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SF LaQuinton Ross (Memphis Hustle - NBA G-League)

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Ohio State?s LaQuinton Ross can be a breakout player in 2012-13

ross.jpeg


Every year there are players who use the summer camp circuit as a springboard into the following season.
But in most cases, those players are coming off of a season in which they received a solid amount of playing time.
So what?s the ceiling of a player who wasn?t cleared to play until December, and once cleared he didn?t see much playing time?
That?s the question for Ohio State sophomore wing LaQuinton Ross, who is a counselor at the LeBron James Skills Academy and has the talent to be one of the nation?s breakout players in 2012-13.
His freshman campaign wasn?t a wasted one, but for a player considered to be one of the best high school players in the country it was a missed opportunity to further assist a team that would go on to reach the Final Four.
?I practiced two times before having to go back home,? remarked Ross to NBCSports.com on Saturday. ?It definitely helps me out [to have a full off-season of work].?
A 6-7, 228-pound wing from Jackson, Mississippi, Ross could never get into the flow of things with the Buckeyes following his return. He played in just nine contests, averaging 3.9 minutes and 2.0 points per game.
With William Buford and Jared Sullinger both moving on, Ross is one of the players who will have to step up if Thad Matta?s team is to remain among the elite both in the Big Ten and nationally.

Entire article: http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcspo...ton-ross-can-be-a-breakout-player-in-2012-13/

:osu:
 
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Tweeted last night:

Fran Fraschilla‏ @franfraschilla

Ohio State's LaQuinton Ross had moments of brilliance at LeBron Camp. Thad Matta too good a coach to not figure out how to use him in 12-13!
 
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Once a prodigy, Ross now a project
Dan Wolken
Updated Jul 12, 2012

071112-CBK-LAST-SHOT-TIME-OB-PI_20120711234805968_660_320.JPG

LaQuinton Ross played only 35 minutes for Thad Matta as a freshman at Ohio State.

LAS VEGAS

LeBron James walked into the gym at Rancho High School, just a short drive from the sparkling Strip, and sat down beside basketball powerbroker William Wesley to watch the sport?s Prodigy of the Moment.

They were there to see a Canadian kid named Andrew Wiggins, whose father, Mitchell Wiggins, played a few years in the NBA in the ?80s. Andrew is only 16, but everyone in basketball knows who he is and what he?s probably going to become. When I mentioned to one NBA scout that he looked like he needed a cold shower after watching Wiggins play, he responded, ?A cigarette, too.?

The craziest part is that Wiggins, who was here for Nike?s top summer camp, still has two more years of high school left and another in college, provided the NBA doesn?t change its one-and-done rule. The earliest you?ll see him on an NBA floor is November 2015. Hopefully he?ll be just as great as everyone expects. But there?s also an awful lot of time between now and draft day for things to go wrong.

Which brought me back to the summer of 2008, when I watched another Prodigy of the Moment, who also happened to be in the Rancho gym this week. His name is LaQuinton Ross, and he?s no longer a prodigy.

Ross was one of 20 college players invited to this camp, and don?t feel bad if you?ve never heard of him. Last season, as a freshman at Ohio State, Ross played a total of 35 minutes. He didn?t get off the bench even once in the NCAA Tournament.

Like Wiggins, Ross was once the No. 1-ranked high school sophomore in the country. Today, he?s hoping a breakout year at Ohio State will propel him to the NBA, where he can join other members of his age group like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Bradley Beal, who weren?t considered better prospects than Ross a few years ago.

?I?m just going to try to live up to the hype,? said Ross, a native of Jackson, Miss. ?Everybody has expectations for me, so I?m just trying not to let them down.?

cont...
Click to expand...

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/LaQuinton-Ross-Ohio-State-Buckeyes-071212
 
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I just hope everything that I am reading about Ross is 95% true. I can remember when they had the Worthington Summer League and I read all these rave reviews about Jimmy Ratliff and how he could score against anyone and was someone that could not be guarded. He was supposed to be the athlete of all athletes. Well, that season came and I saw very very little of Jimmy Ratliff on the floor at St. John Arena.

Also, having WWW (and I am not talking about Woody) in the same gym with a Ohio State athlete is not always a good thing:paranoid:
 
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Lenzelle Smith talking about Ross in the article linked in his thread. Some pretty dazzling words:atom:

?I?ve played with him and watched him get better as a player through these workouts and training,? Smith said.

?It?s a motor thing with him. When he gets that mentality of ?I cant be stopped,? and puts it together with a high motor, I think he?ll be as good as any other wing in the country.

?He?s 6-9 and can handle the ball. It makes him a tough matchup for smaller guys because he can post them up, and for bigger guys who cant move their feet as well, it?s going to be a nightmare for them,? Smith continued.

?He can put the ball through his legs, behind his back and spin in the same move while keeping the ball at the right level to get it to the basket without a problem. Him staying level-headed will be the main thing for him, staying grounded and humble and wanting to be a team-type guy will be the challenge for him.?
Click to expand...
http://www.the-ozone.net/hoops/12-13Men/Smith_OffSeasonProgress.html
 
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neilmj said:
I hope he meant to say something different...

"Him staying level-headed will be the main thing for him, staying grounded and humble and wanting to be a team-type guy will be the challenge for him."
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This. That is a big concern when a teammate makes that type of statement about another teammate. Hopefully, he was misquoted but I don't think so.
 
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neilmj;2231472; said:
I hope he meant to say something different...

"Him staying level-headed will be the main thing for him, staying grounded and humble and wanting to be a team-type guy will be the challenge for him."
Click to expand...

i take it as, he has NBA talent, but this is a college game we are playing....don't try and play like a pro just yet...share the ball and dont just be a scorer...same thing thad had to teach deshaun thomas...

i dont think players are afriad to "call someone out" when they are tying to stress "TEAM"
 
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LitlBuck;2231497; said:
This. That is a big concern when a teammate makes that type of statement about another teammate. Hopefully, he was misquoted but I don't think so.
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I feel like the locker room vibe is "well he definitely has league talent" but he doesn't "get it" as well. Hopefully the former overshadows the latter.
 
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LaQuinton Ross Made Peace with Tough Rookie Season
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? The story of LaQuinton Ross is one of the strangest there is.
RossDrive.jpg

Photo by Jim Davidson LaQuinton Ross

Some projections have the 6-8 sophomore going in the mid-first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, despite the fact he did not contribute a single meaningful point, rebound, assist or steal during Ohio State?s Final Four run a year ago.

Ross didn?t do much besides sit at the end of Thad Matta?s bench last season, and yet the Buckeyes were as good or better than all but two other teams in the country.

To understand why, and to make sense of how Ross could go from that type of rookie season to being one of the more dangerous scoring wings in the country, we have to go back in time.

cont...
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http://www.the-ozone.net/hoops/12-13Men/RossPeace.html
 
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LaQuinton Ross becoming a force for Ohio State basketball
By Daniel Chi
[email protected]
Published: Monday, December 3, 2012

Since LaQuinton Ross graduated from Life Center Academy in Burlington, N.J., and declared that he would play for coach Thad Matta?s Ohio State basketball team, the sophomore forward has had considerable struggles.

From missing games due to NCAA academic ineligibility to struggling on the court, to having a relationship with that Matta described as ?unique? in terms of communication, it?s been an up-and-down ride for Ross, nicknamed ?Q? by his coaches and teammates.

The 2012 season, though, is seeing Ross start to make good on his potential.

After averaging a meager two points per game along with 3.9 minutes per contest last season, Ross is averaging 9.3 points per game this year, showing flashes of why he was named All-New Jersey and All-city in his senior year of high school.

Just six games into this season, Ross seemed to best demonstrate his offensive prowess in his latest game against Northern Kentucky Saturday.

In then-No. 4-ranked OSU?s 70-43 win, Ross had a career-high outing with 22 points and snatched eight rebounds in 29 minutes of action. He shot 8-12 overall from the field, 3-6 from the 3-point line and 3-3 on free throws.

Matta said he had a feeling that Ross would explode in this particular game.

?He had a great practice (Friday) and I just felt like he was going to have a really good game today,? Matta said Saturday. ?He was very efficient, and the more he plays, the more overall confidence he gains.?

Coach Dave Bezold of Northern Kentucky said he knew coming into this game that someone would hit shots.

?We figured someone would make shots, we didn?t know which one,? Bezold said. ?To his credit, he stepped up. We couldn?t extend pressure to everyone. We gave up the jump shot. We didn?t take away his confidence by breaking his rhythm.?

cont...
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http://www.thelantern.com/sports/la...-ohio-state-basketball-1.2963339#.UL3yQdfhfJo
 
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