Dime Dropper
All-Star
Anywhere I can see updates on people's verts and other athletic tests? My stream is terrible, can't see anything.
And Smart's: 6'3.25- 6'9.25 wing- 8'3 reach. The weight (227) is interesting, and makes you wonder about quickness and agility. Then again, ESPN just tweeted that Smart's lane agility time topped those of Wall, Westbrook, and Paul.
Curious, though, do they only do one run through each drill? Seems like a lot to go off one sample, although I imagine each team has players run through their own drills at workouts.
Gordon with 39'' vertical, Vonleh 37'', Randle 35.5''.
Smart with 36'' vertical and benched 185lb 19 times, 3rd best at the combine among all players (for those saying Smart isn't as strong as Tyreke, Tyreke managed 7 reps of 185). He's a physical beast.
Even though Gordon tested very well I'm still not sure what position he is or what his upside is. It's rare that guys with his size/athleticism/IQ/work ethic fail, so I really doubt he'll bust. But I'm just not sure how good he'll be.
Vonleh I'm still not convinced about despite testing well and everybody appearing to love him. I think he'll likely be solid but not much more than that. Admittedly I've seen him less than other prospects so I'm not bullish with my opinion about him.
Still prefer Randle to either of the above. Doesn't fit for us but I think he'll be a considerably better player than both, despite being slightly undersized for the position. Just stronger and more skilled than both and I think he has a better feel for the game. Also has the personality and confidence to match.
Smart is still my personal pick if we stay at 7. You just don't see players with his physical attributes and skills failing in the NBA. On the contrary, they usually thrive.
Isaiah Austin ... I can't shake my intrigue.
He's been around for a bit now. Was once projected as a top 10 pick. Never really improved, but he's a rare physical specimen. He's the sort of 7 footer that actually looks fairly fluid as an athlete. College basketball is a weird thing for guys like Austin. It wasn't made for players of his type to succeed.
Who knows. Not a candidate at #7, obviously, but well worth a flier later in the draft.
I watched Stauskas play 20/25 times this past season, and he's not slow. Don't know what you watched, but he's a better athlete than Jimmer and has no problem creating his own shot. He's also a better ball handler than Jimmer. Don't get me wrong. I have reservations about his defensive abilities, but I have no problem with his offense. He's already a great shooter. Even though he added about 15 pounds of muscle in the last offseason, he still needs to get stronger.
Yah I saw people complaining about his athleticism in the thread in the "personnel moves" forum, saying he would have a hard time defending NBA PGs, but I had kept saying that the guy is quick on his feet and has long arms and his defense WOULD translate to the NBA. Glad he's proving me right at least in agility heh.
Here's the picture of Wiggins testing his vertical that I mentioned earlier, but many may have missed:
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He's slow for the NBA. Dude, there's no way he'd keep up with any of the elite athlete guards in the NBA. Somebody mentioned him as a possible pg/sg option LOL
Imagine him guarding John Wall or Westbrook. In fact, I'd pay money to see that.
His defense is not even present. I'm not just talking about his abysmal statistics for steals/blocks but rather his man-to-man defense.
His max potential is JJ Redick which is fine but not for a top 10 pick. HELL NO. Pass.
I want Smart he said he only started playing pg in college so he's just learning the position. We need this guys toughness and competitiveness with us.
Stauskas lateral quickness was measure at the combine 10.79 vs 10.75 for Dante Exum.
So maybe, just maybe, he's not as slow as you think.
And this is why he will the #1 pick. The dude can fly.
He's slow for the NBA. Dude, there's no way he'd keep up with any of the elite athlete guards in the NBA. Somebody mentioned him as a possible pg/sg option LOL
Imagine him guarding John Wall or Westbrook. In fact, I'd pay money to see that.
His defense is not even present. I'm not just talking about his abysmal statistics for steals/blocks but rather his man-to-man defense.
His max potential is JJ Redick which is fine but not for a top 10 pick. HELL NO. Pass.
I think it's highly possible that Wiggins could slide down to the four spot. Don't get me wrong. I like Wiggins, but he disappeared in a lot of games, and scouts don't like that. It's what caused Drummond to slide.
Isaiah Austin ... I can't shake my intrigue.
He's been around for a bit now. Was once projected as a top 10 pick. Never really improved, but he's a rare physical specimen. He's the sort of 7 footer that actually looks fairly fluid as an athlete. College basketball is a weird thing for guys like Austin. It wasn't made for players of his type to succeed.
Who knows. Not a candidate at #7, obviously, but well worth a flier later in the draft.
Any questions???
Some additional thoughts on measurements:
1. Looking through maximum vertical reach results leads me to believe that Glenn Robinson III, Cleanthony Early, Markel Brown and probably Aaron Gordon (previously measured with 8'10" and even 8'10.5" reach) used the oldest trick in Combine history, crouched a bit during reach measurements to exaggerate their verticals. So I'm back to undecided on him, given that he might have future at PF.
2. People are starting to use "in-game athleticism" more and more to underline the fact that numbers at the Combine sometimes don't correspond to what you see in games: Stauskas just isn't as agile or McDermott isn't as springy as the numbers suggest. But it shows they have excellent work ethic to perfect drills that affect their future earnings.
I have a few problems with Austin. First and foremost is the fact that he's almost the exact same player now, that he was when he arrived at Baylor. He's never dominated in a game, although he did have a few very good games scattered in. So no growth is a major red flag for me. He's never been much of a post player, and likes to plant himself outside the three point line and shoot three's. Not what I prefer from my seven footer. He also has a vision problem. He does have some intriguing tools though.
My favorite part of the combine is the interviews. I've been going through all of them over the past day and a half. It helps you learn what kind of a person these guys are relative to everyone else because you are watching them all back t0 back t0 back t0 back.
I don't have any questions about Wiggins. I've seen him play at least 25 times this season and when he's aggressive, he's everything you'd want. However, there were too many games where he was just there. Uncia03 and I sat and watched two games in a row with him and almost fell asleep waiting for him to do something, anything, to get our attention. There's no doubt he as all the tools to be a superstar. But unless someone lights a fire under him, he may never be the player he should be. He has the most upside of anyone in this draft. But as Vince Lombardi said, the words upside and potential mean you haven't done anything yet.
You can tell the kid has passion. Aggressiveness in basketball is easily taught. In fact, it's probably the easiest thing to teach.
My fresh. year of basketball in High School I was a super timid player based on my mellow personality. My coach used to yell at me to be aggressive and take shots and by the end of the season I was always posting up bigger guys under the hoop and shooting the open 3 pointers that I had usually passed up on. Now, if I can do it then i'm sure someone like Wiggins can do it- who will be fired up to prove the media and everyone who doesn't believe in Wigginsmania wrong. I pray the Kings pick this kid up. Who wouldn't want the next Kobe/Durant. I mean come on! Parker's max potential is Paul George or a team player Mello. Embiid for some reason I just don't see him living up to his potential and it's a damn shame cause he has some great upside as well but Wiggins is miles and miles ahead in terms of potential. If aggressiveness is his only issue...whooo I fear those who have to guard him in the future.
#Wigginsmaniabeliever
I have a few problems with Austin. First and foremost is the fact that he's almost the exact same player now, that he was when he arrived at Baylor. He's never dominated in a game, although he did have a few very good games scattered in. So no growth is a major red flag for me. He's never been much of a post player, and likes to plant himself outside the three point line and shoot three's. Not what I prefer from my seven footer. He also has a vision problem. He does have some intriguing tools though.
Years of watching Spencer Hawes tepidly avoid the key like it was molten lava and offseasons worth of "Is this finally the year Donte Greene puts it together?!" tell me otherwise.
I'm not saying its not likely he turns the switch back on but, for every Drummond, there is a Darko. And GMs, in general, are a superstitious cowardly lot.
Three Stephen bucks to anyone who caught that last reference.
Most DX videos show up on youtube in their channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DraftExpress/videosI used to like the interviews, but as of a few weeks ago they changed something and now no DX videos will play on my Mac. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Really irritating.
Wiggins doesn't need to be taught aggression, he needs to work on his handles. It's hard to be aggressive without the ball...On second thought he can be aggressive even without the ball, given his explosiveness, if his teammates can deliver the ball in the right spots, but that would still only make him Harrison Barnes though.You can tell the kid has passion. Aggressiveness in basketball is easily taught. In fact, it's probably the easiest thing to teach.
My fresh. year of basketball in High School I was a super timid player based on my mellow personality. My coach used to yell at me to be aggressive and take shots and by the end of the season I was always posting up bigger guys under the hoop and shooting the open 3 pointers that I had usually passed up on. Now, if I can do it then i'm sure someone like Wiggins can do it- who will be fired up to prove the media and everyone who doesn't believe in Wigginsmania wrong. I pray the Kings pick this kid up. Who wouldn't want the next Kobe/Durant. I mean come on! Parker's max potential is Paul George or a team player Mello. Embiid for some reason I just don't see him living up to his potential and it's a damn shame cause he has some great upside as well but Wiggins is miles and miles ahead in terms of potential. If aggressiveness is his only issue...whooo I fear those who have to guard him in the future.
#Wigginsmaniabeliever
Most DX videos show up on youtube in their channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DraftExpress/videos
You can tell the kid has passion. Aggressiveness in basketball is easily taught. In fact, it's probably the easiest thing to teach.
My fresh. year of basketball in High School I was a super timid player based on my mellow personality. My coach used to yell at me to be aggressive and take shots and by the end of the season I was always posting up bigger guys under the hoop and shooting the open 3 pointers that I had usually passed up on. Now, if I can do it then i'm sure someone like Wiggins can do it- who will be fired up to prove the media and everyone who doesn't believe in Wigginsmania wrong. I pray the Kings pick this kid up. Who wouldn't want the next Kobe/Durant. I mean come on! Parker's max potential is Paul George or a team player Mello. Embiid for some reason I just don't see him living up to his potential and it's a damn shame cause he has some great upside as well but Wiggins is miles and miles ahead in terms of potential. If aggressiveness is his only issue...whooo I fear those who have to guard him in the future.
#Wigginsmaniabeliever