The Kon Knueppel Thread

[JMAC3]

im less worried about kon's d than i am tre's fwiw

I think Tre has a better chance to be a solid defender because he at least has the physical tools to make it happen.
6-10 wingspan, big vertical, good quickness.

I don't think either are great defenders but I would trust Tre a lot more to be a point of attack defender than Kon. I trust Tre to be able to stay alive if he is matched vs a Brunson, Maxey, Ivey, Garland type to some degree. I don't think Kon stands a chance vs those guys.

If we draft Kon, who does he guard?

Tell me how you match up Melo, Kon and Miller on the following teams in the East.

Atlanta- Trae, Dyson, Riza
Boston- Jrue, White, Brown
Chicago- Giddey, White, Ayo
Knicks- Brunson, Bridges, Hart
76ers- Maxey, McCain, Oubre
Cavs - Garland, Mitchell and Struss
Pistons- Cade, Ivey, Ausar
Heat- Herro, Robinson, Wiggins
Wiz - Bub, Poole, Bilal

[SWedd523]

You cannot fix his lack of physical gifts. It's a non starter. Not possible.

Can Ace fix his ****? Probably not, but at least it's possible. Same for VJ, Tre, and the other similar guys.

Same reason I think the CMB love is ridiculous. There is no fixing his physical profile.

[fatlever]

im less worried about kon's d than i am tre's fwiw

I think Tre has a better chance to be a solid defender because he at least has the physical tools to make it happen.
6-10 wingspan, big vertical, good quickness.

I don't think either are great defenders but I would trust Tre a lot more to be a point of attack defender than Kon. I trust Tre to be able to stay alive if he is matched vs a Brunson, Maxey, Ivey, Garland type to some degree. I don't think Kon stands a chance vs those guys.

If we draft Kon, who does he guard?

Tell me how you match up Melo, Kon and Miller on the following teams in the East.

Atlanta- Trae, Dyson, Riza
Boston- Jrue, White, Brown
Chicago- Giddey, White, Ayo
Knicks- Brunson, Bridges, Hart
76ers- Maxey, McCain, Oubre
Cavs - Garland, Mitchell and Struss
Pistons- Cade, Ivey, Ausar
Heat- Herro, Robinson, Wiggins
Wiz - Bub, Poole, Bilal

that same question... who is poa defender on the team? that will continue with kon, tre, fears and ace. vj is only one who answers that question short term.

tre vs kon defensively... kon has 30 lbs on tre. he's thick, solid, better team defender. tre has better quickness and wingspan. tre has never tried on defense going back to hs. everyone has said kon at least busts his ass defensively, despite limitations. pros/cons, half of defense is effort and knowing where to be. strength can make up for wingspan.

kon worries me less than tre defensively. if tre tried to defend as much as kon... i'd run to the podium to draft tre.

[fatlever]

i flip flop daily on tre/kon behind vj. i want to love tre. maybe tre with less off burden finally tries on defense. then he is easy choice over kon.

[JMAC3]

With Kon
Atlanta- Trae/Melo, Dyson/Kon, Riza/Miller- probably two terrible matchups
Boston- Jrue/Kon, White/Melo, Brown/Miller- Kon on Jrue
Chicago- Giddey/Melo, White/Kon, Ayo/Miller- Kon on Coby
Knicks- Brunson/Melo, Bridges/Miller, Hart/Kon- Melo probably has to guard Brunson here
76ers- Maxey/Melo, McCain/Kon, Oubre/Miller- probably two awful matchups
Cavs - Garland/Melo, Mitchell/Miller and Strus/Kon- Probably first guy I trust Kon to guard
Pistons- Cade, Ivey , Ausar- I honestly have no idea, but I don't think Kon can guard any of them
Heat- Herro/Melo, Robinson/Kon, Wiggins/Miller- Kon can probably guard Robinson, but leave Melo on Herro
Wiz - Bub/Melo, Poole/Kon, Bilal/Miller- Just pray Poole tries to iso on Kon the whole game and doesn't pass

With Tre
Atlanta- Trae/Tre, Dyson/Melo, Riza/Miller- Prefer these matchups to the Kon ones.
Boston- Jrue/Tre, White/Melo, Brown/Miller- Tre on Jrue
Chicago- Giddey/Melo, White/Tre, Ayo/MIller- again prefer Tre on Coby White than Kon
Knicks- Brunson/Tre, Bridges/Miller, Hart/Melo- Feels like I can stick Tre on Brunson and let Melo hide on Hart.
76ers- Maxey/Tre , McCain/Melo, Oubre/Miller- another one where Tre probably better at Maxey then Kon on either Maxey/Mccain
Cavs - Garland/Tre, Mitchell/Miller and Strus/Melo- Like these a lot better with Tre and get to hide Melo on Strus
Pistons- Cade/Tre, Ivey/Melo, Ausar/Miller- Not great but feels somewhat doable
Heat- Herro/Tre, Robinson/Melo, Wiggins/Miller- Another matchup where I feel like Melo can hide on Robinson instead of Kon.
Wiz - Bub/Melo, Poole/Tre, Bilal/Miller- Tre on Poole feels better than Kon on Poole

[Bassman]

Kon is the type of player who compliments good players on a good team. Despite his “intel and character-attitude” (Peterson rigid d*€£ stimuli) and good skills, I also worry about his D and lack of hops/athleticism. That’s why I’ll take Ace or VJ over him. I really LIKE him and do believe he can be a quality player in the right role with the right team. Hornets aren’t ready for him.

[JMAC3]

What if you switch teams for Liam McNeely and Kon this year? How different are we looking at them as prospects?

McNeely was 10th ranked prospect in country heading in, Kon 14th ranked. McNeely is 2 inches taller.

They both are pretty similar players, except one played on a team where he was the #1 option surrounded by underwhelming talent and the other played on the most talented team in the country.

I am sure McNeely is kicking himself for not picking Duke. I know it is impossible to even think it, but I think we would have seen Kon really struggle in that same situation where he was #1 on scouting report and didn't have all the supporting players around him to make the game easy. I think his efficiency is what has people so in love with him, but I truly believe that was a lot to do with having the perfect eco-system.

I guess we will find out but it would not shock me if they have very similar NBA careers.

[JMAC3]

A good example of this is the 2017 NBA draft.

Malik Monk was 58.6 TS%
Kennard was 62.9% TS%
Mitchell was 53.4% TS%

Nick Stauskas
64.2% TS%
9.3 BPM
17.5 ppg, 3.3 assists with 0.9 Stocks

Kon
64.2% TS%
10.8 BPM
14.4 ppg, 2.7 assists, 1.2 stocks

[Diop]

Watch on YouTube

this makes me feel better about Kon's defense. You could never do a video like this about Andrew Gaze.
I'm still nervous but I do love smart players. he feels like a stronger more assertive Jo Ingles. who i always loved

again im struggling to commit to a top 3 for us (not including the obvious flagg, harper).

anyone but Malauch might be my motto.

[Bassman]

Watch on YouTube

this makes me feel better about Kon's defense. You could never do a video like this about Andrew Gaze.
I'm still nervous but I do love smart players. he feels like a stronger more assertive Jo Ingles. who i always loved

again im struggling to commit to a top 3 for us (not including the obvious flagg, harper).

anyone but Malauch might be my motto.

That’s a great video that highlights what people saw but didn’t SEE. His dogged effort was effective but appeared to be clunky at times. Kon takes guys to a point of irritation so their shot is bothered, hurried, or altered. He’s a pest in hockey parlance. Can he still do this at the next level? At times yes, but super quick teams will make it harder.

[KembaWalker]

He’s doing a lot with his arms and hands to compensate for not being able to laterally keep up with his guy. NBA guards are going to absolutely farm him for free throws if he tries to guard like that at this level

[Diop]

Read on Twitter

[fatlever]

No way to sugarcoat those numbers as anything but pretty bad for him

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[Heelsfan119]

No way to sugarcoat those numbers as anything but pretty bad for him

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

The vertical is a lot better than I thought. But the lane agility scares me.

[Liver_Pooty]

No way to sugarcoat those numbers as anything but pretty bad for him

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

The vertical is a lot better than I thought. But the lane agility scares me.

Vertical is miles better than I thought. Lane agility I thought would be better.

[Liver_Pooty]

Am I misreading something or did he have a higher max vert than both Bailey and Flagg?

[JMAC3]

No way to sugarcoat those numbers as anything but pretty bad for him

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

The vertical is a lot better than I thought. But the lane agility scares me.

Vertical is miles better than I thought. Lane agility I thought would be better.

His lane agility was as slow as the centers in this draft, Hansen Yang was faster, same time as Rocco.
Same with 3/4 sprint, he was mixed in with the centers of the draft.

Vertical was 2-3 inches better than I thought, but to me the side to side movement matters a lot more for a guy that is going to have to consistently defend in space.

[Liver_Pooty]

The vertical is a lot better than I thought. But the lane agility scares me.

Vertical is miles better than I thought. Lane agility I thought would be better.

His lane agility was as slow as the centers in this draft, Hansen Yang was faster, same time as Rocco.
Same with 3/4 sprint, he was mixed in with the centers of the draft.

Vertical was 2-3 inches better than I thought, but to me the side to side movement matters a lot more for a guy that is going to have to consistently defend in space.

Overall was much better than I anticipated if I’m being honest. Good for him.

[Braggins]

A 6'5" guy with Hansen Yangs movement ability will surely be able to guard NBA guards.

[amcoolio]

Yeah I'm out on Kon. Ironically a harder working Stauskas is a great comp for him. I think he will eventually find a role but its just not what we need for the 4th pick. He has as much chance to be a star as Frank Kaminsky did we when drafted him