Moderators: LyricalRico, nate33, montestewart
fugop wrote:How is Bennett's "elite athleticism" different from Jeff Adrien's "elite athleticism?" I doubt that Bennett is as good an athlete as Trevor Booker, albeit more skilled. I think his best case scenario is Corliss Williamson, or maybe Glenn Robinson.
tontoz wrote:Dipo's standing reach is an inch shorter than Wall's. I don't see him playing the 3.
If he can't play some SF, than why would we take him?AFM wrote:tontoz wrote:Dipo's standing reach is an inch shorter than Wall's. I don't see him playing the 3.
This is my concern. How can we have a starting 5 with 3 guys with average SG size?
fugop wrote:I doubt that Bennett is as good an athlete as Trevor Booker, albeit more skilled.
nate33 wrote:fugop wrote:I doubt that Bennett is as good an athlete as Trevor Booker, albeit more skilled.
In terms of run/jump athleticism, few players on record who are as athletic as Booker.
There are only 4 players who weigh 230 or more with a lane agility faster and a no step vertical higher than Booker: Jason Smith, Miles Plumlee, Brandon Hunter and Blake Griffin.
There is no player in the DX database weighing 230 or more with a full court sprint faster than Booker.
nate33 wrote:fugop wrote:I doubt that Bennett is as good an athlete as Trevor Booker, albeit more skilled.
In terms of run/jump athleticism, few players on record who are as athletic as Booker.
There are only 4 players who weigh 230 or more with a lane agility faster and a no step vertical higher than Booker: Jason Smith, Miles Plumlee, Brandon Hunter and Blake Griffin.
There is no player in the DX database weighing 230 or more with a full court sprint faster than Booker.
AFM wrote:For the Oladipo supporters, how do you guys think he will fit in to the line up? 6th man off the bench?
DCZards wrote:As for Bennett's D, yes lack of effort is a very serious problem. But what if a coach or teammates can light a fire under his butt and he begins to use his length and athleticism, along with close to max effort on D, to become a better defender? If that happens, I think the kid has all-star potential. I know that's a big "if" but it might be a risk worth taking...if Noel and Porter are no longer available when the Zards draft.
pancakes3 wrote:AFM wrote:For the Oladipo supporters, how do you guys think he will fit in to the line up? 6th man off the bench?
Before the measurements came out, I was hoping for an Igoudala-type player but his reach and his height are so low, I don't think he can do much to stop SF's.DCZards wrote:As for Bennett's D, yes lack of effort is a very serious problem. But what if a coach or teammates can light a fire under his butt and he begins to use his length and athleticism, along with close to max effort on D, to become a better defender? If that happens, I think the kid has all-star potential. I know that's a big "if" but it might be a risk worth taking...if Noel and Porter are no longer available when the Zards draft.
I don't think defense has much to do with length or athleticism but rather mindset and iq. Knowing the defensive angles, tendencies, assignments, timing, etc. are all much more important than reach. The standing reach should make decisions at the margins but if a guy has shown little-to-no aptitude for defense I wouldn't expect that to change at all just the same as if someone who's shown no interest in scoring would have a fire lit under him to play better offense in the pro's.
pancakes3 wrote:DCZards wrote:As for Bennett's D, yes lack of effort is a very serious problem. But what if a coach or teammates can light a fire under his butt and he begins to use his length and athleticism, along with close to max effort on D, to become a better defender? If that happens, I think the kid has all-star potential. I know that's a big "if" but it might be a risk worth taking...if Noel and Porter are no longer available when the Zards draft.
I don't think defense has much to do with length or athleticism but rather mindset and iq. Knowing the defensive angles, tendencies, assignments, timing, etc. are all much more important than reach. The standing reach should make decisions at the margins but if a guy has shown little-to-no aptitude for defense I wouldn't expect that to change at all just the same as if someone who's shown no interest in scoring would have a fire lit under him to play better offense in the pro's.
Nivek wrote:I would need to be convinced that picking a guy who needs to be motivated to play hard on defense is a good strategy for assembling a team. I like Bennett as a prospect, but the defensive effort issue does concern me. I'm trying to think of prospects with iffy motivation who got selected high and then turned out to be terrific pros. No one jumps to mind, but I'm probably just blanking on it.
All that said, I'm also not entirely convinced that the defensive effort issue isn't being exaggerated with Bennett. Even if it isn't, he's a guy I'd be willing to pick -- but not at 3.
DCZards wrote:Zards don't need to draft a backup SG...at least not with the #3 pick. And that's what Olapido will end up being because neither he nor Beal are big enough to log a lot of minutes at SF.
Why does it seem like most of the posters who don't want Bennett focus solely on his lack of D and totally ignore his diverse and impressive offensive skills? My biggest worries with Bennett is his health (asthma and shoulder) and not his size. I think he'll create more matchup problems for bigger PFs and smaller SFs than they'll create for him.
As for Bennett's D, yes lack of effort is a very serious problem. But what if a coach or teammates can light a fire under his butt and he begins to use his length and athleticism, along with close to max effort on D, to become a better defender? If that happens, I think the kid has all-star potential. I know that's a big "if" but it might be a risk worth taking...if Noel and Porter are no longer available when the Zards draft.
WizarDynasty wrote:Booker isn't wizard material because he has below average body control with the basketball and he never demonstrated consistent ability to finish with a defender between him and the ball.
Len can't bang inside, he is a gymnast doing flips and floor routines, he didnt' train his ankles to absorb huge amounts of force from pushing and shoving gigantic human refrigerators on a night to night basis like a Bennett or an Adams
Nivek wrote:Oladipo is a test of my adherence to the best player available philosophy. I think he's the best prospect in the draft. But he doesn't fit an immediate or pending need. The Wizards need help in the front court right away. They're going to need a SF in the next year or two. They need a third guard and/or a backup PG.
They really don't need a SG, unless they have a pure PG as their backup PG. In which case, they could use a "pure" SG to backup Beal. BUT, that's likely to be 12-14 minutes per game, which wouldn't be much playing time for a third overall pick in the draft, or a guy with the ability Oladipo possesses. Which means you're then kind of forced to play 3-guard lineups to get both Beal and Oladipo playing time, which isn't ideal because somebody has to play out of position and against an opponent with a significant size advantage.
Much as I like Oladipo, I don't think he's "the guy" for the Wizards. To me, the next best prospect is Zeller, but apparently almost no one else seems to think that. I'd try to trade the 3 for a pick in the range where I could get Zeller plus something else useful. Or pick Zeller at 3. Or pick Porter, if he's still there. I'm glad there's still some time to the draft.
Fans always attend to blocks when evaluating centers, but for understandable reasons ignore steals. This is a mistake. The correlation between college steal rate and NBA success for bigs is actually considerably stronger than it is for block rate (beta=0.24 vs 0.14). Steals themselves may not be an important part of the big man repertoire, but they offer information about athleticism, coordination, and awareness that makes them an essential assessment tool.
Keeping this in mind, Nerlens Noel ranks 6th all time in NCAA steal rate for big men. Just behind Greg Monroe and just ahead of David Robinson. Not only that, but he is also a top 25 all time rim protector. Noel's 5.4 blocks and 2.5 steals per 40 minutes place him in the exclusive "5 and 2 club". Here is the complete list of seasons where a player registered at least 5 blocks and 2 steals per 40 minutes played: Hakeem Olajuwon '83, David Robinson '86, Nerlens Noel '13, David Robinson '87, Hakeem Olajuwon '82. Not bad company.
DCZards wrote:Zards don't need to draft a backup SG...at least not with the #3 pick. And that's what Olapido will end up being because neither he nor Beal are big enough to log a lot of minutes at SF.
Why does it seem like most of the posters who don't want Bennett focus solely on his lack of D and totally ignore his diverse and impressive offensive skills? My biggest worries with Bennett is his health (asthma and shoulder) and not his size. I think he'll create more matchup problems for bigger PFs and smaller SFs than they'll create for him.
As for Bennett's D, yes lack of effort is a very serious problem. But what if a coach or teammates can light a fire under his butt and he begins to use his length and athleticism, along with close to max effort on D, to become a better defender? If that happens, I think the kid has all-star potential. I know that's a big "if" but it might be a risk worth taking...if Noel and Porter are no longer available when the Zards draft.
