The Light at the End of the Tunnel – Looking Ahead to the Draft

Nah, Tyrus and McDyess were monsters in college. Authur is a tweener. Most of all, he's not a good rebounder. I remember he could go for weeks without getting more than 4 rebounds a game. I know some people say Julian Wright took all the rebs away from Aurthur, but think about it, the PF should take rebs away from the SF, not the other way around. His stats look nice because he had a great start that padded his stats, but he faded away quickly.

We need a monster shot-blocker/rebounder at the 4. Authur is basically a weak PF. Until he packs on another 25 pounds of muscle and develops a nose for the rebounds, he's going to end up like Joe Smith; who was a real monster in college but got knocked down (literally) in the pros because he was weak and skinny.

Fact is, next year's draft is thin on quality big men. There is no 20-10 player in there.

Dude... Julian Wright took most of Arthur's MINUTES. NOT REBOUNDS. Wright played PF for them. You said Arthur is a tweener at 6'10'' but Tyrus at 6'8'' is a monster? There is something majorly wrong with your logic dude. He was playing behind Sasha Kaun, their only real center(actually took some of Kaun's minutes at times), and Julian Wright who was a tweener but very talented. He had to share minutes with Darnell Jackson(I think) who Bill Self has a man crush on for some reason. My god he is a freshman who wasn't getting too many minutes. He played like 15 less minutes per game than Hawes and only averaged 1 less rebound. He got 1.5 BPG in only 19 minutes. The guy is supremely talented. I don't see how you can say Tyrus is a monster and Arthur's not-btw Tyrus is a skinny "tweener" and he hasn't had any problems you're saying Arthur will. Arthur's taller with a better post game. Just because he has a J and is sort of skinny people say he's a tweener? What the hell that doesn't even make sense. The guy has a legit post game, blocks shots, and will do well rebounding the ball this year.
 
By all accounts, yes. (I haven't had the chance to see Hawes yet.) But Love will play the 4 in the NBA and is expected to be a legitimate rebounder while there have been questions raised about Hawes on that front. We're a mess at the 4 - Hawes doesn't seem to be a good reason to take Love out of consideration, just because both can play with their back to the basket.

2 unathletic guys on the front line? prepare for layup drills. the opposing game plan will be to take it to the paint everytime
 
By all accounts, yes. (I haven't had the chance to see Hawes yet.) But Love will play the 4 in the NBA and is expected to be a legitimate rebounder while there have been questions raised about Hawes on that front. We're a mess at the 4 - Hawes doesn't seem to be a good reason to take Love out of consideration, just because both can play with their back to the basket.


No it's that they're both unathletic and don't block shots. Love just doesn't compliment Hawes at all, and it makes sense to get someone who compliments the young guys we already have rather than someone we are going to need to trade in 2 or 3 years because they mess up our defense too badly.
 
Dude... Julian Wright took most of Arthur's MINUTES. NOT REBOUNDS. Wright played PF for them. You said Arthur is a tweener at 6'10'' but Tyrus at 6'8'' is a monster? There is something majorly wrong with your logic dude. He was playing behind Sasha Kaun, their only real center(actually took some of Kaun's minutes at times), and Julian Wright who was a tweener but very talented. He had to share minutes with Darnell Jackson(I think) who Bill Self has a man crush on for some reason. My god he is a freshman who wasn't getting too many minutes. He played like 15 less minutes per game than Hawes and only averaged 1 less rebound. He got 1.5 BPG in only 19 minutes. The guy is supremely talented. I don't see how you can say Tyrus is a monster and Arthur's not-btw Tyrus is a skinny "tweener" and he hasn't had any problems you're saying Arthur will. Arthur's taller with a better post game. Just because he has a J and is sort of skinny people say he's a tweener? What the hell that doesn't even make sense. The guy has a legit post game, blocks shots, and will do well rebounding the ball this year.

Did I say Tyrus wasn't a tweener? It seems all you look at are the stats: the height and the blocks, etc. Even when Arthur got the mins he wasn't getting the number of rebounds you expect from a PF, save for the first month and half when he was on fire. And the reason he had to sit while others played was also because he slumped.

I'm not saying he isn't talented. I'm saying he's in no way close to McDyess or Thomas, yet. He has a lot of work to do before he can be considered at their level.

As for his size, 6'-9", 215. Name me a PF in the NBA who gets 10rebs or more who is skinny like that. Like I said, if Arther adds some muscle, then let's take another look at him.
 
Sac State got a glimpse of Michael Beasley's potential last night: 32 points and 24 rebounds, along with 4 blocks and 4 steals from the 6-9 frosh.

There's your athletic compliment to Hawes.
 
Sac State got a glimpse of Michael Beasley's potential last night: 32 points and 24 rebounds, along with 4 blocks and 4 steals from the 6-9 frosh.

There's your athletic compliment to Hawes.

That's a great game from Beasley. He's very talented. He'd be my second pick after Rose if I had the chance.
 
As for his size, 6'-9", 215. Name me a PF in the NBA who gets 10rebs or more who is skinny like that. Like I said, if Arther adds some muscle, then let's take another look at him.

Most places have him listed at 6'9, 230. In this video here, he posts up Horford, who is a strong post defender. The knock on Arthur is not size. It's inconsistency so far, but he's just a freshman. He's got huge potential, has a nice feel for the game, and is a solid two way player. Perfect compliment to Hawes.
 
We (obviously) need a strong PF or PG .... But I do not think we will get someone from The Big Three 08 ... I think we will have # 4-5.

So, IMHO we should think about more realistic candidates ... And who are they???

Jordan? - we have a young C already + is he really that good?
Collison or Bayless? - we need PG badly but I do not think they worth it (#4-5)
Arthur? - Nice prospect but I am not sold on him yet. I think he is overrated.
Love? - Future super NCAA player and not that much super for NBA + not a good partner for Spencer.

Honestly, NOW, I do not see how we can solve our problems on the next draft ....
 
Most places have him listed at 6'9, 230. In this video here, he posts up Horford, who is a strong post defender. The knock on Arthur is not size. It's inconsistency so far, but he's just a freshman. He's got huge potential, has a nice feel for the game, and is a solid two way player. Perfect compliment to Hawes.

Many places lists Darrell Arthur at 215 pounds, but even at 230, he's too skinny. There are at least eight PFs in our conference alone who will chew him up alive. The knock on him is strength - not strong but gets by with his length and athleticism, something that will not fly in the nba. His post moves are decent but nothing to brag about at this point. My feeling is similar to many draft sites - Arthur needs to get stronger and develops better post moves.

The perfect compliment to Hawes is 6'10" or 6'11" and at least 255. Not 6'9 and 230 (at the most).
 
Last edited:
Many places lists Darrell Arthur at 215 pounds, but even at 230, he's too skinny. There are at least eight PFs in our conference alone who will chew him up alive. The knock on him is strength - not strong but gets by with his length and athleticism, something that will not fly in the nba. His post moves are decent but nothing to brag about at this point. My feeling is similar to many draft sites - Arthur needs to get stronger and develops better post moves.

The perfect compliment to Hawes is 6'10" or 6'11" and at least 255. Not 6'9 and 230 (at the most).

Yeah because NBA players, especially big men, have never heard of the weight room before:rolleyes:. Of course he will gain strength. He can probably easily get to 245. Same weight as guys like Amare. He IS 6'10''. Or maybe 6'9''. He's somewhere between there. Honestly I think not wanting a player because .5 of an inch is pretty funny. With his length, athleticism, I don't see why it's a problem at all.
 
Many places lists Darrell Arthur at 215 pounds, but even at 230, he's too skinny. There are at least eight PFs in our conference alone who will chew him up alive. The knock on him is strength - not strong but gets by with his length and athleticism, something that will not fly in the nba. His post moves are decent but nothing to brag about at this point. My feeling is similar to many draft sites - Arthur needs to get stronger and develops better post moves.

The perfect compliment to Hawes is 6'10" or 6'11" and at least 255. Not 6'9 and 230 (at the most).

The only other guy who comes remotely close to that physical description is DeAndre Jordan, but he's only 240, so by your standards he's too skinny :rolleyes:
 
Yeah because NBA players, especially big men, have never heard of the weight room before:rolleyes:. Of course he will gain strength. He can probably easily get to 245. Same weight as guys like Amare. He IS 6'10''. Or maybe 6'9''. He's somewhere between there. Honestly I think not wanting a player because .5 of an inch is pretty funny. With his length, athleticism, I don't see why it's a problem at all.

You think I said things I didn't. Did I say we shouldn't pick Arthur? Did I say he won't get stronger? Did I say he's too short? No, no, and no.

If and when Arthur gets to 245 and strong enough to bang against NBA PFs, then we should look at him seriously. That's what I said all along. But as for now, he's too skinny and too weak.
 
The only other guy who comes remotely close to that physical description is DeAndre Jordan, but he's only 240, so by your standards he's too skinny :rolleyes:

Did you even see DeAndre Jordan? He IS too skinny. And not just me, almost every draft site said he is skinny! That's not to say he won't get stronger, but 240 on a seven footer is TOO SKINNY!

He's only a fresh, very raw, and probably won't come out until 2009 at the earliest. It's way too early to mention DeAndre Jordan.
 
Last edited:
Did you even see DeAndre Jordan? He IS too skinny. And not just me, almost every draft site said he is skinny! That's not to say he won't get stronger, but 240 on a seven footer is TOO SKINNY!

He's only a fresh, very raw, and probably won't come out until 2009 at the earliest. It's way too early to mention DeAndre Jordan.

I KNOW he's skinny. But, if we're going by your rules to draft players, you wouldn't draft him BECAUSE he's skinny, which is ridiculous. Just as a point of reference, players like Kwame, Chandler, Boozer, KG, and even Duncan were ALL skinny at age 19. It's very natural to be that way, but you don't write someone off as a pick because of it.
 
Did you even see DeAndre Jordan? He IS too skinny. And not just me, almost every draft site said he is skinny! That's not to say he won't get stronger, but 240 on a seven footer is TOO SKINNY!

He's only a fresh, very raw, and probably won't come out until 2009 at the earliest. It's way too early to mention DeAndre Jordan.


LOL which big would you draft? So far all your responses have been "this guy is too small, this other guy is too skinny, this other other guy is too much of both, this 4th guy sucks".
 
It's not likely Jordan develops into a PF, so I doubt he'll be someone we'll look at because of Spencer. If he develops too well to ignore, then we could consider trading Spencer but then we'd be selling him short and essentially wasting our lottery pick this year. Hopefully we'll have a top 4 pick and it will make our decision easy :D
 
It's not likely Jordan develops into a PF, so I doubt he'll be someone we'll look at because of Spencer. If he develops too well to ignore, then we could consider trading Spencer but then we'd be selling him short and essentially wasting our lottery pick this year. Hopefully we'll have a top 4 pick and it will make our decision easy :D
So who is the 4th best player in this draft pool?!

I know Rose, Mayo and Beasley are the top 3 but who would make the 4 and 5?
 
It's not likely Jordan develops into a PF, so I doubt he'll be someone we'll look at because of Spencer. If he develops too well to ignore, then we could consider trading Spencer but then we'd be selling him short and essentially wasting our lottery pick this year. Hopefully we'll have a top 4 pick and it will make our decision easy :D


I don't see why he can't develop into a PF. And his shotblocking, rebounding, athleticism, and defense would really help us.
 
I KNOW he's skinny. But, if we're going by your rules to draft players, you wouldn't draft him BECAUSE he's skinny, which is ridiculous. Just as a point of reference, players like Kwame, Chandler, Boozer, KG, and even Duncan were ALL skinny at age 19. It's very natural to be that way, but you don't write someone off as a pick because of it.

What are you talking about? Kawme was anything but skinny when he was drafted out of HS. Boozer was not that skinny, even when he was a fresh. Chandler was skinny, but he is also 7'1" and a center - different standard from a PF. Same with KG and Duncan, both at or almost 7 foot tall. Those are dumb comparisons - all those guys are either build like a truck (Boozer) or near/at 7 feet (the rest); none of them resembles Arthur physcially. If Arthur is 7 foot tall then this is a totally different story. There is a big difference between drafting a skinny athletic 7 footer from a skinny athletic 6'9 dude.

As a point of reference do you honestly think KG, Duncan, Chandler would be as good as they are now if they're 6'9"? I can tell you now if those guys are your comparison to Arthur then you are going to be very disappointed.

In fact, guys like Boozer pretty much proves my point. He's the anti-Darrell Arthur - not athletic, but strong and polished. In the 2002 draft, people like you drool over the athletic stick man like Marcus Haislip/Drew Gooden and pass over Boozer.

All I'm saying is let Arthur proves himself. That's all. Anyone who says he is our answer at this junture is just blowing smoke, imo.
 
Last edited:
LOL which big would you draft? So far all your responses have been "this guy is too small, this other guy is too skinny, this other other guy is too much of both, this 4th guy sucks".

I'm a little confused by your constant hyperbole. We've been talking just one player all along - Darrell Arthur, and I said we shouldn't even factor in Jordan because he's likely not coming out soon. What 2nd, 3rd, or 4th guy? There's just one guy we're dicussing - Arthur.

See, the very first sentence you said is the problem here - "Which big would you draft?" Who said we HAVE to draft a big? We draft the best player available, be he a PG, a SF, or a big. We draft the best, period. This mindset that we MUST draft a big man is only going to get us in trouble.
 
What are you talking about? Kawme was anything but skinny when he was drafted out of HS.

Ok, so Kwame at 6'11 240 isn't skinny, but Jordan at 7' 240 is a twig. Gotcha

Boozer was not that skinny, even when he was a fresh.

Um, Boozer was skinny coming out of HS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb-y-Tm32So

Chandler was skinny, but he is also 7'1" and a center - different standard from a PF. Same with KG and Duncan, both at or almost 7 foot tall. Those are dumb comparisons. If Arthur is 7 foot tall then this is a totally different story. There is a big difference between drafting a skinny athletic 7 footer from a skinny athletic 6'9 dude.

You're completely missing the point; My point is that you don't disregard a prospect just because they are skinny at 19 years old. Putting on bulk is one of the most universal things to do when someone enters the NBA. You pretty much wrote Arthur off just because he's skinny right now; well, I'm pointing out that most big men are skinny at age 19 and doesn't make them any less viable of prospects.

In fact, guys like Boozer pretty much proves my point. He's the anti-Darrell Arthur - not athletic, but strong and polished. In the 2002 draft, people like you drool over the athletic stick man like Marcus Haislip/Drew Gooden and pass over Boozer.

All I'm saying is let Arthur proves himself. That's all. Anyone who says he is our answer at this junture is just blowing smoke, imo.

Boozer came out after his junior season; of course he's going to be more polished than a guy coming off his freshman season. At Arthur's age, Boozer was pretty similar; Athletic with good but not elite skills. When you evaluate a prospect, potential will always be the dominant evaluator. It's just the nature of the beast. People don't want to be the person who passed up the "athletic stick" guy who could be the KG for the "strong and polished" guy who likely would be the next Sheldon Williams.

I agree that we need to see Arthur develop some consistency before considering him as the answer, but it's equally stupid to disregard him just because he's "skinny"
 
Ok, so Kwame at 6'11 240 isn't skinny, but Jordan at 7' 240 is a twig. Gotcha

Um, Boozer was skinny coming out of HS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb-y-Tm32So

Oh boy. You're just looking at stats only. Take a look at Kwame during his HS year and compare him to Jordan. It's night and day. They may both be around the same weight but their strength and their body are totally different. Kwame already has a man's body out of HS and Jordan still looks like a walking matchsticks.

I had to watch the Boozer's video several times cuz there's no way I'd call that dude with the broad shoulders in the video "skinny." Boozer was surely not as big as he is now, but he was not skinny; and he certainly looked bigger then compare to Arthur is now. And more importantly, he looked like he could easily pack on extra 20-30 pounds of muscles. Arthur does not have Boozer's type of body. He is always going to be lanky.

You're completely missing the point; My point is that you don't disregard a prospect just because they are skinny at 19 years old. Putting on bulk is one of the most universal things to do when someone enters the NBA. You pretty much wrote Arthur off just because he's skinny right now; well, I'm pointing out that most big men are skinny at age 19 and doesn't make them any less viable of prospects.

You're completely missing my point. Where did I say "disregard Arthur"???? Where did I write him off???


Boozer came out after his junior season; of course he's going to be more polished than a guy coming off his freshman season. At Arthur's age, Boozer was pretty similar; Athletic with good but not elite skills. When you evaluate a prospect, potential will always be the dominant evaluator. It's just the nature of the beast. People don't want to be the person who passed up the "athletic stick" guy who could be the KG for the "strong and polished" guy who likely would be the next Sheldon Williams.

I agree that we need to see Arthur develop some consistency before considering him as the answer, but it's equally stupid to disregard him just because he's "skinny"

Once again, where did I say "don't draft Arthur!"?? What I'm not doing - is calling Arthur the perfect compliment to Hawes when he still has so much to overcome at this point.
 
Last edited:
He may not be as polished as Beasley but Anthony Randolph, freshman from LSU got a nice start at college as well: 19p(7-11), 13r, 6bl. He's on my watch. :)
 
He may not be as polished as Beasley but Anthony Randolph, freshman from LSU got a nice start at college as well: 19p(7-11), 13r, 6bl. He's on my watch. :)


That's some nice stats to start, especially for a freshman. I'll have to start watching more LSU just to catch a glimpse of this guy. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Next years draft

PG or PF? Personally I think we should go PG and draft Derrick Rose if we have a high enough pick. What does everyone else think?
 
Back
Top