Moderators: Marcus, Duke4life831
Gam wrote:Bump.
This dude's going to go top 20, I've got him 9th on my board.
I Am Awesome-O wrote:I'm very confused about how Bolden has been so severely underrated through this entire draft process. Everything about him says lottery.
Geddy wrote:You're probably scratching your balls and eating cheese puffs
Ice Trae wrote:Is it just me or does Derrick Rose look like Jean Claude Van Damme
dukes_wild wrote:I'm not as optimistic.
Don't get me wrong I think he's certainly a 1st round pick but there's very reasonable concerns with his game.
Gam wrote:dukes_wild wrote:I'm not as optimistic.
Don't get me wrong I think he's certainly a 1st round pick but there's very reasonable concerns with his game.
I'd love you to hear your thoughts. If someone could talk me out of having him in my top 10 that'd probably be a good thing so I don't likely look silly in the future.
Geddy wrote:You're probably scratching your balls and eating cheese puffs
Ice Trae wrote:Is it just me or does Derrick Rose look like Jean Claude Van Damme
dukes_wild wrote:Gam wrote:dukes_wild wrote:I'm not as optimistic.
Don't get me wrong I think he's certainly a 1st round pick but there's very reasonable concerns with his game.
I'd love you to hear your thoughts. If someone could talk me out of having him in my top 10 that'd probably be a good thing so I don't likely look silly in the future.
I'm just worried about how he's going to score the basketball at the NBA level if it's not a 3pt shot or transition, which are both the most efficient way of scoring not including dunks/layups, but having some sort of in-between game is crucial to maximizing your upside offensively and I just don't see it with him.
In a league full of European men who in their wildest dreams wouldn't even be able to imagine themselves being the athlete Bolden is, he settled way too much for stepback long 2s, post-up fadeaways, and 3s. He's really timid and doesn't like to attack the basket unless it's on a close-out, and when he does go in there, he isn't a very good finisher in traffic which is very odd considering his size/athleticism in comparison to many Euro players. I can't imagine he will be a bad defender, but one of the knocks on him is that he takes too many plays off defensively, which again, with his physical and athletic tools, he should be wanting to win his team games just by playing stellar defense.
Still, a player with his body and skills he's going to be a good NBA player, but I'm not sure he will ever be a 15-20 PPG guy, or all-defensive NBA player
Gam wrote:dukes_wild wrote:Gam wrote:
I'd love you to hear your thoughts. If someone could talk me out of having him in my top 10 that'd probably be a good thing so I don't likely look silly in the future.
I'm just worried about how he's going to score the basketball at the NBA level if it's not a 3pt shot or transition, which are both the most efficient way of scoring not including dunks/layups, but having some sort of in-between game is crucial to maximizing your upside offensively and I just don't see it with him.
In a league full of European men who in their wildest dreams wouldn't even be able to imagine themselves being the athlete Bolden is, he settled way too much for stepback long 2s, post-up fadeaways, and 3s. He's really timid and doesn't like to attack the basket unless it's on a close-out, and when he does go in there, he isn't a very good finisher in traffic which is very odd considering his size/athleticism in comparison to many Euro players. I can't imagine he will be a bad defender, but one of the knocks on him is that he takes too many plays off defensively, which again, with his physical and athletic tools, he should be wanting to win his team games just by playing stellar defense.
Still, a player with his body and skills he's going to be a good NBA player, but I'm not sure he will ever be a 15-20 PPG guy, or all-defensive NBA player
So you still think he's a steal outside the top 10-12 in this class? I pretty much agree with your assessment although I do think he will be a 15 ppg guy if he gets enough shots up, he should be making 200+ 3s a year in his prime I think.
Geddy wrote:You're probably scratching your balls and eating cheese puffs
Ice Trae wrote:Is it just me or does Derrick Rose look like Jean Claude Van Damme
dukes_wild wrote:Gam wrote:dukes_wild wrote:I'm just worried about how he's going to score the basketball at the NBA level if it's not a 3pt shot or transition, which are both the most efficient way of scoring not including dunks/layups, but having some sort of in-between game is crucial to maximizing your upside offensively and I just don't see it with him.
In a league full of European men who in their wildest dreams wouldn't even be able to imagine themselves being the athlete Bolden is, he settled way too much for stepback long 2s, post-up fadeaways, and 3s. He's really timid and doesn't like to attack the basket unless it's on a close-out, and when he does go in there, he isn't a very good finisher in traffic which is very odd considering his size/athleticism in comparison to many Euro players. I can't imagine he will be a bad defender, but one of the knocks on him is that he takes too many plays off defensively, which again, with his physical and athletic tools, he should be wanting to win his team games just by playing stellar defense.
Still, a player with his body and skills he's going to be a good NBA player, but I'm not sure he will ever be a 15-20 PPG guy, or all-defensive NBA player
So you still think he's a steal outside the top 10-12 in this class? I pretty much agree with your assessment although I do think he will be a 15 ppg guy if he gets enough shots up, he should be making 200+ 3s a year in his prime I think.
Possibly. After the top 10-12 I think there's like 10-15 or so guys who can easily be justified as a lottery pick, it's a very deep draft in that regard
If Bolden makes it past 20-25, I think he's a steal for sure, with the way the NBA is going I'd be amazed if 20+ teams pass on him. I'd probably take him over guys like Justin Jackson and a lot of those bigs projected to go 10-20 just because his upside and fit in today's game is better.
zzaj wrote:I'm a huge Bolden homer and think he could actually be a top 5 player in this draft...and END UP being a top 2 or 3 player in this draft if everything goes exactly right.
My real question about him is surrounding how he's going to respond to coaching. Especially when it comes to adding elements to his game and playing out of his preferred position/role. He didn't fare well at UCLA for this reason. And in the Adriatic they seem to have given him pretty much free reign to do whatever he wants.
IMO, the true test of how good he can be will be measured by how far he can check his ego, soak up the game played by players better and more experienced than him, and allow coaches to mold what he can do on the court.
I am a huge fan though, and REALLY hope he comes in and competes right away for a starting, stretch PF role on the Blazers.
"Crvena zvezda" is Red Star Belgrade which is one of the most storied basketball clubs in Europe. His former team is affiliated with Red Star. Bolden has an out in his contract with Red Star so he can come to the NBA at any time but is still a good draft and stash candidate.UcanUwill wrote:I know nothing about him, but he just signed with Euroleague team ''Cervena Zvezda''. SO he will be draft and stash. Below average Euroleague team, but still a big jump when it comes to the level of competition. The fact he struggled in inferior NCAA is a bit weird, maybe he just wasn't ready, I dont know?
Rastas wrote:zzaj wrote:I'm a huge Bolden homer and think he could actually be a top 5 player in this draft...and END UP being a top 2 or 3 player in this draft if everything goes exactly right.
My real question about him is surrounding how he's going to respond to coaching. Especially when it comes to adding elements to his game and playing out of his preferred position/role. He didn't fare well at UCLA for this reason. And in the Adriatic they seem to have given him pretty much free reign to do whatever he wants.
IMO, the true test of how good he can be will be measured by how far he can check his ego, soak up the game played by players better and more experienced than him, and allow coaches to mold what he can do on the court.
I am a huge fan though, and REALLY hope he comes in and competes right away for a starting, stretch PF role on the Blazers.
NBA $ usually keep most wanna be alphas ego's in check
My prediction for Bolden will be anywhere from 12 to 24 - this is a good draft to be picking from anywhere in the 1st round.