While there are a number of freshman post players who can be identified as intriguing NBA prospects in 2016-17, Texas A&Ms Robert Williams -- just the 13th-best frontcourt player in the 2016 class according to ESPN recruiting evaluations -- is one of the most surprising to emerge in that category.Scouts are intrigued by the 6-9, 237-pound Williams skill set, and hes attracted attention by laying claim to the seventh-highest box plus/minus in the country among those who have played five games and logged at least 100 minutes. (Box plus/minus uses box scores to estimate how many points per 100 possessions a given player contributes to above an average player.) Looking back at how Williams performed before college, however, provides insight into why we shouldnt be surprised by his hot start.The pre-collegiate format most conducive to talent evaluation, as well as stat-keeping, is AAU basketball. The shoe-company-promoted circuits have seen their games become more structured, serious and competitive -- and increasingly reliable in terms of forecasting college performance. In the one-and-done era, NBA scouts have to consider a players body of work beyond the five months they spend in college, and AAU is a key part of that for a significant portion of prospects.So with that in mind, lets take a look at some select advanced metrics to see how well Williams fared compared with his peers at that level. North Carolinas Tony Bradley and Dukes Marques Bolden are two perfect players to compare to Williams because they all competed in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit, play similar roles and are also potential one-and-dones. The first stat we will look at is called true shooting percentage.True shooting percentage is different from field goal percentage in that it factors in free throws and also differentiates between 2-pointers and 3-pointers. The percentiles give a relevant context for how well they performed within the EYBL. Bradley had the fourth-best true shooting percentage overall, which put him well above his peers. Bradley has kept pace at North Carolina, putting up a 62.7 percent true shooting rate through nine games. Williams EYBL numbers were comparable to Bradleys, and his true shooting percentage was better than Boldens.Williams collegiate true shooting percentage has continued to climb, reaching 68.1 percent at this early stage of the season.Next, lets take a look at offensive rebound percentage.Offensive rebound percentage shows how many available offensive rebounds a player was able to grab, and what we see here is Bradley again at the top of the pack, with Bolden and Williams close behind.Bradley currently leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage (22.6), with Bolden (13.5) and Williams (10.5) also putting up comparable numbers to what they did in the EYBL. Offensive scheme can play a significant part in this number though. North Carolina is second in the country in offensive rebounds and sends more guys to the glass than Texas A&M.Now lets look at defensive rebound percentage.Here we see Williams was just behind Bradley but comfortably ahead of Bolden. In the early stages of the college season, Williams has the edge on Bradley in this metric (17.0 to 15.9), with Bolden posting an 11.4 in limited minutes as he has recovered from injury. Rebounding is one of the most translatable skills when moving up a level, so this bodes well for Williams as well as Bradley.Next is block percentage, which is a good way of measuring rim protection.Rim protection is becoming increasingly valuable in the space-and-pace era of the NBA, which is slowly trickling down to college. Williams is the clear-cut leader here and is part of why hes turning heads. His block percentage in college is 13.9 percent, which puts him at ninth in the country according to KenPom.com. Bolden and Williams put up similar defensive rebound percentage numbers in the EYBL, but it should be noted that Boldens block rate was almost half of Williams. Lastly, lets look at the most important stat: box plus/minus.Here we see Williams impact, which cements his case. After faring well here in the EYBL, Williams has posted the fifth-best BPM among any freshman at 15.9, which also puts him at ninth in the country for all players who have played five games and logged 100 minutes (with three games played, Bolden doesnt qualify yet), according to Basketball-Reference.So what we see here is that Williams was similar to his more highly touted peers and had a solid case as being the better recruit from a statistical standpoint. Recruiting includes many other dynamics, of course, but on the court it was evident then, as it is now, that Williams belongs in the same class as other potential one-and-dones at his position. This should make it no surprise that on this bigger stage, scouts are paying greater attention.For more from ESPN Analytics, visit the ESPN Analytics Index.?Nike Roshe One Dámské . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Nike Air Force 1 Černé . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. http://www.airforce1levne.com/ . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Air Force 1 Just Do It . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. Nike Blazer Pánské . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play.Kimi Raikkonen says hes positively surprised with Ferraris pace at Suzuka after qualifying third fastest for Sundays Japanese Grand Prix.Ferrari have looked much more of a match for Mercedes in Japan than they did last weekend at Sepang with Raikkonen and teammate Sebastian Vettel locking out the second row, and only two tenths of a second off the Silver Arrows pace.With Vettel set to take a three-place penalty for causing a collision in Malaysia, Raikkonen looks to be in good shape to return to the podium for the first time since Austria.I was very positively surprised with how the cars been behaving and how quick its been, Raikkonen said. Its pretty much the same car we raced a week ago and I dont think many people expected a lot of difference.Despite qualifyinng third and looking a constant threat to Mercedes, Raikkonen admits he still struggled with understeer in his final runs.ddddddddddddThroughout practice the Finn had complained of persistent balance issues which appear to still not be resolved, making his qualifying result all the more impressive.Ive had understeer all weekend, even in qualifying, he said. When you have more sets of the same compound you can find balance a little better, but in qualifying theres not a lot you can do.So obviously its been a bit tricky to get the right balance, but so far so good and third -- while not exactly what were looking [for] -- is not too bad. ' ' '