Post#60 » by Wizenheimer » Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:32 pm
coming into the draft, I had reservations about a lot of the players. Actually, with all of them
For Lilliard, I guess it was twofold: I was concerned with the level of competition he faced; and I was not impressed with his speed times at the combine
as to those speed drills - he was exactly average in the agility drill, and a little below average in the sprint. Some of my concerns about that were blunted though....I was watching online one of the many evaluations of prospects. One of the "experts" made what I thought was a valid point: he said the drills just measured a player moving around on the court. But for a PG, what is more important is their speed with the ball, and that he believed Lilliard was one of those players who was just about as fast with the ball as without. Whether that is accurate or not I don't know, but it does make a lot of sense
another factor that moderated my worry about Lilliard was seeing how he performed in the advanced stat areas. Tom Penn touched on it during the ESPN broadcast. I'm sure I put more credence into stats then most people, but still, they are fairly useful tools. Anyway, Lilliard was one of the most efficient players in college basketball. His points/possession on transition, pick-n-roll, off-screen, spot-up, and jump-shot were all excellent. IIRC, his off-screen and spot-up numbers were top-3 in the country. He was 2nd in top-100 in FT attempts/40 minutes. He averaged 24.5 points on only 15.5 shots. He's also got strong left-hand moves.
as far as his level of competition, there's really no way to determine if that is a significant factor or not. There is this though: Stephen Curry is from a smaller school. And in those categories I listed above, Lilliard apparently beat Curry across the board, in some cases by significant margins. That's not saying he will be as good as Curry. But it does inspire a little bit of confidence, especially considering the two are about the same size, with about the same times in the combine sprint and agility drill. But Lillard had a much better wingspan and was considerably better in the verticals
And by all accounts, Lillard is a class individual with a strong work ethic.
As far as Meyers Leonard, if you're comparing him to Zeller or Henson, I don't see how you can make much of a case that either of the others were better. Leonard is big and he's mobile
I know it was popular last night to condemn the choices as not being BPA. But what exactly does BPA mean? (and I use the term too) It sure seems that the BPA debate on Lillard is between him and Drummond-Barnes. And for Leonard, the alternative was Lamb.....
Really??...that's enough to go ballistic?? I could understand if Thomas Robinson was available at #6. But we all know the issues with Drummond, and if portland retains Batum, Barnes would be redundant as he's not a ball-handler. Saying BPA has to be subjective, and in these cases, it's simply code for either "I liked the other guy more" or "I don't like this guy"
Personally, I would not feel any better if the Blazers would have taken Drummond and Lamb or Barnes and Lamb. I think to feel otherwise is valid. But to feel otherwise as strongly and venomously as some have demonstrated is kind of ridiculous.
