Poeltl & Pascal - The 2016 Draft

[lewro]

They were talking about 1st rd only. Steve is a UCLA alum so he liked Powell a lot. The pod is worth a listen bc these guys actually watch college ball. Greg in particular is a good listen. Can't say I agree always but they have their own opinion not just dx parrots. Duncdon, vecenie, kellan Olsen are good pods.

[big boi]

Ya, Delon was a good pick before we signed CoJo ... since though ... wasted pick really. But Masai made up for that with Norm.

I don't think he's a wasted pick. He's an asset. I wanted Portis because I wanted a PF... But maybe we can get a better one this year. I think Masai is superb at asset management so have very little problem with him having assets at his disposal. I don't think he's a guy that falls in love with his picks.

[BobLoblaw]

I was surprised that Portis fell that far. I thought he's an early teens prospect, and I probably got that idea from mock drafts at the time? I don't remember. But I thought he's in play in Miami and other teams around 10s. Miami in part because he reminded me of Udonis Haslem in everything, from personality to talent.

[saints91]

I was literally jumping up and down when our pick came up last year because I thought they were picking Portis for sure. I was high on him, but I thought we had no chance. He was originally in the 9-12 range and then slipped to 15ish, but then kept on dropping.

[BobLoblaw]

I just finished listening to that podcast, I think it's pretty good tbh.

One guy did hype up Valentine's defense a lot. personally I don't think he'll ever be called 3D...

But to be fair, Valentine does have a couple things going for him defensively -- he's freakishly long and very smart. He's a combo guard with a wingspan longer than Sabonis. He's got good recognition, intelligence defensively.

He'll also probably improve on his defensive weaknesses. He needs to get into a lower stance, that's coachable, and he's a very hardworking, coachable player. He dropped nearly 15 pounds since the season, that should improve his quickness somewhat. NBA athletic training, better footwork.

It's possible that he will be an above average defensive player, especially within a good defensive scheme. He has two really great tools with his intelligence and length. He wouldn't be the first slowish perimeter player to play good defense. Jared Dudley manages to be pretty good despite being slow AND with short arms.

So I think it's a fair opinion, even if I personally think that the more likely scenario = Valentine is someone you'll have to hide a bit defensively.

Other than that, I agree completely with everything I remember them saying about him offensively and how he would help this team. I'm not a doctor so I don't judge the medical side, but from talent side, to me he's top 10 in this draft.

[lewro]

I was literally jumping up and down when our pick came up last year because I thought they were picking Portis for sure. I was high on him, but I thought we had no chance. He was originally in the 9-12 range and then slipped to 15ish, but then kept on dropping.

yeah, that's how i felt too. i thought we were gonna be the winner of the draft in the vein of miami with winslow but we kinda had the same fortune with powell in the end. powell trade was def the best of the draft. i think portis dropped a lot bc arkansas has been so good for so long and portis jumped so much from his freshman to sophomore season so teams were a bit skeptical. that's my impression. what i read at the time was he trained with corliss williamson in the summer between those two years. of course, arkansas has never been as good as the days of corliss. sometimes it's those little things that make the difference between getting the right or wrong. i remember with drummond there was a lot of questions about his motor/focus but i also read that he was the fastest player in wind sprints on uconn. that says a lot about a 7' guy.

[big boi]

I was surprised that Portis fell that far. I thought he's an early teens prospect, and I probably got that idea from mock drafts at the time? I don't remember. But I thought he's in play in Miami and other teams around 10s. Miami in part because he reminded me of Udonis Haslem in everything, from personality to talent.

That's what I recall too. I wanted him but didn't think we'd have a shot at him.

[MixxAOR]

I just finished listening to that podcast, I think it's pretty good tbh.

One guy did hype up Valentine's defense a lot. personally I don't think he'll ever be called 3D...

But to be fair, Valentine does have a couple things going for him defensively -- he's freakishly long and very smart. He's a combo guard with a wingspan longer than Sabonis. He's got good recognition, intelligence defensively.

He'll also probably improve on his defensive weaknesses. He needs to get into a lower stance, that's coachable, and he's a very hardworking, coachable player. He dropped nearly 15 pounds since the season, that should improve his quickness somewhat. NBA athletic training, better footwork.

It's possible that he will be an above average defensive player, especially within a good defensive scheme. He has two really great tools with his intelligence and length. He wouldn't be the first slowish perimeter player to play good defense. Jared Dudley manages to be pretty good despite being slow AND with short arms.

So I think it's a fair opinion, even if I personally think that the more likely scenario = Valentine is someone you'll have to hide a bit defensively.

Other than that, I agree completely with everything I remember them saying about him offensively and how he would help this team. I'm not a doctor so I don't judge the medical side, but from talent side, to me he's top 10 in this draft.

But the reasoning I didn't agree with. Their idea was to play Valentine at 3 and Carroll at 4. Offensively I can see why Valentine can be successful. But they believe that he'll be able to contribute offensively right away and that he'll make up for Casey's limited playbook. I disagree with both of those assumptions. Also they think that we're not far away from Warriors and Cavs and Valentine will help to contend. Nah man.

[lewro]

Yeah, I would not be happy if they drafted valentine and I don't fully agree with the logic. Mostly I appreciate a different perspective than the usually pat answers. Steve projected raps at 55 wins last year and I thought that was high so u never know...

[BobLoblaw]

But the reasoning I didn't agree with. Their idea was to play Valentine at 3 and Carroll at 4. Offensively I can see why Valentine can be successful. But they believe that he'll be able to contribute offensively right away and that he'll make up for Casey's limited playbook. I disagree with both of those assumptions. Also they think that we're not far away from Warriors and Cavs and Valentine will help to contend. Nah man.

I think he would be the best shooter on the team right away, I think he's that elite caliber shooting talent, kind of like Redick and Korver who were great shooters from the moment they stepped into the NBA.

But anyway, I agree, I don't expect any rookie to get massive minutes and role right away on this team.

[MACK11]

But the reasoning I didn't agree with. Their idea was to play Valentine at 3 and Carroll at 4. Offensively I can see why Valentine can be successful. But they believe that he'll be able to contribute offensively right away and that he'll make up for Casey's limited playbook. I disagree with both of those assumptions. Also they think that we're not far away from Warriors and Cavs and Valentine will help to contend. Nah man.

Yeah just listened to it and Steve has no clue about how bad Denzel is on D. How you gonna call someone who couldn't guard college players a 3 and D guy in the NBA?

[MixxAOR]

Yeah just listened to it and Steve has no clue about how bad Denzel is on D. How you gonna call someone who couldn't guard college players a 3 and D guy in the NBA?

Yeah he's playmaker+shooter. Not "3 and D that we never had" the fuck lmao

[MixxAOR]

I'm even more convinced that you need to go for upside after Finals lmao

[lewro]

K but there was zero discussion when zarar and Andrew totally blew off the draft on their pod and said they didn't know anyone and didn't care. Blake brought in people from outside RR to get content. And I'm thankful for it. Not saying I agree with everything that was said on the pod but it's better than not having an opinion. 3/4 of those guys have or are pursuing PhDs from major d1 schools and seen a lot of ncaa basketball in person. That doesn't make them right or smarter but it does give a perspective and opinion that might be different from consensus. I value that.
I tried to watch as much college ball as I could and I was front row at pan am. I saw valentine, Prince, tarczewski, Baker, etc. Has a lot more influence on me than a mixtape. Maybe my opinion of a player is wrong but at least it's my own. I've listened to so many podcast where guys say dx has us taking x and heres their analysis. I already know that. I didn't consider valentine but I thought about it after the pod and affirmed more why I dont want him. That's more instructive than guys who just parrot dx and probably never seen the guy play live or even a full game.
That's my rant. Hope they bring Steve back next year.

[tDotted]

I'm even more convinced that you need to go for upside after Finals lmao

Jaylen Brooown