Funny how this would be said about one of the best defenders on the team last year but it's completely ignored when it comes to everyone else.... When you're on a team surrounded by some of the worst defenders in the league as an 18 year old playing as the sole big, it's not like you are being put in a position to look good.
Understood and yes I got the Gonzaga game plan. Run through Timme and set up with guards. Chet: be tall, block shots, put ball in basket if you happen to get it. The further I've delved into these prospects...the more I'm kind of underwhelmed by the draft in its entirety and specifically the guys at the top. Jabari and Chet, the consensus #1 and #2 picks by most pundits seem to have....really good role player ceilings. No one talks about Chet like he has superstar potential. They only talk about his defensive versatility. No one talks about Jabari like he has superstar potential. Just that he's infinitely switchable on defense and has an automatic and unguardable release. But almost no other aspect to his offensive game. Paolo is the only one of the 3 that is talked about as having "star" potential, but has glaring weaknesses on defense. Specifically laterally. You basically have to reconstruct your team to make his offensive skillset work and cover up his flaws on the defensive end. I keep asking and keep getting the same "Idk lol probably not but theyre gonna be really good" responses to the "Can Jabari or Chet be a superstar level player?" question. I asked Magic fans, if they draft Chet, who is scoring points? Fultz? Wagner? Yikes. If the Thunder draft Chet, who is scoring points? Shai? Giddey? Sounds like a worse Cavaliers. Do you think Jabari or Chet are good enough to trade the 17 for and get the top pick?
I like how Banchero, in the 2nd sequence here, intelligently "guides" the player he's guarding into Williams in the post, who blocks the shot. Very nice. Maybe we can grab Williams as well? ;-)
Another misconception is that Sengun couldnt protect the rim. I think he and Banchero could alternate the nail and rover positions well. With some smart defensive strategy you could definitely play them both at the same time. Banchero funneling into Sengun could be a thing and vice versa. Both of them share a high IQ and would find a way to make it work. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/rookie-blocks-leaders-2022
Makes sense. I was thinking the other day about how complementary Mobley and Banchero would have been. Eason does seem to be such a natural fit on this team. I like Sochan, but he's also not a true rim protector and I'm not sure he's a long term 3. The other interesting trade up fit to me would be Dyson Daniels -- he's big enough to play on the wing or you put him at the point and cause havoc by adding a long wing down the road.
I personally don't think that Coach K has had as much to do with what happens at Duke for the last handful of years, the assistants have taken a larger presence there. Coach K used to be someone that wouldn't take one and done guys but his high profile and involvement with the Olympic Team, coupled with under classmen coming out have made him a coach that gets a lot of one and done guys with a some sophomore guys returning. Honestly, this years Duke team was not very well balanced or put together. They lacked spacing or any real point guard play. They had Moore but for the most part rolled out role players from last year (Roach/Williams) and three freshmen from the top 20 prospects in the entire recruiting class. Moore got some burn early, but someone had to score for Duke. Griffin was coming off injuries and even lost time in the pre season. Duke has had some recent success letting freshmen lead their teams, ideally they get someone that comes back and can handle a larger load, but not so much on this Duke team. I also think that letting freshmen have such a huge role attracts the top prospects. You look at Gonzaga, and they have more upper classmen in positions of authority. They had Timme coming back as a junior, and their point guard (Nembhard) was a senior and Strawther also returned as a sophomore. Only one freshman on Gonzaga cracked the rotation really. Few just does things differently. I'm not sure that I agree being critical of how Few runs his program, he has a mid major as arguably the best program in college basketball the last few years. It is just a different strategy. A number of Final Four and Elite Eight teams of recent record were reliant on non freshmen.
Sengun isn't the only offender and he isn't close to the worst defender on the team. Wood is worse because of a complete lack of effort. Sengun would be fine surrounded by the right 5 and 3. The problem is that Banchero isn't a rim protector and that would mean it would fall all on Sengun and that isn't his strength. I like Sengun, if the Rockets end up with Smith or Holmgren then he will fit well with what they have.
Got it! Thanks for the response. So is Bill Self doing the "team first" upperclassmen strategy better with a farther reach in recruiting? As a mid major is Gonzaga really viewed as a lesser landing spot for 5 star guys vs the larger conference teams like Kansas, NC, Duke?
So much is talked about this guy but one thing that Rockets fans should be concerned and alarmed is the lack of effort on defense. Not ability but EFFORT. Remember the Rockets already have a player like this: CHRISTIAN WOOD. So would it be wise to add another player who has been plagued by lack of defensive effort in his college career? Again this pick does nothing to help interior defense and rebounding issues. We may very well see a fun and entertaining team on offense next season with little to no defense nightly. Buyer beware.
I like the idea of building around Paolo and Green. Adding shooters and defense around those guys will have us back in the playoffs before too long!
There were many times Sengun would make the proper defensive play but ended up looking bad because a teammate missed a rotation. Need smart players to fully unlock Sengun.
Same with rebounding too, would block out a guy and no one go get the ball. IQ level on the team is not ideal, communication could be an issue.
We are falling into the same trap as every other NBA franchise.. we don't need to just make playoffs we need to field a team that has a chance to win a championship and I want one more tank year to guarantee that with opportunity with Victor.
I don’t know that I would call it “team first”, they all do what they think will help them win but different coaches have different strategies and not one way works all the time. Yeah, Gonzaga in general is not as good a recruiting school as Duke but that can change. Gonzaga is a far better recruiting school than 5-10 years ago. Gonzaga had a great recruiting class last year, but those kids still didn’t play much as freshmen outside of Holmgren. I will be curious to see how well Duke recruits in 5-10 years without Coach K. It is all a trade off.
Sorry by team first I meant playing seniors first and most as a way to win because there is sense in experience. Kansas and NC both had a fair share of upperclassmen contributing at high levels. Duke getting used as a springboard into the NBA now for a while makes it harder to keep that continuity. Makes what Duke did with those youngsters impressive to me even with how flawed structurally the roster was.
LOL I love Sengun but his block averages were almost identical to a wing, Herb Jones. And this with Sengun playing 5. Mobley played most of the season at 4 and doubled his block average. I think Sengun can improve block average to a solid 1.0 to 1.5 in time because his effort and IQ is excellent. Sengun will be much more impactful attacking ball in passing lanes or rotating defensively to help. This is where his vision and active hands can be truly weaponized. But Sengun will never be an elite rim protector, his lack of pop + less than plus length are too limiting.
