NBA Rookies at Summer League I was talking with a guy tonight who knows NBA basketball and he said the Warriors should have taken Greg Monroe. He was basing his opinion in the college game and Summer League. Even the Sacramento Kings announcers Grant Napear and Mike Lamb thought the Warriors were going to take Monroe. There were a lot of eyebrows raised when the Warriors took Udoh. After summer league, I thought the Warriors definitely should have taken Monroe, but kept quiet because Udoh was injured. Yeah, hindsight is 20/20. If Udoh can match what Ed Davis did, then I think we're okay. What did you expect from Udoh if he did not get injured? On a positive note, check out #15! http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mu...7/nba.summer.league/content.1.html?xid=si_nba 2010 Vegas Summer League Stats http://www.nba.com/summerleague2010/stats/
I think he would have gotten Ed Davis numbers at least. Probably better than that. From draftexpress.com Davis is 6-9, 227 lbs, 7 ft wingspan. Best projection: Al Horford. Worst: Udonis Haslem. Udoh is 6-9, 237 lbs, 7' 4.5" wingspan. Best projection: Jason Thompson. Worst: Hilton Armstrong. DeMarcus Cousins 14.5 ppg .333 fg% 9.8 reb 1.8 apg 1.5 stl 1.2 blk Greg Monroe 14.6 ppg .521 fg% 8 reb 1.2 apg 1.8 stl 0.4 blk Derrick Caracter 15.4 ppg .593 fg% 8.6 reb 1.8 apg 0.4 stl 1.4 blk Brandan Wright 15.5 ppg .429 fg% 4 reb 0 apg 0 stl 1.5 blk Al-Forouq Aminu 14.8 ppg .293 fg% 5.4 reb 0.4 apg 1.2 stl 0.6 blk Ed Davis 12.6 ppg .632 fg% 6 reb 1.0 apg 0.2 stl 1.8 blk NBA Summer League Stats http://www.nba.com/summerleague2010/stats/ SI NBA Summer League Photo Gallery http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1007/nba.summer.league/content.5.html
I don't think Udoh's going to be a "Numbers" guy. I think there'll be games where he comes in as a game changing role player, but that's his ceiling, IMO.
From watching his tourney play and reading about him, I think you're right. But I hope he becomes more assertive and aggressive at the next level, so he becomes more of a scorer than a defense first guy. I'm not worried about his 'D.' The big knock on Udoh at the next level could be how tough he is underneath. He has to get bigger and stronger in the legs in order to bang and hold his position. He should be another Jason Thompson or Derrick Favors although Favors is bigger than him. Favors may be more athletic than him, but Udoh sounds athletic, too. I dunno. How would he compare to Favors? Larry Riley said Udoh has good shooting mechanics already and that's one of the reasons he chose him over Greg Monroe. Thus, I'm looking to see how good his mid-range shot is or has improved from college. He injured his shooting hand, so it may be rusty. As for starting, if Udoh is in the Cousins or Monroe class, then I think he has a shot at becoming a starter. If he's somewhere in-between Davis and the top rooks, then he could, but he could end up being a role player, too.
If I were Udoh, I aspire to follow in the shoes of Tyrone Hill. He had a solid mid-range baseline jumper, played hard defense, blocked shots, set great screens and eventually became an All-Star. His rookie year, he didn't see a ton of PT, but I think his time with Nellie helped him out a ton.
Well, I don't think Monroe is in the Cousins' class as far as impact but Detroit has to start him since he's their #1 draft choice and they have no big men. The Warriors have the luxury of having a pretty solid starting front court with or without the David Lee trade so him getting injured isn't the end of the world. Monroe wasn't very impressive in SL but since when is SL a good measuring tool? One thing is for sure, they are totally different players. If Monroe's greatest asset was being a good passer, then perhaps Riley made the right choice by drafting a player he believed to be more rounded in his abilities. Unfortunately, we won't know until Udoh is back from injury and has to fight for a spot in the rotation.
