2021 NBA Draft

[clyde21]

Lotto tonight. who's excited?!!!!

i thought it was on the 22nd?

[Marcus]

Lotto tonight. who's excited?!!!!

i thought it was on the 22nd?

Well i'll be....

[EMG518]

Problem for me with him is offenses have figured out defenses. I rather an offensive player I can coach up on defense than a defensive player who needs to develop an offensive game. If there were flashes of the tools on offense it would be one thing but he looks super limited in my opinion.

Pretty much completely disagree. How many players were average defenders at lower levels and went on to become good or great defensive players in the NBA? Seems more common that raw offensive players make big developmental leaps and become great.

How do you solve a problem like Garuba (to the tune of "how do you solve a problem like Maria")? You can solve defensive schemes, but you can't solve a great individual defender.

If you want to argue that Garuba can become great on offense that is fine. All I am saying is I rather a high level offensive player than defensive, especially if said player is limited on the other side of the ball. So for me, I am not taking Garuba as high as others as I don't see a ton on offense.

As far as solving an individual defender, have you watched a basketball game?. It's a game of matchups and switches happen all the time which allows for weaker defenders to be exploited.

[babyjax13]

Lotto tonight. who's excited?!!!!

i thought it was on the 22nd?

Well i'll be....

I'm giving you a long distance hug b/c I understand how excited you must have been.

[babyjax13]

I like Murphy's archetype too, but big picture, he was just a solid starter on a nothing-special Virginia team. He didn't even make the honorable mentions list for the All-ACC 3rd team. And he's turning 21 in a week. Seems like the kind of guy who'll have a nice 10 year roleplayer career in Europe, not in the NBA.

He's got a 7'1 wingspan - just 1 inch shorter than Garuba's. And playing the last season with UVA made a big difference with his defense. He's also 2 years younger than Cam Johnson was when he got drafted 11th, and he's the same kind of shooter.

Cam had really advance moves to get open and could also bang home stepbacks and other difficult shots. I think Trey can be a very good C+S player, but I'm seeing more poor man's Harrison Barnes in Golden State than a great shooter like Cam.

[Charm]

Problem for me with him is offenses have figured out defenses. I rather an offensive player I can coach up on defense than a defensive player who needs to develop an offensive game. If there were flashes of the tools on offense it would be one thing but he looks super limited in my opinion.

Pretty much completely disagree. How many players were average defenders at lower levels and went on to become good or great defensive players in the NBA? Seems more common that raw offensive players make big developmental leaps and become great.

How do you solve a problem like Garuba (to the tune of "how do you solve a problem like Maria")? You can solve defensive schemes, but you can't solve a great individual defender.

If you want to argue that Garuba can become great on offense that is fine. All I am saying is I rather a high level offensive player than defensive, especially if said player is limited on the other side of the ball. So for me, I am not taking Garuba as high as others as I don't see a ton on offense.

As far as solving an individual defender, have you watched a basketball game?. It's a game of matchups and switches happen all the time which allows for weaker defenders to be exploited.

If it's that easy, then maybe you should be an NBA coach

I'm happy with the idea of drafting great offensive players over great defensive players. But if I'm drafting in the late lottery and I have a choice between the 11th-best offensive player in the draft and the best defensive player in the draft, I'm probably gonna pick the best defensive player in the draft.

[EMG518]

Pretty much completely disagree. How many players were average defenders at lower levels and went on to become good or great defensive players in the NBA? Seems more common that raw offensive players make big developmental leaps and become great.

How do you solve a problem like Garuba (to the tune of "how do you solve a problem like Maria")? You can solve defensive schemes, but you can't solve a great individual defender.

If you want to argue that Garuba can become great on offense that is fine. All I am saying is I rather a high level offensive player than defensive, especially if said player is limited on the other side of the ball. So for me, I am not taking Garuba as high as others as I don't see a ton on offense.

As far as solving an individual defender, have you watched a basketball game?. It's a game of matchups and switches happen all the time which allows for weaker defenders to be exploited.

If it's that easy, then maybe you should be an NBA coach

I'm happy with the idea of drafting great offensive players over great defensive players. But if I'm drafting in the late lottery and I have a choice between the 11th-best offensive player in the draft and the best defensive player in the draft, I'm probably gonna pick the best defensive player in the draft.

I would take the best defensive prospect over the 11th best offensive one as well. Ideally you capitalize on the people drafting ahead of you making mistakes and you get like the 4th best player atleast drafting there since the order is usually not perfect.

[MemphisX]

If you want to argue that Garuba can become great on offense that is fine. All I am saying is I rather a high level offensive player than defensive, especially if said player is limited on the other side of the ball. So for me, I am not taking Garuba as high as others as I don't see a ton on offense.

As far as solving an individual defender, have you watched a basketball game?. It's a game of matchups and switches happen all the time which allows for weaker defenders to be exploited.

If it's that easy, then maybe you should be an NBA coach

I'm happy with the idea of drafting great offensive players over great defensive players. But if I'm drafting in the late lottery and I have a choice between the 11th-best offensive player in the draft and the best defensive player in the draft, I'm probably gonna pick the best defensive player in the draft.

I would take the best defensive prospect over the 11th best offensive one as well. Ideally you capitalize on the people drafting ahead of you making mistakes and you get like the 4th best player at least drafting there since the order is usually not perfect.

It is so nuanced. In today's NBA, I prefer not to take offensive liabilities unless they have an enormous physical advantage. Garuba in particular in undersized and under skilled (offensively) for his position. He is basically the same size as OG who is a wing. Let's imagine Ben Simmons with even less offensive utility and less defensive versatility.

People talk about how easy it is to find centers but we have guys like RHJ and MKG that can't even get a sniff in the league.

If I were a GM, I am not drafting ANY prospect for defense unless it is a rim protecting behemoth that has SOME offensive utility (shooting, rim running, passing). Maybe Garuba will get up to par offensively but he still has another detriment...bad hands.

[Charm]

If it's that easy, then maybe you should be an NBA coach

I'm happy with the idea of drafting great offensive players over great defensive players. But if I'm drafting in the late lottery and I have a choice between the 11th-best offensive player in the draft and the best defensive player in the draft, I'm probably gonna pick the best defensive player in the draft.

I would take the best defensive prospect over the 11th best offensive one as well. Ideally you capitalize on the people drafting ahead of you making mistakes and you get like the 4th best player at least drafting there since the order is usually not perfect.

It is so nuanced. In today's NBA, I prefer not to take offensive liabilities unless they have an enormous physical advantage. Garuba in particular in undersized and under skilled (offensively) for his position. He is basically the same size as OG who is a wing. Let's imagine Ben Simmons with even less offensive utility and less defensive versatility.

People talk about how easy it is to find centers but we have guys like RHJ and MKG that can't even get a sniff in the league.

If I were a GM, I am not drafting ANY prospect for defense unless it is a rim protecting behemoth that has SOME offensive utility (shooting, rim running, passing). Maybe Garuba will get up to par offensively but he still has another detriment...bad hands.

The thing is, I don't think Garuba has less defensive versatility than Simmons. I think he has more. He's impressively adept at walling off opposing centers in the post, and boxing them out for rebounds, even when he's giving up a lot of height and weight.

There was one boxout against 7'0" 260lb Sanli in crunch time that was particularly memorable (1:30:40 in this video

Watch on YouTube

), where many superficially similar players probably would've given up the offensive rebound. It took a combination of excellent strength, footwork, timing, and length from Garuba to hold Sanli off.

That's what makes Garuba a special defender in my opinion. He doesn't just have the physical capability to play all 5 positions defensively; he also somehow has all the fundamentals and all the instincts to play all 5 positions defensively. He's just dripping with defensive talent in a way that few other players are.

[Ruzious]

Reached 100 pages - gotta close it.

Continued here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2089310&p=91494353#p91494353