I hope we are all right about Stauskas. I know he can shoot. He is not living up to his press clippings in that he his having trouble with the rest of his game. Almost a bad as McLemore last year.
I think Mac is going to fit a role very nicely. Perhaps never an iso player but damn near everything else including defense.
I have not been reading this thread which I am sure is my loss but would WCS fit in now that he is available. Would his scrawny body be useful next to Cuz. I know he has great defensive range. He never would be an offensive powerhouse but check back in 5 years. With the skills he has now, I like him. Is he guaranteed to come out?
Sorry to barge in. It's been quite a year with my health. A comfy chair and a cerveza might help.
Sorry, I've been off doing other things, so I'm a little late in addressing this. First, let me say this one more time about Stauskas. I think he's going to be a good player in this league. I know people look at his stats, and think, wow, he hasn't done much to warrant where he was picked in the draft. Well first lets address why he was picked where he was, and remember, there were teams choosing behind us that were rumored to choose Nik if we passed on him. In other words, he was highly rated by a lot of teams, not just us. So why? OK, the obvious is that he shots lights out. He shot 5o% on 2 pt baskets both years at Michigan. His FGP for both years was 46.3% and 47.0% respectively. Both excellent percentages, but when it came to the three point shot, he shot 44.0% as a freshman and 44.2% as a sophmore. You can't get more consistent than that. So yes, his shooting was what got him noticed, but what propelled him up the draft board, was his overall court awareness and BBIQ.
He proved to be a good ballhandler. No, he's not Tyreke Evans, but he's pretty darned good. So let me ask you this. How many times this year have you seen Nik handle the ball on a regular basis? Yeah, on occasion he'll leave the corner and the ball will be passed to him, and usually his job at that point is to make an entry pass to Cousins, or Landry or whomever happens to be the post up player. I've watched games where he has gone 4 to 5 minutes on the floor without even touching the ball once on offense. So let me ask you this. How is a player supposed to make any kind of impact when he never touches the ball? And if he does touch the ball, it's usually another 3 to 4 minutes before he touches the ball again. At Michigan Nik had the ball in his hands a lot. He was excellent at running the pick and roll. How many times have you seen Nik run the pick and roll? At Michigan Nik led his team in assists his sophmore year and played as a point SF or SG a lot of the time. Many NBA scouts projected him as a possible PG in the future because of his court vision and passing ability.
My point is, how can anyone seriously pass judgement on Stauskas when we haven't even tried to use the abilities he was drafted for. By no means am I saying that I know for sure that he's going to be great. What I'am saying, is that he has the talent to be a really good player, and I would like to see him get the chance to prove it. If I'm right, then he becomes an asset, either as a contributer to the team, or as a valuable trading chip. OK, enough said about Stauskas. I think Cauley-Stein is the perfect choice to put along side Cousins. He's a terrific defender, not only as a shotblocker, but individually, he can guard every single position on the floor. He has terrific lateral quickness, and the only other big man in the NBA that I might compare his quickness to is Anthony Davis, and personally, I think he's a little quicker than Davis laterally. He's outstanding at defending the pick and roll. I've seen him time and time again switch to the PG on the P&R, push him out, and then get back to the basket to block the shot of the roller from behind. Not too many bigs can do that.
You mentioned his being skinny. First remember that he's around 7'1" in shoes, so he's a legit 7 footer. Second, when he arrived at Kentucky he weighed around 210 pounds, and now he weighs close to 250 pounds. So he has added weight, mostly muscle, and will probably continue to do so once in the NBA. He borders on being a freak athlete, and played wide reciever and then tight end in highschool. Must have been quite a target for the quarterback. While he'll probably never be a great offensive player, his offense has improved every year, and he's now a reliable contributer on offense. From the Kings point of view, I think he's perfect. He doesn't demand the ball. He can score when set up properly, and doesn't usually force shots.
He's an unselfish player and a willing passer. However, passing is not his strength. He's OK passing out of a double team, but I wouldn't want to run the ball through him on a regular basis. Similarly, his ballhandling has improved, but I wouldn't want him attacking the basket. He's also developed into a good rebounder. Hard to tell this year because he surrounded by a bunch of good rebounders, Karl Towns, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, Marcus Lee, and Derek Willis. All 6'9"or taller. Kentucky's starting front line is Stein, 7 foot, Towns, 6'11", and Lyles, 6'9.5". Usually he's battling his own teammate for a board. But its his defense that shines. If he were given the minutes of some of the other players in college that are putting up big shotblocking numbers, he might be heading the class. But with the system Calapari's running, he's only averaging 24/25 minutes a game, not to mention he's playing along side another shotblocker in Towns, who is averaging 2.4 blocks a game. Stein went from around 3 blocks a game last season, to 1.5 blocks this season. Make no mistake though, he can protect the rim, as well as the perimeter.
