Aldrich is a big yawn. If we had a pick that was 12 or below then fine. If that's the best you can get, that's the best you can get. But top 6 or 7? That's where I have a problem. Maybe the draft is that weak? Basically, you're describing a Jason Thompson kind of player, right? I noticed you didn't mention Aldrich's offense. So you're looking at a good garbage type player, right? If that's the best the Kings can do, then the draft is going to be a bust. I hope the argument is moot because we end up with the first or second pick in the draft.
As far as Pittman's D, he smothered the #1 pick in the draft last year, and that's with more lbs than he has now. I'll take that for 20 minutes.
Aldrich isn't my first choice, but he's the second best center in this draft, and I think this is a pretty deep draft. It may not be deep at a position of your choice, but there are some very good players in this draft. Well I guess I should wait and see who declares first, but in any event we should get a very good basketball player.
I think Aldrich will be a better NBA player than he was a college player. He's really not featured in Kansas offense very much, and its not because he doesn't have an offensive game. Kansas is just a more guard oriented team. But its funny that you bring up defense, because thats the one thing in college that Aldrich does very well. He protects the paint. He's not going to block shots the same way a Whiteside or a Udoh will, but he'll get his share of them. He's a good man defender and a smart one. He's a pretty good passer out of the double team, and yes, he does get double teamed.
He's certainly a different type of player than Cousins, who is mostly a low post player. Cousins is a more physical player, but I would say that at this moment, Aldrich is the better defensive player. I say at this moment because I'm not sure that Cousins is allowed to be as aggressive as he would like on defense.
Last night because I had nothing better to do I went back and rewatched the Kentucky/Florida game and then the end of two other games I had recorded. The Tennessee game being one of them. And I came to the conclusion that Cousins if much more aggressive on defense, especially in shotblocking, in the last 5 to 7 minutes of the game. Especially if he only has a a couple of fouls on him. He can go through an entire game without a blocked shot and then end up with 2 or 3 blocked shots in the last few minutes of the game.
He reminds me of Blake Griffin from last year, where he and his coach admitted that he was ordered to stay out of foul trouble during the game so he could stay on the floor. I think perhaps the same might be true of Cousins, because unlike Aldrich, he is the focus of the offense.
I agree that Pittman will end up being a second round pick. Its possible that someday he might become a starting center. But he's a long long way from being one right now. He's come a long way from his freshman year, so I'm not about to say its impossible. What he's accomplished so far might have seemed impossible when he was a freshman. I would love nothing more than to see him succeed. It would be one of those cinderella stories that everyone loves.
Let me say one more thing. You keep bringing up the fact that both Pittman and Cousins are risky picks. Well in theory, your right. But there's a huge difference in the type of risk were talking about. With Pittman the risk is whether he's capable of becoming good NBA player because of his physical abilities and his skill level. Not so with Cousins. There's little doubt that Cousins will succeed at the next level. The risk with him is his temper and Immaturity. If I'm going to pick between the two, I'll take the guy with the talent and deal with the other problems, over the nice guy with questionable talents.
