Building around Paolo and liking it.

treyk3 · Jun 22, 2022

steddinotayto said: ↑

Just a reminder of how blessed/lucky this team has been so far:

Had almost a 50% chance of not even keeping our top pick in 2021
Had almost a 50% chance of dropping all the way down to #5 in 2022
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it's unreal

the team is ran by degenerate gamblers and keeps hitting.

TriumVirate · Jun 22, 2022

treyk3 said: ↑

it's unreal

the team is ran by degenerate gamblers and keeps hitting.
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Going to laugh my ass off if we somehow end up with the 1st overall next draft

treyk3 · Jun 22, 2022

TriumVirate said: ↑

Going to laugh my ass off if we somehow end up with the 1st overall next draft
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LAUGHS IN FRENCH.

zeeshan2 · Jun 22, 2022

Though the Magic are believed to be considering Holmgren and Banchero, Smith remains the favorite. The team picking first never wants to worry about risk, and Holmgren's body and slower delivery when creating have evaluators a tad bit nervous. Smith, a year younger and widely praised for his maturity and approach, feels safe to everyone, and he's perceived to offer the same level of upside as anyone in this draft with a skill set that Orlando could use.

The Rockets are believed to be feeling stress-free at No. 3, where they'll take any of the freshmen power forwards—most likely Banchero. Houston already made room for a rookie big by trading Christian Wood. Between Banchero and Jalen Green, the Rockets will have two high-level creators to run offense through and build around.
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Caesar · Jun 22, 2022

He does look huge on that floor against UNC

zeeshan2 · Jun 22, 2022

zeeshan2 · Jun 22, 2022

I feel like all my homeboys from Houston would act up if I didn’t ask you the same about the Rockets.

I liked Houston a lot. It’s a great city, just super hot. I met everybody, met the coaches and you can just tell, even though there’s a lot of young guys there, they all really work hard and want to be great. So, I could definitely see myself stepping in there, with the young guys, and building with them. It’s a great organization and the general manager is from Seattle, so that’s a hometown connection and I also had a great workout. There’s a good feeling in Houston.

What did it sound like when yo’ mama chewed you out?

[laughs] Depends! She don’t usually gotta get on me about not working out or anything, because I was always willing to do that. But, sometimes it would be after a game or tournament and I wasn’t playing well, she was gon’ let me know in the car and definitely tell me what I didn’t do right or what I needed to do better.

Do y’all still talk about your game now?

Yeah, but she’s definitely, like, kinda chilled out [laughs]. Just because, you know, as I’ve gotten older and into new levels of basketball she understands my coaches will do that. But she still, definitely, gives me pointers and tells me what she sees and thinks I could do better. I would say the delivery is a little different because I’m not a young kid so she’s not yelling at me as much.

But you know how moms be, they always gotta sneak one in.

Well [laughs]...she’ll definitely let me know that I’m not playing well. She just is less intense about it.

What’s her number-one critique about your game?

She always tells me that I don’t have my hands up enough. Whenever I’m not getting the ball enough, she’d say: “Well, you never have your hands up, you don’t call for the ball, you don’t demand the ball!” That was her biggest thing growing up, that was her biggest critique.

Did the pressure ever feel like too much?

It might seem like a lot, for a lot of people from the outside looking in I’m sure it seems like a lot. And, honestly, it is a lot. But, like, I don’t think I struggle with that part. Just because I’ve always felt like I’ve been able to regroup and get back to normal and what I know. I try not to put too much on myself because at the end of the day: it’s basketball. I’m trying to have fun. So, I wouldn’t even call it “pressure” most of the time. It’s really just a unique challenge that I get a chance to try. That’s how I look at it.

Was that mentality ever put to the test? Because the criticisms about your game, no matter how good you are, can be loud—especially after, let’s say, Duke loses to North Carolina in Coach K’s last game at home. I wonder how you deal with it all. How will you approach it over an 82 game season?

I don’t really pay too much attention to what other people are saying or criticizing me on. Usually, if I have a bad game, me or my coaches have a good idea at what I need to be better at. So I’m not really worried about outside opinions, I’ve got my own idea of what I need to do better.

As far as letting words affect me or get to me: I definitely wouldn’t say I cancel everything out. There’s stuff I hear and see, but I don’t let it affect how I play. Like you said, after those North Carolina games, like the one at the end of the regular season, I definitely heard and saw some of the stuff people were saying. But, that never took away confidence or made me any less aggressive than I already was. That motivated me to turn it up more during the end of the year. That’s how I use [criticism].

Losing that game…definitely wasn’t fun at all. I wish we would’ve won. But we knew it wasn’t the end of our season. Obviously that was Coach K’s last game in his house and unfortunately we weren’t able to win, but we wouldn’t let it define the end of our season.

How do you approach the defensive end of the floor? And what have you been working on during the draft process?

I’ve really been working on my body, my lateral quickness and all that. I feel like I’m perfectly suited to defend at the NBA level. I don’t feel like I'm gonna be a liability, at all. I’m not gonna be a perfect defender, but I’m gonna come in and exert the same energy on both sides of the floor and make an impact on the defensive end because I know I can. I have the ability to do it, so that’s my plan: to not only come in and be an offensive star but also carry that over to the other end.

Do you find any comparisons in your game to older players when you watch film? Any inspiration from watching old tape?

For sure, there’s a lot of guys I’ve been watching my whole life and a lot of guys I watch today. Some of those players like: Carmelo [Anthony], LeBron, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Giannis [Antetokounmpo] in how he gets downhill and attacks the rim. Players like that who are bigger forwards, but are skilled and can go out to the perimeter. That’s the mold I see myself coming from.

I try and take parts of their games and put it in mine. But, also, I feel like I’m really unique in my own way and can be my own kind of player. I want people to eventually say “he plays like Paolo” or “he reminds me of Paolo.” I want to be unique in my own way.

If I’m an NBA GM, why should I pick you over Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith? What puts you over them?

My versatility—my ability to be anywhere on the floor and be comfortable. There’s nowhere on the floor that a coach or a team could put me where I wouldn’t be comfortable or wouldn’t be able to operate. I think being a great leader with the ability to be the star and carry that load, I think I’m built for that and ready to carry that weight on my shoulders. Not being afraid of that and not being afraid to fail, those are my biggest qualities.

Coming into the college season I had the most expectations and lived up to them. I helped Duke get to a Final Four for the first time in eight years. I feel like I showed everything throughout the year: the ability to score inside or outside, distribute to my teammates, defend and guard the best players while switching on guards. I feel like I really don’t have any weaknesses. There’s nothing that a coach could do to expose me. There’s parts of my game that might not be as strong as others, but there’s no area of my game that you can expose, all my skills are polished and ready to translate to the NBA.

What have you disliked the most about the draft process?

Definitely only being able to do 1 vs 0 workouts. Not really being able to play 1v1 or 3v3 or 5v5—what an offseason usually looks like for me—that’s been the [worst] part. Not being able to go live against anybody. Just being able to compete with myself…not being able to have a challenge or having to defend or score that person and figure out how to beat them, that’s my least favorite part.
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cheke64 · Jun 22, 2022

zeeshan2 said: ↑

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Pao is already a professional and a leader, I hope he retires a rocket.

fryjol7 · Jun 22, 2022

https://theboxandone.substack.com/p/2022-nba-draft-final-big-board-part-fc0?utm_source=email

Tier 1: Franchise-Changing Alphas

The best of the best. The pillars of an organization. The guys every team should covet and want to build around.

The top tier in this draft class consists of two players, and it’s no surprise who they are: Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero. All year, those two have been jockeying for position atop our board as the two unique guys at the head of this class. We’ve toggled back and forth a good deal, relying on both analytic models, the eye test on film and a risk/ reward approach to the top spot on our board.

Last year, three prospects filled this tier out: Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs. In 2020, there were no Tier 1 prospects and only one in 2019 with Zion Williamson. While this 2022 class gets some heat for not being elite at the top, there are two guys who stand head-and-shoulders above the competition and redeem this class at the top as a pretty solid group.

1.1 - Paolo Banchero, Duke
Every team needs a guy. The bucket-getter. The go-to guy when games are on the line. Half-court scoring skills are valued in the postseason, when the game slows down, is incredibly physical and defenses hone in on your individual strengths. To us, this is what you draft for. When you have an opportunity to grab a franchise-altering, polished scorer, do it.

Of all three top options in this draft, Paolo Banchero is the clear candidate to fit in that offensive engine role. As a teenager at Duke, he averaged 17-8-3 while shooting 48% from the field and playing out of isolation a ton.

Banchero is big and strong at 6’10”, with a Ferrari engine inside a caravan body. His ball handling is sensationally polished for someone his size, allowing him to get to his spots on the interior like few can. Defenders fly off his left shoulder when he drives to his right. He stops and pivots off two feet without getting bumped off his spots. He is athletic enough to get up over the top of guys and slam it home.

Put Banchero in different areas on the court with the ball in his hands and he’ll thrive. Banchero’s wide shoulders, controlled bounce, feel for quick spins and turnaround jumper give him a complete and well-rounded arsenal for scoring one-on-one. Banchero’s favorite scoring spots are around the elbows right now. He’s a mid-range assassin, loves to get there on dribble pull-ups and has both a high release and unorthodox cadence on his jumper that makes him difficult to contest. The threat of getting to the rim (where he’s finishing at a 58% clip) with his bevy of patient dribble moves forces defenders to back off him, so the jumper and driving work together to make him impossible to guard one-on-one.

The handling ability allows other aspects of his game to open up. Banchero can run and operate big-to-big or inverted big-little pick-and-rolls. He got about one a game at Duke, and they can be a major part of his offensive package at the next level. The underrated part of Paolo’s game is his passing and feel. More than just the ability, Banchero likes to create for others. He finished the season getting so much more comfortable in breaking down defenses, too. He averaged 3.8 assists over his final 24 games, and 4.2 assists over his final 11.

Another unconscionable knock on Banchero is the complaint about his 3-point shooting. Seeing him love the mid-range and take far more jumpers there than from deep has developed this narrative that Banchero isn’t a capable 3-point threat. The numbers indicate differently. While there can be some work done to clean up his mechanics for legitimate NBA range, he’s an above-average shooter in pretty much every way. He shot a sturdy 33.8% from 3 on the season. He was 52.6% on nearly four attempts per game in the NCAA Tournament. He shot 40.2% on catch-and-shoot looks, too.

Banchero’s biggest error on the defensive end at Duke was not giving maximum effort on every possession. There’s a track record of guys who are physically capable defenders that carry a major scoring role in college who find themselves in this exact discussion. Jayson Tatum was one. Anthony Edwards was another. Get them to a postseason series and it’s easy to argue they are the best one-on-one defenders on their teams.

When you draft atop a draft, you draft for the alphas with the highest offensive ceiling. Go for the guy who is so good you have to build everything around him. To us, Banchero is that one guy in this class. He’s the type of player a team should draft for: that 25-point-per-game scorer who is impossible to stop one-on-one. That’s the hardest type of guy to acquire for a franchise. Sometimes it really is that simple.

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KingSamJack · Jun 22, 2022

Stone just going to keep getting hometown kids, Paolo is already a rocket at this point. our draft starts at #17.

tmoney1101 · Jun 22, 2022

Can’t believe the best player in the draft is going to fall to us at 3. Everything else will be a bonus.

DaDakota · Jun 22, 2022

treyk3 said: ↑

it's unreal

the team is ran by degenerate gamblers and keeps hitting.
Click to expand...

No number 1 pick yet though.

DD

ch44 · Jun 22, 2022

IF Paolo isn't available at #3, don't be shocked if they trade back a couple spots to pick up extra assets and take a 2nd tier player instead.

cheke64 · Jun 22, 2022

ch44 said: ↑

IF Paolo isn't available at #3, don't be shocked if they trade back a couple spots to pick up extra assets and take a 2nd tier player instead.
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Who are they eyeballing?

Verbal Christ · Jun 22, 2022

ch44 said: ↑

IF Paolo isn't available at #3, don't be shocked if they trade back a couple spots to pick up extra assets and take a 2nd tier player instead.
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Trade back a few spots for Keegan Murray? Get a rim protector at 17? I can see it.

treyk3 · Jun 22, 2022

DaDakota said: ↑

No number 1 pick yet though.

DD
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that's why they will go for it again man.

KingSamJack · Jun 22, 2022

ch44 said: ↑

IF Paolo isn't available at #3, don't be shocked if they trade back a couple spots to pick up extra assets and take a 2nd tier player instead.
Click to expand...

It has been reported for three weeks Magic are taking Jabari, Jabari is still the only guy they brought in for work outs that is all over the magic's twitter and youtube. I know Stone and rockets get a lot of **** about being open about who they like... but Paolo has been mock as the #3 in 90% of the drafts so of course we will like him if the most likely outcome is him. Magic/Thunder are not going to draft the guy they are lower on just to take picks from houston because we will be ok with any of the top 3.

mario_v · Jun 22, 2022

ch44 said: ↑

IF Paolo isn't available at #3, don't be shocked if they trade back a couple spots to pick up extra assets and take a 2nd tier player instead.
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So they don’t like Jabari or Holmgren? So, in other words, Rockets tipped their hand.

treyk3 · Jun 22, 2022

ch44 said: ↑

IF Paolo isn't available at #3, don't be shocked if they trade back a couple spots to pick up extra assets and take a 2nd tier player instead.
Click to expand...

if the rockets pass on Chet I will quit.

J.R. · Jun 22, 2022

If they trade back from 3, we will stone Rafael.

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