Some of what you write makes perfect sense -- thus...
Meliorus wrote:...I just don't think we can measure work ethic, and it's just too broad, so I would rather focus on measurable percentiles....
Absolutely! You start with, "how well does this guy play basketball." &, when you write...
...who could disagree? Plus, a broad set of differences in character can all yield really good basketball players, while a small difference in a couple of box score stats separate a good player from a guy you waive. But then you write...
Meliorus wrote:...I think my last biggest question of Deni is his lateral quickness....
...leaving "box score and advanced stats" behind. Lateral quickness is not a "stat," especially not in the dynamic context of a game (e.g. consider anticipation -- just to take one complex matter that affects the significance of lateral quickness). Plus, it's really not
your question, given...
Meliorus wrote:...I did read this from a guy who has claimed to watch Deni this entire year...
A
giant leap -- right off the bridge, I'd say.
We are no longer in the realm of "box score and advanced stats" at all. What does one second-hand eye-test report from "a guy" -- no, not even that, because the source has only "
claimed to watch Deni...." have to do with, to use your phrase, "
imeasurable percentiles?"
Meliorus wrote:..."Athleticism/body; decent athleticism/hops, not great. Very good end to end speed for a guy his size. His main issue IMO is his lateral speed. Sufficient for Europe, but will he be able to keep up in the NBA? I don’t know."...
Please give me a quantitative definition of "decent athleticism?" -- oh, & make sure your source is using that exact definition. &, is there a single thing called "hops?" What is "lateral speed?" Is that speed in the lateral mile? Or the 100 yard lateral dash?
As to his "will he be able.../I don't know" question-answer pair, please describe what
information it contains. Actually, please don't: you'll just deepen the hole. Better to stop digging. I'll answer for you -- it contains no information whatever.
Then there's your gloss:
Meliorus wrote:...I don't know either, I don't see the quick-twitch/lateral quickness that good defenders have. I'm not sure he won't struggle on that end....
Look... there is no single quality "that good defenders have" -- at least not beyond commitment to it. Moreover, "quick-twitch/lateral quickness" is not a fact about how someone plays basketball.
I'm reminded of Lamar Odom's comment on Javale's early seasons: "The game is called
basketball, not
run and jump."