Cook is pure garbage as an NBA player at this point. He has no business being on any team's roster. That being said, Andersen is not all that much better than him on D. He is a lot more active around the basket offensively and getting rebounds. But after watching dozens of his games the past few years, I'm not expecting much out of Andersen in the NBA. He will be able to contribute for us against certain matchups, but he's definitely way out of Scola's league and IMO cannot be a consistent starter.
Even if this is true (and it very well might be), wouldn't you at least say that Andersen is likely (or at least that one has reason to believe that he is) better than Brian Cook? THAT was the issue that Francis 4 Ever and lebigeez have raised. THAT is the issue on which I have been responding. With the bar set SOOOO low (being at least slightly better than Brian Cook), David Andersen could be far and away the worst starting C in the NBA and still be better than Cook. He could be the worst starting C of the past 20 years and still be better than Brian Cook is right now. That is all that I'm saying.
From what I've seen, he's a legit NBA player. Sort of reminds me of Rony Seikaly a bit around the hoop. He can be relentless and has a ton of confidence in himself offensively. But he lacks the bulk, strength, and athleticism to compete against more than half the centers he is going to face in the NBA. So I think it will be up and down for from game to game according to one-on-one matchups. And with regards to sealing off the paint and being a defensive factor inside for our Team D, I don't think he will be able to do that for us. But yeah, there is a role for him in the league whereas Brian Cook is just plain useless for 30 teams.
