This thread isn't meant to be a 'poor-is-me' type but with the West very strong this year and our team just got a lot weaker and piling injuries, missing the playoffs is a very real possibility. Here are some Center prospects worth looking at: COLE ALDRICH 7'0" 250 lbs C . DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS 7'1" 230 lbs. PF/C . JOEL FREELAND 6'11" 258 lbs PF/C .
Don't expect Coles number to blow you away this year, maybe minus Blocks. I say this because Marcus Morris, Xaiver Henry and Sherron Collins will all take points and rebounds from him. Since I am a KU fan, if you do have any questions about Cole, Id be willing to answer them.
Getting Aldrich would be a disaster for the broadcasters. A frontcourt of Aldrich and Aldridge? barfo
Lord help Cole Aldrich if we drafted him. Unless the Blazers are able to appease the angry spirits in that indian burial ground buried under the arena.
Cole will probably be a better defender than Joel but offensively no doubt better. The fact he can hit free throws changes the ways you would play him.
Na, Raef was like a 7 foot SG, Cole is a pure big man who has great timing for blocking shots, can hit the jumper if needed but knows his role. Cole can has been turnover prone early this year, but that was getting used to Xavier, who will be a 1st round pick himself.
Cole could go top 5, maybe top 3. It depends on his tournament play. Remember he had a triple double versus Dayton in the second round of last years tournament. He averaged 17.7 points, 15.7 rebounds and 5.3 blocks, 3 double doubles and the triple double in the 3 tournament games.
[video=youtube;2ubqfaI07Ak]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ubqfaI07Ak[/video] [video=youtube;9O2A80di6Gg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O2A80di6Gg[/video] [video=youtube;EttUpkNFFvw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EttUpkNFFvw[/video]
DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS is as much a "center" as Andrea Bargnani is. Drafting him would require a complete philosophical change, permanently moving Aldridge to the 5 and getting out-rebounded every night. No thanks.
Are we really talking about center prospects as if Greg's career is over? Or is this more due to Przybilla being a FA at the end of the year?
A little bit of both. I honestly don't think we can view Greg as a cornerstone long-term. Maybe if he can stay healthy for a long period of time but he just has the worst luck. I don't think it's a bad idea to look at potential long-term Center prospects other than Greg.
I think that's a fair question at this point. I don't know what the Blazers are going to do going forward, but the most obvious thing seems to be acquiring some kind of back to the basket low post scorer who can play defense, either as a 4 or a 5. Maybe that's Joel Freeland starting next year, maybe that means they try to trade for a more veteran 4/5, or maybe it means they just try to find a worthy successor to Joel Pryzbilla; a player who can set mean picks, rebound, and block shots and they try to mold LaMarcus into more of a back to the basket or mid-post guy like there were doing last year. Either way I think it's pretty clear that they are going to need some more firepower up front and at least one more go to scorer to either play alongside or behind LaMarcus.
What about this guy? I don't know much about him other than he looks like he could clog the lane and he's supposed to go around where we would hopefully be picking... http://www.nbadraft.net/players/dexter-pittman
