Nance as a SF?

[crazyeights]

Curious to know what people define as the skills needed to play small-forward, power-forward, and center in "today's NBA".

I'm seeing a lot of talk about skills he and Randle are lacking.

[Kilroy]

He should play center long before he should play SF. As a SF his lateral quickness and range are lacking and energy around the rim is wasted.

But he also has Zero post skills and no footwork... I think he's still a PF on a small ball lineup.

well i wouldn't expect him to be posting up cause he's playing center. id expect his offensive role to remain the same. defensively he'd be able to maintain his very good lateral quickness to defend the pnr. biggest change would be more post defense and rim protecting, which i think with his strong frame and vertical, he can adapt to pretty well.

He apparently doesn't have a great standing vertical, according to Draft Express... I remember reading that his vert was insane but according to them, it may have been stepped into.
I understand you're talking about more of a face up C, but I think if you have poor post skills and footwork, there's a pretty good chance you're not going to be great at defending guys that do.
Offensively, with a really small lineup, I think Nance could play C. I just don't think we have the personnel to put an effective lineup with Nance at C on the court... Maybe with Randle at C, but I think that probably limits Randle's versatility and effectiveness.

[dockingsched]

But he also has Zero post skills and no footwork... I think he's still a PF on a small ball lineup.

well i wouldn't expect him to be posting up cause he's playing center. id expect his offensive role to remain the same. defensively he'd be able to maintain his very good lateral quickness to defend the pnr. biggest change would be more post defense and rim protecting, which i think with his strong frame and vertical, he can adapt to pretty well.

He apparently doesn't have a great standing vertical, according to Draft Express... I remember reading that his vert was insane but according to them, it may have been stepped into.
I understand you're talking about more of a face up C, but I think if you have poor post skills and footwork, there's a pretty good chance you're not going to be great at defending guys that do.
Offensively, with a really small lineup, I think Nance could play C. I just don't think we have the personnel to put an effective lineup with Nance at C on the court... Maybe with Randle at C, but I think that probably limits Randle's versatility and effectiveness.

i admit Nance at center wouldn't be ideal, but I do wholeheartedly believe he'd have much more success there than trying to play on the wing as a SF. I don't believe he has the lateral quickness to keep up and i just don't think he has any skills of a perimeter player. as a pg his jumpshot looks serviceable, as a center its good, as a SF its a liability. as a pf his ball handling is a weakness, as a center its serviceable, as a SF its a straight liability as well.

[crazyeights]

well i wouldn't expect him to be posting up cause he's playing center. id expect his offensive role to remain the same. defensively he'd be able to maintain his very good lateral quickness to defend the pnr. biggest change would be more post defense and rim protecting, which i think with his strong frame and vertical, he can adapt to pretty well.

He apparently doesn't have a great standing vertical, according to Draft Express... I remember reading that his vert was insane but according to them, it may have been stepped into.
I understand you're talking about more of a face up C, but I think if you have poor post skills and footwork, there's a pretty good chance you're not going to be great at defending guys that do.
Offensively, with a really small lineup, I think Nance could play C. I just don't think we have the personnel to put an effective lineup with Nance at C on the court... Maybe with Randle at C, but I think that probably limits Randle's versatility and effectiveness.

i admit Nance at center wouldn't be ideal, but I do wholeheartedly believe he'd have much more success there than trying to play on the wing as a SF. I don't believe he has the lateral quickness to keep up and i just don't think he has any skills of a perimeter player. as a pg his jumpshot looks serviceable, as a center its good, as a SF its a liability. as a pf his ball handling is a weakness, as a center its serviceable, as a SF its a straight liability as well.

Where is this lateral quickness stuff coming from? The numbers simply don't bear it.

Top 3 Positional Lane Agility

PG Keifer Sykes 10.50, Chasson Randle 10.61, Joseph Young 10.74
SG Devin Booker 10.22, Tyler Harvey 10.52, Pat Connaughton 10.74
SF Rondae Hollis Jefferson 10.51, Sam Dekker 10.71, Terran Petteway 10.96
PF Larry Nance Jr 10.89, Jonathan Holmes 10.97, Jarell Martin 11.12
C Dakari Johnson 11.50, Rakeem Christmas 11.57, Mouhammadou Jaiteh 12.05 (yes, there were only three “centers” who did athletic testing)

Top 3 Positional ¾ Sprint
PG Marcus Thornton WM 3.02, Keifer Sykes 3.13, Terry Rozier 3.15
SG Dez Wells 3.20, Norman Powell 3.20, Pat Connaughton 3.20
SF Rondae Hollis Jefferson 3.12, Anthony Brown 3.18, Branden Dawson 3.20
PF Larry Nance Jr 3.25, Vince Hunter 3.26, Jarell Martin
C [Player: Mouhammadou Jaiteh: 3.38], Rakeem Christmas 3.47, Dakari Johnson 3.62

http://www.nbadraft.net/2015-nba-draft-combine-measurements

http://stats.nba.com/draftcombine/#!/agility/?sort=LANE_AGILITY_TIME&dir=-1

Nance actually had a .01 second faster time than Anthony Brown in lane agility drill. The one that this organization wants to become a lockdown 3D guy. In the agility test, he was the 3rd fastest forward tested (behind RHJ and Dekker).

In fact he was much faster than Justin Anderson, who posted an 11.13. The same Justin Anderson who we've loved to fall to us at 27.


Nance's shuttle run time was faster than RHJ and a number of other guards/SFs. I'm not going to comb through it anymore, essentially Nance is a beast physically.

Simply put, he's athletic enough to play either forward spot. Especially with his length.

[ArC_man]

I don't think he'll have a problem on defense as SF, the problem will be spacing on offense. 3 point shooting is a skill that a wing absolutely must have.

[Kilroy]

I don't think he'll have a problem on defense as SF, the problem will be spacing on offense. 3 point shooting is a skill that a wing absolutely must have.

It's important, but not as important as you might think... Look at GSW and Green and Barnes... They average about 3 attempts in over 30mpg, from behind the arch, and make around half of them. And on that team, they're mostly all wide open shots.

I think Nance is capable of that if he focuses on it.

[ALL HAIL]

Well before be transformed his game into a rebounding machine, Dennis Rodman played strictly as a small forward. Think about that for a moment.

If Nance mans the SF position for any reasonable amount of time, his shot will come around -- there are countless examples of guys who, over time, learn how to shoot.

[ArC_man]

I don't think he'll have a problem on defense as SF, the problem will be spacing on offense. 3 point shooting is a skill that a wing absolutely must have.

It's important, but not as important as you might think... Look at GSW and Green and Barnes... They average about 3 attempts in over 30mpg, from behind the arch, and make around half of them. And on that team, they're mostly all wide open shots.

I think Nance is capable of that if he focuses on it.

Yes I think in time Nance can be a good 3 point shooter, I don't think it's happening this season though. Iggy, Barnes, and Green play the 3/4/5 in the GSW's most effective lineup, I'm hoping we can mimic it with Nance/Randle + wing in the future.

[PKABOOICU]

i see no ariza or fox in him...if anything, i see devean george due to his explosiveness...not a great shooter, not a ball handler either, too small for a PF, good rebounder, decent defender....he'll have somewhat of a career but nothing spectacular. he'd be a decent rotational player good for 20-25 min a game at best.

[ALL HAIL]

i see no ariza or fox in him...if anything, i see devean george due to his explosiveness...not a great shooter, not a ball handler either, too small for a PF, good rebounder, decent de seefender....he'll have somewhat of a career but nothing spectacular. he'd be a decent rotational player good for 20-25 min a game at best.

You just described Ariza coming out of UCLA.

[Frank Dux]

Not enough perimeter skill, and doesn't shoot well enough to warrant playing the 3. He looks like a backup 4 to me, and we should be running a lot more pick and rolls for him.

[ALL HAIL]

Not enough perimeter skill, and doesn't shoot well enough to warrant playing the 3. He looks like a backup 4 to me, and we should be running a lot more pick and rolls for him.

Shooting will come. Right now this team needs defense.

The question is, can he guard 3s? Pretty clear that's a yes.

Roberson, in OKC, doesn't have the skills you described either. It didn't stop him from being inserted in that lineup as a defensive role-player.

They'd just need him to fill a role -- play impactful, disruptive defense on the wing for twenty minutes on a team in desperate need of it. That's it.