Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part VII

[Benjammin]

But you just have to keep working hard, like Bennett has done picking up 23 pounds of rock hard muscle I'm sure.

[Deeptu McPullup]

But you just have to keep working hard, like Bennett has done picking up 23 pounds of rock hard muscle I'm sure.

Come on, he was travelling. You're telling me you never sat down at an IHOP and had the waitress tell you that they're out of everything on the menu except for two plates of Country Fried Steak & Eggs and a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity.

[stevemcqueen1]

Don't draft the next Tayshaun Prince. If you are forced to pick at 3, take Oladipo who will be the better player than Porter.

In his prime, Prince was a 14/5/3 guy that played great defense. Give him a better outside shot (which Porter has) and put him on a team that plays faster than Larry "4 corners" Brown (which the Wizards will), I think you could have seen a 17/6/5 guy.

I'd much rather have those numbers with good defense than a guy that scores 20+ppg but gives up just as much or more, which is what I'd expect from Bennett. Maybe you don't want to spend the #3 on a suped up version of Tayshaun Prince, but I don't want to spend it on an out of shape version of Antawn Jamison.

Part of the problem with Bennett is that he is more of a 1 on 1 offensive player than a team player. Yes, he can shoot from 3 somewhat, so he can be a "stretch 4," but the problem is that he doesn't appear to be the type of player who knows how to play a team game, because he doesn't know and accept his role.

Bennett scores a lot in isolation, which is something that we have been trying to move away from (and the Spurs do this as well, just sayin'). We don't need four guys standing around watching another player try and take his defender 1 on 1. We're better off having a real team offensive scheme that emphasizes sharing the ball, spacing the floor, and making quick passes to keep the defense on their toes. Porter fits in with an offense like that perfectly. He accepts his role, he doesn't command the ball, he's an excellent passer, and he knows how to make good cuts to the hoop.

Meanwhile Bennett slows down the offense. He's very similar to Al Jefferson in this regard. Yes, he might be an efficient scorer, but he only scores when the ball is force fed to him, and he's given the opportunity to take his man 1 on 1. You don't see good teams doing things like that on offense, unless we're talking about a player like LeBron James. Bennett is not LeBron.

Excellent posts here!

And since Rico is involved......

Rocky's point about gunners bogging down an offense is valid but for the fact that wasn't how Bennett plays.

He's not an ISO heavy scorer and he does score within the flow of the offense.

Bennett is certainly not a gunner and he scores in conventional NBA ways. Most of his half court scoring came from catch and shoot jumpers and from catching the ball close to the basket and going around or over people.

I think Rocky is attempting to make Bennett's ball handling and ability to attack multiple defenders off the dribble a weakness and conflate it with selfishness/gunning. I think that's absurd. His ball handling is a huge strength and a weapon. It'd one of our only options to spark a stagnant offense outside of Wall.

Bennett's not a shot jacker, and he played on a team of shot jackers where he was perhaps the only patient, efficient scorer.

No team can afford to have just one creative offensive player. To the example Rocky gave, the Spurs have Manu and Parker, two of the great ball handlers in NBA history. And Wittman is far from a masterful Xs and Os coach. Our offense is drawn up in crayon, it needs creative players to bail us out.