Official Raptors 2012 NBA Draft Thread, Part 10

[dTox]

My problem with Drummond is not his skill/talent but his passion for the game. What difference does it make if a player has good motor but lacks a heart to go get, if he can't physically dominate players at the college level then he'll have a really hard time getting by in the big leagues with players his size but with more passion and heart to go after the ball.

[nelabai]

My problem with Drummond is not his skill/talent but his passion for the game. What difference does it make if a player has good motor but lacks a heart to go get, if he can't physically dominate players at the college level then he'll have a really hard time getting by in the big leagues with players his size but with more passion and heart to go after the ball.

I doubt his passion for the game too.
You can see that passion in Davis and he is also a real mature player and acts like a pro on the basketball court.
Davis dunks on someone > sprints back on D. Drummond dunks on someone > salutes the crowd while jogging back with a smile on his face. His demeanor somehow reminds me of Mcgee. Hope I'm wrong.

[Twoism]

I don't wanna do the owl, but i think is comin' that handful of W's that will bring Kendall Marshall to Toronto.

[Saciid11]

I don't wanna do the owl, but i think is comin' that handful of W's that will bring Kendall Marshall to Toronto.

What is the point of tanking if all you gone get is Kendall Marshall... Davis, Thomas, Sullinger, Barnes, Lamb, MKG.. or bust ...

[sunny]

I wrote a new blog today about the direction of the nba and nhl. It's pretty long and took me a decent amount of time to produce.

Can some of my friends on here check it out and provide feedback?

It would be much appreciated.

[C_Money]

Well thats depressing. We've been watching all these top prospects all year and it looks like we should have been watching guys like Kendal Marshall all along.

[Twoism]

Its depressing 'cause a lot of us are hype addicted. I think KM needs more hype than majority of PF's in next draft.

I think that if one random assh.... of Espn one morning wake up and write something like: "KM is the new Jason Kidd" we'll see a lot of KM sigs here.

[sunny]

Also, I need to take time to express how embarrassing it is for Givony to post scouting report on players based on the mcdonalds all american game.

I can't believe teams pay him money, but I guess it just reinforces the notion that everyone who works in sports is a dinosaur.

[TiKusDom]

I think Andre Drummond will surprise a lot of people who are dogging him for his season at UCONN.

One of the biggest issues people have complained about is his offense and his motivation.

To me, his offense has not gotten a chance to develop because of the system at UCONN and the players Drummond is surrounded with. Basically it doesn't even matter if Drummond posted up or tried to establish position in the paint, the 3 trigger happy UCONN guards essentially dominated the offense and had no concern for feeding the post. What is the point of establishing a position in the post if your guards will still consider themselves the 1st , 2nd, 3rd , 4th, and 5th options in the offensive scheme. UCONN was not an optimal situation for Drummond who was not consistently used in his team's offense as a post threat. In terms of effort, how is someone going to continue giving his all trying to carve out space in the paint, when the player knows most likely he will not be given the ball. On top of that , how is he supposed to practice these things in the game, when the team flat our refused to use him in that capacity. I believe with the right big man coach , and a team that is willing to let him learn and develop a post game through a consistent number of opportunities in the post, he could become very lethal in time.

Which leads me to the next point about motivation. Drummond is young and fell victim to the old offense dictates effort traps. Which is very common with players his age. I think he very much became disengaged from both ends of the floor at times, because he was simply ignored for very long stretches at a time on offense. That is no excuse, but when your team barely ever uses you on one end of the court, it doesn't exactly help your motivation on the other side of the ball. I dont know , I could be wrong, but that is another huge issue that people don't seem to notice when evaluating Drummond. Yes he needs to learn to give more consistent effort even if he is not being fed on offense, again this is a very common issue with many young players who pick up the effort on D if they are doing well on O.

Either way, Drummond is definitely capable of being the 2nd best player to come out of this draft on the right team with the right coaching and development invested in him. If the Raptors miss out on Davis and MKG is gone, I would not be upset if they took Drummond over Barnes/ Lamb/ Beal because of all the players available at that point, without a doubt, has the highest ceiling of anyone.

[fredericklove]

With the second pick this guy makes the most sense ...





Pre Injury McDyess

Wow, mcdyess comparison? That's a consensus 2nd pick then lol.

Pts/reb/blk/stl (Mcdyess best 3 years)
21/11/2/1+
19/8+/2/1
21/12/1/0.6

[nahom1319]

With the second pick this guy makes the most sense ...





Pre Injury McDyess

Wow, mcdyess comparison? That's a consensus 2nd pick then lol.

Pts/reb/blk/stl (Mcdyess best 3 years)
21/11/2/1+
19/8+/2/1
21/12/1/0.6

Except that comparison doesn't hold water, Mcdyess was much more skilled.

[SirHuey]

Am I the only one that would easily take T-Rob at 2 or 3?

[nahom1319]

Am I the only one that would easily take T-Rob at 2 or 3?

No many others would, I am not among them.

[fredericklove]

Am I the only one that would easily take Beal at 2 or 3?

Fixed.

Not the only one, alot of posters would take him easily.

[Al_Oliver]

Also, I need to take time to express how embarrassing it is for Givony to post scouting report on players based on the mcdonalds all american game.

I can't believe teams pay him money, but I guess it just reinforces the notion that everyone who works in sports is a dinosaur.

is this what you do on your blog?

[CunningLinguist]

Robinson isn't my 2nd favorite prospect in the draft, but he seems like such a logical choice for us

People shouldn't worry about Bargnani at all w/ the TRob pick. The thing is since Bargnani can play C, a 3 man rotation of him, Robinson and Valanciunas isn't an issue. All can get 30mpg and get their game off

I would say drafting a SG "rocks the boat" a bit more because it'd move Derozan to SF maybe permanently.

If you draft Davis, Thomas Robinsson or Sullinger, you trade Bargnani for wing or point guard, if this team want to get better. We tried Bargnani as small forward it didn't work, we tried him as center it didn't work, and now we tried him as power forward and it looks like the same result as the other positions.

It depends what you mean by "didn't work". Bargnani is a good player. He can be a particularly good 6th man on a team.

What I could see is neither Robinson or Valanciunas starting next year. Opening day has Bargnani and Amir/FA big in the frontcourt and that could very well last all year. Then at the end of the year we make a decision. Do Robinson and JVal both look great, enough to trade Bargnani immediately? Are they ready to start and make Bargnani the 6th man? Is Bargnani better than one of them, but not the other, giving us a starting frontcourt?

Trading Bargnani immediately probably doesn't have much value. He's going to be the same guy a year from now, with the same strengths and weaknesses. His contract will be shorter. Might as well keep him for insurance if either TRob or JVal don't look good their first year. Or as a long term 6th man in our 3 big rotation.

There's no need to play with kid gloves with any of Bargnani, TRob and JVal and say "Well we're starting them immediately and their spot can't be touched!" Dwane Casey is a tough minded guy who probably believes in meritocracy. Bayless and Ed are perfect examples, if we were a team that just threw every prospect 35mpg those guys would've gotten a lot more burn than they have. And I don't see Val in particular being an immediate starting C. Needs to learn the NBA game and bulk up physically, and C is a hard position to start at. Personally I'd agree with him if his plan is 20 minutes off the bench for both Robinson and Valanciunas next year, with the potential for one of them to start as soon as they're good enough defensively too.

Robinson fits Dwane Casey to me. I know he has the Dirk history, but we clearly care about defense and rebounding now. We'd be building with bricks. This might seem like a weird thing to say, but I feel like if Robinson was a hockey player he'd be a future captain. I could see Robinson being a guy you build around mentally. I know we already have a guy in Demar who's like that, but until Demar becomes a better player I wonder how much weight he carries, and Robinson has now made the NCAA Finals and has come from an epic organization in college, etc. Also having 2 guys like that could make it even better.

Agreed. I don't know why some are assuming we'd start 2 rookies up front if we drafted a power forward. I take Robinson all day every day over someone like MKG. To me, he's got much higher potential.

[Chaos Engine]

I'd take T-Rob ahead of Barnes and Drummond for sure.

[CunningLinguist]

Drummond comes off as more nervous than a questionable motor. Prior to his college season I don't think he played in many big games.

To me it seems that he was poorly coached in high school. He often doesn't know where to place himself to receive the ball in the post.

I think he's got huge potential, especially at the defensive end. And on the offensive end, he's a terrific passer, so you could run a lot of inside out offense through him.

[ash_k]

I just cannot see how T Robinson fits with the raps.

T Rob can only play the PF in the NBA

He cannot be the starting 4 on our team, it is one thing to dominate the Sullinger and likes..it is another to go against the Griffins, Aldridges, Boozers and them on a nightly basis with his game.


If we were to draft him it would be to replace Ed Davis then,

Would we draft T.Rob to be a rebounder that knocks down the occasional J? as Ed Davis is just unable to do so consistently

Would be a Waste of a pick in my opinion.

For this draft we should purely focus on a wing unless of course we win the AD sweepstake!

[Saciid11]

Am I the only one that would easily take T-Rob at 2 or 3?

I would take him with the #2 or #3 pick ahead of MKG or Barnes ...