Emoni Bates

God Squad · Post #101 » by **God Squad** » Thu Nov 4, 2021 10:19 am

Upperclass wrote:He's not an NBA player. Some team will kick the tires in the second round but he isn't going to get more athletic as he ages

No way he doesn't go in the first unless he totally stinks up his two seasons. Some team will bank on "potential". But he the measurements were awful and this video didn't alleviate those concerns.

Post #102 » by **VCfor3** » Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:48 am

So far Bates has looked great against super weak competition. Short of a career-altering injury, I don't see him going outside the lottery much less the first round.

BostonCouchGM · Post #103 » by **BostonCouchGM** » Sun Nov 14, 2021 8:19 am

he has an advanced feel for the game and looks engaged and highly skilled. He's a natural basketball player. His measurables aren't great but these kids will have access to PEDs, nutritionists, trainers, etc and if he wants it bad enough he can transform himself into at least a serviceable athlete. He reminds me of Ingram and Melo. We'll just have to see how serious he is about being great. Clearly, as is, he's not going to go into the league and light it up but maybe 3-4 years (like most players btw) down the road, with 25 lbs of muscle and a more twitchy athlete, he can be great.

Post #104 » by **jman3134** » Sun Nov 14, 2021 8:58 am

He should be a high school senior and isn't even eligible for the 2022 draft. Let's put this into context when gauging how he does at a completely new position in his first year with real coaching.

3toheadmelo · Post #105 » by **3toheadmelo** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 3:02 pm

he’s looked like a future star. people look too much into measurements

clyde21 · Post #106 » by **clyde21** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 4:58 pm

he's good, he has a size/skills/coordination combo that you can't teach, but again, not nearly the phenom a lot of people claimed he was a couple of years ago.

Post #107 » by **Duke4life831** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:53 pm

To be honest I haven’t watched a Memphis game yet. I’ve only watched the highlights. Here’s what I’ve taken so far, he has a nice jumper.

That is pretty much it, but that was already known. I just don’t care what he does against crap mid major teams. There are high school teams that would beat these teams. These teams especially lack legit big wing talent.

I want to see him being guarded by a legit wing and see what kind of quality shots he could get off. This is my biggest question mark with him. i already knew he could hit open 3s.

babyjax13 · Post #108 » by **babyjax13** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:45 pm

Duke4life831 wrote:To be honest I haven’t watched a Memphis game yet. I’ve only watched the highlights. Here’s what I’ve taken so far, he has a nice jumper.

That is pretty much it, but that was already known. I just don’t care what he does against crap mid major teams. There are high school teams that would beat these teams. These teams especially lack legit big wing talent.

I want to see him being guarded by a legit wing and see what kind of quality shots he could get off. This is my biggest question mark with him. i already knew he could hit open 3s.

His release is absurdly quick, too, and he seems to have pretty okay vision for a wing (not saying he should be a point guard, but I could see him being a nice linking guy that gets the "assist" in those "pass to assist" type plays). But, yes, this first month is hard to take a ton from these players. Right now they are just getting their feet wet in college playing against bad teams, we will find out more when they start playing good teams. I have to say Duren has been interesting to me, he has a high motor but it's also kind of funny watching him push his own teammates out of the way for rebounds.

MemphisX · Post #109 » by **MemphisX** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:32 pm

Other than the Wemby, what guy in his class is playing vs better competition?

babyjax13 · Post #110 » by **babyjax13** » Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:06 am

MemphisX wrote:Other than the Wemby, what guy in his class is playing vs better competition?

Scoot Henderson

yoyoboy · Post #111 » by **yoyoboy** » Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:09 am

Yeah I've been low on him since I first saw his highlights a couple years ago. He's like Brandon Ingram with significantly worse athleticism and physical measurements/strength. Perfect example of a dude who developed early and dominated the competition but now looks a lot less appealing after everyone else around him has caught up.

The-Power · Post #112 » by **The-Power** » Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:13 pm

yoyoboy wrote:Yeah I've been low on him since I first saw his highlights a couple years ago. He's like Brandon Ingram with significantly worse athleticism and physical measurements/strength. Perfect example of a dude who developed early and dominated the competition but now looks a lot less appealing after everyone else around him has caught up.

I thought so, too, and I'm not still not extremely high on him. But I will say that I could see him being an elite shooter – something that would clearly separate him from Ingram. I was also positively surprised at his ability to feed his big men on the drive which makes his upside as an on-ball creator much more appealing. Also, I wasn't in love with his shtick to flex or celebrate after every decent play in HS but I'm less concerned by it now that I've seen him do similar stuff after good plays of his teammates, which at least shows that he's not only playing for himself.

Still, there are obvious concerns that remain. First and foremost, he has ways to go to be even average defensively and I think odds are close to zero that he'll ever be a notable positive on that end with his lack of length, strength and (currently at least) prioritization of offense. And then on offense, I'm not sure I see a clear path for him to becoming elite. He'd have to either develop into a primary playmaker or find a way to also dominate around the rim – and neither of that seems very likely. Still, I do believe he has a clear path to being a really good offensive player in the NBA with some on-off-ball versatility and being at least not so bad defensively that he'll constantly be hunted, and that's worth a lottery pick as far as I'm concerned. In what range remains to be seen, though.

Post #113 » by **Duke4life831** » Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:43 pm

We're about to get a better read on what he looks like against better competition.

Nov 24th - Dec 18th
Virginia Tech
Georgia
Ole Miss
Murray State
Alabama
Tennessee

No elite wing talent in that group. But they're at least legit teams and teams with legit size. Its a considerable step up in competition level and legit D1 players.

shotsquatch · Post #114 » by **shotsquatch** » Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:43 am

Those measurable are miserable! He jumps like a 250 lbs center.

Post #115 » by **Marcus** » Thu Nov 25, 2021 8:16 pm

So is Penny trying to mold Bates into a version of himself?

Post #116 » by **Duke4life831** » Thu Nov 25, 2021 10:19 pm

Marcus wrote:So is Penny trying to mold Bates into a version of himself?

I hope not. I don’t think he has the 1st step quickness to be a successful point forward kind of player.

The Virginia tech game was the first game I watched of him in college, it was pretty rough.

Post #117 » by **VCfor3** » Fri Nov 26, 2021 1:45 am

Duke4life831 wrote:
Marcus wrote:So is Penny trying to mold Bates into a version of himself?

I hope not. I don’t think he has the 1st step quickness to be a successful point forward kind of player.

The Virginia tech game was the first game I watched of him in college, it was pretty rough.

Yeah he looked better in some of the other games.

As for Penny's goal, I think he wants to try and have Bates handle the ball in large part due to not having a great PG option. Lomax is good defensively and can bring the ball up, but he makes poor decisions with the ball in half court sets and isn't a great shooter.

Post #118 » by **Duke4life831** » Fri Nov 26, 2021 3:51 am

VCfor3 wrote:
Duke4life831 wrote:
Marcus wrote:So is Penny trying to mold Bates into a version of himself?

I hope not. I don’t think he has the 1st step quickness to be a successful point forward kind of player.

The Virginia tech game was the first game I watched of him in college, it was pretty rough.

Yeah he looked better in some of the other games.

As for Penny's goal, I think he wants to try and have Bates handle the ball in large part due to not having a great PG option. Lomax is good defensively and can bring the ball up, but he makes poor decisions with the ball in half court sets and isn't a great shooter.

Ya to be clear, I haven't paid much attention to his previous games because I think they're pointless. This isn't just a Bates thing, Ive made my thoughts on pointless early NCAA basketball pretty clear in other threads.

Like I said earlier in this thread, the Virginia Tech game was the start of the season for me when it comes to Bates. Actual legit competition that has legit D1 talent.

I get Penny doing what is best for this Memphis team (I dont blame him at all for that), but when it comes to Bates as a point forward kind of player against legit D1 competition and on the next level. I dont see it. I dont think Bates has the 1st step or the overall athleticism to play that kind of role.

Post #119 » by **Duke4life831** » Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:55 am

Bates choosing Memphis was just a dumb choice by him. Penny doesnt know how to coach basketball. No one cares about Memphis basketball as well.

People are going to forget all about his name by the end of this year. Whether he chooses to stay at Memphis or go to the G League next year, this year will end up just being a complete waste of a year. Same goes for Baldwin

Post #120 » by **Duke4life831** » Sat Dec 4, 2021 7:31 pm

Ya Bates measurements and lack of explosion seem to be huge red flags. The second he has started playing against average power conference teams, his lack of separation has been eye opening. He can’t create space to save his life.

To start the season it was cute that he was able to get shots up against unathletic 6’3 guys. But the second he has gone against 6’6 guys that can move pretty well, he has gone completely quiet.

The thing that is really eye opening is he has no first step. There is no pop what so ever when he tries to make a move. Then the lack of athleticism and horrible measurements, really limits any kind of ceiling he has as a defender.