#60 - Sam Merrill - Utah State

[coolhandluke121]

Look almost Redd-like in his ability to pull up fast off the dribble going in either direction. He's probably a little slower than the slowest, most out-of-shape version of Redd we ever had the misfortune of Max Green'ing though. As we saw with Korver this year, there's a limit to how slow you can be and still be playable, and Merrill looks dangerously close to that limit.

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I think he's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

[Prez]

Look almost Redd-like in his ability to pull up fast off the dribble going in either direction. He's probably a little slower than the slowest, most out-of-shape version of Redd we ever had the misfortune of Max Green'ing though. As we saw with Korver this year, there's a limit to how slow you can be and still be playable, and Merrill looks dangerously close to that limit.

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I I think hhe's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

Apparently he’s in substantially better shape now than in college, a lot of that is probably draft time fluff but just gotta hope not all of it is

[drone3]

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I I think hhe's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

Apparently he’s in substantially better shape now than in college, a lot of that is probably draft time fluff but just gotta hope not all of it is

There's plenty of guys in the league that are slow and crap at D. They survive with an elite skill, usually shooting and have high IQ. I remember thinking there is no ways Joe Ingles makes it in the NBA way to slow, but his IQ, and shooting allowed him to survive.

[ShootingtheJ]

Look almost Redd-like in his ability to pull up fast off the dribble going in either direction. He's probably a little slower than the slowest, most out-of-shape version of Redd we ever had the misfortune of Max Green'ing though. As we saw with Korver this year, there's a limit to how slow you can be and still be playable, and Merrill looks dangerously close to that limit.

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I think he's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

You must remember how slow rookie JJ Redick was? It took him years to become build the shredded physic he had now, but he's proof of what can be done.

[drone3]

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I think he's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

You must remember how slow rookie JJ Redick was? It took him years to become build the shredded physic he had now, but he's proof of what can be done.

Reddick is what 6-3?

[mke_design]

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I think he's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

You must remember how slow rookie JJ Redick was? It took him years to become build the shredded physic he had now, but he's proof of what can be done.

Reddick is what 6-3?

6'4"

[coolhandluke121]

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I think he's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

You must remember how slow rookie JJ Redick was? It took him years to become build the shredded physic he had now, but he's proof of what can be done.

I don't remember exactly how slow he was but I'm pretty sure he was quicker than Merrill. That's the thing, a lot of guys that slow all get lumped together because we can't really tell the differences until we see if they can cut it. That's why I said there's a line and Merrill is dangerously close to that line, but I'm not necessarily saying he's on the wrong side of it, though I would be reluctant to bet money on him. For every guy like that who turns himself into a solid NBA player, there's probably 10 who don't stay in the league at all. Redick was also an All-American in the ACC (lowest SOS 8.38 freshman year), whereas Merrill played at Utah State (highest SOS 4.04 senior year). Redick was also never even remotely chubby in college that I remember.

I think I gave him plenty of credit by comparing him to an old, slow version of Redd. The conditioning and weight questions, in addition to lack of speed, are what distinguish him (in a bad way) from guys like Redick and Korver.

[BucksFanSD]

We're going to be calling him Sam I Am when it's all said and done.

[mke_design]

I dont think he's all that slow - Malachi Flynn couldn't shake him and hes a quick, low center of gravity PG.

[mkegb]

He’s not much chubbier than Donte...I too thought he looked thick but his measurement say otherwise.

Donte 6-4 200
Merrill 6-5 205

Not saying he’s athletic like DDV but he’s just as thick.

[drone3]

He’s not much chubbier than Donte...I too thought he looked thick but his measurement say otherwise.

Donte 6-4 200
Merrill 6-5 205

Not saying he’s athletic like DDV but he’s just as thick.

You have to consider muscle weight to fat weight.

[MoreTrife]

I'm hyped.

[CJTURT]

I get that , but Fournier for example aint faster than Merrill. With your standards someone could say that there is also a limit where your standing reach is unplayable in the NBA too and we have 3 undersized guards. Merrill aint one of those. Basketball is not track n field and the basic skill is to have is to put the ball in the basket and Merrill sure does have this skill regardless his speed limitations. We wil just have to watch him play first and see what he can do at the NBA level.

It’s all about creating separation wether with the ball or without it. It’ll be tougher in the nba than in college , but u never know.

Wait a minute ... Khris is one of the slowest players in the league , and how does he balances that ? He shoots lights out.

Merrill is slower than those guys and shorter/smaller. Utah State highlights aren't going to do justice to how slow he is in my opinion. I I think hhe's going to be a traffic cone in the NBA.

Apparently he’s in substantially better shape now than in college, a lot of that is probably draft time fluff but just gotta hope not all of it is

[emunney]

I don't think he's a worse athlete than Kendall Marshall was.

[CJTURT]

Baby Drazen. Skill set is identical. #60 pick.

[drone3]

Baby Drazen. Skill set is identical. #60 pick.

Like this comp. as Drazen was considered slow and soft coming into the league. But he had crazy high confidence, great trash talker in multiple languages. Reggie Miller used to say Drazen was the best shooter.

Watch on YouTube

[HKPackFan]

He’s not much chubbier than Donte...I too thought he looked thick but his measurement say otherwise.

Donte 6-4 200
Merrill 6-5 205

Not saying he’s athletic like DDV but he’s just as thick.

You have to consider muscle weight to fat weight.

I would be really happy with a body fat % of 14%. If he's at 9% now he's gotta have a 6 pack.

[AussieBuck]

US basketball do weird body fat measurements. You basically have to be obese to get over 20%, guys are reported with body builder % on the regular. This comes up regularly

[coolhandluke121]

US basketball do weird body fat measurements. You basically have to be obese to get over 20%, guys are reported with body builder % on the regular. This comes up regularly

It's not just basketball. Nearly our entire society is living in an alternate reality regarding acknowledgment of body fat. You can't even trust waist measurements for pants anymore. Sometimes a 32" waist is really a 34" if you actually measure it but manufacturers know they can sell more if the customer feels good about themselves when they try them on. There are a bunch of former Bucks who were way over their appropriate playing weight at least once but unless it was Anthony Mason, you could hardly tell anyone here that without them getting mad and saying you don't know what you're talking about. We lie to ourselves about it and we're sensitive about it too. Jabari, Bogut, and Redd all probably reached ~25% at some point in their careers with the Bucks. Khris (during his comeback from the hamstring injury) and Charlie Bell (sulking and drinking after the Bucks matched Miami's offer) were probably 20%. But NBA players are large humans and it's easy to hide 10-15 pounds of fat on a tall frame, especially when wearing a baggy uniform, because it presents as just an extremely thin layer of fat on the arms and legs. I remember on another forum I said even Brogdon could safely lose 10 pounds of fat and be a little quicker while still being just as healthy, and people lost their ****. Then after the ECF a reporter asked Brogdon what he wanted to do over the summer to prepare for the next season and the first thing he said was "shed some weight" and people were still fighting me tooth and nail on it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Remember the immortal words of Louis CK: "Thanksgiving dinner is not over when I'm full; Thanksgiving dinner is over when I hate myself. Here's my penis."

[coolhandluke121]

And the best part is we use BMI to measure obesity, which means someone who is completely jacked with high-density muscle tissue can be medically obese despite being 8% body fat!