How good could he become? I am a bit surprised he has already worked out at Houston, not sure what's the comment from the organization. He is like the only legit 7 footer in this year draft, perhaps in a couple years of time, we will never see any 7 footer playing on the court anymore. I saw a picture from Chinese media with him and Yao at Staple Center after game 1 but I can't find it now. Anyway, let's talk this kid's game, his strength and weakness. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4199407&categoryid=2378529
weakness- can't do anything but dunk (ie- no post up game whatsoever, no jumpshot whatsoever, nothing!) strength-athletic ability, height, and shot blocking.. best case scenario- Greg Oden (barf), most realistic scenario-out of the league after a couple of years..
He can't rotate on defense and is physically weak too. He will get into foul trouble easily. I'm amazed to see him at #3 on the mock drafts.
if dampier, diops and all the crap 7 footers can last, i know Tabeet can be a legit starter for someone and have a decent career. look at noah. i think they'll have the same type of stats.
No way he's out of the league after a few years unless its a major career ending injury. His shot blocking alone will keep him in the league. The fact that he's not strong is something that any team can fix. Look how often kids get bigger after a year in the pros. I think he will be a legit defensive presence in this league for years to come. As someone already stated, I think he'll have Noah numbers with high blocks.
He projects a Mutombo type player, with deke at the higher end of the ceiling and a dalembert at the mid/lower end
He'll be like a poor man's version of Deke. Right now he has absolutely no offensive game. He doesn't even have a go-to post move yet. All his points come off dunks and putbacks. All the same, you gotta figure he'll develop his post game and footwork eventually. He could be a complete terror if he ever figures out how to use his size to his advantage. For now, he only knows how to do that defensively. I have a hard time believing he's really a top five pick in the draft, but I suppose that's yet another testament to just how valuable size is in this league. It's just amazing that a player, who almost assuredly will end up being a role player, is going to be taken 2nd or 3rd overall -- territory usually reserved for borderline All-Star or franchise level players. I just need to get these thoughts of DeJuan Blair, one of the few players Thabeet faced with an NBA ready body, completely DESTROYING him and throwing him around like a rag doll out of my head before I can move forward.
Yeah, I guess. Lucky for teams like OKC and Washington in that 3-5 range, they both need centers. Thabeet may be a project but he should be good enough to play right away on a team like that and satisfy the bedrock principle of the NBA Draft: worst teams get the best available players.
Good comparison. Maybe if these guys like this only had to hoop all day and work on skills like some of the imports, they would be further along. If he becomes like Deke, thats a really good center and dominant defender and rebounder. You can get a pf to be your post guy like boozer/milsap of guy. I actually think scola plays better with deke than yao. Deke can hide his size with his rshotblocking plus scola can then work the post on offense.
Well put. I also saw the game at UConn where Blair obliterated Thabeet and can't get it out of my mind. I don't think Thabeet has much of a future in the NBA after his rookie contract expires. I can see him being a complete bust. Does anyone know about his work ethic? If he's a gym rat, you never know. If not, forget this guy. He has height but lacks strength & toughness.
Thabeet has actually gotten better every year at UConn. He just started to play ball a few years ago and is still learning the game. If you watch some of the draft videos, he has pretty good form on his shot and can make a few. He was just never asked to do much on offense because of UConn's talent level. Right now Thabeet is a horrible one on one defender and his defense is pretty much like Camby's. His strength is basically in weak side shot blocking and maybe one on one defense with the taller, skinnier types. Blair is a beast down low and anybody that tall and skinny would have trouble guarding. He'll most likely be a PF in the NBA, so I don't think it's fair assess how Thabeet did against a PF.
You had to see the game. I'm not talking about looking at a stat line, I'm talking complete and utter domination in the post. Forget what position each guy might play in the NBA. Blair was playing the center position and Thabeet didn't know what do with him. It was NOT like Carlos Boozer shooting over or driving around Yao. Thabeet will need to bring something to the table on offense to make it, because he isn't lights out on defense. If he's a late-comer to basketball, maybe that will happen. He needs to bring more aggression and nastiness on both ends of the floor. He also needs to hit the weight room hard and gain a lot of strength. I think Thabeet is going to be shell-shocked by physicality and athleticism of the NBA. I have nothing against the guy, but I didn't feel like I was watching a future NBA starter the 4-5 times I saw him play.
I think nowadays when an over 7ft player's NBA career is evaluated, we can hardly look into a franchise-player type of future. The ball game is simply changed. So if we changed our view a bit, say, do you think this kid can be a solid part of a front runner team in the league? How are his fundamentals, like his foot work under the basket, shooting forms, etc? Comparing his colleague games against Brook Lopez's, whose demonstrates a brighter future?
