I wanted Jordan Bell, not because I thought he was a star I just thought he fit what the Blazers needed. I honestly think he's a very very limited player too, but biggie has never looked fast enough for the nba to me. Now I try to reserve too much judgement on young players because they can get better, that's why I don't "blast" Zach like some people do, I still think Zach has a chance to be good someday. I'm just not sure you can make it in today's nba with bad footspeed.
Bad footspeed...? Zach has great footspeed for a center. For a PF, hes decent. What about Aldridge, Favors, Sabonis, etc?
All of those sans Sabonis had way better footspeed than Biggie. Sabonis was like 100x more skilled and bugger though. Swanigan is like wading through syrup out there especially on the perimeter. edit: My comment about footspeed was about Biggie. The comment about Zach was just that there are people who blast him already and say he sucks, I think its too earlyto say with Zach.
My bad I phrased it poorly. I think Zach has the athleticism except for strength. He either needs to get wiry strong like KG, or just bulk up. His skillset is already solid. In a weird way I think the Blazer bench is better than it looks, they just dont fit together and having them all revolve around ET is ugly. I know they just looked good tonight but overall the ET strategy i am still not a fan of.
I think why Zach is exciting is because he seems to have all the things you can't teach bigs, with room to grow in all the things you can teach. He has shooting touch, a good feel inside the paint with a decent level of craft for a big, defensive instincts, good footspeed, etc. Yeah E.T. is bleh. I still wish we had Tyreke for Evan's role, since Tyreke would actually fit well and can play with and without the ball. Given his struggles this year due to not being utilized correctly by Nate and his one-year contract, I'd love to get him on the cheap. Evan's role in theory isn't bad, it's just that Evan is way too inefficient to play well with or without the ball.
I dont think Stotts has a clue in the freaking world how to use Zach... To me he is most exciting as a guy who free throw line extended or on the block could have the offense go through him. His footwork is good enough he could score, or set up others. I would love to see them use him besides just a guy who stands on the perimeter on offense, who once in a while gets a look in the paint. Apparently Stotts and I dont see eye to eye on a lot of things though. Also Stotts defensive schemes put his bigs in terrible positions over and over and over.
Not only are those 3 guys NBA players, but Gonzaga currently has a 4th string big in Filip Petrusev who has some similarities with Collins. He played with R.J. Barrett at Montverde last year and will be a big time player next season, and they also have Spokane-native Anton Watson coming in who will likely be a lottery pick in 2020.
Keep an eye on Aaron Nesmith, freshman from Vandy. Strengths + Great athlete with a developed 6'6" frame (213lbs, 6'10" Wingspan) + Has some creation ability and passing feel--fluid changing direction in the lane, has hit some step back and off the bounce 3's + Good rebounder for size (13.7% REB%) + Good shooting splits (36% 3PT, 85% FT), high level shooter in HS + Quick feet and active hands on ball. Athleticism to make weakside and chasedown blocks + Plays with a unique energy and passion for the game. Makes hustle / winning plays Weaknesses - Technique on D is not always there, skilled scorers have had success getting him out of his stance w/ hesitations and shot fakes (K. Porter Jr made him look bad a few times vs USC) - Struggles w/ ball screens at times. I think this largely coaching. Often doesn't get into the ball / opposite hip of handler and prepare for the screen - Not always alert off the ball, zones out at times (common for freshman) - Been mainly an at rim or 3 type player. Not necessarily a problem, but mid range touch is just another indicator to look at to figure out a kids overall skill level. Very small sample so far though. Comes off the bench and plays a fairly small role (16.6% USG), so he's probably more of a 2020 kid. But with Darius Garland out for the year and coming on more as of late, there's a chance he has a strong conference + tournament run and declares this year.
You come up with the most random names while doubting most top notch prospects. I don't understand it.
I think that's just a bit of an exaggeration. I'm no @Fez Von Savage lol Kidding aside, do I have a tendency get excited about fringe prospects?...sure. But I think any person that watches as many prospects as I do run into the same "problem". Guys like P.J. Dozier and Kadeem Allen sure haven't worked out...but in a weird way, I kinda feel validated that both of those guys have been in the Celtics organization at one point--PJ currently, Kadeem drafted in the 2nd round in 17. And it's not like I haven't liked a fair share of the top prospects the last few years. But even if I like them, I'm not going to ignore their flaws. I've talked about this before, but even if I think I kid will succeed in the league, I still like to find reasons and create theories on why that kid may fail. Gives me something for me to look back on in 3-5 years...
For me, if I think a dude is legit im gonna ride with them. Still have a lot of hope in Chandler Hutchison, but he needs a better situation than Chicago.
And that's fine. It's just a different way to look at prospects and the draft overall. And it's funny that you bring up Chandler. I'm also selfishly happy when guys I don't like get drafted by historically bad drafting teams...haha
My 1st Mock Draft (Lottery Simulated w/ Tankathon) 1 NYK Zion Williamson 2 CHI R.J. Barrett 3 PHX Cameron Reddish 4 DAL Romeo Langford 5 ATL Bol Bol 6 CLE Kevin Porter Jr. 7 WAS Nassir Little 8 MIN Ja Morant 9 BKN Rui Hachimura 10 MIA Darius Garland 11 NO Keldon Johnson 12 UTA De'Andre Hunter 13 BOS Sekou Doumbouya 14 BOS Naz Reid 15 ORL Jontay Porter 16 CHA Jarrett Culver 17 HOU Simi Shittu 18 DET Nickeil Alexander-Walker 19 SAS Daniel Gafford 20 LAL Bruno Fernando 21 BOS Tre Jones 22 POR Jalen McDaniels 23 BOS Luka Samanic 24 IND KZ Okpala 25 PHI Ignas Brazdeikis 26 OKC Lugentz Dort 27 DEN Darius Bazley 28 MIL Kililan Tillie 29 GSW Kris Wilkes 30 SAS Brandon Clarke
Cant wait for him to return from injury. Hes a great sleeper IMO. He has such an advanced skillset and smoothness to his game. Plus, Gonzaga bigs are building a good track record as of late.
