Learn To Draft (or at least get better scouts)

Post #1 » by **BigSlam** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:13 pm

I was thinking about this the other day.

We have had 11 draft picks since we entered the league: Okafor, Robinson, Felton, May, Morrison, Hollins, Wright, Dudley, Augustin, Ajinca and Weaver.

As of right now, there are only 6 of those left on the roster: Okafor, Felton, May, Morrison, Augustin and Ajinca.

With the way things are going it's safe to say that May wont be around much longer which brings it down to 5.

Add in the chance that Felton might or might not be here next year and that brings the total remaining to 4.

Of that four, two are rookies and and the 3rd guy looks like he might not belong in the NBA.

And all of this over only 4 years.

Sad.

Post #2 » by **fatlever** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:31 pm

and i am still waiting on us to draft a player who make a noticeable statistical improvement from year 1 to year 2 to year 3. that has never happened with any player we've drafted. some may be getting a little better, but statistically, all our picks have shown little to no improvement or even regression from their rookie years. sad.

chrbal · Post #3 » by **chrbal** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:53 pm

I'll settle for "just learn to use common sense". But that has yet to be a "strength" for this team.

"Expansion teams need depth, bull_(*t!!!" "We had to do Sean Mays' evaluation near a Ponderosa, what could go wrong?" "That guy won an NCAA title, We Have To Take Him"

Rudy Gay was an amazing athlete and talent, Adam Morrison was a talented scorer who was limited athletically. It didn't take a genius to realize that a lot would have to go right for Morrison to be a star then it would for Gay to be one.

Liver_Pooty · Post #4 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:53 pm

I think thats mainly because we tend to draft players that are at or near their peak at the collegiate level (Okafor, Morrison, Felton at times )

I think Ajinca will ultimately be the first player that we can actually notice improvement in. I once thought it would be Hollins, but he ended up having the IQ of a tanning bed.

Post #5 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:10 pm

chrbal wrote:"Expansion teams need depth, bull_(*t!!!" "We had to do Sean Mays' evaluation near a Ponderosa, what could go wrong?" "That guy won an NCAA title, We Have To Take Him"

I would say both DJ and Ajinça have the ability to statistically improve for a few seasons. Lex-files more so than DJ (but i mean, DUH, he's more raw w/ better vitals)

carolinabred · Post #6 » by **carolinabred** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:34 pm

Liver_Pooty wrote:I think Ajinca will ultimately be the first player that we can actually notice improvement in. I once thought it would be Hollins, but he ended up having the IQ of a tanning bed.

I think your right. Ajinca could be Howards replacement next season. As long as the roster stays the same. At some point this kid as to get some PT.

Post #7 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:36 pm

carolinabred wrote:I think your right. Ajinca could be Howards replacement next season. As long as the roster stays the same. At some point this kid as to get some PT.

D LEAGUE!!! :evil:

Bassman · Post #8 » by **Bassman** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:52 pm

Liver_Pooty wrote:I think thats mainly because we tend to draft players that are at or near their peak at the collegiate level (Okafor, Morrison, Felton at times )

I think Ajinca will ultimately be the first player that we can actually notice improvement in. I once thought it would be Hollins, but he ended up having the IQ of a tanning bed.

Agree that the "college star" disease has infected our evaluations so far. Only Okafor at #2 was a real obvious choice that we got right for that year. Had we had the #1, we probably would have still taken him over Howard.

This thread irritates some people because we examine the failures of the past. They were so bad, and SO OBVIOUS, we must never forget, nor let the front office forget, their blunders.

[u]The unforgivable picks[/u]:

Sean May over Danny Grainger. We COULDN'T BELIEVE Grainger was still on the board when our 13th pick came up!! I was dancing, knowing we had a PG (it was Felton, but we had to have a guy and no deal was made for Paul). But then I noticed May was also there, and thought....don't even think about it Berine... ARRGH! The results speak for themselves.

Adam Morrison over Rudy Gay: I feared this would happen, as our primary targets were he, Roy and Gay. This was supposedly Jordan's pick, but I think he and BJ trumped Bernie on this one (Bernie liked Gay). Roy didn't want to work out for us (BOO HOO ... he's mean and doesn't want to be here so let's ignore him...). Gay and Roy were CLEARLY better pro prospects than Morrison, but the FO picked him because he was a "COLLEGE STAR" and he is WHITE. Horrible mistake at the #3.

The Bad Picks:

Alexis Ajinca: Some feel Ajinca will be a very good player in 2 or 3 years. I seriously doubt it. He has some physical size and fluid movement for that size, but his in-game skill deficiency and lack of physical strength/toughness will render him a deep bench player in this league. Either Arthur or Koufos was a better pick here.

Kyle Weaver: Given that Chris Douglas Roberts was still on the board this was a bad pick. CDR is not a star but he has NBA size and range, and will be an excellent GLUE guy or 6th man.

Questionable Picks:

DJ Augustine: Yes DJ is going to be a good player, even a very good player. His size gave me concerns about defense and injuries, and still does. BROOK LOPEZ was the best choice. I wanted Lopez, then Chalmers with the 20th.

carolinabred · Post #9 » by **carolinabred** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:59 pm

fatlever wrote:and i am still waiting on us to draft a player who make a noticeable statistical improvement from year 1 to year 2 to year 3. that has never happened with any player we've drafted. some may be getting a little better, but statistically, all our picks have shown little to no improvement or even regression from their rookie years. sad.

You’re right, but I would argue that with the exception of Okafor, none of the Bobcats picks have had a REAL chance to develop. Felton has been in and out of the PG role until this season year 4. May is well….. McMay…. which has hurt for most of his time here. Morrison gets hurt in year 2 and has no constant PT this in year 3.
I think bad luck and bad coaching can’t be understated here. Okafor and Felton are showing signs of improvement with LB. I can’t help but to think that DJ and Ajinca will better next season. Morrison and May has to be the worst moves…because I believe they were made to sell tickets. Stop drafting players to fill seats...and just win some games.

Post #10 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:59 pm

As soon as I saw this and it realized it wasn't about board members getting scouting tips I knew Bass would be all over this.

carolinabred · Post #11 » by **carolinabred** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:07 pm

Walt Cronkite wrote:
carolinabred wrote:I think your right. Ajinca could be Howards replacement next season. As long as the roster stays the same. At some point this kid as to get some PT.

D LEAGUE!!!

You would think so...but LB loves this kid and will not send him down. It will never happen now that Boris is here.

Post #12 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:20 pm

Yea, I know, this is what I'm hoping for though (super best case scenario):

LB LOVES the kid and wants to mold him into exactly the type of player this team needs, so he's not sending him down so he can work on him bit-by-bit, day-by-day. He's seen some of the bad habits other cats have picked up and wants to "break him in" or whatever. Depending on trades/team record he gets sent to the minors with about a month and a half left in the season, comes back after a few weeks and gets semi consistent minutes as the season draws to a close. In the offseason, he gives him a ton of burn in the SL making him the focal point of the team to see what he's got when up against slightly better competition and during preseason he establishes a solid role in the rotation for him (~15 mins, play hard, box out, take your jumper). Sends Lex to the DL asap, refines a few things on his return, gives him semi consistent minutes over the rest of the season.

Felton for Pres · Post #13 » by **Felton for Pres** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:49 pm

I've concluded its more important that Lex is here so that he can constantly eat Price's Chicken and live in the weight room. His physical development is more important to me than his bball IQ (which does need help too).

coordinator0 · Post #14 » by **coordinator0** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:56 am

Felton for Pres wrote:I've concluded its more important that Lex is here so that he can constantly eat Price's Chicken and live in the weight room. His physical development is more important to me than his bball IQ (which does need help too).

He should live with Sean May, and pick up his eating habits. That would ensure him to gain at least 50 lbs. In a week.

Dexmor · Post #15 » by **Dexmor** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:39 pm

I said we should secretly hire Isiah as a draft consultant.
Mek was the only time we selected the right guy.
I love DJ and tried to tell myself he was the right guy but I think we all know it's Lopez.

The messed up thing about it is they almost came close many times. MJ really wanted Gay for a while and we almost picked Lopez. May tricked me as well because I thought that was good at the time.
I will say this though Felton is starting to look like he was not a mistake as long as they don't trade him. If they trade him then they are just real idiots and they need to blow up the front office not the team.

Dexmor · Post #16 » by **Dexmor** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:47 pm

We always get the biggest busts but Ray Ray can really change that. If they do decide to keep him and he does turn into a consistant 17 and 8 guy with 4 boards then even though they blew the 13th pick in May it was still a decent year and as long as DJ gets better then even though they could have gotten Brook it was still not terrible. Lex was bad but at 20 nobody expects alot.
If they trade Ray for Earl Watson type player then they have the worst draft history.
If they keep him and he becomes something then the AMMO year was there only superbust and it can be made up for with a decent body of drafting in the future and just looking and Mek and Ray as our future big and pg were exceptable.

carolinabred · Post #17 » by **carolinabred** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:44 pm

Dexmor wrote:I May tricked me as well because I thought that was good at the time.

When they drafted Felton and May, I thought May would be the better player... :banghead:

I guess thats why I can't get a GM job!

thruthefire · Post #18 » by **thruthefire** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:29 pm

BigSlam wrote:I was thinking about this the other day.

We have had 11 draft picks since we entered the league: Okafor, Robinson, Felton, May, Morrison, Hollins, Wright, Dudley, Augustin, Ajinca and Weaver.

As of right now, there are only 6 of those left on the roster: Okafor, Felton, May, Morrison, Augustin and Ajinca.

With the way things are going it's safe to say that May wont be around much longer which brings it down to 5.

Add in the chance that Felton might or might not be here next year and that brings the total remaining to 4.

Of that four, two are rookies and and the 3rd guy looks like he might not belong in the NBA.

And all of this over only 4 years.

Sad.

Atleast the Bobcats were able to trade the draft picks (Robinson, Hollins, Wright, Dudley, Weaver) they felt did not fit into future plans. Had we not drafted Dudley and drafted and traded Wright for Richardson, we wouldn't have ended up with Diaw and Bell.

As far as i'm concerned, the one draft pick the Bobcats absolutely botched was Morrison. Unfortunately, he was the third pick. I'm a youngin' and I can still remember the dissapointment I felt when we passed on Gay. May instead of Granger was bad, but you don't expect 17th picks to become superstars. May atleast has potential to grow in this league if he get's his act together. As for Morrison......

Post #19 » by **fatlever** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:16 am

for the record... i am still not upset that rudy gay is not a bobcat. granted i'd take him over ammo (now), for the sole reason that he has a higher trade value, but i am not mad we passed on him. i didnt care for him then and i still dont. he'll never be anything more than a player who puts up empty stats on a bad team. he's a younger corey maggette.

spectre_ · Post #20 » by **spectre_** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:56 am

^ I wonder how many fans said that about Crash? Watching the Griz the other night reminded me of the Bobcats during our first years...lots of talent but with a clueless coach and no veteran leadership. If you change a few things on that team like LB did on ours then there's no telling how far Gay or any of their other young projects might go.

Either way...now it's probably for sure Gay will be an allstar. :lol:

Speaking of which...you know I'm waiting for your comments in my Bogans thread; after all, your previous comparison was my motivation!

Show some love!