Tweet
Alex Kennedy: Trainers and scouts are comparing Kawhi Leonard to a young Ron Artest but with more skills offensively. Twitter
-
I think they are discounting RonRon's offensive skills earlier in his career. -
-
If Irving and Kanter are off the board I expect the raps to take a long hard look at him. He would elevate our defense considerably.@sweatpantsjerComment
-
My bad if these have already been posted:
That's how Kanter is moving now. Note that he sees himself a PF. Everything else he says piques my interest.
Kawhi is sick. He got a Mountain West team into the top 10 in the country. Not flashy, but a really solid player. I think he would make a great, humble pro. And yeah, massive hands!
Comment
-
These weren't posted - thanks.blackjitsu wrote: View Post
Regarding the Kanter vid and the PF comment (see 1:45): he said he hates to lose, he plays post moves and rebounds, and he working on his shoot and face up game I want to play a PF too. He loves to play tough game, he thinks that is his game.
I interpreted the comment as acknowledging he is a C but wants to make himself multi-dimensional on the offensive end being capable to play inside or out. I think this is another example of Colangelo's comments regarding bigs, wings, and guards versus the traditional PG, SG, SF, PF, and C.Comment
-
Kanter will destroy at the combine, and people will be talking about him maybe going 1st overall.Comment
-
I like that interview with leonardComment
-
Josh Selby - Lottery?
Another guy starting to get mentioned as lottery talent is Josh Selby.jeff_hostetler wrote: View Post
From January:1. Josh Selby is a lottery talent
Last year I was wowed by the play of Avery Bradley and Lance Stephenson at Impact. Both Bradley and Stephenson were high school phenoms and lottery-type talents who struggled as college freshmen in their respective programs.
This year Impact has a similar player -- Kansas Jayhawks guard Josh Selby. Like Stephenson, he was considered one of the top five high school players in the country. Like Stephenson, he really struggled as a freshman. And like Stephenson, NBA teams have questions about his character.
Selby was, in a word, awesome in the workouts I saw in Vegas. At Kansas, Selby looked wild, out of control and oddly unathletic. He struggled to create space from himself and made a number of bad decisions with the ball and in his shot selection.
In Vegas he once again resembled the superstar we saw in high school. He was explosive athletically, got to the basket at will and shot the ball very well from range.
In 3-on-3 games, the UCLA Bruins' Malcolm Lee -- a terrific perimeter defender -- struggled to stay in front of Selby, who finished above the rim with a number of impressive dunks. Selby showed off an impressive floater and has the ability to create space with his crossover and then step back and nail the J. He really resembled Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis.
So how could Selby be so good here and so mediocre at Kansas? ESPN Insider David Thorpe had an excellent post concerning Selby in late January that sums up the thinking from a scout's perspective.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/blog?...26id%3d6540109
Recently, ESPN draft guru Chad Ford rightly claimed that Josh Selby’s draft stock is dropping. For a guy who experts in college and the NBA raved about for months, he’s looked nothing like an NBA player, at least from a statistical point of view. He’s averaging just 11.8 ppg and 3.0 apg while shooting below 40 percent from the field. Is he NBA bound, this year or ever, and what is he doing wrong now?
A quick eye test would have many believing Selby is a lottery talent. He’s got the perfect build for an NBA point guard, capable of defending 1s and 2s thanks to his strength and length, and he moves effortlessly in transition with great speed. Speed and power are incredible advantages for NBA guards, and Selby has tons of each, but he does not use those tools nearly as much as he should.
Therein lies the problem.
Remember how average Tyreke Evans was through part of his one and only season in college? Do you remember what happened to propel him to the No. 4 pick in the draft? His college coach gave him the ball and told him to just go play. He did, sparking his team and his career. But that Memphis team did not have the depth and talent Kansas has.
Selby is being asked to play within a defined system, and he’s completely lost in that environment. His DNA says “go go go,” but his system requires establishing paint dominance with the Kansas bigs, then reading the defense and delivering the ball to the best positioned teammate. Without doubt, this new way of playing is causing him all sorts of problems, mostly taking him out of his comfort zone. He’s thinking instead of playing.
But now I’ll remind you of two other players who were not great, or even very good, in college: Jrue Holiday and Russell Westbrook. Both played in a similar system at UCLA, if only at a slower pace than Kansas’ running attack.
Holiday didn’t play the point much, a big reason he went No. 17 in the draft, and was a suspect shooter as well, hitting just 30 percent of his 3-pointers at UCLA and often looking unsure if he was taking a good shot. Hold that draft again today, knowing what we know, and he’s a top-10 lock. He commands an improved team in Philly, plays great defense and has made about 37 percent of his 3s in the NBA. And he’s just 20 years old.
Westbrook went No. 4, largely thanks to his overwhelming athleticism and projection as a top-flight defender. Initially, he struggled to properly run his team, even in his second full season, often taking far too many jump shots. But now, he’s a top-five point guard in the league and has outplayed superstar Kevin Durant most of this season.
Selby has some strong similarities to both Holiday and Westbrook, but he’s no clone. He’s not as big as either guy, and he’s not the athlete Westbrook is (no point guard on the planet is). But his combination of power and quickness could be a handful to deal with in the NBA, pulverizing the thinner guards playing the point and outmaneuvering the bigger but slower guys.
Many people believe that point guards are born, not made; I think that’s half true. Some guys have always been gifted to see the whole game, finding open teammates, creating ways to get guys open and generally having a feel for when to shoot and when to drive. But there are plenty of guys who have had to learn the craft, like Chauncey Billups, and, over time, they can be just as dominant as the more natural guys.
There are teams who employ their point guards more like a scoring guards who have the ball in their hands a lot. Jameer Nelson, Rodney Stuckey, Devin Harris, Evans — all guys who dominated the ball in college but have learned to play the point position well for their respective teams’ systems. Selby falls into this category as well and is someone who will have to learn the game on the fly. He’ll have little difficulty creating his own shot in the NBA, but he will be burdened for the next few years trying to run a team.
The Selby story will be an interesting one to follow. If he stays the course and Kansas has a great ending, with Selby playing a solid role, his draft status will stay where it is now and he’ll be a late lottery pick. But if he lets loose in March, carrying his team to a huge win or two, he jumps right back into the top-five discussion.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/blog?...26id%3d6067840Comment
-
They'll definitely be talk. Other than Irving and Williams, I think the board could dramatically change in a couple weeks.jeff_hostetler wrote: View PostComment
-
I do find it funny that he brings up Avery Bradley and Lance Stephenson to back up his point. Neither of those guys have shown ANYTHING in the NBA.Matt52 wrote: View Post
And the problem with what he talks about is that I think it's a bit of a red flag that a guy can't play in a well defined system. And that's exactly my problem with guys like Evans and Stuckey. Yes, you can give them the ball and they'll put up good stats, but what happens when you surround them with better players on a better team? Giving the ball to a great player, like Wade is one thing. Giving the player to a lesser player, like Evans, pretty much limits what your team is ever going to be able to do.
This story does not make me like Selby.Read my blog, The Picket Fence. Guaranteed to make you think or your money back!
Follow me on Twitter.Comment
-
a young, athletic, level-headed Ron Artest would be awesomeComment
-
HoopsWorld Mock Draft 2.0: Kanter 3, Walker 2
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=19782
HoopsWorld staff have 3 for Kanter and 2 for Walker in Toronto.Comment
-
Back to Leonard's hands....
File this under "Holy sh!t:"
With that said, the only reason that Smith holds the record for biggest hands is because Leonard hasn't been measured yet. When he's measured at the Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago next week, don't be surprised if talk of Leonard's hands starts to heat up. His hands are even bigger than Smith's and some believe Leonard will have the largest hands in the entire NBA. At one point during a three-on-three, Alec Burks tried to whip a hard pass across the court, but Leonard stuck one hand out and caught the ball out of midair. Some called Leonard's hands "catcher's mitts" and there's no question they're going to help him going forward.
Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?...#ixzz1MKvfYU6RComment
-
Can he finish with both "catcher's mitts"?Comment
-
I did the espn nba draft lottery thingy and when the raptors win the #1 pick it always shows us choosing D Will. well anyway here is the link:http://espn.go.com/nba/lottery2011/mockdraft
Try for your selvesComment
Comment