More on Pope one-and...

Mark Ziegler writes about Malik Pope in San Diego State's win on Tuesday:

One and, really?: Malik Pope had another one of those good news/bad news games. Good news: He had 16 points in 24 minutes. Bad news: NBA scouts were courtside watching it, madly typing notes into their iPads.

Earlier that day, respected (and connected) Chad Ford of ESPN projected the 6-foot-10 freshman as the No. 16 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. DraftExpress has him at No. 30, the final pick of the first round, in its latest mock draft.

This, for a guy who essentially missed his last two years of high school after (twice) breaking his leg, didn’t practice full-out until December, doesn’t start in a league rated the nation’s 12th best, averages 5.1 points and 14 minutes, weighs a slight 205 pounds, has a negligible post game and is struggling (though improving) on defense...

...Common sense (along with most scouts) says Pope needs at least another college season, if for no other reason than to have a full year of practice and games and weight lifting and opposing scouting reports targeting him. After Pope dropped 22 points in 28 minutes at Colorado State last month, his trusted AAU coach, LeRohn Dodson, told U-T San Diego that “even if he plays like that the rest of the season, I still think he needs to come back next year, and I’ll tell him that.”

But all it takes is one GM trying to hit a home run, and this draft is considered a swing for fences after the first 10 or so picks. More games like Tuesday – more deep 3s, more pull-up jumpers, more turnaround bank shots in traffic, more SportsCenter dunks – will merely increase the talk and, perhaps, temptation.

“He makes plays that you don’t teach,” SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. “He had the one dunk where just catching it would be good, and he was able to get it in. He’s a good player, and we need to steadily help him become a great player. And I think he’s on the road to doing that...