Draft watch: Powe sends message

Another week of great college and international hoops means another update of our Top 100:

No. 1? Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge continues to win fans as the potential top pick in the 2006 NBA draft after another strong week for the Longhorns.

UConn's Rudy Gay also seems to have picked things up a bit, averaging 19.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg against Army and Texas Southern over the past week.

Clearly, these two players have the best shot at going No. 1 right now.

Overseas, NBA international scouts are reporting that the other legit candidate for the No. 1 pick in the draft, Italian forward Andrea Bargnani, should still be in the running.

Bargnani's Euroleague numbers are nothing to be impressed with. Until last week, he was getting limited minutes for Benetton. However, two things stood out in the past week.

First, Bargnani went head-to-head against the other top international prospect, Tiago Splitter, in a Euroleague game versus Tau Ceramica. Bargnani suffered through foul trouble for most of the game, but still managed nine points and four rebounds in 12 minutes. The general consensus among several scouts who were there was that he outplayed Splitter, using both his quickness on the perimeter and his size on the inside to do damage. Splitter wasn't bad either, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds in 23 minutes of play.

More impressive are Bargnani's early Italian league numbers. He's averaging 12.8 ppg and 5.1 rpg in just 19.7 mpg. He's also shooting an impressive 67 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range. Combine that with a nice 16-point, four-rebound, two-block performance on Wednesday, and scouts are still bullish on Bargnani. Although he clearly isn't playing at the level of Aldridge or Gay, look for scouts to continue to follow him very closely given his height (7-foot-1) and versatility.

High riser: Two weeks ago in Maui, a friend of Cal's Leon Powe came up to me and delivered a message from Powe. Powe was upset that I ranked him at No. 46 on my initial preseason Top 100 rankings and wanted me to know that the ranking was way too low. Powe's message to me, according to his friend, was that he'd be a lottery pick by the end of the season.

This happens more than you might think, and I usually say the same thing: "If he plays like a lottery pick, I'll rank him like one."

Considering that Powe hadn't played a college basketball game in 630 days, I thought the ranking was generous. A series of injuries (reconstructive ACL surgery followed by a stress fracture in his foot) had kept Powe off the court. Who knew what he was going to be like when he actually played again?

Three games into Powe's comeback, it looks like he might have been right. Powe has been awesome, averaging 25 ppg and 9.3 rpg while shooting 63 percent from the field.

If he keeps that up, Powe could be a lottery pick. He has the tools. He's long (he's got a 7-2 wingspan), athletic, powerful and very skilled for a 6-8, 244-pound power forward. Had injuries not held him back the past two years, he'd already be in the league.

If he can stay healthy, and convince NBA doctors that his knee will hold up in the pros, he's got a bright future ahead of him. We've moved him all the way up to No. 24 in our most recent Top 100.

College kids: Nevada's Nick Fazekas impressed scouts after dropping 35 points on Kansas earlier in the week. The fact that he did much of the damage against the much improved Sasha Kaun made it even more impressive.

Fazekas was bashed by scouts last year after he decided to declare for the draft. His struggles in the NCAA tournament against a top team like Illinois (he shot 5-for-20 from the field) raised a number of serious questions about his game.

Fazekas hasn't answered them all yet. Although he's big and skilled, his game is still too perimeter-oriented for a 6-11 guy, according to NBA scouts.

Fazekas has made great strides over the summer improving his interior game (and Kansas got a taste of that), but scouts continue to wonder whether he'll be able to hold his own in the paint in the NBA. Can he rebound in the pros? Several scouts have their doubts. He needs to add more bulk and toughness, especially on the defensive end. Then again, that's what scouts said about Pau Gasol, too.

Scouts are still fairly lukewarm about Fazekas' NBA potential, but given the numbers he's putting up this year, that could change.

Florida's Corey Brewer has impressed scouts with his solid play for an 8-0 Gators squad. He's averaging 15.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg so far, and is being compared to Tayshaun Prince by some NBA scouts. His versatility, athleticism, defensive effort and rail-thin body mean the comparisons aren't a huge stretch.

Kansas State forward Cartier Martin makes his debut on our Top 100 this week after getting off to a sizzling start for the Wildcats. Martin is averaging 20.2 ppg and 9.2 rpg and is shooting 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

Scouts were very high on him coming out of high school, but injuries have caused him to underachieve the past two seasons. This season he seems to be putting it all together and looks like he could be a good prospect. He is long and athletic, rebounds well and has proven he can shoot the 3.

Villanova combo guard Randy Foye has turned heads with his stellar play so far for Villanova. Foye has the athleticism, toughness and motor that scouts love in a guard. He's shooting 46 percent from 3-point land and seems to have cut down on much of the carelessness that plagued him earlier in his career.

Cal Fullerton's Bobby Brown got a lot of preseason hype as a potential pro prospect and drew a number of NBA scouts to watch him do his thing. But they are almost unanimously claiming to be underwhelmed by what they're seeing, especially after he disappointed in a big loss to Kansas State. He shot 6-for-21 from the floor and 2-for-10 from 3-point range -- not what NBA scouts are looking for in a point guard. In the previous game, he committed seven turnovers against South Dakota State. Scouts love the talent and athleticism, but with a 1-1.3 assist-turnover ratio, there are serious questions about Brown's ability to run the point in the pros.

International men of mystery: A plethora of readers wanted to know why Croatia combo guard Marko Tomas took such a huge fall in last week's rankings. I probably should've explained. His play for Real Madrid has actually been quite solid, but multiple sources say his contract is going to prevent him from playing in the NBA anytime soon. Madrid paid a lot of money to bring Tomas over from Croatia and sources say the buyout could keep him in Europe a minimum of two more years. That's going to hurt his stock tremendously.

Lithuanian forward Paulius Jankunas might get some second-round love in the upcoming NBA draft. Jankunas is draft eligible in 2006 and scouts have been impressed with his play for Zalgris Kaunas in the early going. He's averaging 14 ppg and 6.4 rpg in Euroleague play this season. Jankunas is especially effective working around the basket, but being only 6-8 and marginally athletic, he doesn't project as a great pro prospect.

He's fallen ... can he get up? Illinois' Dee Brown kept saying last season that once teammates Deron Williams and Luther Head went off to the NBA, he'd finally get to play his natural position, point guard, and prove to NBA scouts that he had the skills to be more than a scorer at the next level.

So far, the experiment hasn't gone according to plan. Brown is putting up the worst numbers of his college career. Yes, the 13.9 ppg and 5 apg are exactly what he's been averaging over his four-year career. But the 34 percent shooting from the field and 3.8 turnovers per game aren't.

Early in the season, a handful of scouts said they thought Brown could get into the first round with a solid senior season. Now there are questions about whether he'll be drafted. He's too small to play the two in the pros and his jump shot has never looked shakier.