Official Marreese Speights Thread

[Mozy-76er Fan]

He is our guy - Glad we took someone with some girth and can score in the post.

[PhilasFinest]

great pick...extremely Happy.

Thanks 76ers 2 years in a row they selected the sixers real gm forums consensus pick...

maybe we should all get a job and run the team lol

[Skates]

Oh yeah, the man I wanted. Truthfully I would have traded down at his point with Koufos, Arthur and Speights all still on the board, but Speights is the guy I wanted all along.

[Ganon19]

i like the pick

[Kunlun]

I have never seen him play, but from what they showed of him on ESPN he seems like solid player for us.

[Mozy-76er Fan]

BIOGRAPHY: Speights is an intriguing prospect in the Al Jefferson mold who is long and at his best with his back to the basket. In his first season starting as a sophomore for the Gators in 2007-08, he averaged 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds. He had 10 double-doubles for the season and averaged 15.5 points and 9.5 boards in four NIT games. Though he certainly made strides as a sophomore, his most significant experience could have been going against current NBA players and former Gators Al Horford and Joakim Noah in practice as a freshman. Speights is long, quick and has little trouble getting to the basket where he usually finishes strong. Is loaded with plenty of upside and potential because he has good natural talent and is athletic. However, he is young and raw and his drive to fulfill that potential will always surround him. Could be a solid inside role player to start his career with a team that has a strong rotation in the post. While he doesn't possess the overall skills of a big man that likely early lottery centers Brook Lopez and DeAndre Jordan do, Speights' freakish talent makes him a certain first-round pick who just might find his way into a late lottery spot.

[UptownPhilly]

I'm satisfied. We grabbed a PF/C that can score in the post. Next stop, free agency.

[Mozy-76er Fan]

Positives: Huge body with good athleticism and strength. Good low-post scorer. Efficient. Quick in the paint. Impressive low-post moves for a sophomore. Good defender and shot-blocker. Excellent rebounder. Tough.

Negatives: His conditioning is still an issue. He needs to work on his jump shot. He doesn't have a great face the basket game. Might be a little undersized to play center in the NBA. Scouts question his work ethic.

Summary: With Al Horford and Joakim Noah in the NBA, a lot fell on Speight's large shoulders at Florida -- and he delivered. Like Horford and Noah, he did big things in around 24 minutes per game. A likely late lottery to mid first-round pick.

[Mozy-76er Fan]

More than any other player, Marreese Speights’ write-up needs to be separated into two sections: the drills, and the competitive three on three setting.

We walked away from the first day shaking our head at what we witnessed—a 6-10, 20-year old power forward who is about as skilled a big man facing the basket as you will find in this draft. “He’s really more skilled than anyone knows,“ Joe Abunassar told us. The first thing you notice is how fundamentally sound Speights’ shooting mechanics are. He’s got a natural, flawless stroke, showing small-forward like elevation creating separation from his defender, a high release point, excellent body control on his fade-aways, great technique squaring his shoulders and his hips simultaneously in perfect unison—and not surprisingly, getting unbelievable results in the process. He operates strictly on the balls of his feet as he catches and fires away, draining shot after shot from 16-18 feet with machine-like efficiency, and then proceeding to step-away and knock down college and even NBA 3-pointers with impressive accuracy as well.

In the post, he has a beautiful hook-shot and an even prettier turn-around jumper, to go along with great hands, length and size for his position and excellent agility finishing around the hoop. On top of that, there was nothing resembling any of the problems Speights had with his conditioning back at Florida, as he’s looking to be in phenomenal shape and had no problem at all finishing up his workout in very strong fashion. “He has really has worked on his body and conditioning,” Abunassar told us. Needless to say, we came away almost floored at what we saw—telling basically anyone that would listen that we’re talking about a starting NBA power forward any day of the week.

Alas, workouts can be somewhat of fool’s gold at times—something we need to constantly remind ourselves as we continue to make the rounds. What we saw during the second day probably brought us back to the proper proportions, for his sake, and ours as well. Speights seemed to fall in love with his jump-shot way too much for our personal liking, spending virtually the entire two hours behind the 3-point line and rarely if ever going inside to make his presence felt.

We need to keep in mind that this was a very informal setting where the players were more interested for the most part in having fun than winning at all costs, but it was still hard not to be bothered at times by his shot-selection and extremely poor defensive (and overall) intensity. When he did decide to focus and take things seriously, again we saw the flashes of talent that made many people think he’s a lottery pick in the making, putting the ball on the deck and finishing a play with a running one-handed floater, taking an offensive rebound, dribbling backwards and draining an incredibly difficult contested 19-foot turnaround jumper while being fouled, or spotting up effortlessly and knocking down an NBA 3-pointer. He has more potential as a two-dribble slasher taking his man off the bounce from the high post than we were able to see at Florida, something that could serve to be a great weapon for him in the pros considering the superior spacing he’ll enjoy in the NBA.

All in all, we still feel pretty strongly about the fact that if Speights is somehow able to harness all the talent he shows and put it all together over the next few years, he will be looked back at as a player that clearly should have been drafted in the lottery. With that said, we can see why he isn’t there right now considering what we saw and know from the rumblings about his overall approach to the game, as opposed to his talent. What we want to know is: how bad could his work ethic be if he went from barely being considered a top-50 high school recruit to one of the most skilled big men in the draft and a potential lottery pick in the span of just two years? Like so many players in this whacky draft, though, he’s incredibly young, incredibly talented, and still has a great deal of time to pan out in a huge way and reward the team that decides to “take a chance on him.” That just goes to show you how difficult a job NBA teams have…especially in this case.

[Mozy-76er Fan]

NBA Comparison: Juwan Howard
Strengths: Fluid bigman with excellent length and shooting touch ... Shows a lot of offensive promise with great touch on his shot within 8 feet of the basket ... Very effective at the pick and roll ... Has good hands and a terrific frame ... He should be able to put on additional weight allowing him to play more physical ... Huge wingspan gives him the length to play both the 4 and 5 positions at the next level as his body matures ... Neither incredibly fast or explosive, but he is an above average athlete with excellent physical gifts ... Still prone to making a careless pass here and there, but has above average vision and can develop into a quality passer ... Has the length and athleticism to become a solid shot blocker ... His rebounding should improve as he continues to get stronger ...

Weaknesses: Struggles to create offense for himself ... Really has a ways to go in developing reliable post moves ... Seems to shy away from contact, even though he has the body mass and strength to bang ... A bit of a finesse guy. Must add some strength and develop a nastier disposition ... Added leg strength will help him to battle inside for post position ... Loses focus and intensity at times, likely more to do with his age and lack of experience than anything, but it shows he's not ready for the NBA yet ... Has good touch but will need to extend his range. A consistent 12-15 foot jump would make him even more effective offensively ... Has a lot of upside, but must develop better court awareness and understanding, helping on defense where to position himself for rebounds etc ...

Notes: Playing and practicing alongside Al Horford and Joakim Noah as a freshman was a terrific opportunity to raise his level of play, and learn what it takes to be a pro ...

[Sixers1983]

He is our guy - Glad we took someone with some girth and can score in the post.

I agree. I am actually happy with a pick of theirs for a change. Maybe they can get a point guard in the second round with the purchase of a pick.

[Phillyboy]

A big man project. I hope everyone here is basketball knowledgable enough to know he's not likely to have NBA impact for a while. Cheeks is going to make him watch from the bench a lot as he plays behind Dalembert, Evans (for now and hopefully Brand in July) and Jason Smith. His court time will mainly be in practice.

Comes with conditioning issues and that is a risk indicator as to work ethic and attitude. He's got the body and the tools, only time will tell if he really wants to be an every day PF in this league.

[dbodner]

Negatives: His conditioning is still an issue. He needs to work on his jump shot. He doesn't have a great face the basket game. Might be a little undersized to play center in the NBA. Scouts question his work ethic.

His jump shot has improved mightily in the second half of the season and through workouts. His release point and form is actually very consistent. He'll be fine shooting the ball with time.

[JD76ers]

2 years in a row I am very happy with the pick

[Sandalf42]

I absolutely love the pick. Couldn't be happier.

But we gotta jump in and buy a late first rounder. There are just way too good players still left on the board. Darrell Arthur, DeAndre Jordan, Donte Green. We just have to.

[Sixers1983]

I absolutely love the pick. Couldn't be happier.

But we gotta jump in and buy a late first rounder. There are just way too good players still left on the board. Darrell Arthur, DeAndre Jordan, Donte Green. We just have to.

I agree, if we could get green or jordan, wow, we would have a nice nucleus for the future. Bet they won't though, so I am not getting my hopes up.

[76ciology]

Yeah, I'd rather have Speights than Arthur. Who, IMO, will most likely not be going anywhere more than a starter because of his size limitation. Speights' size and natural instinct to operate inside, gives him tools to be a future all-star in the league. Like one poster said, I would love to see his measurements (wingspan, standing reach and max vert.).

[STChaser]

Few things here. Most of you know from reading my posts the last 6 or so weeks that I've really wanted Speights. If it makes you all feel better, I wanted Thaddeus last season and the year we took Iguodala (who, don't get me wrong, I'm happy we have), I wanted to trade down for an additional pick and take Josh Smith and Al Jefferson - obviously, both turned out to be nice players. Hopefully, my track record will continue with this year's pick. The other thing to consider is this; I have FULL faith in DiLeo when it comes to selecting talent. If Speights comes anything close to Al Jefferson, this franchise will be in great hands for years to come. Having both Thaddeus and Speights utilizing post moves inside will really create issues for our opponents. Great pick. This COULD be the first time that Sam has been paired next to a real PF.

STChaser

[76ciology]

I absolutely love the pick. Couldn't be happier.

But we gotta jump in and buy a late first rounder. There are just way too good players still left on the board. Darrell Arthur, DeAndre Jordan, Donte Green. We just have to.

I agree, if we could get green or jordan, wow, we would have a nice nucleus for the future. Bet they won't though, so I am not getting my hopes up.

I'm a fan who likes my team taking risks and not settling for immediate success. My first pick at the 16th pick was actually DeAndre Jordan, who IMO if developed well, could be the franchise player of this team. But I trusts the DiLeo and the rest of the Sixers' staff with their scouting chores, and maybe they have a better perspective in regards with taking risks with DeAndre's potential.

I'm not high on Donte because he's a kind of guy you can get in the draft with our draft position, every single year. Long SF, who can do it all and has tempting potential is almost a given in the teen position in the draft. While Speights is a kind of guy you most likely see in the lotto.

[76ciology]

Great pick. This COULD be the first time that Sam has been paired next to a real PF.

STChaser

It's also been quite a while since the Sixers had a promising player at the PF position, maybe since Rentzias.