Reasonable and I don’t think for one second your take is about race. I just disagree with you, but that’s Kool and the Gang
I get that you are something of a size queen, but the point is that what makes players superstars isn't their height, it's their skills. Sheppard is one of the best shooters on the planet and he has a stellar BBIQ. Always falling back on the "well he's only 6'1" despite the fact that he's probably closer to 6'3 in shoes just comes off as rather simple minded. You don't say a more athletic Steph Curry isn't worth a top 4 pick because they aren't 6'6.....or maybe you do, but you shouldn't I guess is my point.
You said RS was a so so at best athlete and that he’s 6’1. Both incorrect. You said Risarcher was white when he’s clearly not. You got defensive as hell because your narrative was busted. Just take it and move on
His shooting came off low volume, despite scoring at 70% TS he only scored 12 ppg. That's insanely low attempts. To offset that you'd like him to be tall, lengthy and athletic cuz now you have a fall back if the shooting doesn't translate fully. Calling Reed the an athletic Steph is kinda premature. If he's that then yes he is worth the top pick but we aren't sure.
You guys love making it about race. Matas didn’t do sht in the gleague. Knecht is 23 years old and has no upside. These guys are not interesting. Sheppard put up historic shooting and steals numbers as a freshman as well as one of the top 10 advanced stats in the last 15 years. Production is what interests me. With guys like Luka, Sengun and Sheppard though, there’s a disconnect between their on court production and the eye test - you see slow pudgy white dudes who can’t possibly be as good as their numbers suggest. That confirmation bias is a huge edge in drafting. Morey passed on Marc Gasol because of confirmation bias and vowed never to make that mistake again, that was when he was still part of the Rockets front office so hopefully that lesson has carried on. Just imagine for a second, to dispel your own confirmation bias, if Sheppard was black and shooting 50% from 3 while averaging 3 steals a game, 6’2 with a 42 inch vertical, what would the narrative be?
I'm kind of indifferent as to who we pick, but I find it hilarious how committed some posters are about how much they hate a player. I can't imagine getting this worked up over something like this.
I always say this in the NFL draft threads. How the **** you gonna pretend like you know when the guys who get paid millions to do it get it wrong all the time. Strong takes like that are how you end up looking silly when Stroud plays like an MVP
Yeah, he doesn't force his shots, he instead takes good shots. I guess we should knock him for that. I mean, we have a ton of tall, lengthy, and athletic.....and that's how we picked a bust at #2 overall back in 2021. Also, how is shooting not going to translate? LOL.....I mean, he likely won't hit 52% with higher volume....but we're talking about 39% at worst. Years of picking lengthy athletes rather than players who know how to shoot a basketball is why we're still picking in the top 4 for the 4th consecutive season. How about we do something different and actually pick someone good this time around?
We need another guard like we need a whole in our heads. Our starting center is considered undersized, our PF should be playing SF and our SF is the same height as our SG. And our backup center is coming off injury.....draft Clingen. If either of the UK guards were can't miss prospects, I would be all in for drafting them. But this is a mediocre draft at best, even Sarr has questions. IF ALL ELSE FELL, GO WITH THE HEIGHT.
To add to this, you guys realize that less than a year ago, you guys called a 6’2.5 without shoes Scoot Henderson a generational prospect. The dude who put up crappy gleague numbers and got blocked at the rim more than he dunked it, didn’t play a lick of defense and showed zero improvement, and got the excuse that he was “bored” of the g league. Because of what? He has a Tarzan physique? The contrast between the Scoot Henderson narrative last year and Reed Sheppard this year is the DEFINITION of confirmation bias.
Our starting center is our best player. Our PG is a rental, our SG is a bench quality player. We have a project PG that still can't shoot at all and a project SG/SF tweener who is not quite ready. Our starting SF is a rental who is awful at basketball, our backup SF might not exist. C is basically our strongest, deepest position. Also, the team is one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA. We need shooting and help at the guard spots, not a lumbering traditional center who would cause the team to move on from their best player.
If you are “rounding” 6’1.75 to 6’1 instead of 6’2, you either failed math in first grade or you are pushing a narrative.
You realize the 3rd pick came from Nets not the Rockets right? Rox got 0.500 record this season despite losing Sengun and Tari. Not exactly the failure you are describing.
Oh yes, it was a tremendous success of a season....our #2 overall pick from 2021 had yet another awful season, proving he was a complete waste of a pick, the best pick from 2021 got injured, the best pick from 2022 was basically injured all season.....but we won some meaningless games and missed the playoffs again.
Many things could change over the coming weeks, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sarr and Clingan went #1 and #2 (in either order). Both Atlanta and Washington need help at the center spot. And they both have undersized backcourts. I can't see a world where they take either Reed or Dillingham. And with Topic's new injury today. I think he is out of the top 5 mix. Maybe San Antonio scoops him up at #8.
If he was putting up those shooting numbers on more attempts we wouldn’t even be in the position to draft him. And it does tell us that he takes good shots and makes them. Besides, you could also argue his defensive numbers would be even better too if he had more playing time. So it’s really a tiny nitpick. And look, I’m sure no one has anything against you personally. It’s just HILARIOUS that every white guard is compared to other white guards - even if they are nothing alike - and is considered a “defensive liability” and unathletic by default. Hell, dude shoots with a form exactly like Klay and some people can only see Brent Barry and PABLO LOL!
