What an abysmal offseason.
- Thread starter nikefutbolero
- Start date
I guess my only contention here is are we sure we would have drafted Hardy if we kept the pick? It's easy to say "this or that", but Hardy might not have even been high on our board. He doesn't fit the mold of a Monte pick at all
And just in general, the later a pick, the more "acceptable" it is to miss on a gem. If Hardy ends up being a stud, every other team is dumb too since they passed on him in the first round and a handful of 2nds ahead of him.
And just in general, the later a pick, the more "acceptable" it is to miss on a gem. If Hardy ends up being a stud, every other team is dumb too since they passed on him in the first round and a handful of 2nds ahead of him.
Let's not forget that Sasha led the Euroleague in rebounding. If defense and rebounding dictate the position you can get minutes at/start at... I think the only remaining question is can he defend an NBA PF? Assuming his offense translates, my hunch is we are looking at our long term solution at the 4, and HB falls back to trusted vet backup at 3/4, locker room presence, and occasional closer to steady the ship in tight games.
I said it before but I think it bears repeating: this roster, as currently constructed, has the potential to be the greatest offensive team in the history of the sport.
I said it before but I think it bears repeating: this roster, as currently constructed, has the potential to be the greatest offensive team in the history of the sport.
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I certainly didn't intent to imply that if I did. But one can't help but marvel at the offensive potential of our roster as currently constructed.
As far as defense - I think several of our key players will and have been getting better on defense as part of their natural development: Davion and Keegan, notably. Also, Sasha is a bit of an unknown defensively. I think it'll be more clear just exactly what "holes" we have defensively on our roster towards the middle/end of next year. And my opinion was that prioritizing other things was the smart thing to do at this time. Will be interesting to revisit the wing defender discussion a year from now.
Also: Edwards. As you all know I'm the driver of that bandwagon. You can't say that Monte is neglecting wing defense when he made an extremely targeted (and apparently highly scouted) acquisition of a high quality but languishing wing defender last season. Edwards has some of the best lateral movement for a dude with his size AND wingspan that I've ever seen, which makes the amount of floor space he can impact just unbelievably huge. Once the rest of his game rounds out - I'm not ruling out that he is our "quad 3" defender. I trust his shot will come along.
As far as defense - I think several of our key players will and have been getting better on defense as part of their natural development: Davion and Keegan, notably. Also, Sasha is a bit of an unknown defensively. I think it'll be more clear just exactly what "holes" we have defensively on our roster towards the middle/end of next year. And my opinion was that prioritizing other things was the smart thing to do at this time. Will be interesting to revisit the wing defender discussion a year from now.
Also: Edwards. As you all know I'm the driver of that bandwagon. You can't say that Monte is neglecting wing defense when he made an extremely targeted (and apparently highly scouted) acquisition of a high quality but languishing wing defender last season. Edwards has some of the best lateral movement for a dude with his size AND wingspan that I've ever seen, which makes the amount of floor space he can impact just unbelievably huge. Once the rest of his game rounds out - I'm not ruling out that he is our "quad 3" defender. I trust his shot will come along.
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Hardy is 6'3''. Either he's a PG, or he's an undersized SG.
These are the listed heights of our guards
Fox: 6'3''
Huerter: 6'7''
Davion: 6'
Monk: 6'3''
Keon: 6'5''
Duarte: 6'5''
Kessler: 6'8''
Jones: 6'6''
Except Davion, whom we mostly want to play the backup PG position, everyone else is the same height or taller than Jaden. Some of the folks in the above list will see some time at 3 (most likely Kessler and Huerter, and maybe Jones if sees any time this year). Barring Monk though, all our SGs are taller than Jaden, and Monk has good handle/creation skills for an SG.
We already have a problem with Davion, since we are forced to have him guard taller players. As for getting the glut of two guards, should Monte have relied on the growth of a second round rookie pick over proven players? You actually answer the question yourself when you say that he would be stuck in the G league.
Look, we all want the team to hit on every draft pick, including second rounders, and undrafted FAs. Rarely happens though. Teams like Dallas, or last year Lakers are often almost the perfect spot for such players. Both teams decimated themselves of role players in order to get stars. This opens up opportunities for players, and if they and the team are lucky, they both gain.
Till a significantly improved Fox showed up last year, we had only one star in Domas. Our team was built around depth, and we all hoped would somehow sneak into the PO, possibly via the playins (honestly, that's what I was hoping). Late FRPs, second rounders usually don't see much time on these teams. Even if we had picked and kept Hardy (or Prosper this year), they wouldn't have seen much time.
These are the listed heights of our guards
Fox: 6'3''
Huerter: 6'7''
Davion: 6'
Monk: 6'3''
Keon: 6'5''
Duarte: 6'5''
Kessler: 6'8''
Jones: 6'6''
Except Davion, whom we mostly want to play the backup PG position, everyone else is the same height or taller than Jaden. Some of the folks in the above list will see some time at 3 (most likely Kessler and Huerter, and maybe Jones if sees any time this year). Barring Monk though, all our SGs are taller than Jaden, and Monk has good handle/creation skills for an SG.
We already have a problem with Davion, since we are forced to have him guard taller players. As for getting the glut of two guards, should Monte have relied on the growth of a second round rookie pick over proven players? You actually answer the question yourself when you say that he would be stuck in the G league.
Look, we all want the team to hit on every draft pick, including second rounders, and undrafted FAs. Rarely happens though. Teams like Dallas, or last year Lakers are often almost the perfect spot for such players. Both teams decimated themselves of role players in order to get stars. This opens up opportunities for players, and if they and the team are lucky, they both gain.
Till a significantly improved Fox showed up last year, we had only one star in Domas. Our team was built around depth, and we all hoped would somehow sneak into the PO, possibly via the playins (honestly, that's what I was hoping). Late FRPs, second rounders usually don't see much time on these teams. Even if we had picked and kept Hardy (or Prosper this year), they wouldn't have seen much time.
Honest question - did you watch Prosper play in full games? I watched one Marquette regular season game (against UConn) and their tourney game against Michigan State. I missed their first round game against Vermont.
I didn't notice him at all in the UConn game. He has a pretty good offensive game against Michigan State but he didn't pop as an elite defender. Good motor, but I only went back and watched him when Ozymandias kept mentioning him.
Up until the combine he wasn't even in the 2nd round of most mock drafts.
I'm just curious why you're so certain about him. I think he'll stick in the league just based on motor and coming in with a role player mindset. But I'm not sure he's guaranteed to be a great defender.
I didn't notice him at all in the UConn game. He has a pretty good offensive game against Michigan State but he didn't pop as an elite defender. Good motor, but I only went back and watched him when Ozymandias kept mentioning him.
Up until the combine he wasn't even in the 2nd round of most mock drafts.
I'm just curious why you're so certain about him. I think he'll stick in the league just based on motor and coming in with a role player mindset. But I'm not sure he's guaranteed to be a great defender.
I think i quickly read that Keegan should go. Stahhhhp iiiitt. Hes coming off a rookie season and is on track to be one of the greatest 3 point specialist ever and was/is known for defense. He could form into a top 20, 3 & D player + more in just his 2nd season. That is his outlook for the upcoming season.
Yeah that’s the thing that gets me about this whole OMax narrative. He wasn’t even the consensus best defensive prospect on the board at our slot anyways and certainly if we were so desperate for a 2/3 defender he probably wouldn’t even make the top 3 of guys remaining on the draft board capable of doing that (Walsh/Colby/Andre all have film where they proved more capable of doing that).
Random weird hypothetical question... if the Pelicans remade their roster by trading Zion and bringing in Jarrett Allen, how confident would you be against them over the next 5 seasons? Who wins in a 7-game series?
Scoot............... GTA, Kira
Anfernee.......... McGollum, Hawkins
Ingram............. TM3, Dyson
Herbert............ Nance, Liddell
Allen................ Zeller, Robbins
(VERSUS)
Fox.................. Davion
Huerter............ Monk, Colby
Murray............. Duarte, Edwards
Barnes............. Lyles, Sasha
Sabonis........... Len, Queta
Scoot............... GTA, Kira
Anfernee.......... McGollum, Hawkins
Ingram............. TM3, Dyson
Herbert............ Nance, Liddell
Allen................ Zeller, Robbins
(VERSUS)
Fox.................. Davion
Huerter............ Monk, Colby
Murray............. Duarte, Edwards
Barnes............. Lyles, Sasha
Sabonis........... Len, Queta
