Neon1 wrote:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir42vNaqbXY[/youtube]
Here is a video of full possessions of Vonleh playing defense. I'm posting it because I don't think people have actually seen him defensively (or offensively for that matter) and are just making assumptions on what they want him to be or what scouting reports say he might be able to be. I'm not going to say anything positive or negative and let people watch and evaluate for themselves.
He is definitely raw as there were a few possessions where he was not contesting well on attempts in the mid post (didn't raise his hands) and there were a few possessions that he got lost off the ball ( saw some similar stuff with Randle that worries me). However, like Randle, he has a strong base and can compete with his combo of strength, agility and length. If we draft him, let's hope he ramps his motor up a bit. We've seen his motor on the boards, now he needs to transfer that to a concerted effort on his team defense and ISO defense.
As far as contesting shots, it seems evident to me that he won't be an elite rim protector, but he can certainly be a serviceable to above average one. He contested a decent amount of shots at Indiana and led a solid defensive unit. He does have problems as the times I saw him play, he would bite a bit on fakes and pick up some ticky tack fouls. Defensive awareness is something he along with most 18-19 year olds need to improve.
I am a relatively optimistic about his defensive potential because coach Crean has spoken very highly of Vonleh and his drive and work ethic. He has shown a motor on the defensive glass and displays a great combonation of lateral quickness and length that I really appreciate in a prospect. I would be ok with Henny drafting him as long as he thinks he is BPA and we can get a solid PG of the future ie (Exum, Smart, Payton).
Thanks for the video Neon!
