Great post None of theplayers in this draft are ready to step in on even a mid level team and make an impact. This is not a deep draft, and many GMs agree.
J.Cunningham lookin' good. http://blog.oregonlive.com/beavers/2012/06/oregon_state_basketball_jared.html
I think it might be a deep draft as far as pure talent, but the most talented guys have only played college ball for one or two years; so yes, they aren't ready to step in and make an impact the first year, but they might be able to later. Interestingly enough, James Harden did not make an impact at all his first year and wasn't much better his second year.
I will give you your point, true. But there are those that are so geeked on this draft and are buying all the hype. Every one of these guys, even the projected number one pick, is so subjective, buzz words like potential, upside, and develope this or that part of his game, do nothing for me. All the same can be said about most of the seconed rounders. a deep draft, or even a good draft you have guys like Oden and durrant who are plug and play guys that have all star potential. Almost every year has a few obvious cant miss players. This year the guard are short, cant pass or cant shoot, the wings are ok but most have to be open,and the bgs are one dementional.
So a solid role player who will never be the best player on his team, or even a primary offensive threat? That's not worth a #2 pick, is it? Kidd-Gilchrist had better have more upside than a non-crazy Artest.
Look at Anthony Davis, even. While I think he's going to be a very good pro, because he's both coordinated and athletic for his height, he shot 1-10 in the biggest game of his life, and the most FGA he had in a game last year was 13, and that was 2 times. He only had 10+ attempts 15 times in 40 games and he only averaged 5 FTA/game. He was an afterthought on offense, basically, even though he shot 63%. I'm not sure about anybody in this draft. Davis is the clear #1, but is he going to be an MVP-level player? Maybe, but he has a long, long way to go offensively as of right now.
You're right about A. Davis not having a polished skillset, but the foundation is there. You see him flash deft ballhandling now and then. He'll make a gorgeous pass every so often. Yes he has a long way to go, but he seems committed to fundamentals, extremely passionate about the game, hard working, and coachable. He has a great "feel for the game" as they say and seems to have great awareness. Kentucky didn't really have any great go-to scorers, so they had a 4 or 5 different guys getting a similar number of looks/touches. And as for the 1-10 game in the tourney, Kansas also held Sullinger to 5/19 (IIRC) the game before. I've seen people use it as evidence that Sullinger will never be able to score on tall/lanky players. The fact is that almost no one in college bball has a frontline like Kansas' combination of Robinson and Withey. These guys are used to playing against smaller and less athletic guys. Yes, they struggled with a big, talented frontline. But it doesn't mean they'll never be able to adjust. You're talking about an 18 year old and a 20 year old here who are extremely advanced for their age. They'll figure it out, make adjustments, get better.
seems like every year there is some so called "unathletic/undersized" hyper productive college pf that slips on draft day, sullinger might be that guy, and if he does, hes gonna be a steal
Is Rivers the best slasher in this draft? [video=youtube;Hri3JPrYjkA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hri3JPrYjkA&feature=g-vrec[/video] He and Lillard would make for an interesting backcourt duo. So much versatility and scoring.
[video=youtube;OJX8YUrItR8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJX8YUrItR8&feature=related[/video] This guy gets to the rim at will in the condensed spaces in college. Guys who do that with ease on the collegiate level flourish even more in the NBA with more room to operate and fewer gimmick defenses.
I find Rivers extremely intriguing. Haven't seen a ton of him, but he looks like a smaller BRoy without the unselfishness. If a coach could get him to make the right pass you have to think he'd be a pretty dynamic penetrator/scorer in the league.
