Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread Part 9

[Reignman]

It's more than 30 seconds of footage and also highlights a few good plays. Don't kidd yourself. He sucks at Defense.

You actually don't know. All you know is that he sucked in a highlight clip designed to show his poor plays. Like I said, go watch the U-18s and you'll see quite a few good defensive plays.

That's the part I don't get, you guys speak in absolutes when you really don't know. The clips were from 2 years ago and the guy has been coached by Cal and Tim Grover since then. He is also ONLY 19 and hasn't played his first NBA game yet.

Considering he hasn't played competitively you can't make any absolute statements. Even Kelly wasn't sure and said as much. OTOH, Cleveland's scouting department is very high on him after today's workout with them.

Considering almost everyone has him pegged to go very high in this draft I'm pretty sure most people don't think he "sucks at defense".

[T_Biggums]

It's more than 30 seconds of footage and also highlights a few good plays. Don't kidd yourself. He sucks at Defense.

You actually don't know. All you know is that he sucked in a highlight clip designed to show his poor plays. Like I said, go watch the U-18s and you'll see quite a few good defensive plays.

That's the part I don't get, you guys speak in absolutes when you really don't know. The clips were from 2 years ago and the guy has been coached by Cal and Tim Grover since then. He is also ONLY 19 and hasn't played his first NBA game yet.

Considering he hasn't played competitively you can't make any absolute statements. Even Kelly wasn't sure and said as much. OTOH, Cleveland's scouting department is very high on him after today's workout with them.

Considering almost everyone has him pegged to go very high in this draft I'm pretty sure most people don't think he "sucks at defense".

there was a guy in 2006 many were high on.

[Reignman]

The difference being this time we won't be converting a SF/PF to C. Kanter has been a C his whole life, we just need to see what his mentality is like on the defensive end and whether he wants to improve on his weaknesses.

Kid seems to be a hard worker, understand his position when it comes to rebounding and offense. Has the size, length and athleticism. The only ? seems to be D. If he wants to improve, this is the type of prospect you can mould and develop.

[T_Biggums]

The difference being this time we won't be converting a SF/PF to C. Kanter has been a C his whole life, we just need to see what his mentality is like on the defensive end and whether he wants to improve on his weaknesses.

Kid seems to be a hard worker, understand his position when it comes to rebounding and offense. Has the size, length and athleticism. The only ? seems to be D. If he wants to improve, this is the type of prospect you can mould and develop.

He's been a centre his whole life yet there are questions about whether or not he can play it effectively. HUGE red flags!

I'm hoping I'm not in the minority here but defense must be a pre-requisite for a centre no? At least defensive awareness

[5DOM]

As i've said to 5dom, it wouldn't be that hard to compile lowlights of Jonas Valnciunas defence when he was 16-17.

Sure, but the difference is that we have a much better understanding of what kind of improvements Valanciunas made because people have actually seen him play. Is it possible that Kanter made the same improvement defensively? Yeah, but that he didn't is just as likely considering there were reports of him getting dominated by random college bigs at the combine. And speaking of Valanciunas' D, his biggest problem has always been his lack of strength - something that's easier to fix. The problem I have with Kanter's D (from 2 years ago at least) is that he's simply not even trying. And the effort-level doesn't change easily as we have learned from Bargs. Also there are talks of him having played great D in U18 competition and the Hoop Summit, but Kanter didn't look impressive in the video Locke posted. Even at the Hoop Summit, I think he was matched up with Sullinger who had a very good game offensively. If he didn't guard Sullinger, he basically didn't have to guard anyone of note.

If we can't over-analyze these lowlights, we can't be doing the same with his highlights. Either both sides of his game should be questioned or his defense should be criticized while his offense is complimented. Not saying he's going to be terrible, but the risk factor is huge

[turner10]

KembaWalker Kemba walker
Wow thats love!RT @juredy: @KembaWalker already has fans in TO! http://yfrog.com/h3p92molj

hah kemba's gotta be lovin that

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

KembaWalker Kemba walker
Wow thats love!RT @juredy: @KembaWalker already has fans in TO! http://yfrog.com/h3p92molj

hah kemba's gotta be lovin that

That's hilarious lol.

[Reignman]

The difference being this time we won't be converting a SF/PF to C. Kanter has been a C his whole life, we just need to see what his mentality is like on the defensive end and whether he wants to improve on his weaknesses.

Kid seems to be a hard worker, understand his position when it comes to rebounding and offense. Has the size, length and athleticism. The only ? seems to be D. If he wants to improve, this is the type of prospect you can mould and develop.

He's been a centre his whole life yet there are questions about whether or not he can play it effectively. HUGE red flags!

I'm hoping I'm not in the minority here but defense must be a pre-requisite for a centre no? At least defensive awareness

Absolutely, I don't want a non-defending big man. I just don't believe those clips are anywhere near the determining factor.

And that's the thing, I've seen him play pretty good defense as well in footage I've seen at the U-18s so I've seen both sides of the equation.

Again, if he can come in as an adequate defender or someone that's not completely clueless then you can work with him.

[T_Biggums]

The difference being this time we won't be converting a SF/PF to C. Kanter has been a C his whole life, we just need to see what his mentality is like on the defensive end and whether he wants to improve on his weaknesses.

Kid seems to be a hard worker, understand his position when it comes to rebounding and offense. Has the size, length and athleticism. The only ? seems to be D. If he wants to improve, this is the type of prospect you can mould and develop.

He's been a centre his whole life yet there are questions about whether or not he can play it effectively. HUGE red flags!

I'm hoping I'm not in the minority here but defense must be a pre-requisite for a centre no? At least defensive awareness

Absolutely, I don't want a non-defending big man. I just don't believe those clips are anywhere near the determining factor.

And that's the thing, I've seen him play pretty good defense as well in footage I've seen at the U-18s so I've seen both sides of the equation.

Again, if he can come in as an adequate defender or someone that's not completely clueless then you can work with him.

Perhaps. But how do you determine he's even adequate if he won't even do a formal workout and compete?

[Reignman]

Actually, he just competed today for his Cleveland workout. He's going up against competition and that's big considering most high picks typically don't. Look at Irving/DWill/Knight/Kemba.

Anyway, the scouts are going to have to earn their keep on this one. It's not the easiest thing in the world to project a player who hasn't played in almost 2 years.

[T_Biggums]

Actually, he just competed today for his Cleveland workout. He's going up against competition and that's big considering most high picks typically don't. Look at Irving/DWill/Knight/Kemba.

Anyway, the scouts are going to have to earn their keep on this one. It's not the easiest thing in the world to project a player who hasn't played in almost 2 years.

Precisely why I think we should play it safe if there is such a thing in this draft!

[xprt]

I don't get it do raptors want a defender or another scorer who will not play in his natural position? Do anyone image what a horrible defending team raptors would be with calderon/derozan/kleiza/bargnani/ kanter lineup? I''m scared of even thinking about it...

[Kevin Willis]

Couple articles on Vesely -

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7223 ... ock-rising

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/sierra ... n-the-nba/

They kind of turned me off on him. But not by too much.

[bboyskinnylegs]

so it looks like Washington won't be there in Spain, but Charlotte and Golden State will:

Bismack Biyombo will be conducting a workout at the Eurocamp in Treviso as well that's open to all NBA teams. So they can see him there too. about an hour ago

No Washington tomorrow in Vitoria for Bismack Biyombo's workout. Will be Utah (GM), Toronto (GM), Charlotte, Golden State, Detroit about an hour ago


From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/twitter.php#ixzz1OiQ1AmJs
http://www.draftexpress.com

[Ducksplatt]

Chad Ford just posted his latest Mock 4.0 - anyone know who he has going to the Raptors?

[Reignman]

Probably vesely.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

If Casey's going to be our coach, then we're going to need a defensive presence inside. Could Ed Davis be that guy? I don't know, but Bismack Biyombo fits the bill potentially, and so might a guy like DeAndre Jordan via FA if we miss out on Biyombo.

And so does Knight for that matter, in terms of his ability to guard multiple positions a la Kidd, maybe not as good as the great Jason Kidd, but the potential is certainly there.

[pspot]

Probably vesely.

correct

hope he is mistaken

[IntricateOh25]

I would punch a brick wall if we took Vesely.

[wanker]

Chad Ford just posted his latest Mock 4.0 - anyone know who he has going to the Raptors?

Analysis: Bryan Colangelo could go a number of ways here. He has strong interest in both Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker. If Knight's on the board, I don't think he gets passed on here. If Walker's here the question for Colangelo is what to do with Leandro Barbosa and Jerryd Bayless. Both players are similar to Walker.

He could go with an international player, such as Valanciunas, Vesely or Bismack Biyombo. Of the three, sources say, Vesely is the highest on their board. He provides size and athleticism at the small forward position. The other dark horse here is Kawhi Leonard.