2019-2020 College/Draft thread (Part 4)

[3toheadmelo]

that wasn't a real thing. 99% of the Mikal fans never thought he could be kawhi.

if it was I would love you provide bakcup for that. I dont remember any comps to kawhi. Mikal was a 3/D forward to the max.

Me and robillionaire remember it. You can go look and find it. There was mad comparisons to Kawhi

Ofcourse there were, just like Frank was compared to Jrue Holiday and even Giannis of Point Guards

People thought Mikal was at the very least going to be Middleton with potential to be Kawhi. Lets just say he's not even close to Middleton let alone Kawhi. He's not even prime Ariza level yet.

People had way bigger expectations for Mikal than what he's shown, anybody downplaying it now is only lying to themselves

Yep he had a lot of hype back then. Hes playing to what I expected him to be. Just a 3 and D guy. Which isnt bad but is nothing compared to his expectations. At least he is on Phoenix and plays next to Booker/Ayton/Oubre, etc and does not need to score. So he won't look bad there. If the Knicks took him.. would be a different story

[jvsimonetti0514]

It's a lot harder to consistently put up numbers and carry a team when you have lesser talent and less help around you. As much as you say SGA was held back because of the balance at UK he also benefited from it A LOT. PJ Washington was a beast inside and Knox was a threat from the perimeter. Diallo was inconsistent but he brought energy and deserved a good amount of focus from opponents. SGA really benefited having those guys around him. I don't think he was good enough to do better than Haliburton has for his team. Maybe he could match his production but don't see him doing better. SGA really struggled shooting and even now he's not really a reliable shooter, capable of hitting shots but he's not reliable. Haliburton's efficiency was on a historic level and he's in a rare category

I think its a bit of ying and yang don't you think. I think it always helps playing with better players because it opens up more opportunities but if you simply have to share the offensive load you could also have limited opportunities overall. Like % wise they probably are pretty successful but usage and attemps wise they probably could get more elsewhere.

Thats like saying KAT and Booker who avg 10 ppg in college if they went somewhere they were the only NBA caliber player they would avg more than 10ppg?

Like I said it could be a little of both but Kentucky does have a history of minimizing there talent for the greater good of the team because they have so many top tier weapons.

SGA started slow, but came on late and was great in March in the tournaments. He avg 20ppg, 6assist, 52%fg, 44%3pt in the last 7 games. He took over the team. I dont know how the Knicks were scouting Kentucky and thought Knox was better.

UK really struggled that year until they put the ball into SGA hands and let him attack. They kept trying to force feed Knox off curls and failed cuz he’s bad. I definitely don’t remember anyone saying SGA struggled getting to the rim like Haliburton.

[3toheadmelo]

that wasn't a real thing. 99% of the Mikal fans never thought he could be kawhi.

if it was I would love you provide bakcup for that. I dont remember any comps to kawhi. Mikal was a 3/D forward to the max.

Me and robillionaire remember it. You can go look and find it. There was mad comparisons to Kawhi

Like Wiseman is Bosh/AD or Knox is Giannis/Durant? Come on. We are all bad when it comes to that.

Hey you cant make fun of my Wiseman comparison yet since he hasnt played in a NBA game

[robillionaire]

We can’t live with drafting someone who just turns into an average bench player or rotation player we need everyone to be a superstar

Last year Frank averaged 10.8 points per 36 with great defense and he’s widely considered a bust and Mikal has averaged 10.7 per 36 across his 2 seasons he’s offensively on par with Frank except he’s 2 years older than frank

He's basically an older Frank

I just read a few pages of Mikal banter from 2018 and it's so outrageous I won't even repost it

But you were right

[HEZI]

Me and robillionaire remember it. You can go look and find it. There was mad comparisons to Kawhi

Ofcourse there were, just like Frank was compared to Jrue Holiday and even Giannis of Point Guards

People thought Mikal was at the very least going to be Middleton with potential to be Kawhi. Lets just say he's not even close to Middleton let alone Kawhi. He's not even prime Ariza level yet.

People had way bigger expectations for Mikal than what he's shown, anybody downplaying it now is only lying to themselves

Yep he had a lot of hype back then. Hes playing to what I expected him to be. Just a 3 and D guy. Which isnt bad but is nothing compared to his expectations. At least he is on Phoenix and plays next to Booker/Ayton/Oubre, etc and does not need to score. So he won't look bad there. If the Knicks took him.. would be a different story

On the Knicks he would be losing minutes to guys like Mo Harkless and fans would complain how we aren't developing the future star properly and then they would say how a team like Phoenix would develop him much better and yada yada

[Mecca]

prob gonna be Cole Anthony unless the Knicks move up at lotto.

[Deeeez Knicks]

Mikal is a total bust. Not only is he the oldest out of the whole group, he's also nothing but a role player off the bench. Considering his hype, he's a total bust

He is pretty much an Ariza type glue player as advertised. He was really playing well before the stoppage. He got off to a slow start but came around and was starting.

In 24 games as a starter 11.4ppg/4.6rpg/2.7apg/1bpg/1.5spg/52%fg/42%3pt/66%ts, along with great defense. That is good all around numbers.

Better then Miles and much better then Knox...SGA would have still been the best pick for us.

https://valleyofthesuns.com/2020/03/02/mikal-bridges-has-finally-arrived-phoenix-suns/

Mikal is a pure lockdown defender. He can block shots, steal the ball, and stay in front of virtually anybody. For a very bad defensive team, he is exactly what the Phoenix Suns need.

Recently, Bridges has been shining. In his last twelve games, he is averaging 11.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks on 53/44/100 shooting. During this impressive run, Mikal has racked up give games with four steals, and has had a steal in all but two of the twelve games. The Suns do not need Bridges to score 20 points per game and grab double digit rebounds; they just need him to do a little of everything.

Suns fans have a lot to be excited about in Mikal Bridges. He has skills of Kevin Durant and Shawn Marion in his game, but does not need the ball as much. Mikal has cemented his spot in the starting lineup and in the Suns future plans.

There is nothing impressive about any of that. Which is funny to see the justification for Mikal and the hate for Knox coming from people who now want to shoot for the moon and aim for the stars, which is exactly the thought process that went into the Knox pick over Mikal. A 3/D role player such as Mikal is not worth a lotto pick and not worth missing on an opportunity to draft somebody with a much higher ceiling. Miles is better than him and still has a higher ceiling to keep getting better. Knox is a wildcard but taking a risk on him was still better than settling for Mikal. SGA is the only one worth complaining about, but that's not who the majority wanted anyway and a good reason for that is because we had Frank. Yikes!

Yea, SGA would be the only one worth complaining about but how is Miles not a bust then?

Mikal is the much better defender, more efficient, better shooter, better passer....I would still take Mikal over Miles just going back to the original point.

[Mecca]

The basketball gods remember how much I wanted SGA.

Sign.

[HEZI]

He is pretty much an Ariza type glue player as advertised. He was really playing well before the stoppage. He got off to a slow start but came around and was starting.

In 24 games as a starter 11.4ppg/4.6rpg/2.7apg/1bpg/1.5spg/52%fg/42%3pt/66%ts, along with great defense. That is good all around numbers.

Better then Miles and much better then Knox...SGA would have still been the best pick for us.

https://valleyofthesuns.com/2020/03/02/mikal-bridges-has-finally-arrived-phoenix-suns/

There is nothing impressive about any of that. Which is funny to see the justification for Mikal and the hate for Knox coming from people who now want to shoot for the moon and aim for the stars, which is exactly the thought process that went into the Knox pick over Mikal. A 3/D role player such as Mikal is not worth a lotto pick and not worth missing on an opportunity to draft somebody with a much higher ceiling. Miles is better than him and still has a higher ceiling to keep getting better. Knox is a wildcard but taking a risk on him was still better than settling for Mikal. SGA is the only one worth complaining about, but that's not who the majority wanted anyway and a good reason for that is because we had Frank. Yikes!

Yea, SGA would be the only one worth complaining about but how is Miles not a bust then?

Mikal is the much better defender, more efficient, better shooter, better passer....I would still take Mikal over Miles just going back to the original point.

Mikal is a better man to man on the perimeter, that is the only true statement. He's a skinny twig on the inside and gets destroyed on switches. More efficient but terrible volume for an impact player. He attempts 6 total shots a game and makes less than 1 three pointer a game. That's not even a reliable 3/D option. He's as reliable as a scorer and shooter as Frank Ntilikina. Miles is a much better shooter than him and waaaaaaay more athletic and useful in transition. Not to mention Miles is a much better ball handler and waaaaay better at creating his own shot than Mikal who is very robotic with limited handles and almost none existent shooting off the dribble. Miles is also a better rebounder and way more versatile player than Mikal. Just overall better and he's younger

[3toheadmelo]

I had miles over mikal before the draft and I still do. He quietly has had a solid season this year

[robillionaire]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

[Capn'O]

SGA would have still been the best pick for us.

The basketball gods remember how much I wanted SGA.

Sign.

They don't remember for me because I kept my damn mouth shut. I was actually a big Carter fan too but dropped out of his range and that's when I had to get creative. Towards the end really liked Mitch but friggin' Ill took him

My scouting for that draft was one of my finer moments. Last year... I'mma use the excuse that I didn't have the time.

[3toheadmelo]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

I was one of the few who wanted Sexton and he turned out better than everyone on that list besides Trae and SGA. Too bad he went one spot ahead of us

[HEZI]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

3 times as many votes for Mikal than for Trae Young

[Capn'O]

The Mikal and the Kawhi comparisons on this board were too much though. He wasn't even close to that. The wingspan lovers keep comparing guys like him and Frank to Kawhi which were ridiculous

Yeah. He was just solid. At 9, solid is good

We just have to hope Knox gets it. He could be better. Or just plain garbage

[mpharris36]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

that doesn't suggest the 26% thought he was going to be kawhi

if you picking 9th your overall your are lucky to get an NBA role player

[robillionaire]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

that doesn't suggest the 26% thought he was going to be kawhi

if you picking 9th your overall your are lucky to get an NBA role player

Agreed about picking 9th

Many people were definitely suggesting he was going to be kawhi though. Or at minimum saying he was much better prospect than Kawhi

[3toheadmelo]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

3 times as many votes for Mikal than for Trae Young

I voted Sexton but I’m still holding a big L on Trae Young

[robillionaire]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

3 times as many votes for Mikal than for Trae Young

I voted Sexton but I’m still holding a big L on Trae Young

I liked Trae, I think at this point I knew there was no way in hell he’d be there 9th though and didn’t see it as realistic

[Capn'O]

I'm outing myself as someone who wanted us to take knox and was wrong but it has to be posted

3 times as many votes for Mikal than for Trae Young

I voted Sexton but I’m still holding a big L on Trae Young

A lot of people hold that L. I didn't know how to evaluate him and didn't really speak on him. I was very curious how he'd pan... for somebody else His college career was so weird and he REALLY cut down on TOs.

I liked Trae, I think at this point I knew there was no way in hell he’d be there 9th though and didn’t see it as realistic

Also this. Same with Carter. Between Knox, Miles, and Mikal I liked Mikal.