AJ Dybantsa

[tontoz]

Keep digging, it will just make you look that much dumber down the road.

He's averaging 23/7/4 as a freshman with a 66% TS. He completely dominated UConn and Clemson in the 2nd half when his team was down.

Those hesi 3s were tmacs weakness. He settled for long jumpers way to often instead of attacking the rim. AJ doesn't have that problem.

I am not a draft nerd, I really don't care.

You guys said the same thing about Jabari Smith and all I saw was a tall player that can't dribble to save his life.

AJ went from saucing 6 foot suburban kids with hoops dreams and doing MJ pump fakes at 6'9 to looking like Pascal Siakim playing against 6'8 centers that want a free education.

That's all I need to know.

Anthony Edwards took the same shots in high school and college.

Anthony Edwards liked shooting step back threes and from all sorts of gathers more than driving and getting hit and he has been the same game since 18. When we thought he was just having a hot streak, he said, "Nope, this is my game. I shoot 8 threes a game."

Watching AJ go from putting on And1 mixtapes to running with the ball like Adrian Peterson, I don't care about his stats. I care about the style of the play.

Kevin Durant played the same exact way he did in college, in high school and the pros.

If he was taking hesi pull up threes, and doing shammogds and he get to college and now he is shielding the ball like a running back and just running up and down the court, I am not interested. If you can't play the same way you did in high school, that got you ranked, when you was bigger, faster than everyone else, and now you in college and still bigge r and faster than everyone else, I don't care.

If AJ Dybansta gets to the league and put up Wilt stats just running up and down the court like he does now with his head down like Clyde Drexler, good for him, I am still not interested.

If you guys want to accept run and dunk man but fell in love with high school mixtape Kobe, just say that. Stop making hyperbolic comments about how he is the best ever when you know damn well he does not play like he did in high school at all. That saucy midrange game is gone. The pull 3 game is gone. His handle has been simplified to the point he looks like he learned how to dribbled yesterday.

He's big, strong, fast, he doesn't mind contact and has good post footwork for his age with pretty shot mechanics, that's it. He is playing against teams whose second tallest guy is 6'6. I don't care about his offensive stats against 6'6 power forwards.

If anything, he should be getting 1.5 blocks a game. Kevin Durant was pulling up from 3, getting 2 blocks and a double double. Kevin Durant, played like MVP Kevin Durant, in college and high school. He didn't change, that's the point.

You obviously haven't watched him much. Clemson has big, athletic defenders and AJ still abused them. UConn won the title last year ffs.

Bringing up all these other players that I've never mentioned isn't nothing but one strawman after another. Lame

Feel free to list the other wings who averaged 23/7/4 with a 66% TS.

[The Master]

Dybantsa has been very solid, but I'm not gonna crown him as the #1 pick yet just because he had a triple double against the 330th ranked defense. The race for the #1 pick is still very much on between the 3 prospects.

I don't think anyone cares that much about dominating the 330th ranked defense - but Dybantsa improving as a passer very early on, and his decision making on offense being pretty spot on overall, is something that can't be ignore, considering the concerns about Dybantsa as an iso-oriented, scoring-only perimeter player.

He's at 3.8 APG now, and 5.7 APG in the last 6 games, this is nice, let's wait if he can keep it up. Durant was at 1.3 APG in college, Tatum - 2.1 APG, Edwards - 2.8 APG, Mitchell - 2.7 APG, and these are the guys playing a secondary ballhandler role with scoring load ultimately on the NBA level. Cade - 3.5 APG, Flagg - 4.2 APG, but he had elite spacing alongside for collegiate level. I guess his passing isn't a concern anymore.

I agree it is still an open race between him and Peterson if he stays healthy (and Boozer if there's a team in top2 looking for a bigger wingman, or he dominates in March), but the momentum definitely has shifted towards AJ lately.

[threethehardway]

You obviously haven't watched him much. Clemson has big, athletic defenders and AJ still abused them. UConn won the title last year ffs.

Bringing up all these other players that I've never mentioned isn't nothing but one strawman after another. Lame

Feel free to list the other wings who averaged 23/7/4 with a 66% TS.

No, you just not listening.

I don't care about his stats.

I don't care about how much he drives and gets into the paint.

I don't care about his size and his athleticism.

I care about his style of play did not translate from high school and he had to simplify his game into discrete parts against sorry ass competition.

I care about the fact that he only opens his game up against teams like Cal Baptist, Eastern Washington when he is up 20, and he resorts to a drive and post game against actual comp.

I liked Anthony Edwards because he didn't adjust his game to go against college competition. He shot his threes and did his step backs even if he was bigger, stronger and faster than everyone else. You could tell that he legitimately could get anywhere he wanted, whenever he wanted, and he pretty did what he wanted.

He says, "I shoot threes. This is me."

While everyone else was like, "Does he even care about basketball? Look at his stats, look at how he settled for jumpshots."

He gets to the NBA and does the same exact thing. Anthony Edwards always was deep range tough shotmaker. That's his game. That's what he works at. He doesn't adjust.

What sense does it make to be a 6'9 220 wing with the tools he has on a terrible team like BYU and you just don't go for 30 every single time, taking the same tough shots he did in high school with the same sauce?

Why in the hell he is taking less than 5 threes a game, the line is short and he's already paid, what are they going to do? Take the money back?

How you go up 50 against UC Riverside and only take 1 three?

AJ simply does what he needs to do to win the game, and none of these games count or matter to anyone besides draft nerds and college fans and haven't mattered for almost 15 years. The Thompson Twins played in a fake league and came into the league at 21 as lottery picks.

AJ is a multi-millionaire one and done player going to the league, playing meaningless games against worthless competition and he decides to adjust his game to brute force his team to wins instead of doing what got him there in the first place.

While you guys are like, "Look at how much he gets to the rim, can't you see how he's better than Giannis? He can't be stopped. Look at his TS%."

And I am like, "What happened to the Kobe shots?"

LaMelo played like LaMelo against professionals. AJ played like Kobe to get attention and gets to the college and plays like Pascal Siakam.

[tontoz]

No, you just not listening.

I don't care about his stats.

U mad bro?

His TS is 14% higher than Ant in college. Pretty sure NBA scouts care about that even though you don't.

Duke has played several cupcakes in their out of conference schedule. That isn't something unique to BYU.

They have several games coming up against ranked opponents but I am sure you will ignore those too. Seems like you have a drinking problem.

[ezhkw8u69e]

LaMelo played like LaMelo against professionals. AJ played like Kobe to get attention and gets to the college and plays like Pascal Siakam.

Bro you just summarized exactly why I’m higher on him now than a year ago. LMAO

In fact Pascal Siakam is a great comp in many ways.

[MrBigShot]

Make a case for whoever you want for #1 pick but AJ's best case scenario is undoubtedly better than any other player in this draft.

[threethehardway]

Bro you just summarized exactly why I’m higher on him now than a year ago. LMAO

In fact Pascal Siakam is a great comp in many ways.

You don't go to higher competition and change your game, you raise your game to meet the competition.

It's college ball, it doesn't matter. Every team in the lottery is looking for traits and ability not optimized production. AJ is the clear best player on the team and he plays for a crappy team. He should be doing more things, not less.

Most people in this thread are not even talking about how AJ plays now, but are synergizing how he played in high school with how he plays in college, not acknowledging it is totally different.

I called him Pascal Siakim on his first college game and people like, "Nuh huh, he's not Pascal Siakim."

The guy with the wiggle, feints and the hesi dagger pull up J has been replaced with a guy that goes on long winding Iverson cuts to the rim, smashes into players and slow plays pick and rolls.

It's like watching Marvin Bagley shoot pull up Js and go coast to coast in high school to him being a face up post and roll man in college.

[threethehardway]

U mad bro?

His TS is 14% higher than Ant in college. Pretty sure NBA scouts care about that even though you don't.

Duke has played several cupcakes in their out of conference schedule. That isn't something unique to BYU.

They have several games coming up against ranked opponents but I am sure you will ignore those too. Seems like you have a drinking problem.

No, you have a comprehension problem.

It's 2025, college stats don't matter to me. It's college. It isn't professional basketball. Ant went number one despite clanking shots left and right taking the most difficult shots possible from deep, went to the league, proceeded to do the same thing his rookie season and the season after that and after that.

Now he is one of the best shooters in the NBA. Anybody that watched Ant play, knew the difficult shots he was taking were NBA shots and that's his style. Ant was a bonafide lottery pick, taking NBA shots on a crappy UGA team. He was auditioning for NBA stardom, not playing college ball trying to win meaningless games.

Ant still prefers finesse over raw power. He still prefers jumpers over driving and he built his game around his 3 point shot.

I don't care if AJ was shooting 100% TS in college playing run and dunk man basketball. It's a waste of everyone's time, we all know how he played in high school.

AJ can go out and drop 100 off of his run and dunk man style and it wouldn't change my opinion of him and his game one bit. If he wants to be SGA, he gotta play like SGA at each level. He wanna be Pascal Siakim in college and avoid certain aspects of his game, then fine, he's Pascal Siakim now.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Make a case for whoever you want for #1 pick but AJ's best case scenario is undoubtedly better than any other player in this draft.

very debatable. The NBA is dominated by high usage players. If AJ doesn't improve his handle and defenses can sag off due to his shooting he won't be initiating much offense. This seems like one of the best PG classes in a really long time and all of them will be high usage starters from Day 1 so them reaching their best case scenario is more believable than AJ. If AD just ends up being a dynamic off-ball wing he can still be elite but then in that case I don't think he has more upside than Wilson and I kinda think Wilson has a better chance of reaching that best case scenario than AJ does.

[FarBeyondDriven]

U mad bro?

His TS is 14% higher than Ant in college. Pretty sure NBA scouts care about that even though you don't.

Duke has played several cupcakes in their out of conference schedule. That isn't something unique to BYU.

They have several games coming up against ranked opponents but I am sure you will ignore those too. Seems like you have a drinking problem.

No, you have a comprehension problem.

It's 2025, college stats don't matter to me. It's college. It isn't professional basketball. Ant went number one despite clanking shots left and right taking the most difficult shots possible from deep, went to the league, proceeded to do the same thing his rookie season and the season after that and after that.

Now he is one of the best shooters in the NBA. Anybody that watched Ant play, knew the difficult shots he was taking were NBA shots and that's his style. Ant was a bonafide lottery pick, taking NBA shots on a crappy UGA team. He was auditioning for NBA stardom, not playing college ball trying to win meaningless games.

Ant still prefers finesse over raw power. He still prefers jumpers over driving and he built his game around his 3 point shot.

I don't care if AJ was shooting 100% TS in college playing run and dunk man basketball. It's a waste of everyone's time, we all know how he played in high school.

AJ can go out and drop 100 off of his run and dunk man style and it wouldn't change my opinion of him and his game one bit. If he wants to be SGA, he gotta play like SGA at each level. He wanna be Pascal Siakim in college and avoid certain aspects of his game, then fine, he's Pascal Siakim now.

he's not just a "run and dunk man" though. He's setting defenses up and making the right passes. He's taking guys off the dribble and hitting fade away turnarounds. He's hitting the offensive glass too. I think being mad at him for playing winning basketball is a weird take tbh. Wings face stacked lanes which prevent a lot of flashy plays and him choosing to make the extra pass instead of spamming contested threes is a good thing.

[threethehardway]

he's not just a "run and dunk man" though. He's setting defenses up and making the right passes. He's taking guys off the dribble and hitting fade away turnarounds. He's hitting the offensive glass too. I think being mad at him for playing winning basketball is a weird take tbh. Wings face stacked lanes which prevent a lot of flashy plays and him choosing to make the extra pass instead of spamming contested threes is a good thing.

He took 1 three against a no name team with no name players in a game that he knew he was going to win.

What is winning basketball when you already multi-millionaire playing against other kids that are not even on your level?


This isn't the the 1980s and guys stay in 3 years. He isn't playing "winning basketball", he's playing, "I'ma pad my stats and let the 6'8 centers dictate how I play" basketball.

You know Ant did when the paint was pack, he shot the ball anyway.

Ant said, "There's 3 guys down, I'm taking this three."

That's NBA superstar shotmaker mentality. AJ doesn't look like Cade Cunningham or Luka dictating traffic, he looks like Pascal Siakim trying to run the Raptors before he got to the Pacers. We cared about AJ because he shot the ball in little kids faces no matter the defense, not because he was patient and was slowly trying to process a damn double team.

Cade was being doubled and tripled team in college, and he shot it anyway.

College stats and etc don't matter to one and done prospects. Guys have played in fake leagues and went to the NBA as high lottery picks.

AJ could go out there the next 5 game and take all jumpers and it changes nothing about his prospects, he is still top 3.

All we had of Shaedon Sharpe was high school tape of him looking like Vince Carter and he went to the lottery.

The NBA doesn't value "winning basketball" from an 18-21 year old in an non-professsional setting. It values athleticism and tools.

Everyone knows the more a top high school prospect goes out there and plays "winning basketball", their value drop.

I didn't turn on a BYU game to watch a number 1 high prospect with a diverse game, limit himself by playing run and dunk man and slowly figuring out where the double is coming from so he can do his post fade.

[MrBigShot]

Cade Cunningham did not look like NBA Cade Cunningham in college. And Luka in europe did not look like NBA Luka.

Cade averaged 3.5 assists to 4 turnovers in college. The NBA is a different game, there is much better spacing/room to work with. And the most talented players adapt to facing better competition and more athletic defenders.

Dybantsa could jack up hesi pull threes off the dribble all game if he wanted to. Who cares that he's posting up and getting easy dunks? Look at the raw physical tools and skill set he has. He never looks rushed or out of control, and is a willing passer.

[ezhkw8u69e]

The last thing I want my draft pick focusing on is his no look hesi turnaround fadeaway jumper from 19 ft.

NO THANKS BRU

That era is over

[threethehardway]

Cade Cunningham did not look like NBA Cade Cunningham in college. And Luka in europe did not look like NBA Luka.

Cade averaged 3.5 assists to 4 turnovers in college. The NBA is a different game, there is much better spacing/room to work with. And the most talented players adapt to facing better competition and more athletic defenders.

Dybantsa could jack up hesi pull threes off the dribble all game if he wanted to. Who cares that he's posting up and getting easy dunks? Look at the raw physical tools and skill set he has. He never looks rushed or out of control, and is a willing passer.

Cade Cunnigham did look like NBA Cade Cunnigham.

Cade Cunningham played on a trash Oklahoma State team and played point guard, passing to players that couldn't catch, passing to players that couldn't hit a shot, while being doubled and tripled as soon as he crossed half court.

I watched Cade, he shot through, dribbled through, passed through doubles all the time. That's why he had so many turnovers. He got to the NBA and still have turnover problems, he is willing to take risks. He is willing to got his shot sent back because he isn't the most vertical player in the half court off one foot. He still shoot same 15 foot jumpers when he gets cut off because he doesn't have the athleticism to beat his man. He still clanked bunnies.

He didn't change his game from high school to college to the NBA, he got stronger, got a better handle, got a better jumper so he can do what he is known to do. Now Cade is can take hits dish out punishment. You can't bump Cade like you used to. He is 6'6 Jalen Brunson.

You know what would be the equivalent of Cade pulling an AJ Dybansta?

If he went to college and played wing and was spotting up and running around like Rip Hamilton, because he wanted to win games on his crappy college team and not struggle against double and triple teams. He had the jump shot to do it.

And you guys would've been like, "That's winning basketball, look at Cade showing diversity to his game. He looks like Ray Allen."

Cade did the hard stuff. He could've changed his game when he went the NBA and became a SG/SF, he stuck with PG.

AJ so far took the easy way out at college. Normally, top ranked players like KD, Ant, Cade, Ben Simmons go to lesser teams so they can play the same way they did in high school and not sacrifice their game, touches and role.
AJ changed his game like he is playing for Calipari on a stacked Kentucky team back in 2010.

[BigGargamel]

Make a case for whoever you want for #1 pick but AJ's best case scenario is undoubtedly better than any other player in this draft.

I would still take theoretical Peterson over theoretical Dybantsa if I want a guy to run my offense. Peterson could have a SGA like impact (no, not saying he will be SGA). Lead guards are where the NBA is at. If only Peterson would actually play, of course. I'd draft Dybantsa first right now.

[The Master]

I would still take theoretical Peterson over theoretical Dybantsa if I want a guy to run my offense. Peterson could have a SGA like impact (no, not saying he will be SGA). Lead guards are where the NBA is at. If only Peterson would actually play, of course. I'd draft Dybantsa first right now.

I don't think their high-ceiling role on NBA level differs that much to be honest in terms of running the offense, actually Dybantsa with his slashing skills and NBA style will have probably easier path to play as a creator, Peterson is just more polished as a scorer (and more impactful as a defender), but AJ will thrive in basic drive and kick offense and 5-out lineups, and he already showed upside as a pick and roll ballhandler. That's why these comparisons to Siakam or Melo don't make too much sense: Dybantsa isn't a very good slasher, his projection for now is to be pretty elite in that area. Paolo Banchero was in Duke at 68% at rim and .366 FTr, and in the NBA he's at 69% at rim and .441 FTr, Edwards was at 69% at rim .33 FTr, and in the NBA in the last 3 years he's at +70% at rim and .33 FTr - Dybantsa for now is at 76% at rim and .59 FTr, this is utterly crazy production thus far.

[yosemiteben]

UConn won the title last year ffs.

[tontoz]

UConn won the title last year ffs.

Uconn is currently 12-1 and ranked 4th. Their only loss was to BYU.

[dcstanley]

The last thing I want my draft pick focusing on is his no look hesi turnaround fadeaway jumper from 19 ft.

NO THANKS BRU

That era is over

If AJ projects to be a superstar he's going to need to be able to hit tough shots against strong half-court defenses. I understand the argument that he should use college as an avenue to explore the studio space and develop parts of his game that might not necessarily be the most conducive to winning NCAA games.

[threethehardway]

If AJ projects to be a superstar he's going to need to be able to hit tough shots against strong half-court defenses. I understand the argument that he should use college as an avenue to explore the studio space and develop parts of his game that might not necessarily be the most conducive to winning NCAA games.

They don't understand that the whole point is to be a Superstar in the NBA, not put up pretty stats doing things you are good at because you are bigger and stronger than everyone else. If a guy wants to be a superstar wing, a superstar combo guard, they should play like it in college.

Darryn Peterson understands the assignment and he's on a blue blood with a prestigious coach. They expect to win games at KU.

He takes NBA shots, pulls NBA tricks. He plays like a professional 2 guard against college students. He doesn't look like a college student. He looks like he's in a summer open run getting ready for the NBA season. He looks like Kyrie playing a causal 5 on 5 game to 21 against his Team USA brethen.

If a one and done is getting paid like an NBA professional they should play like an NBA professional. When else is any one and done prospect going to have the chance to screw around and take all the shots and do all of the tricks against guys that are not going to the league but still decent to put up some resistance?

If you are a legit one of one, college should be superstardom practice.