Of course they get paid to play five on five ball Carl, we're not idiots here... well at least not all of us. Point is your putting NBA caliber talent up against NBA caliber talent and if I remember correctly, OH YES, that's right Power Forwards do happen to post up in the paint against OTHER PFs in the game of baseketball, is it???? We haven't seen them scrimmage in full court action yet, so all we can do is speculate from what information we get at these combines, or wait maybe all these GMs there are just wasting their time and should just be sitting at the office of Royce White playing Oklahoma/Texas/and Texas Tech power forwards. You should really let them know they're just wasting their time, before they do it!!! Hurry.
You do remember that Royce White played against Terrence Jones and Kentucky already and scored 23 points against them? I think he can do well posting up against OTHER PFs, including Terrence Jones, despite his combine drill results. He also had very productive games against Kansas (Thomas Robinson), Baylor (Perry Jones), and UConn (Andre Drummond). http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/45982/royce-white A number of NBA GMs, etc. may well think that the combine drills are a waste of time (folks complained about the lack of 5-on-5 play, which takes place at other settings like the Adidas Euro Camp). If I remember correctly, Daryl Morey mentioned that his staff value the player interviews at the Combine more than the drills. Many of the team officials present at the Combine were probably talking trades and playing with their blackberry when the drills took place.
It's silly that people here think they can assess talent/potential better than pro scouts who have exponentially more experience and resources. Unless you have a record of predicting breakout players in previous drafts, why make any claims about who will/won't be good?
We know that's not what happened. Morey traded the 38 to Minnesota as part of the D-Mo trade. Then when he realized that Parsons was still there, he freaked out, bought the pick back, and picked Parsons.
Agreed. I'm not sure why people here can't see that this guy is the future at SF. Guy has all-star potential.
Not sure the exact time sequence, but the Rocket got the pick back because of some damage to Jonny Flynn's hip that the Wolves did not disclose before the trade was consummated. So, thanks Jonny Flynn!
Dude we said this about so many players coming off a great year. We said this about Lowry, Brooks, etc. Parsons is honestly good, but not at an allstar level
Projects are normally selected in the 2nd round not the lottery unless they are really young. Morris is 22 and played 3 years at Kansas.
The key word in my post was potential. Do you think a guy with an attitude and work ethic like Parsons is gonna max out in his rookie season?
Well, Parsons and all star should not yet be used in the same sentence together. But just his work as an elite wing defender makes him invaluable when facing KD, Kobe etc.
Historically in NBA drafts, projects are selected towards the top of the draft, especially lottery picks. By the time the 2nd round rolls around, the only players left on the draft boards are seniors. But at the very top is where the Thabeets, Jordan Hill, TWills of the world are taken. The only reason why Morris is still on the board at 22 is BECAUSE he's a 22yr old project. If he were a 19yr old project, he'd be a top-5 pick. So Morey did the right thing. He went with the HR swing for Morris and Motiejunas picks, two players with upside but too many warts to be considered among the top picks. And then came back with a high-floor player in Parsons in the 2nd round.
I'm not sure what you mean by "slotted for the second round pick". The Rockets (supposedly) had Parsons rated in the early to mid-20s on their draft board. When the Timberwolves were on the clock at #38, the Rockets managed to buy back the pick they had traded to Minnesota an hour earlier in order to take the best remaining player on their board who, in their minds, had fallen too far and represented a great value. (It wasn't until after the draft that there were issues surrounding Jonny Flynn's physical that resulted in the trade(s) be recharacterized so that the Rockets just "kept" that pick and didn't have to pay Minnesota. Houston also got a second rounder from Minnesota that was later used in the Marcus Camby trade. In retrospect, "having issues with his physical" turned out to be the single greatest thing that Jonny Flynn did for the Rockes organization.) Most significantly, a project rookie didn't dance during the open practice! A fan was most unimpressed with a project rookie's unwillingness to partake in such lighthearted team spirit activities. Also, a BBS frequenter is probably most confused by a fan's use of odd grammar if a BBS frequenter hasn't watched Game of Thrones. :grin: CH, just as you've been doing all over Twitter, I'm calling BS on his (and others') standing reach. I agree with you that some prospects "tanked" their standing reach measurements in order to increase their (perceived) vertical leaps. Zeller is a legit 7 feet tall in shoes, with a 7-0 wingspan. Those measurements are nearly identical to guys like Chris Kaman, Al Horford and Enes Kanter, yet those others have much higher standing reaches. There's got to be something more to that. Zeller's doesn't have the widest body, so I don't know how his reach is so short. I just have to call BS.
To put it slightly differently, the huge projects are taken in the lottery. These prospects have incredible physical attributes (size, wingspan etc.) and extreme ability (quickness, reflex times, hops etc). Note that I did not use the word skill. Skill wise Drummond is not a first round pick. But his physical attributes and sheer ability make him a sure fire top 5 pick.
I also find it curious that 3 out of the 4 North Carolina guys (Zeller, Barnes and Marshall-- but not Henson) and both of the Duke guys (Plumlee and Rivers) ended up with anatomically improbably short standing reach measurements, combined with, to one degree or another, surprisingly high vertical #s. It is a state-wide conspiracy. I mean, Kendall Marshall has better vertical leap #s than Michael Kidd-Gilchrist?! Really?
Sorry Meh, but Morey did the wrong thing in selecting Morris, a project 22 yr old so high. If you are going to draft a player that old, that high in the draft, he should be expected to contribute right away. Not toil around the whole season on the bench and in D-league. It was just a bad move all around. Why wait another season of the same thing? Fix the problem now while he still has some value. Morris may improve, but he has already lost his shot at a starting gig here. I told everyone here when he was drafted that he should drop his SF fantasies and focus solely on playing PF. Now a year later, he's pissed and we're pissed. Fix the problem now, Morey.
