Paolo Banchero

[clyde21]

i wish he was playable as a legit 5 in the NBA, that would unlock so much for him positionally and his game. maybe he will be at one point but that's probably the biggest ? for me.

If he was able to play the 5 (strongly doubt it) it'd alleviate a lot of my concerns I have with him defensively. It'd even change his ceiling I have for him, from Julius Randle to a variation of Demarcus Cousins.

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

he's not very good defensively and can't protect the rim, so playing him at the 5 you're instantly in a size/defensive disadvantage, and not sure he's good enough offensively to make up for it.

[God Squad]

i wish he was playable as a legit 5 in the NBA, that would unlock so much for him positionally and his game. maybe he will be at one point but that's probably the biggest ? for me.

If he was able to play the 5 (strongly doubt it) it'd alleviate a lot of my concerns I have with him defensively. It'd even change his ceiling I have for him, from Julius Randle to a variation of Demarcus Cousins.

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

IMO he hasn't shown much defensively at this point. So at the 5 if the other team doesn't go small, he'll be at a disadvantage. Paolo also isn't much of a shot blocker, either on ball or weak side. But I'd definitely view him in a better light if he could play the 5. He'd need to hold his own defensively and have an advantage on offense.

[clyde21]

If he was able to play the 5 (strongly doubt it) it'd alleviate a lot of my concerns I have with him defensively. It'd even change his ceiling I have for him, from Julius Randle to a variation of Demarcus Cousins.

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

IMO he hasn't shown much defensively at this point. So at the 5 if the other team doesn't go small, he'll be at a disadvantage. Paolo also isn't much of a shot blocker, either on ball or weak side. But I'd definitely view him in a better light if he could play the 5. He'd need to hold his own defensively and have an advantage on offense.

yup - this is why i comp him to Randle, who can't really play the 5 in any scalable capacity and is positionally locked at the 4.

[SNPA]

Is he at more of a disadvantage defensively at the five than a guy like Sabonis?

[God Squad]

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

IMO he hasn't shown much defensively at this point. So at the 5 if the other team doesn't go small, he'll be at a disadvantage. Paolo also isn't much of a shot blocker, either on ball or weak side. But I'd definitely view him in a better light if he could play the 5. He'd need to hold his own defensively and have an advantage on offense.

yup - this is why i comp him to Randle, who can't really play the 5 in any scalable capacity and is positionally locked at the 4.

Yeah, he doesn't appear to have the switch-ability teams seems to covet. I don't see what others see when they say "Tatum", "Melo" or that he's a 3. Maybe I need to watch more Duke games/highlights. But I do like the idea of him playing the 5, as I see it only as an advantage for him barring he can hold his own defensively.

[clyde21]

Is he at more of a disadvantage defensively at the five than a guy like Sabonis?

nope and thats the point, his ceiling is capped b/c of it, Sabonis is probably a good comp too

[Nuntius]

i wish he was playable as a legit 5 in the NBA, that would unlock so much for him positionally and his game. maybe he will be at one point but that's probably the biggest ? for me.

If he was able to play the 5 (strongly doubt it) it'd alleviate a lot of my concerns I have with him defensively. It'd even change his ceiling I have for him, from Julius Randle to a variation of Demarcus Cousins.

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

Same thing that stops Sabonis and Randle from being 5s. Lack of rim protection.

[SNPA]

If he was able to play the 5 (strongly doubt it) it'd alleviate a lot of my concerns I have with him defensively. It'd even change his ceiling I have for him, from Julius Randle to a variation of Demarcus Cousins.

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

Same thing that stops Sabonis and Randle from being 5s. Lack of rim protection.

I get that but Sabonis does play five. There are other similar sized guys that don’t provide good rim protection that play the five. It’s just a matter of trade off, because at the five on O he’s a real problem.

[mattao313]

Banchero is not a 5 he's a perimeter oriented 4.

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[Duke4life831]

Banchero is not a 5 he's a perimeter oriented 4.

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That's the problem, he currently doesnt have a perimeter oriented 4's game.

His ideal landing spot would be to pair him with a floor stretching defensive 5. Then hopefully within the next few years his game expands out to the perimeter and you'll be fine pairing him with just a standard defensive 5.

[SeattleJazzFan]

it's sorta eerie how similar he is to jabari coming out of duke. but it's funny because i hated jabari as a prospect - just knew he'd be a bust because he was inefficient, i didn't like his body type and couldn't defend for s**t. well you can probably say all those things about Paolo including concerns about his body (though not quite the fat potential), yet for some reason i've liked him quite a bit over the course of the season - though cooling off a lot as of late however and as a result noticing the similarities to JP.

[mattao313]

Banchero is not a 5 he's a perimeter oriented 4.

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That's the problem, he currently doesnt have a perimeter oriented 4's game.

His ideal landing spot would be to pair him with a floor stretching defensive 5. Then hopefully within the next few years his game expands out to the perimeter and you'll be fine pairing him with just a standard defensive 5.

Exactly he'll be draft for potential. Right now you see he can handle and slash off the perimeter with a workable 3pt shot even if his percentages aren't the best. That's the skillset NBA teams will be looking at and want him to develop more.

I can't see a team drafting him and putting at the 5 he would suck there.

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[Big J]

Yea I don't like the vibes on this kid. Not saying he's gonna be a bust, just not feeling his game or his vibes.

[Nuntius]

Agree. Five is his ideal position.

Why can’t he play five at the next level? What stops that?

Same thing that stops Sabonis and Randle from being 5s. Lack of rim protection.

I get that but Sabonis does play five. There are other similar sized guys that don’t provide good rim protection that play the five. It’s just a matter of trade off, because at the five on O he’s a real problem.

Domas does play 5 but he's better at 4, imo. Or, to be more precise, he is better when paired with a rim protector. It is generally easier to find these rim protectors at 5 which is why I say that he's better at 4. If he has a 4 next to him that can protect the rim (a Jerami Grant, for example) then, sure, he works as a 5.

All that said, it is entirely possible that I am projecting the defensive fit issues that Domas and Randle have to Banchero. I project him to be a similar defender to these two but maybe he's different. We'll see.

[mattao313]

Same thing that stops Sabonis and Randle from being 5s. Lack of rim protection.

I get that but Sabonis does play five. There are other similar sized guys that don’t provide good rim protection that play the five. It’s just a matter of trade off, because at the five on O he’s a real problem.

Domas does play 5 but he's better at 4, imo. Or, to be more precise, he is better when paired with a rim protector. It is generally easier to find these rim protectors at 5 which is why I say that he's better at 4. If he has a 4 next to him that can protect the rim (a Jerami Grant, for example) then, sure, he works as a 5.

All that said, it is entirely possible that I am projecting the defensive fit issues that Domas and Randle have to Banchero. I project him to be a similar defender to these two but maybe he's different. We'll see.

Banchero is much closer to being jerami grant than freaking sabonis lol. Also grant is not a rim protector.

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[CptCrunch]

Jesus Chris, I am not saying Paolo is the best prospect, but if some of you channeled 1/10 the negative energy devote to revealing warts in Paolo's game to examining the same issues in Jabari's game, Jabari wouldn't even be in contention for the top pick. Paolo is literally getting shredded left and right for effectively existing as a Duke player. If he went to any other school, the scrutiny would be magnitude less.

Objective scouting straight out goes out of the door when some posters here start comparing every wing out of Duke with Parker, and every PF with Okafor. It's like literally a disease when the player at hand has nothing in common with either aside from committing to Duke.

[pad300]

Domas does play 5 but he's better at 4, imo. Or, to be more precise, he is better when paired with a rim protector. It is generally easier to find these rim protectors at 5 which is why I say that he's better at 4. If he has a 4 next to him that can protect the rim (a Jerami Grant, for example) then, sure, he works as a 5.

All that said, it is entirely possible that I am projecting the defensive fit issues that Domas and Randle have to Banchero. I project him to be a similar defender to these two but maybe he's different. We'll see.

Not to sure that I believe the bolded argument. Sabonis + Turner didn't work, and Turner is a rim protecting 5 for sure... (and Turner is a good rim-protecting 5). Sabonis might be able to work with a rim protecting 4, but I don't think we can say we've seen it tried. IMO Sabonis's quickness/mobility limits him to the 5 spot, as if he is guarding a 4 who goes to the perimeter, he gets toasted... This of course is a schematic problem for the D, because Sabonis at the 5 doesn't offer a lot of rim protection, and the 4 beside him can be pulled out to the perimeter.

WRT to Banchero, he might work better than Sabonis in a defensive scheme, as I think he is more mobile. It's not that he's currently good at defending, but I suspect he can go out to the perimeter to defend a 4...

[MotownMadness]

Right now hes just playing as passing hub in the midrange trying to get guys open 3s. He needs to be more aggressive with his own shot at the rim before they lose the ACC tournament

[Nuntius]

I get that but Sabonis does play five. There are other similar sized guys that don’t provide good rim protection that play the five. It’s just a matter of trade off, because at the five on O he’s a real problem.

Domas does play 5 but he's better at 4, imo. Or, to be more precise, he is better when paired with a rim protector. It is generally easier to find these rim protectors at 5 which is why I say that he's better at 4. If he has a 4 next to him that can protect the rim (a Jerami Grant, for example) then, sure, he works as a 5.

All that said, it is entirely possible that I am projecting the defensive fit issues that Domas and Randle have to Banchero. I project him to be a similar defender to these two but maybe he's different. We'll see.

Banchero is much closer to being jerami grant than freaking sabonis lol. Also grant is not a rim protector.

Grant is not a full-on rim protector but he is, at least, a good weak-side shot blocker that can alleviate some of that pressure. It is definitely tougher to find a 4 who is a true rim protestor.

[Nuntius]

Domas does play 5 but he's better at 4, imo. Or, to be more precise, he is better when paired with a rim protector. It is generally easier to find these rim protectors at 5 which is why I say that he's better at 4. If he has a 4 next to him that can protect the rim (a Jerami Grant, for example) then, sure, he works as a 5.

All that said, it is entirely possible that I am projecting the defensive fit issues that Domas and Randle have to Banchero. I project him to be a similar defender to these two but maybe he's different. We'll see.

Not to sure that I believe the bolded argument. Sabonis + Turner didn't work, and Turner is a rim protecting 5 for sure... (and Turner is a good rim-protecting 5). Sabonis might be able to work with a rim protecting 4, but I don't think we can say we've seen it tried. IMO Sabonis's quickness/mobility limits him to the 5 spot, as if he is guarding a 4 who goes to the perimeter, he gets toasted... This of course is a schematic problem for the D, because Sabonis at the 5 doesn't offer a lot of rim protection, and the 4 beside him can be pulled out to the perimeter.

WRT to Banchero, he might work better than Sabonis in a defensive scheme, as I think he is more mobile. It's not that he's currently good at defending, but I suspect he can go out to the perimeter to defend a 4...

On Sabonis: Sabonis + Turner worked. That duo was never the reason why the Pacers struggled. The reason why we struggled was that we paired that duo with shot-first and injury-prone guards like Brogdon/Lamb/LeVert et cetera. That was the problem for us. Our ball-handlers, not our bigs.

On Banchero: It is 100% possible that I am projecting Domas' (and to a lesser extent Randle's) defensive issues on Banchero. It is also 100% possible that projecting their issues to him is flat out incorrect. I haven't watched Banchero enough to make any kind of authoritative statement. I'm just going off of what other people have been saying, some videos and a couple of games I've watched. I'm far from an expert and I could easily be wrong.