<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">Another question - what would Carney or Brewer give us that Gelabale potentially won't?</div> That's a good point... but why add to the projects at Center? I'd rather have two versatile backup swingmen instead of three raw centers that might not pan out.
Because we can keep Sene in Europe if required and save money. If our centres don't pan out, isn't it theoretically smarter to have more of them then? Three prospects have a better chance of being worthwhile than just two.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">Because we can keep Sene in Europe if required and save money. If our centres don't pan out, isn't it theoretically smarter to have more of them then? Three prospects have a better chance of being worthwhile than just two.</div> It's not the same I don't think. A guy like Carney is much closer to being pro ready than a guy like Sene who isn't even used to the NBA game or the European game for that matter.... or basketball at all for that matter. With Carney or Brewer you at least know you're getting someone that can play some minutes. I get that its not a bad idea to have options when you don't really need any position badly but I don't think that stockpiling project centers is a great idea. Also, according to Locke/Pelton's draft blog... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">On how much of a project Sene is: Coach seems to think pretty comfortably he can get some minutes, but whoever we took it was going to be hard to get a lot of playing time early. With the 14-, 15-man roster, the way the coach wants to play, maybe he'll find some time. Dave Pendergraft indicated he may be able to get some playing time in the "second semester," as he calls it, of the season.</div>
I was spinning in my future grave when I heard about the draft. I wanted the Warriors to nab Sene at 9 pretty damn badly. Granted, all based on a hunch... but I've had a decent track record on them. I've got a feeling Sene's gonna be great for you guys, if he gets his minutes to get the feel for the league.
Being a Belgian (where Sene played or rather sat on the bench ) and warriors fan, I do not agree with you. Gelebalale is a project in such a way that he has to adapt to the NBA style. Sene is a project in such a way that he still has to adapt to the fact that the ball is round. There is an enormous difference! I can compare with Mavs center DJ Mbenga: he was even far more developped when coming to the NBA. This does not mean that Sene hasnt more potential than Mbenga, because he probably has.
From what I`ve seen from this guy, I have a feeling he`ll be another DeSagana Diop. He may have a wicked 7-9 wingspan, but he`s just another project for the Sonics centers.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Sonics were already familiar with Sene, whom Pendergraft scouted multiple times in Europe, and he was one of the team's first workouts last month. It was while working out at The Furtado Center that Sene caught Hill's eye. "The first day he came in here, J.J. Redick and Randy Foye were here," Hill recalled. "I knew this kid was here, but I didn't know anything about him. I was sitting underneath the basket and he starts moving around and blocking shots and I get up and say, 'Who is this guy?' I didn't know anything about him; it was our first workout. He blocked everything. He disrupted the drill because we couldn't get the ball in the low post. I was blown away, to be honest with you." Last week, the Sonics brought Sene back for a second workout, this one against three other big men who were drafted in the first round - UConn's Hilton Armstrong, Ukrainian Oleksiy Pecherov and N.C. State's Cedric Simmons. Sene's performance in that workout, including one play where he powerfully blocked an Armstrong dunk attempt, secured his spot in the minds of the Sonics front office. "When we brought him in the second time," said Sund, "we pretty much made up our mind that he was the guy we were going to select and he was going to be on the roster." Hill made it clear that Sene is going to be on the roster next season, despite some scuttle that he could remain in Europe, where he had been playing in Belgium. "We have no plans of sending him to Europe," Hill said. "You can etch that in granite. We have every plan of getting him on the court as soon as possible and getting his development started."</div> http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/sene060628.html
Shard, the fact that Carney and Brewer were ready to play now is pretty much the point. Swingmen are easy to find. Centers are not. I don't see how anybody could be mad about this pick, because nobody that was available at the 10th pick was going to carry the Sonics to the playoffs.
Also, I'd just like to express general disgust in how little any so-called expert knows about the Seattle Supersonics. The only commentator that even mentioned Petro during the draft coverage was Fran Fraschilla, who covers the international players. Chad Ford just said in chat we're probably going to trade Robert Swift because Swift isn't as good as Sene. Then again, Chad Ford is a joke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Ho_dsWHvk Sene highlight reel, including all his blocks from the Hoops Summit.
After sleeping on it, i'm not as disgusted with the pick. I still think a swingman would've been a better choice but i'll deal with it. At least Morrison and Roy are gonna kill it this year.
watched the reel. besides the obvious height and reach, his timing on the reel looked good. He even blocked that one shot WAY over the rim. He also had a spot where he posted up then spun off the defender when the shot went up and boxed him out completely. Not an easy thing to do unless the defender was REALLY stupid. Still...project, project, project. I want wins, wins, wins. Where is the backup shooting guard and the veteran big?
He is certainly a project, but there are some signs on that highlight reel that he is not as raw as has been advertised (ie - can't even catch a ball properly, etc). There's that gorgeous spin and reverse lay-up, and that pick and roll. Of course a highlight reel isn't going to show you his stuff ups, but it looks like he has a pretty decent feel for the game and if he really couldn't shoot a lay-up 12 months ago, that's a lot of progress. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting psheehy:</div><div class="quote_post">Still...project, project, project. I want wins, wins, wins. Where is the backup shooting guard and the veteran big?</div> I assume Gelabale and/or Denham Brown is going to assume that back-up role that could have gone to Carney or Brewer, while we'll probably look to sign a veteran big as a FA if Danny leaves as expected. That would leave a rotation like this if we keep Wilcox. Swift/Petro Wilcox/Collison Lewis/Wilkins Allen/Brown (Gelabale) Ridnour/Watson I think that's a pretty solid ten man rotation. If Brown makes the roster, which I think he will, then he's a proven scorer out of the strong college system; he led the Canadians in scoring (16.8) in the 2005 World Champs qualifying and led the Orlando Pre-Draft camp in scoring too (15). So he knows how to score and as a four year college player out of UConn, he's someone who's played a lot of basketball at a high level. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"We think Ronnie Brewer is an excellent player," said Sonics Director of Basketball Operations Dave Pendergraft. "Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager, we think they're excellent players and they're going to have NBA careers. But we have a commitment and our negotiations with Mickael Gelabale are going very well. We were offered first-round picks for Mickael this year. We felt like if we took one of these swing guys and we had Mickael, it was just too much duplication."</div> http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/notebook060628.html
Everybody who doesn't like the trade acts like there was somebody better for the Sonics to draft. No. There's nothing better than a gigantic center. Anyway, here's the plan for Saer. We'll keep him on the roster until we face the Heat, then start him against Shaq. Once he gets dunked on a few times, we send him to the NBDL where he goes through a few training montages. The next year, he comes back to get revenge on Shaquille. After struggling for a few games and feeling the heat from the fans, the Sonics finally play the Heat. The reason Saer has trained so hard comes to KeyArena. Halfway through the first quarter, Swift picks up his second foul and is forced to come out. Saer enters the game against Shaq and is challenged immediately. Shaq tries to bully his way in for a dunk, but Saer stuffs that sh...uh, crap right back in his face so hard that Shaq has to come out of the game. On offense, Saer catches the ball, drop steps and dunks over whatever pathetic center the Heat put in. It's the beginning of an era. Robinson? Weak. Olajuwon? Mediocre. Chamberlain? Inferior? Russell? Loser. The era of Mouhamed Saer Sene has begun, and the National Basketball Association shall feel his fury in every horrible rejection, every rim-shattering slam dunk, every menacing scowl. Tremble! Tremble in awe at the might of this paragon, this Olympian God! He is your master, and he commands your reverance for all of eternity!
This guy does have the fan-favorite potential of Rob Swift. A gigantic pimply red haired kid and a giant Senagalese man in the front court. Only in Seattle!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/...aft-top-10.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">7) Seattle: Roy Hibbert ? This may be a stretch, but you can't teach height, and the guard-oriented Sonics need the post presence that the 7-2, Hibbert can provide.</div> Can you say the Quad-Towers? As far as Sene, I liked what I saw on the highlight reel, even if they did have to show one of his dunks 12 times. He looked like he had good timing, decent hands and I like that he dove on the floor for a loose ball and picked a guard at midcourt. With Roy and Foye off the board, the only other guy I might've taken woulda been Reddick, although if we played Rashard, Ridnour, Allen and Reddick we'd need 3 Sene's to cover the basket.
