Severn Hoos wrote:To me, the analogy is the 2001 Draft. Suppose you were the GM on the clock at #4, after Kwame, Chandler, and Pau had been drafted. What do you do? (And no cheating, like saying "Duh, draft Gilbert Arenas!")
http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_draft_history/2001.html
FWIW if we couldn't get Elton Brand I liked Shane Battier and Troy Murphy.
Or take the 2009 draft. Suppose you had the 5th pick. (hypothetically speaking...) The options are: Flynn, Curry, Rubio, Jordan Hill, DeRozan, trade down/out. (Yes, I know - Jennings. But I'm still a bit of a skeptic on the prospect of him really becoming elite/efficient, still some ?s for me.)
Y'all recall it was Curry for me since the starter's gun.
I have no problem drafting for role-players and attitude guys to build a foundation. IQ and ball sense is as much a part of talent as vertical jump. If you miss on a player at least you won't be adding a headcase. In evaluating players I'm always looking for the stats that indicate 'smarts' more than athleticism: Defensive rebounds relative to other players at your position (you know where the other team is) assist/TO ratio relative to position (you know where your own team is), fouls, FT shooting (mentally strong or lazy?).
You have to look at scoring efficiency since coaches tend not to give minutes to guys who can't shoot, no matter how good a roleplayer they are in every other respect. And you have to look at performance against big-time programs to level out small conference superstars, and indicate whether this is a player who likes to compete when the hot lights shine, you love the guys who see an uptick in their key stats when the competition is better.
But then it also means I'd have selected Ryan Gomes not Andray Baltche. Gomes is a nice player, but Baltche yet and still has more upside, even if he never fully realizes it.
Here though there are indicators of more than a few solid gamers and good attitude guys deep into the draft. And looking at our current roster there are opportunities for minutes for anybody willing to put in the work and scrap a bit. I doubt we'd have many takers in a trade down, but there are Best Player Available options wherever we land.
Though on Sullinger he's the rare case where it may be a moot point. I suspect he'll stay in school longer than one and out. He's got a Grant Hill/Tim Duncan/Joachim Noah vibe: smart enough to appreciate playing as The Man on a solid program, enjoys school, looked forward his whole life to playing at this particular school, and has no hardship family situation. He wants to redeem his brother's shortfall and bring a championship to OSU, loves the competition, understands some of the shortcomings in his own game when eyeballing the next level.
It might be a different story if the labor situation weren't an issue, but more than anything this kid loves to play. Getting paid to not play doesn't read like his style, not when he can spend another year as a Ban Man on Campus while improving shortfalls in his game. In the NBA he might be an undersized Big Man on The Bench, or worse, in streeetclothes this year. In a year with no labor issues it might be a different story. The rookie scale is one thing the owners will fight to preserve, and Labor won't battle back against it too fiercely. The money will be similar for rookies, regardless of when it comes. I'm guessing Sully works out for as many teams as he can before the deadline to gauge what he needs to work on, then returns to school.
His high for the season was only 17 shot attempts, and he has 14 at the half. It'd be cool to see Morehead St upset L-ville. Sorry about ODU, Kev.
