NatP4 wrote:doclinkin wrote:Non NCAA players have until June 16 to withdraw from the draft. I suspect Topic stays in, given more competition next year and high mocks, but there may be some FIBA players who drop out to re-enter next year.
What are we going to argue about now?
Pivoting back to my #2(and at times my #1): Reed Sheppard. What do you think about this comparison:
https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=reed-sheppard--chris-paul
I know right? I miss when PIF would irritate me and we could have an obnoxious little slap fight. But I'm sure the board is better for it. Now that he has mellowed somehow.
Okay yes: If Sheppard's efficiency stays stable with increased usage then he is a HOF player and everyone will kick themselves for doubting him.
But, I have my doubts because:
Calipari's teams warp stats. System does not translate directly. He recruits the best talent, then plays all of them. Primary attackers have to share, robbing possessions from each other. Secondary players stats are amped by operating in gravity wells.
Sheppard showed he is a great player at taking advantage of his opportunities. He had more opportunities for those efficient shots than he might on a team where he was a lead guard. Reeves was gonna shoot more than anyone. Dillingham is too creative with the ball and makes defenses scramble. With a 30% usage rate despite coming off the bench. Nobody was gameplanning to stop Sheppard (7th on the team in shots/40, usage etc).
BUT. The times where he asserted himself he played well and took over. When he was tapped to play lead guard he did well. I would have been curious to see him next year.
He does not have an advanced handle, is not quicker than his man. All he did was make the right pass and fundamentally sound play every time. The thing he does that reminds me of Chris Paul is to use spacing and timing to get open. And his sense of timing is next level. Don't slip a screen on him, he will shoot the split second he gets around the pick.
Thing is everything he did was at the exact bleeding edge of the margin for error. Like defenders miss by that much. He blocked a shot with the ridges of his fingerprint. (Except steals. He knew you were going to pass before you knew it. He would bait players into making that pass then get there before the ball got even half way). Does that part slip when he faces better athletes? Does his read and react somehow speed up with veteran repetitions? He already plays like a vet, how much more vet can he get?
He's a little bit older for his draft class. Does that affect his upside?
But he's a damned good player. He will find a way to adjust. I think he does play as a floor commander guard. He does not fit the mold of 'positional length' that Dawkins and all look for. But maxes out the skill and BBIQ portions.
To me I don't think Chris Paul. I think John Stockton. And not for the obvious reasons, but because he lacks the yoyo handle that Paul showed in college. The footwork in traffic. Elusiveness and poise with the ball. What he did show was the determination and toughness we came to expect from Stockton. John Stockton too won with being the most fundamentally sound player on the floor. You knew what he was going to do, knew you could outquick and outjump him. But you still could not stop him because he read the plays better than you. That's Sheppard to a T.
Please Dawkins care about me now