Ben Woodside - the next Mark Price?

icsept

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I have to plead ignorance about 5'11" North Dakota State senior point guard Ben Woodside. ESPN caste clown Bill Simmons' column mentioned Woodside as the "next Mark Price." A mention by Simmons and a comparison to a white player, piqued my curiosity. So, I did a little research and found that his is indeed, white, and he scored 60 points against SF Austin this year. Averaged 23.2 ppg and 6.2 apg, .427 3 pt. shooting.

Additionally, Woodside hung 37 points on Kansas' Sherron Collins in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Draft Express has several favorable blogs on Woodside, including credits for his exceptional quickness, and potential NBA draft prospects.

Haven't seen much of anything about Woodside in this forum. He's definitely one to keep tabs on leading up to the draft.Edited by: icsept
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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in my opinion, if i were to compare him to a current NBAer, it would be to Tony Parker because of how effortlessly both players get into the lane with their incredible quickness and have the ability to finish amongst the tall trees. a Chris Paul comparison would also have merit, due to their similar build and passing ability.


we've talked about Woodside fairly extensively in the NDSU thread, and in College awards: merit based? thread, as well.


he is an excellent player, without a doubt, and gave Kansas all the Jayhakws could handle in the NCAA Tourney. hopefully, he'll get a fair shot by the NBA. but i wouldn't hold my breath.
 

guest301

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If Woodside ends up having a Mark Price type career then that would be great. But other than skin tone and size, I don't necessarily see the comparison. I think Jimmy C has the more spot on comparison to Tony Parker. One thing to remember about Mark Price, Michael Jordan said once that Mark Price was his favorite point guard.
 

j41181

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I doubt you will see Woodside even get off the bench once he makes the NBA. The league clearly is bias against white guards. Nash became what he is thanks to Don Nelson (D'antoni is not known for bringing up rookies). Calderon is playing remarkable thanks to Ford being traded away, it remains to be seen how Calderon will respond once the Raptors get another proven point guard. Ridnour and Hinrich has been pushed around to breaking point level. Diener and Quinn are both rotting on the bench. It will take a special twist of fate for Woodside to become a Tony Parker-like or Chris Paul-like player. But if he becomes as good as Mark Price, that would be great. But like I will always for a white guard like him, he's an incredibly long shot, no thanks though to what the NBA is right now.

If you ever recall, Price had a difficult rookie season, because the Cavs then did not trust him (white country boy). He had to work extremely hard to earn his reputation, to the point that he became injury prone.
 
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Don't underestimate Price's quickness. At one point, Isiah Thomas said Price was his toughest cover in the league.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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i gotta agree with GLS, on this one. Mark Price was a phenomenal player.
 

j41181

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Jimmy Chitwood said:
i gotta agree with GLS, on this one. Mark Price was a phenomenal player.
He was indeed a phenomenal player, cut short by a devastating injury. Price was so good that he could have made 20 points and 10 assists for many years, had he not busted his knee in the 1990-91 season. He was instead limited to 17 and 7 for about 4 years. In the 1989-90 season, Price posted 19 and 9 (his best ever), but somehow was snubbed from the All-Star game that year. Ben Woodside has many of those qualities of being an elite point guard, provide he is given the fair chance.
 

celticdb15

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Freethinker

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Great find celtic, I've been wondering what path Ben's career took after college. I hope he establishes himself over in France as well and maybe we will have the honor of watching him playing again in the States someday.....
 

celticdb15

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Thanks Free Thinker!!i actually added Ben on Facebook and learned of his blog through that!
 
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