Is Cole Aldrich the NEXT Ostertag?!

Just as dignan stated we did not get a the high pick that we were hoping for and ended up staying at 9. Its not all bad and now it is time to deal with what the Jazz got. I feel the Jazz biggest need is to get longer, tougher in the post on D, and more athletic. With that being said I am not thrilled with the potential pick of Cole Aldrich but I am not mad at it either. He would give us a legit center (making us longer) and he is great at defense (improve D in the post). I personally think he would come in and help from day one.

Ok now that I have said what I wanted to I am now going to put to rest the Aldrich to Ostertag comparisons! First we will look at Ostertag and then Aldrich.


Greg Ostertag -

College: Kansas
Postion: Center
Height & Weight: 7'2", 280 lbs








He played his college ball from 1991 to 1995. During his time at Kansas he was paired with another big man named Scott Pollard. Both of them were decent in college and made Kansas a good team. Here are Ostertags statistics for college:

                  MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%  RPG  APG  TPG  BPG  SPG   PPG
91-92 Kansas      9.7  54.5   0.0  65.3  3.5  0.2  0.9  1.1  0.2   4.8
92-93 Kansas     13.4  51.7   0.0  60.0  4.1  0.4  1.2  1.2  0.3   5.3
93-94 Kansas     21.1  53.3   0.0  63.1  8.8  0.3  1.7  2.8  0.4  10.3
94-95 Kansas     19.5  59.6   0.0  55.3  7.5  0.4  1.6  2.9  0.4   9.6

You will notice that he never average double digit rebounds and only average about 16 minutes a night over the course of his career. It is interesting to note that his playing time went down in his senior year.... now that could have been due to foul trouble or a lack of endurance. I believe it was to do with a young freshmen named Raef LaFrentz started playing for Kansas that year. Lafrentz came in and average 23 minutes a night as a freshmen! Showing that the coaches did not favor Ostertag over a freshmen! Come on man he was a senior and he did not even play as much as a freshmen! That show me that Ostertag was nothing to write home about and that of course is why he wasn't selected until the 28th pick by Utah. He was a big body and that was it.


Cole Aldrich -

College: Kansas
Position: Center
Height & Weight: 7' & 245 lbs

Aldrich has played at Kansas for the past 3 years and is skipping his senior season to enter the NBA draft. Here is a look at Aldrich college statistics:

Year	League	Team	GP	Min	Pts	FG	FGA	FG%		FT%		RPG	Asts	Stls	Blks	TOs
2007/08	NCAA	Kansas	40	8.3	2.8	1.1	2.1	51.8		68.4		3.0	0.1	0.3	0.9	0.5
2008/09	NCAA	Kansas	35	29.6	14.9	5.7	9.5	59.8		79.2		11.1	1.0	0.6	2.7	1.6
2009/10	NCAA	Kansas	36	26.8	11.3	4.1	7.4	56.2		67.9		9.8	0.9	0.8	3.5	1.6

Aldrich had a great sophomore season and dropped off in production his senior season. He was considered to be one of the key piece to the Kansas team that made a run at the national championship game. It should be noted that Ostertag was only considered a role player in his college days. He never missed a game in his 3 years of college (not like Curtis Borchardt).

Kansas did sign the # 8 rated center in the high school in Jeff Withey and Aldrich still maintained his role nothing like what happened to Ostertag with LeFrentz. Looking at the numbers Aldrich averaged more points, rebounds, blocks, and minutes per game than Ostertag.

Also it should noted that the reason for the decline in his numbers was because opposing teams focused their defense on shutting him down. I think it is fair to say that never happened to Ostertag during college or in the pros!

I like the pick of Aldrich and think he would be a upgrade on what we currently have. He may never be an all star but with the Jazz he can help rebound and block shots!