First impressions of Shelden (post-Blazers game)
- Thread starter OptimusRhyme
- Start date
He had very little game time to draw any conclusions from. Even if he did, its way to early to draw any reasonable conclusions.
Remeber how good Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner and Corliss looked when we first got the for Webber. IIRC Thomas even had a triple double game somewhere in there and Skinner was a monster on the boards and was giving us some much needed shot-blocking. Fast forward a year or two and we seeing just how crappy Kenny is.
A big kid who doesn't mind throwing his weight around and they are always good to have but nothing of any significance can be concluded from this game.
Remeber how good Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner and Corliss looked when we first got the for Webber. IIRC Thomas even had a triple double game somewhere in there and Skinner was a monster on the boards and was giving us some much needed shot-blocking. Fast forward a year or two and we seeing just how crappy Kenny is.
A big kid who doesn't mind throwing his weight around and they are always good to have but nothing of any significance can be concluded from this game.
Sheldon was the 5th overall player drafted with Justin was not drafted at all. Justin showed that he was one dimensional, something Sheldon is not. Both probably have many years left in their professional careers, but Sheldon is not a project at this point maybe looking to head back to the D-League.
Well...if Justin was one-dimensional, he really, really exceled at being one-dimensional at the things most valued upon by the league...rebounding and shotblocking. Where former Kings summer camp invites Lonnie Jones, Anwar Ferguson and others haven't succeeded, the fact that Justin even placed himself in the rebounds per 48 minutes top 10 category, despite limited playing time and limited overall game time, speaks volumes. Now, if Justin was, say a shooter, he'd be discarded by us easily...those are commonplace in the league.
I agree though that Shelden has more skills than Justin...obviously, that has to come with being the 5th overall pick, the general talent package...and Shelden does have a solid foundation of good base, good shooting touch and rebounding ability. I don't quite think he's the insane rebounding machine that was Justin Williams, but early returns in his rookie year suggest that he's a pretty good rebounder and can actually be an impact one if he sticks to boxing out and being very aggressive as opposed to athletically grabbing the boards. The shotblocking...stymied in the NBA, but will pick up a couple here and there. Showed a nice one tonight, but I don't anticipate much from him in blocks. He'll get brownie points out of aggression though.
I agree though that Shelden has more skills than Justin...obviously, that has to come with being the 5th overall pick, the general talent package...and Shelden does have a solid foundation of good base, good shooting touch and rebounding ability. I don't quite think he's the insane rebounding machine that was Justin Williams, but early returns in his rookie year suggest that he's a pretty good rebounder and can actually be an impact one if he sticks to boxing out and being very aggressive as opposed to athletically grabbing the boards. The shotblocking...stymied in the NBA, but will pick up a couple here and there. Showed a nice one tonight, but I don't anticipate much from him in blocks. He'll get brownie points out of aggression though.
Here it comes.....I have the been one of the biggest Justin supporters on this site (and others) time and time again. Look back and see if you do not recall. I am bummed he is going and will develope elsewhere or maybe even not get another chance. I have no question that Shelden will be better. It is pretty much a no-brainer.
At least coach will play him.
At least coach will play him.
I happened to enjoy Justin's tantalizing potential--made tantalizing all the more since he saw sporadic minutes with us. He definitely has legit and even standout NBA assets, and all he needs is the ability to instill confidence in a coach to give him more playing time. He has fatal flaws in categories such as scoring on anything other than putbacks and dump offs, but there is something to said about freak athletes, and Justin was one of them.
Shelden...not quite the ceiling Justin has, but will certianly endear himself to most of us simply due to his aggression (like he showed tonight) and his ability to hit the mid-range shot and score in the blocks at times. Hopefully he can do this consistently.
Shelden...not quite the ceiling Justin has, but will certianly endear himself to most of us simply due to his aggression (like he showed tonight) and his ability to hit the mid-range shot and score in the blocks at times. Hopefully he can do this consistently.
You're right about one game not being enough to conclude from. However, I don't think the comparisons with the Philadelphia Experiment are fair. Kenny and Corliss were both useful players during their primes. Corliss won 6th man of the year and a championship. Kenny was a double double machine who played solid man D, although he was hampered by a poor attitude. Their problems in Sac had more to do with attitude, age and overpayment. Skinner on the other hand was just a marginal NBA talent. Williams should never have been the #5 pick, but he will have a place in the NBA more on par with the first two.
Yeah, that's a good question. From my POV, here is Shelden's immediate challenge: don't be a liability. This is harder than it sounds, only 6 Kings from this year have stats which would completely justify saying that about them. Those with (Roland Ratings plus +/- stats) that are positive are:
Martin: 10.8
Artest: 9.2
Jones: 8.7
Miller: 6.2
3Will: 4.9
Udrih: 2.2
Other active Kings range from -2.1 (Salmons) to -12.3 (Douby).
One can usually get a pretty good idea about what the stat trend will be like after a couple hundred minutes, so if he's given a lot of PT, we should know within a couple of weeks who was the better match for the Kings.
We can watch both their careers over the next several years as well, but that's for those who aren't in any hurry to get an answer.
Martin: 10.8
Artest: 9.2
Jones: 8.7
Miller: 6.2
3Will: 4.9
Udrih: 2.2
Other active Kings range from -2.1 (Salmons) to -12.3 (Douby).
One can usually get a pretty good idea about what the stat trend will be like after a couple hundred minutes, so if he's given a lot of PT, we should know within a couple of weeks who was the better match for the Kings.
We can watch both their careers over the next several years as well, but that's for those who aren't in any hurry to get an answer.
I liked what I saw. He is a good post player on offense and defense. I can see why he is called the landlord.
Imagine if someone Bonzi Wells' agent didn't get greedy and we still had him. Bonzi, Ron, and Sheldon would make one tough lineup with a lot of D and 3 monsters in the paint. But that is just a dream. Odds are likely that Ron may not be here next year so the Kings will have a mediocre low post game as usual.
Imagine if someone Bonzi Wells' agent didn't get greedy and we still had him. Bonzi, Ron, and Sheldon would make one tough lineup with a lot of D and 3 monsters in the paint. But that is just a dream. Odds are likely that Ron may not be here next year so the Kings will have a mediocre low post game as usual.