Hansel
Bench
If you are interested, in his last match Jennings had 13 points and 10 steals (but 6 turnovers) in 21 minutes.
http://195.56.77.210/game/63777.html
http://195.56.77.210/game/63777.html
Jennings would be an excellent pick with the Houston pick. I have been wathing mock drafts and it seems he may go from 15-20. Kings can easily trade down for that.
Next year I'm hoping we can draft a great pg because I think the Kings are still going to be pretty bad next year. There would likely be Ricky Rubio, Jrue Holiday, and John Wall.
Having just watched Thabeet again, I'm sorry, but I simply don't see how you can watch him play and not really like him as a pro prospect. When I initially suggested the Gambit back early in the year, I was going off of whate he was last year and thinking of him as a roleplaying 3rd big, but the more the see of how far he has progressed this season the more the possibility of him as a legit NBA starter looms. He's got the size, he's got stamina for such a huge player, and again I am sorry, but I am not sure I can remember ANY 7'3" player ever moving like he does. Its ridiculous. Know Sabonis when he was young was supposed to be an athlete. But Thabeet...guys that huge just don't move like he does. He's even developed a mean streak. No more lost and confused stuff -- he knows what he wants to do out there, knows he is good, and is developing a swagger.
I think he might be the best 7'3" perimeter defender there has ever been. He has more mobility than a Brad Miller or a Joel Pryzbilla. And he has started to show a very Tyson Chandleresque lock and dunk inside game. You guard him with a twerp, he's going to go right over the top.
Its a specious argument anyway. Non-offensive defensive stoppers inside have always been potent weapons in the NBA for any umber of top teams. Big Ben, Tyson Chandler, Erick Dampier, Kendrick Perkins, etc. And Thabeet has a chance to be more intimidating than any of them.
Thabeet doesnt seem to be a Petrie type of player either.
Not at all.
I'd love to have a legit shot blocker on the Kings though, but unless he hits a dozen 3pt shots in a row at a workout (assuming he even is worked out by us) I doubt Petrie is going to like him.
You never know what Petrie wants these days. Adelman is out and the system is still at the limbo. I think he already learned from the Douby draft to care less about 3-point shots. It was Adelman's system that pushed the big men to shoot 3s, which became a habit of Miller(even after the Adelman era), then Hawes bit into it, and a few nibble by Thompson in the earlier part of the season when Theus was believing JT is a SF.
So even if Thabeet won't shoot any 3s as long as he does well with his assets, being mobile and defensive big man who's willing to learn thoughout the summer. I'm still into the Thabeet bandwagon even if Petrie remains as the GM.
I don't even think it's Petrie so much as it would be the Maloofs. Thabeet is a project any way you look at it, and he's going to be a backup for at least his first two years if not longer.
Although, for those who think this isn't a very good draft, a major project this year might be the ideal. Get the franchise PG or whatever in next year's lottery, and we'd be in fine shape.
I don't even think it's Petrie so much as it would be the Maloofs. Thabeet is a project any way you look at it, and he's going to be a backup for at least his first two years if not longer.
I'm not saying this is as an argument against Thabeet, but the Kings are never going to draft him. They'd have to be at the tail end of the lotto in order to take a chance on him. Assuming they have a high pick, they're not going to take someone that is going to be a role player and need about 3-4 more years until he is a finished product (if he ever is). They're going to take someone that is relatively marketable and can be a starter very soon.
The other problem is that of all the one-sided defensive players the last twenty years, only Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rodman (baggage aside) ultimatley had careers worthy of being a top 5 pick. All three of those players were also dominant man defenders and rebounders. To this point, Thabeet has gotten destroyed 1 on 1 by every fringe NBA prospect he has faced and while he appears to be a solid rebounder, he is far from dominant by any metric.
If we get unlucky and get the 4-5-6 pick, than Thabeet seems like a worthy gambe in this draft, but our team still needs a star player. Taking a one dimensional shot blocker is not going to be a cure all.
With that said, if he can carry over his recent play against weaker competition and play this well against real players the rest of the season and in the Tourney, than the previous assesment can change.
The other problem is that of all the one-sided defensive players the last twenty years, only Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rodman (baggage aside) ultimatley had careers worthy of being a top 5 pick. All three of those players were also dominant man defenders and rebounders. To this point, Thabeet has gotten destroyed 1 on 1 by every fringe NBA prospect he has faced and while he appears to be a solid rebounder, he is far from dominant by any metric.
If we get unlucky and get the 4-5-6 pick, than Thabeet seems like a worthy gambe in this draft, but our team still needs a star player. Taking a one dimensional shot blocker is not going to be a cure all.
With that said, if he can carry over his recent play against weaker competition and play this well against real players the rest of the season and in the Tourney, than the previous assesment can change.
I am not on the Thabeet bandwagon either. Been watching the Kid for 3 years now and he is still very raw. His defense is kind of hit and miss. Sometimes his shot blocking makes him look like a good defender, but the next play someone drives right around him and scores. He isn't shouldn't be listed as a "monster defender" or whatever they have him because blocking a few shots does not mean he can defend someon 1 on 1. In the NBA I do not want to have to play a zone because of Thabeets inability to guard someone.
I am also worried about his crappy play against NBA prospects.
Agreed. They won't take a project with a top 5 draft pick. It takes long enough to get relatively polished players like Hawes and Thompson to the "finished" stage. With Thabeet you could be looking at five, six years, easy.
I agree with you. Sometimes shotblocking gets mistaken for defense.
So, if we get the 2nd pick, who do you want to take? Harden so he can share time with Martin? Some less then stellar PG like Jennings or Teague? Another PF like Hill, or a SF like Aminu? No one other than Griffin is a sure thing. At least Thabeet has a chance of becoming a special player. None of them are going to be a impact player the 1st year.
If there is no sure thing by the Final Four, you have to go with the player that has the most potental to be an impact player even if you have to wait 3yrs. I'm willing to wait 3yrs for a Mutombo type player. It's going to take that long before JT & Hawes really develop.
There are any number of options, including the ones you have mentioned. Teague and Jennings both could be special players on both offence and defense. I just think early in the draft you need to try to land a star, not a specialist.
Don't get me wrong either, I WANT to love Thabeet. I think defense wins championships. I have won them myself at various levels and am all about D. The thought of having a defensive beast on our team would could own the pain and greatly hamper the opposing team's best big man is something I want badly. But to quote all those CSI shows on TV, I also won't let my own desires get in the way of the evidence. And as much as I want to believe Thabeet can be the next Mutombo/Rodman/Wallace, so far he has not done much to distinguish himself from Shawn Bradley, Dan Gadzuric, Jerome Moiso, Hilton Armstrong and every other similar player.
Um..... Sometimes shotblocking anchors your ENTIRE defense and you completely take away team's inside game, which is what Thabeet recently did to Notre Dame, Louisville, and Michigan. They were completely taken off their game and people just stopped challenging him entirely.
You guys are seriously underselling Thabeet. I understand if people have concerns about him being raw offensively -- he definitely is, and that could be a problem in the NBA. But he's been nothing short of spectacular lately. He's a true game-changer defensively whether he's getting blocks, hedging screens, or getting rebounds. He is a presence.
Trying to make the case that he's not a good defender is just ludicrous at this point.
I agree with you. Sometimes shotblocking gets mistaken for defense.
Well that's what we are trying to figure out. Patroling the paint against marginal team's does not translate to being a good defender in the NBA. As I have said multiple times, if he can play this well against higher caliber teams and NBA caliber players, I am fully ready and willing to jump on the bandwagon. However, I can't tell you how many draft busts have looked like all stars against marginal competition, but then struggle against players with greater size, speed, skill, etc.
Look, I am pulling for him. If he can keep this up against better competition, than I would love for the Kings to get him and for him to anchor our D. I am just not convinced he can based off of a handful of games against weak competition.