Dark Faze wrote:I'm willing to admit that I liked MKG over Beal, but lets remember Beal was being sold on being a knock down shooter who had very average shooting numbers and MKG had a don't lose at any cost mentality to his game.
I made a mistake and think Beal is the better prospect now but it's not like MKG would have killed us. We'd probably be choosing McLemore instead of Porter or Bennett and I think Wall/McLemore/MKG has the potential to be an awesome core.
But yea, I prefer Wall/Beal/Porter quite a bit. Less overall athletic upside but much better above the shoulders and probably ends up being better at the end of the day.
I was on the Beal bandwagon early. The IQ, toughness, nasty streak, smooth athleticism, and the good NBA body all were huge pluses for me. He was a clean prospect who had consistently shown he was the best guard in his class in almost all competition he participated in. I liked him over Rivers and Lamb very early on and by the time the draft came around there wasn't a doubt in my mind he was far better than those two.
I wasn't worried about his shooting at all because he has a perfect shot. I didn't care about the percentages. The only concern I had with him was his ability to create offense off the dribble. But he reminded me so much of Ray Allen, down to the way he looked and moved on the court, I thought he'd still be able to score plenty.
I liked MKG in general but not as much as a fit for us. I thought that Beal was a better fit for us. I liked Drummond but had no faith in our ability to develop him, he was basically nothing more than an awesome body. Still isn't really. I loved Davis, was bummed out that we had no chance at him. He was the wire to wire #1.
I actually liked Barnes and Sullinger too, just definitely not anywhere close to three. I thought they went about where they should have. Didn't like Lamb. Didn't like Meyers Leonard. Didn't like Rivers much, thought he was a bit of a punk. Didn't like Perry Jones at all, wasn't surprised when he plummeted.
The player that was a blind spot for me was TRob. I liked him as much as Beal and would have been happy with either one at 3. I was fooled by his production last year. Fooled by him leading his team to the Finals. Fooled by his NBA ready body and his terrific athleticism. By his elite motor and how he ran the floor even harder and played with even more energy than MKG. By the DC connection and the touching life story. We needed rebounding so bad and we needed a true PF, so his position value was high.
Damn, still don't even see how he's been such a bust so far. Junior one year wonders, cough Oladipo, cough cough Olynyk.
To be fair, he got a bad break. It's tough to succeed when the team that drafts you doesn't invest in you at all. And then your second team is just trying to use you as a chip to get a star. Maybe he ends up in a stable situation the third time around and takes to his new digs.
