Pat Connaughton

I remember him from the tournament this year...because he made us laugh. Who is that little white guy who keeps outrebounding all the bigs? It's Pat.

 

Jerian Grant*

 

That Wikipedia article should have a banner at the top, "The Personal Life section reads like an advertisement."

Much of the Wikipedia article comes from its Footnote #1, which is this puff piece dated Jan. 9, 2015.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...n-dual-sport-athlete-torn-basketball-baseball

 

Some might question the measurement, so they took a video of his 44-inch leap at the combine. Scroll down to

"4. Connaughton Impressed at the NBA Combine in May"

http://heavy.com/sports/2015/06/pat-connaughton-baseball-basketball-notre-dame-girlfriend-orioles/

 

Yep, in Notre Dame's near upset of Kentucky, Connaugton had as many rebounds as Cauley-Stein and Towns combined.

BNM

 

He didn't shoot well but he played PF that game and had 8/9

 

Yep, I didn't watch a lot of college ball this past year, but was in NW Indiana at the time and the Notre Dame Kentucky game was on everywhere. I couldn't believe they started their 6'5" SG at PF against all of Kentucky's 7-footers - and it almost worked. Notre Dame almost won that game before falling 68-66 as Kentucky made their last 9 shots to come from behind and pull out when of the better games in the tournament.

BNM

 

I know this is going to seem blasphemous but I believe in time (definitely not in year 1 and probably not in year 2...) Connaughton could become every bit the player Wes Matthews ultimately turned into.

 

With more hops and less defense, but the guy can shoot for sure.

 

Yes, Wes is definitely better at D. But while Wes was always good at D he wasn't near this good at first. He got better every year (kind of like his O - the man just has the will to improve, I will give him that!). I see Pat as a willing defender. He might not hit Wes territory but I have no doubts that he gets better at D every year as well. The only thing I can't tell about Pat is his heart. That will be the deciding factor.

 

This guy is exactly the kind of player that would annoy the hell out of me if he was on another team.

 

I think that is a given for almost any second round pick. Remember though, Wes wasn't even drafted.

 

Funny, his 3PT stroke kinda looks similar to Matthews.

 

While I have no doubt that it was part of it he would have picked someone else if he didn't like this kid's chances.

 

I was thinking this as well. The knock on him is that his lateral movement is average at best, so his defense against quicker guards comes into question. As does his handles. But isn't that Wes as well?

Wes makes up for it with being smart and tenacious on D. They both look to have a little "junk yard dog" in them. And while I assume Wes is better at a few things, (i.e stronger) I am guessing that Pat can finish better on the break with that vertical leap. And help on weakside D

 

Those are the guys you love to have off the bench.

The Corey Brewers of the world.

 

This block is just silly:

He did get beat bad at the beginning but recovered nicely.