Luke Babbitt is impressing many teams and is climbing into the lottery. I think he would be a perfect fit for the Rockets if he could play PF in the NBA. He measured at around 6-9. Babbitt was a McDonalds All American, but chose to play near his hometown @ The University of Nevada. Babbit averaged 22pts and 9rebs a game, and shot 91% from the FT line. He surprised all the scouts with his athleticism at the combine. If Babbitt is available @ 14, I think it would be a no brainier to draft him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Babbit had an amazing NBA Pre-Draft Combine. While there was non 5-on-5 action, a guy like him proved about as much as he could to the haters with his measurements and athletic testing. He came in at a hair under 6-9 with his kicks on, owns nearly a 7-0 wingspan, and is a solid 220. In the athletic tests, he hit a 37.5 inch vertical, benched 185 15 times, ran the ¾ court sprint in 3.4 seconds and did the lane agility in 10.98. Pretty impressive stuff for a guy who was considered a terrible athlete by most going in to Chicago. In fact, Babbit’s numbers from the Combine were so good that he compares to last year’s top pick, Blake Griffin. Griffin measured 6-10 with a 35.5-inch vertical, identical wingspan, 10.95-second lane agility and 3.28 second ¾ quarter court sprint. Obviously their games are nothing alike, but it’s shocking to see how well Babbitt fared compared to similar sized forwards from the past. Oh, did we mention he shot 75 percent in the shooting drills in Chicago too? Now to his game. We went through nearly every offensive possession of his from this past season, thanks to the service offered by our friends at Synergy Sports Technology. The guy is an animal to guard. He has a deceptive first step and uses a number of jab steps and ball fakes to get by even the quickest defenders. Babbitt is tough enough to get you buckets with his back to the basket, but skilled enough to get by you off of the bounce. His shooting range is limitless, extending well beyond the NBA three point line. And for a guy who averaged only 2 assists per game, his court vision is pretty good too. The main problem that centers around Babbitt is his inability to defend either forward position. He’s going to come in to the League as an immediate defensive liability for us because he definitely doesn’t have the foot speed to guard a small forward and we’re not quite sold on him being strong enough to guard a power forward, especially in the West. We may have to take a page from the Phoenix Suns and go a little zone with him out there, if things get too bad. http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/06/slamonline-mock-draft-luke-babbitt-no-12/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R0_PCqoB0aI&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R0_PCqoB0aI&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c-o3yewadsg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c-o3yewadsg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
This kid is more athletic than Battier. There is no reason he can't guard 3's like Battier with a little coaching. he is stronger than Budinger and just as fluid. I would take him if we didn't already have Budinger, Ariza and battier. We don't need a sf. On the bright side I think he will be gone before the 14th pick which means a better shot at one of my 3 choices. Sanders, Aldrich and patterson.
A little coaching can make anybody more athletic than Battier an arguably top-5 perimeter defender? Will little coaching also make Hassan Whiteside as good as Hakeem or at least Dwight Howard? Supposedly doesn't have the footspeed to even guard SF's. let alone SG's.
It seems that Babbitt's efficiency drops somewhat in catch&shoot possessions. (per Draftexpress) That's bad news for him since I doubt there will be that many teams who want the ball in his hands. While he tested exceptionally well at the combine, the questions about his lateral quickness are still there. With that informartion, I would be scared to pick him in the lottery. Haven't seeb him play though, just going by highlights and articles.
For the love of God, no. This kid is too small to be a full time PF and not athletic enough to get major minutes at the SF. There are several other prospects that should be available that would help the Rockets a hell of a lot more. Adam Morrison did a good job in college scoring despite lacking athleticism.. I don't want to waste a draft pick on another one.
Is there something wrong with these combine tests? Probably not much worth in them if some guy like Babbitt tests well - but still "doesn't have the foot speed" to guard other forwards. Either Babbitt is underrated by the scouts - or those tests are missing something. I just find it odd.
How are you gonna compare Babbitt to Morrison? Not athletic enough? Babbitt tested out great at the combine, He put up numbers similar to Blake Griffin at the combine. Babbitt was highly recruited and could have chose to go almost anywhere. Morrison wasn't highly recruited and was just a good college player. Babbitt is a legit SF. He has drawn comparisons to Chris Mullin because both are lefty sharpshooters.
I don't know how they do the agility test, but I don't think you can compare it to actually playing/defending so I would put more stock to actual scouting reports. The most useful information from the combine comes imo from the measurements. Also, max vertical reach and no step vertical reach are at least somewhat important especially for the big guys, strength test as well. Anyway, every year there are some mind baffling results. For example, Monta Ellis tested very badly in the speed department and he is anything but slow.
It really sucks that the Jazz are going to take Babbitt, he's going to be a stud in the NBA. Jazz supposedly see sweet shooting Babbitt as potential replacement for @KyleKorver - who is likely to depart via free agency http://twitter.com/JonRothstein Utah “looking for a wing scorer who can come in and play big minutes right away.” Dead heat between Babbitt (slight edge) and Hayward. http://twitter.com/DraftExpress
Here are some interesting comments regarding Luke Babbit, Xavier Henry, and Patrick Patterson. This guy is a radio host in Memphis and went to all the Grizzlies workouts this year. Vero's Blog
