I hope the other teams think like you and pass on this kid. The fact is, shooting form, no matter how broken, is just about the easiest thing to fix in Bball. At the end of the day that's just muscle memory, and muscle memory can always be re-written with enough repetition. In fact, there are known examples of this, like with Hayes minimizing his awful FT hitch and Klow developing a 3 pt shot. In fact, Michael Redd started out with a broken jumpshot, and slowly developed into one of the better shooters in the NBA (arguably the best shooter in Milwaukee Buck history). All you really need is work ethic and enough BB IQ. MKG has those in spades, and his attitude is really amazing for a 19 year old. I think he's Kobe without all the ego stuff, and IMHO if he falls to number 4 or 5 DMorey should package whoever is needed to grab him (outside of Dragic and DMo).
Well considering Battier is already the epitome of role player an upgraded Battier is gonna be a superstar. In fact, Battier could have been a star himself if he was more driven and aggressive, as you said he was already an elite Defender and had a set shot going in, if he had worked on his handles and demanded the ball more Battier would have been seen as a max or a near max player.
MKG shots 75% from the free throw line with almost 5 attempts per game, and is reported to shot 85% jumpers in the recent workouts: "Kidd-Gilchrist roared through a workout in Cleveland on Friday. The toughness and intensity were all there. So was that hitchy jump shot. But on Friday at least it was going in. Kidd-Gilchrist shot about 85 percent from the field in the shooting drills." (see link from post by redhotrox on first page).
I don't understand how you can be this critical of an 18 year old MKG when you have the following to say about our very own Marcus Morris:
Andre Iguodala, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Melo, Danny Granger, Gerald Wallace, Paul Pierce, Kawhi Leonard, Ron Artest, Rudy Gay, Luol Deng, Caron Butler, Danillo Galinari, Wilson Chandler, Gordon Heyward, Josh Howard, Chandler Parsons, Grant Hill, Nicolas Batum, TWill, Amini 1. Which of these guys is he going to be able to take into the paint, back down, overpower and finish through contact??? 2. Which is these guys is he bigger than? So do these guys: Andre Iguodala, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Melo, Danny Granger, Gerald Wallace, Paul Pierce, Kawhi Leonard, Ron Artest, Rudy Gay, Luol Deng, Caron Butler, Danillo Galinari, Wilson Chandler, Gordon Heyward, Josh Howard, Chandler Parsons, Grant Hill, Nicolas Batum, TWill, Al-Farouq Aminu You're gonna take him #2 and claim he's a superstar in waiting only to be happy if he can compete against those guys in a few years?? Parsons is already competing against those guys. You don't expect a player to be a superstar and then be happy if he can compete against the other superstars. What is missing in your assessment is skills. And skills are extremely important and can't always be learned. If so, the NBA would have a 50% immediate turnover in every team's rosters because there's a ton of guys in d-league, overseas, or who are no longer pursuing a career that were more dedicated and worked harder than half the guys in the league right now that are guaranteed millionaires.
As a UK fan, MKG is one of the best players to play under Cal (which if you look back is quite an impressive list.) For anybody claiming MKG is a bust, I know right there you didnt watch one UK game. Anyone with two eyes (regardless if they work or not) can see he is the hardest working kid Ive ever seen. He fights for every rebound, every lose ball, shoots something like 80% in transition, and would lay down in traffic for any of his teammates. Theres a reason he will be top 3 in the draft this year.
Keep in mind hes playing along side Anthony Davis (#1 pick) and Terrence Jones (Lottery Pick). He grabbed 8 rebounds a game. Against UL (in-state rivals and #4 team in the country) - 24 pts, 19 reb, 8-13 shooting Against KU (National runner up, 2 combined games) - 23 points, 15 rebs Against UNC (#5 in the country) - 17 pts, 11 rebs The only games where he didnt go crazy and grab double digit rebounds was when Davis or Jones were grabbing them first. I would take MKG in a heart beat, and so would everyone else. You can have Drummond, who is a waste of potential because hes too lazy to exercise OR work on his game. I will take this kid, who wants nothig more then to win a title. Yes he may not be Lebron, but he has every ability to hit 24ppg/9rpg in 4 years.
I see the difference alright. MKG is quick, athletic, a lock-down defender, works hard and has a passion for the game. Sure his jumper is far from pretty but he finds a way to get the job done and I have no doubt he will continue to improve in that department. Marcus Morris is not only slow physically but (seems that way mentally). He's a classic tweener that's not big enough to play PF and he's too slow for SF. He showed very little improvement over the course of the season and when he was given the opportunity on the court he did little to nothing with it. The fact that he couldn't even beat out Chase and Parsons (2nd rounders) for minutes shows how lazy he is/was and the lack of effort he put in during the summer time and behind the scenes in practice and drills. Yes, I'm talking about practice. I don't mean to make this an MKG vs MM thread but if you're going to hype up Morris to something which he is NOT "capable of pulling a Carmelo Anthony/Paul Pierce/Kobe Bryant shooting and scoring barage over the best defenders in the NBA in a high-pressure playoff atmosphere." I have no problem with you thinking MKG won't see superstardom cause not many players do but to imply that Morris will and then say that MKG won't is ridiculous. I hope you're wrong for the sake of Morris and Rockets fans alike but I doubt it.
The problem with that quote from ESPN, is that it's wrong. He carried that team in several games(notably the game against Louisville), as well as being an off-court leader as an 18yr old. His poor shooting is a concern - but he's not just a volume scorer. He rebounds, attacks the basket off the dribble and can defend three positions on the floor. Even if he never gets his shooting worked out he could still carve out a career in the Iguodala-mold. And if he can straighten out his shooting, he's going to be a monster.
Hilarious. Everyone buys into the hype. The kid averaged 12 points a game. Rebounding is EASIER in the NCAA, believe it or not. Carmelo freshman year: 22 & 10 Durant freshman year: 26 & 11 Caron Butler freshman: 15.3 & 7.5 Danny Granger freshman: 11 & 7 Rudy Gay freshman: 12 & 5 Paul Pierce freshman: 20 & 7 Andre Iguodala freshman: 6 & 5 He will be an Andre Iguodala/Rudy Gay hybrid... at best. Not a superstar.
I remember some guy name Dwayne Wade couldn't shoot coming out of college. Wonder how that guy turned out
http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/marquette/dwyane-wade 17 ppg on 48.7% FG and 6.6 rpg freshman year
For every example of a person fixing their shot form, there's a few hundred that didn't. See: T-Mac, the Matrix, Shaq, Marcus Camby, pretty much 95% of all centers ever, Rashard Lewis, etc. The temptation to get by on raw athleticism is too great. You are forced/expected to produce from DAY ONE in the NBA and it is in the coaches best interest for them to continue using their poor mechanics because that's what is going to go in. Over time it is incorporated and just becomes what they do. You don't fix a broken shot by playing more games.
He averaged 12 a game on the most dominate team in recent history. WITH 6 POTENTIAL FIRST ROUND PICKS. You forgot that part.
UK (Go Cats) had 6 guys average between 9 and 14 ppg. 9.4 was on the low end (Teague, first rounder) to 14.3 on the high end (Davis, #1 pick). They played team ball. Tell me how Davis' 14 and 10 compare to other great big guys. Dont bother, I will tell you. Shaq - 21 and 14 Duncan - 17 and 12 Brooke Lopez - 19 and 8 Kevin Love - 18 and 11 That means, Davis is going to suck. Good strategy there, Chief.
