Your 19th Pick Ladies and Gentlemen: J.J. Hickson

It takes most players a while to join a new team and work their way into the rotation. J.J. Hickson has a habit of speeding that process up. Last year as a Freshmen at NC State he was instantly thrown into the starting line-up. As a rookie this season in the NBA J.J. has established himself as a permanent fixture in the Cavs rotation. He is averaging 12 minutes per game and doesn't waste any time while he is in there. He is inking 5 points (55% FG%) and 3 boards a game. Many questioned Danny Ferry for taking the somewhat unknown Hickson as the 19th overall pick of last year's NBA Draft. Ferry's critics are having a hard time finding daggers to throw his way these days. J.J. has reached double digits in scoring 9 times this season and delivered a season high of 14 points in 31 minutes on November 28th. On Tuesday night he pulled down a season high of 9 boards. While Hickson still has much to learn about the NBA game, he has impressed his coaches with magnetic hands. J.J. has the pure freakish ability of using his hands as vacuum's, whether its rebounding the ball or throwing someone's shot. Here recently J.J. has also polished up a part of his game that was slightly lackluster: the midrange jumper. One thing that he needed no improvement on was the energy and tenacity that he brings every night. Since he survived the trade deadline, look for J.J. to earn a more active role in the rotation as the season ends and the post-season begins.