Top 25 Players Under 25: #25 Al Jefferson

Ok, I fucked this up the first time around, but we fixed it, and we are restarting...

#25 Al Jefferson

Born: January 4, 1985


Jefferson has struggled with injury problems, but you can't deny what he has already done in his career. In high school he was a phenom averaging 42.6 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game. So, he skipped college and was drafted 15th overall by the Celtics. He had a solid rookie season averaging 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 14.8 minutes. What makes Jefferson so special is how he keeps improving (when healthy), because the very next season he increased his stats in every way. Now where is it more evident then looking at his PPG, 6.7, 7.9, 16, 21, 23.1. Very impressive, but once again his downfall is his injury problems, and you have to be concerned what he is going to be able to do the rest of his career. Yet, in the end you can't deny that he deserves to be on this list.

Top 25 Under 25: #23 Tommy Hanson

Tommy Hanson

Born: 08/28/86

In 2005, Hanson was selected in the 22nd round (Pick 677) by the Atlanta Braves. Before the 2007 season began, Hanson was named the best pitching prospect in the South Atlantic League, and the Braves fans started going crazy over the thoughts of what he might be. This is an organization that has seen pitchers like Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux, so when a player like this gets that kind of hype you know he has to be something special.

Hanson was promoted to AA after only allowing 15 hits in 40 innings with a 3-1 record and 0.90 ERA. He didn't stop making noise when he was moved up, as he pitched a no-hitter in only his 9th start (he also threw 14 K's in that game). The legend only grew as he was invited to the Arizona Fall League to showcase his pitching. He compiled a 5-0 record with a 0.63 ERA while racking up 49 K's in 28.2 innings. Hanson was named the Arizona Fall League's MVP, which was the first time a pitcher had ever won that award.

Hason was almost traded for Jake Peavy in the beginning of this year, but the deal fell through and Hanson finally got his shot as a full time starter when the Braves cut ties with Tom Glavine. So far this year he is 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA, and looking more and more like he will be the ace for the Braves for years to come. At only 22 years old Tommy Hanson has a chance to really climb this list in the coming years...


THE LIST:
#25: Derrick Rose
#24: Matt Kemp
#23: Tommy Hanson

Top 25 Under 25: #24 Matt Kemp

Matt Kemp

Born: September 23, 1984

Kemp attended Midwest City High School in Midwest City, Oklahoma. He wasn't just a great baseball player, but he also played basketball. Kemp was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 6th round of the 2003 draft. He did great in the minors. In AA .327 with 7 homers, 34 RBIs and 11 steals and was quickly promoted, and the major knocked on his doors in September 2006 when the Dodgers rosters were expanded.

2007 started tough for Kemp when he went down with an injury, but when he was finally able to get healthy (around mid June) he went off batting .342 hit 10 home runs, and drove in 42 runs, which is really impressive since he was splitting time with Andre Ethier.

In 2008 he finally broke the starting lineup and he showed by he deserves to be on our list. He batted .290 with 18 HRs 76 RBIs and 35 SBs. Not bad for a kid who was only 23 years old. This year he has only grown as a player batting .314 with 13 HRs 55 RBIs and 21 SBs in only 97 games.

It is too bad that he is 24 years old and this will be his only year on this list. He is a special player, and even though he is overshadowed by players like Manny Ramirez he is really one of the keys to the Dodgers team.


THE LIST:
#25: Derrick Rose
#24: Matt Kemp

Top 25 Players Under 25: #25 Derrick Rose

Ok, so here is the deal. DP, Brian B., Beer, and I (BMack) came up with a list of the top 25 players of the 4 major sports (Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, Football. that are under the age of 25. Feel free to get pissed. We will be doing 1 a day (Monday-Friday) for the next 5 weeks.

So without anymore stalling the 25th player on our list is....

Derrick Rose

Born: October 4, 1988

College: Memphis

Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds as he led Memphis to an impressive 26-0 start to the season. They eventually fell out of the #1 spot, but was able to blow out most of their competition their way into the Final Four. In thr Finals Memphis fell to Kansas as Rose missed a a critical free throw at the end of the 2nd half and fell in overtime 75–68. Still he made an impression on scouts, and Memphis had a hell of a season going 38–2 (38 is the most wins in NCAA hitsroy).

Pro: Chicago Bulls

Rose was taken #1 in the draft by the Bulls. Rose won Rookie of the year. He was 1 of 3 guys ever to win the award while playing for the Bulls joining Jordan and Brand as the only other players to do so. He averaged 16.8 points on 47.5% field goal shooting, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game to finish his rookie year.

In his playoff debut against the defending champions Celtics, Rose recorded 36 points on 63% shooting, 11 assists and 4 rebounds as the Bulls prevailed in a 105–103 overtime win. The 36 points tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA record for points scored by a rookie in his playoff debut and also became just the second player in NBA history to record 35 points and 10 assists in his playoff debut. The rest of the series Rose continued his high level of play, but was overshadowed by the emergence of Celtics PG Rajon Rondo (Go ahead DP celebrate). The Celtics defeated the Bulls in 7 games.

It is obvious that Rose has a bright future and at just the age of 20 he has so many good year to come. Look for him to be higher up on this list over the next couple of years...