we need a big man who can compliment yao. someone athletic and can defend the post like deke and run the floor when we use the run and gun style offense. joey dorsey would be a good pick, but not in the 1st round. he also better measure out at a legit 6'9 and have long arms. but he's the type of backup we need. if thabeet or hibbert is there, i find it very hard to pass up either. even though hibbert doesnt exactly fit what we need, i think he'd be a very safe pick, especially as a backup C. jason thompson is more of a PF at 6'10 240lbs, but he's like a smaller yao. athletic and can shoot the ball from outside and he's got some shotblocking skills. isnt a real paint defender though. we really dont need a backup SG/SF since tmac and battier hardly ever come out of the game. itd be nice, but i think a backup big man is a bigger need since yao's been injury prone the past few years. however, if there isnt a capable big man available, id go with a SG/SF. i dont think brandon rush has what it takes to be a really good nba player like others do. why? because he cant handle the ball worth crap. that really limits his potential and he's already older than most juniors and i doubt he'll ever improved his handles. he's limited to being a defensive specialist who can shoot from outside and slash to the bucket for alley oops. tyler smith is a good all around player, but again, he doesnt have the ball handling to be a go to type player in mcgrady's stead. isnt a great outside shooter either. chris douglas roberts would be the best pick out of the SG/SF's. he can handle the ball and create shots and offense for himself, something the others cant do. might not ever be a superstar player, but he'd be a good guy to have coming off the bench.
javale mcgee would be a nice pick as well. robin lopez might be the perfect pick to backup yao, but something tells me he could be a real bust because he's kind of a stiff out there. however, if he's limited to defending the paint and grabbing rebounds and blocking shots, i think he might turn out to be a valuable backup.
Robin Lopez is a total stiff and got worked by Dexter Pittman. I haven't seen the Thabeet guy play but if Roy Hibbert is on the board, Morey will run to the podium to take him. Hibbert was a top-10 pick if he came out last year. His last game at Georgetown cost him some serious coin. Chris Douglas-Roberts would be a good backup swingman to spell Shane and T-Mac. He's quick and athletic with good length -> something this team doesn't have. Also, if DJ Augustin falls to us here, he's also worth a long look.
If Augustin falls to us, we take him and use Brooks for trade bait. We can't have two munchkin point guards even if they are both fast and decent shooters. Of course, Augustin will go before #15.
now that i think about it, i think if thabeet was there, we'd probably pass. he doesnt fit the morey moneyball philosophy IMO. he did show ALOT of improvement though, and it's hard to ignore his shot blocking ability and height/length. i mean...7'3 265lbs and he can run the floor and averaged 4.5 blocks in a major conference and he still has a ton of potential. not to mention he went to highschool in houston. i think he's a lottery pick though. hibbert on the other hand is a big space clogging type. his production really doesnt match his size though. you'd think a 7'2 275lb guy would be able to grab more than 7 boards a game and block more than 2.5 shots per game at the college level. he's slow footed and isnt very athletic. it would be hard to pass on him, but i just dont think he fits what we need. remember, we need a backup guy who compliments yao, and hibbert just seems like a less athletic shorter version of yao. theres a good chance he could be there at our pick. i hope he isnt though.
I don't care who they draft but I'm dead-arse tired of the under-sized and under-athletic. Under-sized was the reason I wanted David Lee (and Francisco Garcia...drat) over Luther Head. Almost everyone (with the possible exception of DJ Augustin) in the mid 20's is a risk. Risk on "bigs" and stay away from 4 year players. They're already near the peak. And in the case of Hibbert? Life long NBA backup at the best. It's deeper than this year's NCAA tourney. Oden (as a freshman) demolished Hibbert in last year's tournament.
Considering our two wing players developing overseas in Newley and Eliyahu arent nba ready yet. We should probably look into getting a wing player because they will be bpa at the spot we are drafting. Or maybe we can trade down and go for joey dorsey or dj white. I think that if we have a second rounder this year, we invest it in another overseas player. With a set rotation (cap wise) of alston, mcgrady, battier, scola, yao, landry, jackson next year i think it would be wise to maybe look into possible free agents like desagana diop or jarvis hayes to plug up some holes we have. Morey luckly set us up very nicely for this offseason to get a decent free agent. And for the sake of the team, please no more deke. I love everything he's given this team but his D is supremely overrated. And he wags the finger after every block and doesnt get back on defense if the team gets the ball back after he blocks it. This usually results in an open basket, negating his block. Imagine joey dorsey or diop going for two blocks in a row in that situation.
I could be wrong but my recollection is that Mutombo nevers "wags" until a Rocket has secured possession of the basketball. And I'm further certain I've seen him block or intimidate multiple opponent's shots.
Oh man. I do believe Morey is going to be Gater bait come draft day. If the last draft is any indicator, he believes size and youth are over-valued late in the first round. Both of the guys he picked were under-sized and 22 years of age. I won't be surprised if that happens again. I also won't be disappointed. I think he did an amazing job in picking Brooks and Landry.
What are the plus and minus points of Courtney Lee? Is he worth going after when the Rockets pick? He looks a bit short for a 2 guard to me but I admit he is a bit intriguing.
Having a scout at a game doesn't mean much but at least it points to where a team has been looking. http://auburnbeat.blogspot.com/2008/01/scout-troop.html The only Arkansas player in listed in the mocks so far is Sonny Weems a 6-6 SG. He's being projected as a very late second rounder. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Sonny-Weems-330/ http://nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/sonnyweems.html <object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z64oJTF0Au8&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z64oJTF0Au8&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>
maybe he was looking at darian townes as a possible UDFA 6'10 245lbs 12ppg 6rpg 1.1bpg in 23 mpg i have no idea who he is, just looked at the arkansas stats. he has a pretty good track record for blocking shots at 1.6bpg his first 3 years. not bad considering he averaged about 20mpg in those 3 seasons. or possibly steven hill, the other center on the team. shared starts with townes. has no offense and is a poor rebounder, but in 20mpg in his career, he averaged about 2.5bpg. both may be possible targets as UDFA that we can stash in the dleague
Not sure how to approach this... First and foremost...there is a well-founded diversity of opinion as to whether Adelman "discovered" Brooks and whether a Rocket's Big 10 scout "discovered" Landry. You could build a strong case in either direction. Secondly, John Hollinger (like Morey) also dabbles in heavy duty statistical analysis. For PF's, Hollinger had Landry ranked below Sean Williams, Big Baby, McRoberts and Fazekas. The logic? You subtract upside for 4 year players. I won't tell you Landry hasn't surprised me. However, apart from the age factor, I will tell you Landry dropped draftwise because of a knee injury. If you are absolutely and 100% convinced that Landry's knee is NOT a chronic condition...you can worship at the altar of Morey. Personnally, I've chosen to wait. Before you begin to crow about Brooks...who has also surprised me...perhaps we need to step back and ask oursleves...how comfortable would we be with Brooks as the starter in the playoffs? Think about it. Here's a 4 year college player that was moved behind BJax in the depth charts. The same Bobby Jackson who was made expendable in NO by Jannero Pargo. Let me repeat...Jannero Pargo. Someone that can't displace Jannero Pargo or BJax after playing 4 years in the PAC 10. I'm supposed to regard this as "amazing"? Excuse me while I wait a season or 2.
Gater, Knowing we are drafting late in the first, what players would you be targeting to draft, or if you would trade, what is a realistic trade involving the pick?
jopatmc - In all honesty...I'm not smart enough to have 100% of that answer. At least not at an individual player level. That said, I'm intrigued by Serge Ibaka who could be mentored by Deke. The 20 yo 7'1" Ante Tomic who is skinny but young and who being Croation may interest Rudy T to return to the Rox with a mentoring role. Douglas-Roberts of Memphis (although a Jr) knows what it's like to play the game always in high gear. The one person I watched with great interest during the NCAA's was West Virginia's Joe Alexander. He's a Jr and at 6'8" sort of an NBA tweener. DraftExpress lists him as sort of a Linas Kleiza. I'd take that. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Joe-Alexander-1185/ What's really interesting is that Alexander had an almost Adelman for VG coaching change between his Soph and Jr years and did well under both. Bottomline for me...since I'm not enamored with either Battier or Alston...do whatever is necessary to upgrade PG even if it means giving up the pick. Given McGrady's ability to create, a traditional PG isn't a requirement. Not saying they'd be available only interesting...Jamal Crawford, Marquis Daniels, Devin Harris, Eddie House (3rd string behind Rondo and Cassell), Ben Gordon, Delonte West, Carlos Arroyo (worried about the shooting range). OK...too much info. You're now probably sorry you asked!
Actually no. I'm intrigued by Ibawa. Just not for sure how long his developmental curve is gonna be. And I like the athelticism of CDR and Alexander. Don't think Alexander will be there when we draft though and I do question CDR's bball iq and how he responds under pressure. I thought he kinda folded up at the end of the championship game. That's why I've been on the Brandon Rush bandwagon. Rush is coming off a knee injury a year ago. He's a great athlete with very similar size. I think he's got a higher bball iq than CDR and IMO he's a better defender and has a better handle. I keep waiting for Draft Express to update his profile. They say he is a poor decision maker and not creative with the ball. I've seen just the opposite. I think he's got a decent handle and is very good in transition both with the ball and without it. As far as trades, I'd give up the pick and expirings for Crawford in a heartbeat. I think Crawford has a set of brass kahonas and would be a great fit on this unit on both ends of the floor. Devin Harris ain't goin nowhere. Not sold on Daniels. He really hasn't done anything for about 3 years now. If we're gonna trade with Indy, I'd prefer to get Dunleavy, probably give up Shane and whatever for Dunleavy. I think he'd be a great fit in Adelman's system. I think Delonte would be a good upgrade too. I'd move Luther for him. Don't care for House, reminds me of Mike James with all his jacking. Ben Gordon would be very interesting. Don't know what we'd have to give up for him and pay him. I have a feeling this would cause me not to want him though. I wouldn't give up Shane for him. However, I would throw Shane to NJ if they decided they really wanted to move RJ. Shane, BJax, and Rafer for RJ, Marcus Williams, and a re-signed Boki.
Wow. That would be a great trade. RJ for defense, Williams as a change of pace to Brooks and Boki to provide joy and never-ending thread inspiration to DaDakota. Man, toss in Luther for Maurice Ager, and I'd be a really happy camper.
