending a year or two in Europe.”

  11. ncsu96 02/27/2008 at 11:15 AM #

    Count me as one who thinks with Degand we would’ve won a few more. Still no NCAAs.

    PG play doesn’t account for all our problems but its been a HUUUGE part of our struggles this year. If you can’t see that then maybe you should apply to ACC for a referee job;P

  12. Rochester 02/27/2008 at 11:18 AM #

    I hope Costner comes back, in shape and motivated. He was awesome last year and is capable of being a great ACC player.

  13. LRM 02/27/2008 at 11:20 AM #

    Here’s my thing: what difference does NBA-talent make if it’s one-and-done and we don’t win while it’s here?

    It’s not like J.J. has done what Anthony, Oden or event Durant did.

    For example, look at Stephon Maurbury in 1996. GT won the ACC regular season — they lost an incredible ACC Championship game to Wake — and then made the Sweet 16 (lost to Cincinnati); by all indications this was a widely successful season on which to build after a few down years (they had won the ACC in 1993).

    But Cremins later readily admitted that recruiting Maurbury was near-sighted because the consensus had always been that he was one-and-done. Inexcusably, Cremins had never planned or accounted for life after Maurbury, and it ultimately became the beginning of the end of his tenure in Atlanta, as GT fell hard over the next several years.

    My point is this: recruiting talent like J.J. makes little difference unless you maximize him while he’s here (which we obviously haven’t done), like Syracuse did with Anthony in 2003. Give me a guy who isn’t NBA material — Corchiani, Monroe, Harrison, Gainey, Grundy, Hodge — over a J.J. or Beasley anyday. Who cares how good they’ll be in the NBA if they don’t win here?

  14. ncsu96 02/27/2008 at 11:48 AM #

    LRM – we tried very hard to get Chris Wright and didn’t…that’s how recruiting goes. The backup plan was Degand. I think it’s a safe bet our staff didn’t plan for Javi to be a starter at this point.

    It’s clear Lowe sees PG and Center as building blocks of a team.

    Personally, I’m more dissappointed in them for not finding a better option at the 2.

  15. blackdom 02/27/2008 at 11:51 AM #

    JJ has to realize there are probably 20 kids in europe as well that are better than him as well. I also would say it is safe to say Lowe and his staff will never get another kid from up here in the NYC area after what grant has gone through . Say what you will he and Ben always compete!! We can’t say that about the rest of the squad or the coaching staff.

  16. packbackr04 02/27/2008 at 11:52 AM #

    my second favorite part of the article by Jones was when he said…. “there could be other defections too.”

    please. please let it be Marques “i dont have a left hand, so you can overplay me to the right all night” Johnson.

    if we could unload Costner and Marques this offseason, that would be ideal.

  17. Trip 02/27/2008 at 11:54 AM #

    Hickson seems to take Lowe as a father figure. I think Sid will tell him to go if he’s guaranteed a lottery pick, and to stay if he’s any higher and try again next year.

    I don’t see him being a lottery pick though simply because of how many excellent players there are going to be in this draft.

  18. RAWFS 02/27/2008 at 11:55 AM #

    packbackr04 – link?

  19. wufpup76 02/27/2008 at 12:02 PM #

    We’ve kinda ventured off-topic a bit here, but while we’re speaking of Sidney’s PG / Degand comments – I’m in agreement w/ PackGirl for the most part …

    It sounds exactly like what it is – excuse making … We don’t need more excuse making … Degand was a fairly good defender and was quick – but he could not run a halfcourt offensive set if his life depended on it … Javi has been far better at it … I’m sure Sidney thought that area of Farnold’s game would improve throughout the season, but to lay everthing on losing Farnold is clearly an excuse

    I certainly hope Sidney is not really making that assertion … It hurt, yes – but it’s no excuse for some of the other things we’ve seen

    I’m on board with Sidney, but this excuse making stuff needs to be toned down … Some freaking accountability would be good to hear … Losses happen, expectations are out of whack – I understand all that, but at least show me you acknowledge the problems and are willing to work your a** off to overcome them

    go state

  20. packbackr04 02/27/2008 at 12:08 PM #

    rawfs^^

    http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080227/COLUMNIST30/802270427/1005/sports

    i hope that works, if not i was able to get there from the packpride webrun. it was the featured article.

  21. stlouiswufpacker 02/27/2008 at 12:08 PM #

    How can some people say we would be better without JJ? He is the only consistent rebounder we have on a poor rebounding team. He’s our leading scorer as well. We will be worse next year without him if he bolts to the NBA. It would be different if Sid had gotten Ty Walker or some other big to replace him next season to minimize the loss. If he’s lottery material he should go. I feel if he was a couple inches taller it would be a no brainer.

  22. Trip 02/27/2008 at 12:09 PM #

    RAWFS –

    http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080227/COLUMNIST30/802270427/1005/sports

    Sounds like theres no evidence behind it to me honestly.

  23. redfred2 02/27/2008 at 12:28 PM #

    “My god…the world just revolves around you, doesn’t it??”

    Yeah noah, it guess it does, from my viewpoint anyway. Either way, I wouldn’t trade it for your jaded view of what should be really important in EVERY YOUNG, TEENAGED, KID’S life.

  24. blackdom 02/27/2008 at 12:37 PM #

    Trip…….no evidence but rings TRUE

  25. choppack1 02/27/2008 at 12:42 PM #

    Sid’s comments about our PG really bother me. We lost to UNO and ECU and were blown out by Michigan State w/ him playing the PG spot. There’s very little evidence that we would be in much better shape w/out him.

    It will be a challenge building a team around PG and Center’s in this day and age. Great PGs and Centers are hard to find. Most of them are like Javi or Ish Smith.

    I’m actually more angry at Sid right now than I am at Costner or Grant. The team doesn’t need a coach making excuses…Of course, we sure as hell have made them after every big loss this year. “Tired legs”…”schedule didn’t prepare us”…”bad calls”

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