But Sullinger hasn't shown me enough to get that benefit of the doubt, yet.
Before going for 27 and 16 today, Sullinger was averaging 17.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. I'm not quite sure what else he should be required to show.
But Sullinger hasn't shown me enough to get that benefit of the doubt, yet.
They say that Sullinger has a big wingspan, and in the games I watch he does seem to be able to get his shot off with little trouble in the post. The fact that he's such a good rebounder also solidifies what I've read about his reach. If he measures out to have a reach at 7'4" or more, then his actual height doesn't matter that much. As Jerry Reynolds said, you don't rebound with the top of your head.
I remember when Griffin was a freshman. I really liked the kid and said so. I was told by people on this fourm that he was too short. That he wasn't athletic. That he couldn't jump. Etc. I've certaiinly made enough mistakes on players. I didn't think Durant would be as good as he is. But if there's one thing I've learned, its that when a player dominates game after game in a major conference, that means the dude can play. And thats especially true when its a big man, because the don't get to handle the ball nearly as much as the little guys do. Thats what Sullinger is doing. And he's doing against every opponet he comes up against. I think at some point people have to give him his due..
KG and Pau may be big PFs and thats why I want us to have that same luxury. If you noticed both of these guys won the last 3 championships and they are arguably the most important part of their team's run. Its a great luxury to have when your PF can play center just as effectively if your center is getting a rest or injured.
There are guys name Donatas Motiejunas and Enes Kanter that intrigues me more because they are BIG. Of course I'm not saying we should pick them just because they are big, or pass on an obviously better player because he is a couple inches shorter. But Sullinger hasn't shown me enough to get that benefit of the doubt, yet. With all things close to equal, yes I would always go for the bigger player. I rather us be the bully then the victim of trying to defend Pau, Dirk, KG with kenny thomas, Landry or Darnell Jackson type. Its undeniable that the SIZE of the lakers front line (when bynum is healthy) is the biggest asset of their team. They lose when they don't exploit that advantage. How many times have you seen Pau or Bynum dominate the boards by getting one offensive reb after another and end up winning the game down the stretch with second chances..
Obviously its too early to tell whether Kanter is good enough to be that guy of the future for us. But if the chips fall correctly and we can get another big front line player that can play, we can really dominate. Its been a long long road to get to this point where we have cap space, 2 main pieces to build around and another top pick coming. I just want it to be perfect. I want to push it to the limit so we are the bullies in the future if you will. I know obviously things may not happen perfectly like that. But that would be the perfect scenario.
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I'm coming around to the conclusion that the 6'10" PF is a myth. Not that there aren't 6'10" PFs, but rather that the idea that any PF that isn't 6'10" is undersized is wrong. I'm not sure how I (and I'm sure many others) got that idea into my head, but a long string of Boozers and Horfords and Jeffersons and Millsaps and Loves and Lees and Brands and Griffins and Stoudemires and Wests and Landrys and who knows who else have started to convince me that height is not the primary factor in the post. The primary factor is skill. I bought into the myth for a while. But I'm getting better now.
Still have a couple of games to watch from today, but thought I'd give my thoughts on the first three.
Ohio St vs. Illinios
Illinois – McCamey (PG) Not a good game for McCamey. Could not find his shot and didn’t really do much dribble-drive into the lane to make things happen. Illinois actually had their best run of the game during the end of the 1st half when McCamey picked up his 2nd foul and went out the of the game.
Had one good play on the night with a great steal and then dish for the jam, but other than a couple of nice passes, just didn’t show much.
Richard (SG/SF) really was the player of the game for Illinois. Shot it well, rebounded, played good defense, and had great energy and ended up with 18 points and 10 boards.
Ohio St – Sullinger (PF) Had a very solid game. Had a fantastic statline (27 pts, 16 rbs), but just played with-in himself and didn’t really do anything spectacular. It was one of those games where you know he’s having a good game, but it was a quiet sort of game.
You’d expect that with a statline like that, that he’d have dominated through-out, but it didn’t seem like that while watching. This is probably due to his lack of explosiveness, and his reliance on playing good fundamental basketball. I don't think this is a bad thing at all, but I do wish that I'd see some 'Wow' from him, but I just don't think that is part of his game.
I think he’s going to be a good player in the NBA. I worry about his lack of height and hops and how he’ll handle going against NBA size and length, but he’s so good using his lower body that I’m fairly certain he’ll do well. The biggest issue for me as far as a potential candidate for the Kings is I don’t think he’s a good fit next to Cousins due to potential defensive liabilities and duplicative post-oriented offense.
Moorehead St vs. E. Kentucky
Moorehead St – Faried (PF) Color me impressed. So Faried did not have a good offensive game and only ended with 4 points, but I couldn’t care less.
He ended the game with 21 rebounds, and unlike Sullinger who had 16 boards, Faried just went after everything and looked more impressive on that end.
He was double and triple teamed every time he touched the ball in the post. He did a fairly good job passing out of the double and triple teams, but also forced a few shots.
He has an incredible motor, is relentless on the boards, and has fantastic quickness and hops. I just want to see how he measures out as far as his height and length, but I was very, very impressed with his game.
I don’t think he’ll ever be a star due to potential limitation on the offensive end, but I don’t think that matters as he looks as if he could be a game-changing defensive/rebounding role-player in the NBA.
Baylor vs. Tx Tech
Baylor – Jones III (SF/PF) One of the better games I’ve seen from Jones. Just really under control. Wasn’t making mistakes by trying to do to much. Much like Sullinger, in that he had a terrific stat-line, but it was done in a fairly quiet manner, just went with the flow of the game to a tune of 24 pts on 10 of 12 shooting along with 8 boards. He really showed his length and athleticism and just had a smooth game.
Now Baylor basically got all of Tx Tech's big men into foul trouble early in the game, so Jones didn't really have to go up against much power and length. That does diminish this game somewhat in my mind. So though it was a good game from him, considering who he was matched up against, I don't think it was as good as the stats suggest.
At this point I still don't have any idea who I'd take with a #1 if we had the opportunity. I didn't catch any of Irving's games before he got injured so I can't make any comments on him. Still probably lean between one of the Jones' brothers for what I've seen personally, though if we pay top dollar for a veteran SF (Granger/Wallace) then that would change things.
I will say this: I think there is an absolute ton of talent which will be available in the middle of the draft, talent which could help the Kings. Players like D. Williams, C. Singleton, J. Hamilton, K. Faried, J. Taylor, & B. Knight could all be good fits, so it will be interesting to see how their draft stock plays out through the rest of the year, and if we can pick up another 1st rounder for Landry or other assets.
I'll toss some more thoughts out there once I watch the Texas/Kansas, Kentucky/S. Carolina, and Boston College/Florida St. games
The nice thing about watching college basketball is that I don't care at all who wins or loses, I just watch the players, and so don't have the agony of seeing a painful loss.
Before going for 27 and 16 today, Sullinger was averaging 17.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. I'm not quite sure what else he should be required to show.
In all likelihood, Motiejunas will spend his career as a poor defender and subpar rebounder. Height is not the only thing that goes into defensive ability: there's reach, strength, lateral quickness, explosiveness, balance, fundamentals, IQ, etc. Motiejunas lacks in many of those areas.
The perfect scenario rarely happens, especially on draft night. No point in writing off players in hopes that the perfect player will appear, you have to do your best to project NBA success. The more narrow your scope gets, the less likely you're going to come out with something good.
Motiejunas is just someone that is intriguing because of his size, passing, high skill level and long shooting range. From what I've seen and read, he is actually highly skilled for someone his size and runs well. He does have trouble defending at this point, but how many young player doesn't? It's too early to assume someone will be a career poor defender before he plays a min of pro ball. Our very own DMC is a poor defender also at this point, but he is improving and has the size and athleticism to be better.
Sure reach, wingspan etc matters... thats a given. Sullinger's wingspan is 6'11.5", thats .25" wider than Tyreke's. He may still be a good player, but I would look else where for bigger and better first before going back to JS.
If you reread what I wrote, I did not write off JS. If he proves to be the bpa then we pick him. But why not look for a bigger PF that has the same offensive/defensive ability first is what I'm saying. I'm bigger on Kanter than Motiejunas. Too bad Kanter isn't cleared to play.
Motiejunas is just someone that is intriguing because of his size, passing, high skill level and long shooting range. From what I've seen and read, he is actually highly skilled for someone his size and runs well. He does have trouble defending at this point, but how many young player doesn't? It's too early to assume someone will be a career poor defender before he plays a min of pro ball. Our very own DMC is a poor defender also at this point, but he is improving and has the size and athleticism to be better.
Sure reach, wingspan etc matters... thats a given. Sullinger's wingspan is 6'11.5", thats .25" wider than Tyreke's. He may still be a good player, but I would look else where for bigger and better first before going back to JS.
If you reread what I wrote, I did not write off JS. If he proves to be the bpa then we pick him. But why not look for a bigger PF that has the same offensive/defensive ability first is what I'm saying. I'm bigger on Kanter than Motiejunas. Too bad Kanter isn't cleared to play.
Stats doesn't say as much as you would think, especially in college. There are often better players that has so so stats in a program that limits their stats.
Though this doesn't exactly address what I said. You're telling me that sometimes good players have bad numbers in college. That's not exactly the same thing as saying some mediocre players have good numbers in college.
Tell you what. Find me a player who, as a freshman in the Big-10, averaged at least 17 points and 10 rebounds but then didn't work out in the NBA because of lack of skill (i.e. not due to injury). Find me that player and I will concede the point.
One final note on Sullinger. I found his measurement history from one of the highschool all star games on Draftexpress and he measured out to have a 7'1.5" wingspan. Lets remember that he's only 18 yr's old.
Right now, at this given minute, if I had to choose with the first pick in the draft, it would be between Kyle Irving and Terrence Jones. I only saw Irving play 3 times, and I've seen Jones play, I believe 8 times. Both guys impact the game. So does Sullinger, but I just happen to like both Irving and T. Jones better. But thats now, and that could change by draft time.
If we did take Terrence Jones though, would we just have to rename ourselved the Kentucky Kings? Has a pro team ever use 3 straight 1st round picks on players from the same school? Or even odder, 3 players from the same school who never played together? This would have to be a first.
Sometimes I think I'm the kiss of death. I ask you to watch McCamey and he has probably his worse game of the year. I mean the dude is shooting over 50% from beyond the arc for the season, and he couldn't spit into the ocean in this game. Oh well, it happens. I also watched the Moorehead St. game. They're not on often, so when they are, I have to catch them. I just love Faried. Some have compared his game to Dennis Rodman, and I see the comparision as to the rebounding and the size, but I think Faried is a much better athlete, and as you said, he never runs out of gas. Did you notice that on some occasions when his coach took him out for a blow, he didn't sit down but walked up and down in front of his bench waiting to get back into the game.
By the way, speaking of stamina, I don't think Sullinger sat during the entire game. I don't ever remember him coming out of the game. I spent a lot time watching Sullinger when he jumped for a rebound, and I think he has better hops than I originally thought. Don't get me wrong, he's no Blake Griffin. But I think he'll surprise at the combine.
Texas - Jordan Hamilton (SG/SF)
A very strange game for Hamilton. He’s the leader scorer for Texas and typically does his damage with a good jump-shot and the ability to post up smaller players. He didn’t hit any 3pt shots and really didn’t take advantage of being defended by a much smaller guard.
Kansas – Josh Selby (Combo Guard)
Had an absolutely horrible game. Was 2 of 9 for 4 points and had no impact on the game what-so-ever. Was hit with a technical foul which hurt his team, and just wasn’t in it at all. Definitely an outing he’s going to want to forget quickly.
You mean the Calipari Kings. Evans went to Memphis, before Calipari moved to Kentucky.
Was Selby on Hamilton by any chance? You said Hamilton was taken by a smaller guard, but couldn't get anything done. I've been pretty impressed with Selby's defense, that might explain both Hamilton's off game and Selby's poor offensive stats (if he was focusing harder on the defensive end).
Baylor vs. Kansas State (1/24/11)
Baylor – Perry Jones III
Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly game. Reminds me why I’m not typically a big fan of college basketball. The score was 18 to 25 at the end of the 1st half.
Not a good game for Jones. He picked up two quick fouls in the 1st 4 minutes of the game and had to sit out. Because they were getting killed, they brought him back with 12 minutes remaining and he was able to avoid picking up his 3rd foul, but he wasn’t very aggressive or active around the basket due to not wanting to pick up his 3rd foul. I think he ended the 1st half with 2 or 3 points.
One of problem with Jones today was that for the majority of the game they tried to post him on the offensive end. He’s got great size and length, but he’s got nowhere the strength of a Sullinger or a Terrance Jones, and he was being guarded by Curtis Kelly who is about 20 pounds heavier and looks to be a good deal stronger.
He also almost never got the ball on the offensive end through-out the entire game. He only had 5 shot attempts, making 3 of them, and he should be getting a lot more touches on the offensive end. He did a good job on the boards ending up with 8.
He did have a great pick-n-roll for a one-handed slam, as well as a nifty little basket, where he reversed it under the basket to avoid the shot-blocker. He also had a travel when he should have pulled up for the 10 ft jumper, as well as an offensive foul when he tried to do too much while driving from the perimeter.
So all-in-all not an impressive outing for him today. His lack of strength made clearing out space under the basket a real problem for him today.
On DX he say he has a 7'1+ wingspan, but the problem with wingspan (and I think it's becoming very overrated) is that it doesn't necessarily mean they have long arms, and it also doesn't mean their reach will be good. Look at Shelden Williams, 6'8.5 w/ shoes, 7'4.25 wingspan, and an 8'8 standing reach. That's a pathetic standing reach for his height and wingspan, and it probably has to do with wide shoulders and/or long neck/head. That's why standing reach is a much better measurement, and how long you can reach comes into play far more than how wide you can reach.
Baylor vs. Kansas State (1/24/11)
Baylor – Perry Jones III
Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly game. Reminds me why I’m not typically a big fan of college basketball. The score was 18 to 25 at the end of the 1st half.
Not a good game for Jones. He picked up two quick fouls in the 1st 4 minutes of the game and had to sit out. Because they were getting killed, they brought him back with 12 minutes remaining and he was able to avoid picking up his 3rd foul, but he wasn’t very aggressive or active around the basket due to not wanting to pick up his 3rd foul. I think he ended the 1st half with 2 or 3 points.
One of problem with Jones today was that for the majority of the game they tried to post him on the offensive end. He’s got great size and length, but he’s got nowhere the strength of a Sullinger or a Terrance Jones, and he was being guarded by Curtis Kelly who is about 20 pounds heavier and looks to be a good deal stronger.
He also almost never got the ball on the offensive end through-out the entire game. He only had 5 shot attempts, making 3 of them, and he should be getting a lot more touches on the offensive end. He did a good job on the boards ending up with 8.
He did have a great pick-n-roll for a one-handed slam, as well as a nifty little basket, where he reversed it under the basket to avoid the shot-blocker. He also had a travel when he should have pulled up for the 10 ft jumper, as well as an offensive foul when he tried to do too much while driving from the perimeter.
So all-in-all not an impressive outing for him today. His lack of strength made clearing out space under the basket a real problem for him today.
Yep. Corliss had a long reach. Didn't help him much in getting rebounds.