2022-2023 College Basketball / NBA Draft

[Kobblehead]

https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

https://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

This draft is loaded with athletes and defenders coming from the high school ranks.

[Lou_23]

Duren and Lively, two "Philly" centers top in their year rankings in a row.

[Kobblehead]

It's going to be weird seeing a 5 star guy who is an elite athlete at Villanova. Cam Whitmore will probably have more dunks this year than any PG or SG or SF in school history.

[Kobblehead]

After watching 2 minutes of highlights of some of the top 20 guys, I think the two that standout to me most are Nick Smith (heading to Arkansas) and Brandon Miller (heading to Alabama).

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Nick Smith has crazy playmaking ability and appears to have major shooting skill.

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Brandon Miller is a tall wing that can finish above the rim and has a pure shooting stroke.

[HardenGoat]

Wow. What talent! They kinda remind me of a playmaking Jaylen Green and a Jabari with handles. Have to keep an eye on those guys.

[stormi]

Might have to tune into a lot of Nova this year for Cam Whitmore.

[Kobblehead]

Might have to tune into a lot of Nova this year for Cam Whitmore.

I just hope he's not one of those 0.5 made threes per game and 65% free throw shooting guys, though.

He kind of has this funky one-handed shooting motion that is very slow to release and puts an unnaturally high arc on his shot. It most definitely will have to broken down and re-worked from scratch. Which worries me.

[stormi]

True he just could be a physical beast that was beating up on underdeveloped kids in those FIBA runs I saw. He's super young though, if he flashes any sort of perimeter skill he'll be clawing his way into the top 5.

[Kobblehead]

Yeah, it's crazy how young he and Dariq Whitehead are. They'll both only be 18 during next year's draft.

[76ciology]

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[Jailblazers7]

Wembanyama does look like the future. His length is just outrageous and he moves really well. He will probably need to sort out his jumper to some degree unless he bulks and tries to go the Giannis route. Either way he’s gonna be a great player.

[Kobblehead]

Can we talk about how Wembaynama has had true shooting under 50% in back to back years? Most bigs put up true shooting near or above 60%.

[76ciology]

Can we talk about how Wembaynama has had true shooting under 50% in back to back years? Most bigs put up true shooting near or above 60%.

Im guessing he can just be a lob threat and lead the league in FG% like DeAndre Jordan if he wants to.

The problem with bigs IMO is no matter how good they are.. whether its Embiid or Jokic, an offense run around them can’t beat an offense run by the PnR of a perimeter player.

So they can bring down the ball, pull up for a 3. Or do their step backs all they want. But how much of that matters?

[stormi]

Mobley > Wemby

[Jailblazers7]

Can we talk about how Wembaynama has had true shooting under 50% in back to back years? Most bigs put up true shooting near or above 60%.

Im guessing he can just be a lob threat and lead the league in FG% like DeAndre Jordan if he wants to.

The problem with bigs IMO is no matter how good they are.. whether its Embiid or Jokic, an offense run around them can’t beat an offense run by the PnR of a perimeter player.

So they can bring down the ball, pull up for a 3. Or do their step backs all they want. But how much of that matters?

I disagree because I think a Jokic centric offense can match a heavy PnR attack. A big centric offense can just invert the PnR system and run it as a DHO heavy scheme. If you have a playmaker of Jokic’s caliber it can work. I think it’s harder to build a top tier offense around a player like Embiid because he’s not a good enough playmaker and no iso scorer is good enough to carry an offense on his own.

I think it all ultimately comes down to passing. If you can consistently get a defense in rotation and make the right passes, then your offense will be elite. It’s just easier to do that with a perimeter player because they are usually the most advanced playmakers.

[76ciology]

Can we talk about how Wembaynama has had true shooting under 50% in back to back years? Most bigs put up true shooting near or above 60%.

Im guessing he can just be a lob threat and lead the league in FG% like DeAndre Jordan if he wants to.

The problem with bigs IMO is no matter how good they are.. whether its Embiid or Jokic, an offense run around them can’t beat an offense run by the PnR of a perimeter player.

So they can bring down the ball, pull up for a 3. Or do their step backs all they want. But how much of that matters?

I disagree because I think a Jokic centric offense can match a heavy PnR attack. A big centric offense can just invert the PnR system and run it as a DHO heavy scheme. If you have a playmaker of Jokic’s caliber it can work. I think it’s harder to build a top tier offense around a player like Embiid because he’s not a good enough playmaker and no iso scorer is good enough to carry an offense on his own.

I think it all ultimately comes down to passing. If you can consistently get a defense in rotation and make the right passes, then your offense will be elite. It’s just easier to do that with a perimeter player because they are usually the most advanced playmakers.

Ok. Let’s say you’re right about Jokic.

How about other guys?

[Jailblazers7]

I ultimately agree with your point I think. Finding a big with the necessary playmaking skills to be an offensive hub in the modern NBA is extremely rare. The ideal big is probably an elite defensive anchor who can still punish mismatches on offense, which is why Duncan was so damn good even in his late 30s.

[76ciology]

I ultimately agree with your point I think. Finding a big with the necessary playmaking skills to be an offensive hub in the modern NBA is extremely rare. The ideal big is probably an elite defensive anchor who can still punish mismatches on offense, which is why Duncan was so damn good even in his late 30s.

There are a lot of factors. For instance they say the best shots are taken early off the shotclock. But then just the entry pass to a big alone is damn hard.

Most times we get Biid the ball with like 12secs remaining on the clock. Harden can breakdown his guy as soon as he crosses halfcourt.

Another thing is attacking while fronting the basket is way more effective than having your back at the basket, you get to see open guys easier unless you have eyes at the back of your head.

So yes, a guy like Chet or Wembayama may have special skills for his size on offense but there’s a good chance the offense run around them is not as good as an offense run around Brunson or Cole Anthony.

But yes this is not the case always for there are guys like Jokic, Giannis or Durant who plays like guards despite being 7’, they can collapse the defense and kick it to open man at will and with a lot of time off the shotclock

[76ciology]

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[Kobblehead]

I dunno, every year I watch a Utah series and see Gobert played off the court and think to myself, why do teams still take shotblockers at the top of the draft? Just draft guys that play like Herro, Booker and Tatum. That's why Cunningham and Green were smart picks over Mobley and why Branham was the obvious guy that should have been #1 in this draft. Enough will falling in love with bigs, draft guys that actually matter, I say.