Brook Lopez!

[BBen]

I've already posted this on a mock draft thread in the draft section but I had to share this with you guys since I've been doing a lot of draft research and I'm just really excited for us this year. I know there's a lot of talk about Bayless and Mayo but we don't really know what Presti is thinking. I also hear a lot of criticism for Brook Lopez. I have always suspected that this was based on a bit of racism since there hasn't been any impressive white seven footers in recent memory (or latin if that's what he is).

So I was looking for players to compare his college career to and look what I found:

Alonzo Mourning's stats as a sophomore:

89-90 Georgetown: Mpg, 30.2. FG% 52.5. FT% 78.3. RPG: 8.5. APG: 1.2. TO: 2.8. BPG: 2.2. STL: 0.5. PPG: 16.5

Compared to B Lopez:

07-08 Stanford: Mpg, 30.8 FG% 46.8. FT% 78.9. RPG: 8.2. APG: 1.4. TO: 2.1. BPG: 2.1. STL: 0.6. PPG: 19.3

More or less identical no? Also include the fact that he went to a college recognized for its EDUCATION not its basketball program and carried that team to the sweet 16. That's impressive to me.

Your thoughts?

[HeavyP]

Good find, have you read the article on ESPN.com about the Lopez twins? It was a hilarious read http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/s ... d=tab5pos1

Lets draft them both! Then trade up to get Lawson!

I'm mostly joking, but it I could imagine much worse scenarios.

[kjtruong]

Freaking media would go crazy if we drafted them both...

Just imagine how they'd advertise the I-5 rivalry...

ROY v ROY

Twin Towers v Twin Towers

etc etc lol

[BBen]

Haha, that was a great article HeavyP. I too could imagine worse scenarios. Chemistry is a huge factor in what is to me the quintessential team game.

[HeavyP]

I'm NOT a believer of Chemistry for baseball, but for Basketball definitely.

[BBen]

I agree, baseball is kind of an individual sport. The only time you have to "click" with your team mates is when you're throwing the ball to the base. Basketball has to have a concerted effort and a team-wide plan. Also, if your members don't like each other they're not going to give up the ball as readily.

The only reason Shaq and Kobe worked in my estimation is that Shaq was the ultimate garbage man and just cleaned up the bricks that Bryant heaved up over and over.

[kjtruong]

I should probably address some of my concerns with drafting Lopez...

As you mentioned, Stanford isn't known for producing NBA players.

Basketball players from Stanford..,

Curtis Borchardt and his wife Susan King Borchardt
Greg Butler
Josh Childress
Jarron Collins
Jason Collins
Casey Jacobsen
Teyo Johnson, basketball and football
Adam Keefe
Brevin Knight
Todd Lichti
Hank Luisetti
Mark Madsen
George Yardley, Basketball Hall of Fame member

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_St ... Basketball

Not exactly the best looking list.

First thing that comes to mind is the Collins twins. They weren't projected nearly as high, but I can't say their performance in the NBA gives me much hope. Obviously they aren't the same players and it's entirely possible for Stanford to break the trend of mediocre players in the NBA, but it's definitely a concern of mine.

[BBen]

I guess that's a good point. The problem is that the Collins bros sucked in college. Like bad. And they both went all 4 years. Their production just didn't come close to either of the Lopez bros.

Jason Collins:
MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG
97-98 Stanford 15.0 25.0 0.0 71.4 6.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 7.0
98-99 Stanford 12.7 50.0 0.0 47.8 3.3 0.3 0.7 0.4 0.1 4.1
99-00 Stanford 19.6 62.2 0.0 66.2 6.1 0.6 1.6 1.4 0.2 8.3
00-01 Stanford 26.3 61.3 0.0 78.4 7.8 1.5 1.6 1.3 0.8 14.5

Jarron Collins:
MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG
97-98 Stanford 13.5 53.0 20.0 60.9 3.5 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.5 3.8
98-99 Stanford 17.2 49.6 0.0 59.4 5.2 0.6 1.0 0.3 0.5 5.9
99-00 Stanford 27.4 48.5 25.0 72.0 6.5 1.7 1.5 0.8 0.6 11.0
00-01 Stanford 28.3 55.8 33.3 68.7 6.7 1.4 1.5 0.6 0.6 12.8

[bennith13]

I am one of the people not in favor of drafting a Brook Lopez with the fourth pick. Yeah he put up good numbers, but was there even another 7' in the pac 10 outside of Stanford? He isn't overly athletic, or even athletic at all. I think we should just give up searching for a dominate center and worry more about getting a 6'10'' power forward that can score in the post.

Brook Lopez is not the first one to put up good college numbers and fizzle out in the NBA, and he wont be the last.

Cherokee parks averaged 19 and 9 at Duke.

Christ Mihm averaged 17 and 10 at Texas.

I am sure there are plenty more examples.

What are these guys doing now?

[djthesonicsfan]

Hate to be a killjoy, but I would just have to say no to the Lopez brothers.

[BBen]

Brook Lopez is not unathletic. Not at all. And yes there were 7'ers in the pac-10. And give up looking for a dominant center? Man...

Why would you single out Lopez to be the next one to fizzle in the NBA? There's plenty of players at EVERY position that fizzle in the NBA.

Give me some real reasons please. I still think it's simple narrow mindedness that has to do with the view of white 7'ers in the NBA.

[bennith13]

I wouldn't care if he were purple, green, or blue. Its not about that at all. Its about us having the fourth pick in the draft and there are better players to be had.

and Yes, we should give up looking for the next dominate center and focus on getting everything else.

How many good 7' centers have been drafted in the last 10 years? Yao? is that it?

Maybe Andrew Bynum turns out to be good or Greg Oden, but we dont know that yet. Even Andrew Bogut is a bust and he was great in college.

Its much more likely that Lopez turns our like Chris Mihm or Eric Montross or Patrick O'Bryant then an Allstar.

[HeavyP]

Andrew Bogut is not a bust, I would trade the 4th pick for him in a heart beat.

[Dick Tate]

How many good 7' centers have been drafted in the last 10 years?

None by the Sonics, that much is certain. The Sonics still need a center. Do they really need another power forward? While it would be great to have one that could score in the post, who did you have in mind? Lopez can score in the post.

[kjtruong]

I would do Bogut for #4

Bogut went...

14.3ppg on .511 fg%
9.8rpg
2.6apg
1.7bpg

in 34.9mpg

He's still young and improving too having been born in 84. He fills a huge need. What's available at #4 for us isnt even an ideal fit. Mayo/Bayless are combo guards. I'd argue Bogut fits us better than what we can get at #4 and is a sure thing.

Bogut isn't a bust, but he has failed to meet expectations.

[bennith13]

There is no one at PF that I really think is the answer. Just that I think it is more realistic to find a good 6'9''-6'11'' big man that can score down low then it is to find a 7' center that is mobile enough to play defense and score in the post.

I guess if we were going to draft a big man I would hope that it would be Kevin Love. Although I would rather have Mayo or Bayless.

[bennith13]

Andrew Bogut is not a bust, I would trade the 4th pick for him in a heart beat.

Really? Why? I would rather have one of the guards.

[HeavyP]

The main reason is here: http://cgi.ebay.com/29-Seven-for-all-Ma ... dZViewItem

Actually, i think he is a very very solid young big, who scores in the post and out works people. He plays better then average defense. I don't see what's not to like?

I wouldn't trade it if Mayo was available, but if the choice is Bogut or Bayless or Lopez or Love, I'd take Bogut everytime.

[big L]

Oh, let's look at some other college stats from years gone by... Do any of you remember the great St. John's teams from the 80's led by one Walter Berry? What a beast that guy was. His college stats looked like this:

.581 FG%; .708 FT%; 35.5 MPG; 20.1 PPG; 9.9 RB; 1.0 Ast.

What? He never amounted to anything in the NBA? But his stats?

Well, then there's always the great Waymen Tisdale! Yeah, I remember him... Bad A*S! He even played in a final four, right?

.578 FG%; .661 FT%; 35.1 MPG; 25.6 PPG; 10.1 RB; 0.9 AST

Then there's the mighty Dennis Hopson:

.519 FG%; .419 3PT%; .793 FT%; 28.9 MPG; 16.8 PPG; 5.7 RB 2.1 AST

So I'm not sold on Lopez, at all. There is no way this guy compares to Alonzo Morning. He's no Andrew Bogut, either. He's slow, deliberate, and soft.

[bennith13]

Yes, deliberate and soft are great words to describe him.