As of right now, he has to be the most overhyped player in this draft. In the tournament where he "exploded" he averaged 3 rebounds a game. Consider he averaged all of 5.6 rebounds per game last year and you get the picture. If given the choice of Hunter or Dalembert, I would go with Dalembert because he's a better shotblocker and rebounder than Hunter. Both of them are horrible offensive players, with the slight edge going to Hunter. I wouldn't mind Hunter, but it is a little ridiculous the kind of hype he's been getting. ------------------
I think that I would mind Hunter with 5.6 rpg. That is what I want the most from a center along with shotblocking. I don't mind not having any offense as long as they aren't butterfingers a la Cato. The man looks like a damn Charlie Chaplin film while trying to hold onto a basketball. But you have to get rebounds from your Center position because if we keep Mo we aren't getting them from the PF. ------------------ "If you don't understand it, don't try to understand it." -Carl Everett
I kinda thought it was weird when on Foxsports Rudy was helping Hunter in his shooting. I know that the teams want to see the player at their best but shouldn't they have an idea of how to shoot? ------------------ Stevierebel
Hunter and Mo T would give the Rockets the worst rebounding frontcourt in the NBA. ------------------ President of the (the Rockets first pick in the draft) fan club.
I think part of the reason is stock has risen so much is because teams have realized how athletic he is, to where the thinking is that he might be able to play the 4 and 5 (a la Camby). I have to say though, in the two Depaul games I saw, he was a complete non-factor. Very Cato-esque. ------------------ It's a ring toss game.
lol, "shooting accuracy"? Those are two words I wouldn't associate with Hunter's game. Actually I think he might be more of a risk than the highschool kids, and I'm not the only one. He has Cato written all over him. In 2 years at Depaul he didn't improve one bit, and then now he decides to turn it on? Dalembert is about the same age as Hunter I believe, has the same kind of athleticism as Hunter if not better(as nbadraft.net has said), and is a superior shotblocker and rebounder, which are the only two things I want from the bigman we draft. Their offensive games cancel each other out because they both don't have one! They're both projects in this respect, which means you're not going to draft one or the other based on what he "could do" offensively in the future, but rather on what he "can do" defensively now to help this team. Edge Dalembert. IMO, with the new rules coming into effect, the necessity for bigmen to handle the ball will be diminished. If he could shoot, then yes his ballhandling skills would be a valuable asset to set up his jumper, but alas he can't shoot. I'll concede the fact that similar things have been said about other former picks ie: unmotivated, complacent. You could put Kenny Thomas in this category, and he ended up being a steal at 22, but the difference is when people questioned his performance ie: his 1 point performance in an NCAA game I believe, scouts still had to take notice of his 11 rebounds in that game. I don't think Hunter is a bad player, but to mention his name and lottery in the same sentence is a little ridiculous. ------------------ "What part of motherfu*ker did you not understand?" [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited June 26, 2001).]
Rudy is not the type to base his decision just on workouts. I'm sure he's watched hundreds of feet of film on the guy. If he wasn't getting it done in college, I don't think Rudy will be interested. ------------------ RealGM Gafford Art Artisan Cakes
I have read or heard from more than one source that the coaching at DePaul was sub-par at best. A 19 year old kid putting on 20 pounds of muscle and expecting to add more tells me he hasn't matured yet. (What 19 year old has?) Leading his conference in field-goal percentage tells me that if he is as awful shooting the ball as you say, at least he plays within himself. Small differences in blocked shots stats are meaningless. I don't know if this guy will be any good or not. I don't know if any of the high schoolers will. If they were in a bad collegiate program with bad coaching, they might not look so good either. I basically don't see how anyone can get very up or very down on these extremely young players. Like Haven said, he thought Shawn Marion was going to be no big deal. ------------------
Mirsad Turkcan must've been lighting it up in Europe then. ------------------ "I had mine chewed off by a boss one time." -- Behad leaves us wondering if he gets hazard pay...
Moe, I'm making my judgements on him from what I've seen of him, not from stats, and I can assure you that he's not lottery material. That was the real intent of my post, but then I got off track and turned it into a Hunter vs Dalembert debate I wouldn't draft a player because of the fact that they play within their abilites, or even have that as a heavy factor in deciding whether or not to draft him. You're right about Depaul's coach. He's horrible, but the fact that the coaching staff was bad didn't have any impact on his rebounding numbers. That's all about personal desire, not coaching techniques ie: boxing out and watching the flight of the ball, though that could have somewhat improved his rebounding I suppose. As far as Marion goes, I KNEW that guy was gonna be a stud. Not many people got a chance to see him play in college, but I can guarantee you he was the real deal. Did I know he would be this good? No, but I certainly knew he would make an impact. In conclusion, I wouldn't mind Hunter at 18 at all, but for him to be mentioned as a possible lottery pick is quite a stretch. ------------------ The Smurfs were Communists [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited June 26, 2001).]
Like I said, I don't know how good this guy could be. I can say that it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he were a lottery pick. There are at least 20 kids and probably more who have been mentioned as potential lottery picks. The latest supposedly moving into the top 13 is Kedrick Brown. I'll bet 2 months ago, most people, including myself, couldn't have told you anything about the kid. I don't think it would be a surprise for a true 7 footer to be picked ahead of someone (many) with more skills, but shorter. ------------------
Turkcan wasn't the Michael Jordan of the European leagues, but he was (and still is now) a good player over there. And, while he may have had good workouts for the Rockets, I doubt they chose him solely on that. We know the Rockets like to get as much footage as possible and interview coaches, childhood friends and all that. If they liked what they saw in the workouts, they still must have also liked what the rest of the research gave them. If only they put the same kind of work in scouting Scottie Pippen. ------------------ RealGM Gafford Art Artisan Cakes
Of course, I thought the same thing about Shawn Marion two years ago: "bah, he's just some athletic loser who's having some great workouts... the NFL learned this lesson years ago." Whoops... I was wrong there . ------------------ Newbiehad... coming to a bbs near you, October 31st.
Plus, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't Hunter weigh about 225 lb.? That would put him at power forward in the NBA, not center. ------------------
This whole lottery is about hype. It's about potential and athleticism. Hunter is only 19 years old. Do you think he has peaked already? These are quotes from CNN/SI: "Though virtually unknown before Chicago, Hunter did not transform into a coveted commodity overnight. He came into the camp in shape, thanks in large part to Michael Jordan's trainer, Tim Grover. Hunter weighed only 205 pounds at the end of his sophomore season at DePaul. By early June, he had added 20 pounds and hopes to gain another 20 to 30. "This is the NBA; it's very rigorous," Hunter said. "You have to be in shape. [Grover] is the best trainer in the world, and he got me in tip-top shape." While Monter and other draft experts, such as Ryan Blake (son and colleague of NBA director of scouting Marty Blake), say Hunter must improve his rebounding skills,... "He's played two years in college, and he's only 19," Blake said. "So the high school kids are about the same age with less experience. That's a plus for Hunter." Besides his uncanny ball-handling skills for a player his size, Hunter's strengths lie in his quickness, leaping ability, shooting accuracy and shot-blocking skills. He led Conference USA in field-goal percentage last season at 59.2 percent, and his 2.4 blocks per game ranked 33rd in the nation." His high field-goal percentage is probably from close-in, and it is acknowledged that he needs to improve his rebounding, but he is quick, has hops, can handle the ball at 7', has put on 20 pounds of muscle and expects to add 20 to 30 more. Do you think he may be better when he is 22 or 23 than he was at 19? ------------------
