SG Daequan Cook (Ironi Hai Motors Nes-Ziona - Israel)

[bucknut11]

Daequan has been named 3rd team Parade All-American.

link

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Congratulations to Cook on a great honor.....here is one more pic of Cook in action at the McDonald's All-American game....

 

[crazybuckfan40]

At this point, I don't think you should eat crow, but when he comes in next year and plays at that level, well......

Last night, you saw Cook raise his game against the best in his class....he showed he has range, can get to the hole and good floor vision.

I am coming over to your side after I saw that performance. I think with a good workout this summer and next fall in practice he will be shooting with even more consistency. I see him shooting in the mid to high 30's next year from behind the arc. I just think he has a flat shot and that could hurt him, when he sees some of those tight rims in college. Must like those rims @ conseco were for the big ten tourney.

I really liked what I saw out of cook tho, and he is going to start here next year, no questions asked.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

I really liked what I saw out of cook tho, and he is going to start here next year, no questions asked.

Cook is a great player, he will add some weight and strength over the summer and he will be ready next year.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

i mentioned more than a year ago his flat shot. i dont know what his %s are his mechanics look pretty good to me, he pushes the ball out a little more than i like and that may lead it to be a possibility of it being once scouted more easily effected. that being said he can elevate that much more than most kids, so he should be ok. until he runs into rangey athletic kids...those long kids again...

the thing i take away i see him is his lightswtich mentality. he turns it on when he has the ball and shuts it down when he doesnt have the ball, and dont even get me started with his play on the defensive end of the floor.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

i mentioned more than a year ago his flat shot. i dont know what his %s are his mechanics look pretty good to me, he pushes the ball out a little more than i like and that may lead it to be a possibility of it being once scouted more easily effected. that being said he can elevate that much more than most kids, so he should be ok. until he runs into rangey athletic kids...those long kids again...

the thing i take away i see him is his lightswtich mentality. he turns it on when he has the ball and shuts it down when he doesnt have the ball, and dont even get me started with his play on the defensive end of the floor.

I really agree with you on the lightswitch menatlity. I think he is really going to show us what he is made of when he plays at a high level full time in college.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

4/5/06

Daequan's excellent McDonald's adventure

By Mark Gokavi
Dayton Daily News
Buckeye fans, a glimpse of your college basketball future awaits in Chicago.

The Reebok Roundball Classic is at 4:05 p.m. Sunday at The United Center. Tickets cost $25, $15 and $7.50. The game will be broadcast live on College Sports TV network. Check local listings to see if you get CSTV.

McDonald's All-Americans Greg Oden (Lawrence North, Indiana), Mike Conley Jr. (Lawrence North) and Daequan Cook (Dunbar) will play for the West.

They'll be joined by another 2006 Ohio State basketball recruit, Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph's David Lighty. Mike Conley Sr., the Spiece Indy Heat AAU coach, is in charge of the West squad.

"I get to play with some other players," said Cook, who is relaxing during Dunbar's two-week break. "Most of them I didn't play with before. It's going to be kind of fun."

Unlike the McDonald's game in which Cook's team won 112-94, all the future Buckeyes will be on the same side. Cook couldn't believe the McDonald's East team didn't get the ball to Oden more often.

"I don't think they really executed right," Cook said after the McDonald's game. "If I played with Greg, I know he's a go-to man who is capable of making big shots. He was busting his butt."

Oden smiled when he heard Cook will always look for the 7-foot-1 center. "I'm looking forward to it next year," Oden said. "I've seen (Cook) do it for about four years now. He's a great player."

 

[bucknut11]

Scout.com (free)

4/10/06

Oden, Conley, Lighty, and Cook were on the winning team in the Roundball Classic in Chicago Sunday. Cook won co-MVP with 18 points (7/13 shooting, 2/5 3-pointers), 3 assists and 2 blocks. The game will be aired on CSTV next week.

 

[bucknut11]

NBADraft.net

Another writeup about the Roundball Classic...

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The OSU guys played like a TEAM instead of an all-star team......

[/FONT][/FONT]Cook (18 pts) was clearly the most talented offensively, not only attacking the rim relentlessly, but also knocking down two threes in the second half to showcase his versatility.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

cnnsi.com

4/12/06


Roundball Classic grades

Future Buckeyes perform admirably in leading West

Daequan Cook
Dunbar (Dayton, Ohio)

Cook showed why he's often compared to the Sonics' Ray Allen by scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He also added three assists and blocked a pair of shots to come away with co-MVP honors. Cook gets an A for his performance and extra credit for tossing his sneakers into the stands following the game.

Grade: A+

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Scout.com$

4/12/06

Video of Dayton Dunbar's victory in the Division II State Championship game featuring Cook.

 

[jwinslow]

glowing reviews from wake's rjkarl

Another example of why rating teams makes more sense than players is at Carowhina's recruits versus OSU's group, it could be "logical" for the lazy to say Carowhina's cache is better.

It's not. Here's why.

In this new era of one and done, there are tons of side issues and egos challenging a short and finite time period a coach has to create a team.

Carowhina has a great cacophony of individual players.

OSU has a band.

The fact that Greg, Mike and Pooh know what each can do, will do and is thinking about doing prior to their first practice makes this group better for OSU than the greater assembled talent is for Carowhina.

Additionally when times get tough and players do stupid things, the rest of the Buckeyes are less likely to point fingers and look for their own. When times get tough in games we know this team will pull together.

Whereas Lawson is more talented than Mike, Mike may be better for his team as he already understands, and much more importantly, has accepted his role on the team. I'm not sure what would happen if Roy went to Lawson and said he'd be the third of fourth option on offense. Mike knows this. He has not only accepted it, he flaunts it. That's big.

We don't know that about Carowhina. That makes OSU's class better.

In another vein, to me the three players most ready today to be pros are Greg, Pooh and Henderson.

Greg for obvious reasons.

Henderson is really his dad's son. He just gets the game. What you see you next year at Duke is a lot of what you'll see in the pros. Lots of people got get the rock. The rock "finds" Henderson. He's very mature and his body is as ready as it needs to be at this stage.

As much as Greg freaked me out the first games I saw him play, the old school purist in me was almost as excited watching Pooh play.

At USA Bball his team was clearly the least talented of the three American teams. He was separated from his runningmates, yet he never hung his head. That showed a lot of maturity.

He really understands the game. He's a leader on the court without being overbearing. He looks to get his teammates involved which rare from a HS superstar wing. Wings are supposed to score and be spectacular. Pooh can be both, but he's also so smooth. He's gets his in big bunches in the flow of the game.

One thing that was very impressive was how he instantaneously caught defensive changes and knew where the weaknesses were for his team to exploit.

"It’s quite simple really. If you “can’t” rank a player numerically there is no basis to rank a team numerically."

Of course you can. It will never be exact and anyone who thinks it is should think less.

It makes much more sense to think about the impact a group will have than how individuals will fare.

Ranking versus evaluating is just playing a "silly" word game and you know it.

As to the OSU "apples and oranges", they have played together for three to four years and have known and respected their coach for at least that long.

This is an almost unimaginable advantage for any coach. Rather than be realistic, you choose to find potential errors.

Gene Mauch had a very good saying about potential,"Potential gets you fired."

We know how these guys play together. They have already played against and beaten most of the people they will playing against as collegians.

You are also neglecting an incredible asset we have here, EC. He's been 100% accurate in everything he's said about OCC.

You assume all the interaction EC and I have is played out on the board. That's a very erroneous assumption.

As to calling Dequan "Pooh", it's out of respect. EC says he likes to be called "Pooh". That's good enough for me.

Although my "young" (I know how much he likes that word...don't worry you'll grow out of it) friend and I may disagree on some things, on others he knows more than anyone on this board and has earned the respect I spoke about above.

EC, about the defensive play of Pooh and Chase; in Pooh's case I think it's just a little buttkicking he needs. He'll get it in college. He'll never be a great defender, but he'll be passable. As Chase, I don't think he's ever been taught much of anything. He's playing on pure instinct. Defensively, he doesn't understand what to do yet. Lute will not be the best coach for that aspect of the game, but Lute will teach him basics.

Although Chase may likely be a lottery pick after his first year. I'd like to see him come back for one more year to let him play in the summer for a better defensive coach on a travelling college team. With Chase, I think it's just has no frame of reference.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Rivals.com$

5/3/06

Cook has been named to The EA SPORTS ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Rivals.com$

5/3/06

Interview with Cook by OhioPreps.com.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

cnnsi.com

5/23/06

Dunbar's Daequan Cook wanted to attend Ohio State because he felt that he would have a great supporting cast.
Sharing the rock

Ohio State-bound Cook flourishes through selflessness


By Ben Sylvan, Special to SI.com, SchoolSports.com

Overwhelmed with emotion after earning co-MVP honors at the Roundball Classic in Chicago this April, Dunbar senior Daequan Cook stole a page out of Gilbert Arenas' book by removing both of his custom-made S. Carter sneakers and tossing them into the United Center crowd.

That simple gesture sums up all you need to know about Cook, an unselfish-to-a-fault shooting guard who's rated the nation's No. 18 hoop recruit in the class of 2006 by SchoolSports.com.

"He's a real quiet, shy, reserved kid," says Dunbar coach Peter Pullen. "That really displays in his game. He always gives his teammates an opportunity to get off before he does. Sometimes it's hurt us some, and I've got to call a timeout and chew him out and tell him he's got to get the ball."

No doubt Pullen's message got through this winter. The sweet-shooting Cook averaged 24.5 points, nine rebounds and 4.2 assists a game as a senior to lead Dunbar (26-2) to the Division II state title and a No. 14 ranking in the final SchoolSports.com National Basketball Top 25.

Cook, who clocks in at a svelte 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, carried that same message all the way to the Roundball Classic. While playing with two dozen of the nation's top ballers, Cook displayed his diverse offensive arsenal by slicing his way to the hoop through Earl Boykins-size holes, dropping bombs from downtown and draining tricky pull-up jumpers en route to 18 points in just 25 minutes of his West team's 118-102 win.

With a smooth game like that -- Coach Pullen compares Cook with Sonics star Ray Allen -- he has the ability to be the type of main attraction a rising college program could build around. But instead of trying to pull a Kobe and go solo, Cook lived up to his unselfish rep by taking another route.

Once he committed to Ohio State and Buckeyes coach Thad Matta last spring, Cook went to work on a pair of teammates from his AAU squad, the Spiece Indy Heat. The result was one of the best recruiting classes since Michigan's fabled "Fab Five" from the early 1990s.

Cook will be joined in Columbus next year by AAU teammates Greg Oden and Mike Conley from Lawrence North (Indianapolis). That talented trio will combine with Villa Angela-St. Joseph swingman David Lighty and junior college power forward Othello Hunter to form what has come to be known as the "Thad Five."

"I never really thought about me going to my own school," says Cook. "Without other teammates who help support me during games, I felt like I couldn't do it myself."

If Cook's on-court persona is example 1A of his unselfishness, his off-the-court life is example 1B.

While in San Diego for the McDonald's All-American Game in March, Cook joined the rest of the All-Americans in a visit to the local Ronald McDonald House, a nonprofit home away from home for families of seriously ill children receiving care at nearby hospitals.

As if mandated by a script, every single McDonald's All-American left the Ronald McDonald House praising the visit as an inspirational way to give something back. Cook followed suit, but instead of just talking the talk, he looked into getting involved with the local Ronald McDonald House once he returned home.

"I didn't know we had one in the city of Dayton," he says. "Hopefully, soon I'll get a chance to visit it. I appreciate the fact that God has blessed me and I'm going to get the chance to do something good."

Even before going to San Diego, Cook was to the Ohio community service scene what Paris Hilton is to the L.A. club scene. He is well known for volunteering his rare free time -- you don't become one of the nation's top shooters without spending hours a day in the gym, after all -- speaking at local middle schools and to local youth teams about the importance of school and hard work.

Though both of his parents are the too-good-to-be-true sitcom type who come to nearly every game with an army of friends and family, Cook takes his role as the oldest of five children so seriously that his younger siblings played a monumental role in his commitment to Ohio State.

The boy known as Pooh (a nickname bestowed upon him by his grandma) will soon become the first person in his immediate family to go to college. So to set a precedent for his siblings, Cook decided to attend school close to home, a critical decision because it would give his family an opportunity to come to his games and see what college life is like.

"That will just let them know that there's more to life than just high school," Cook says. "Hopefully they'll want to go too."

Such selflessness might leave him without shoes from time to time, but it's rarely a problem on the court. Whereas Pullen sometimes had to urge Cook to shoot more for the sake of helping Dunbar's title chances, that mind-set is nothing but a positive when he's teaming up with his future Ohio State teammates.

Throughout high school, Cook, Conley and Oden turned the Spiece Indy Heat into one of the nation's premier AAU programs. Although Cook was the team's most consistent scorer year in and year out, his deferral to the dominant inside presence of Oden -- hands down the nation's No. 1 hoops recruit -- helped lead to team unity. In return, that team unity led to tournament titles galore.

"He knows the time of the game to get the ball inside and when it's time to shoot," says Conley, a fellow McDonald's All-American. "He doesn't let the hype get to him about being the best scorer on the team."

Don't read that the wrong way. Cook does have an assassin's mentality on the court. He knows when to take over a game, and he'll do whatever it takes to eventually make it to the NBA.

Pullen, for one, doesn't see that unselfishness as a detriment to Cook's NBA dreams.

"I'm a firm believer that the cream will rise to the top anyway," Pullen says.

"I know [the NBA] is a dream of his, and I hope he accomplishes that goal.

He has as good a shot as anybody. All he has to do is stay healthy and continue to work."

Not to mention find some new kicks to play in.