I will say this, if he can develop some lower body strength and learn to shoot out to 8 feet, I think he could end up a huge steal. But I don't think he will overcome those simple hurdles. He makes Przybilla look like an offensive superstar.
He took 14 jumpers all of last season. He is excellent right at the rim, but literally two feet away and he can't make it. But he can dunk like a beast.
Whitey was a good pick where he was picked. I certainly would have rather dealt that pick plus a player for Koufos like the Grizz did
I get that he was probably a decent pick at 39, and if he gives 15mpg, 6 fouls and good D then he's definitely useful as a 8th-9th man. And good use of a 2nd pick if that is the case. However, I'm a bit confused by people saying he'd be a good candidate to start. How far off am I if what I've read seems portray him to me as a poor man's 2004-vintage Joel Przybilla?
Even a player that NoVoodoo claims could start at PF for most teams? Fun fact (I think) we drafted Darrell Arthur, the player in question.
Your right--Portland isn’t a great city to live in if you’re a young, European-American male with a lot of money.
Whithey is NOTHING like Joel Pryzbilla. Whithey is much Longer than Pryzbilla. Pryzbilla is tough as nails, Whithey is tough as tissue paper. He does not offensive rebound AT ALL. I'm happy with the pickup, but he's soft and limited. I'm interested to see what the coaching staff can do with him.
I thought I read one report that said he came along quite a bit in the last year or so. This implied that he is still growing as a player. Now that he is out and has a potential career, who knows what he could do. I'm sure he won't ever be as tough as Joel, but maybe he can develop some post moves at some point. Supposedly he is a reformed volleyball player? This would explain how he can block so well without fouling. But, I sure would like to see him play volleyball. 7'1" at the net? wow!
one of the things he is best known for is playing tough defense without fouling. If you watch how he defends, he is very vertical and great at last second smacking of the ball with his super long arms. his timing with swatting and jumping is really the crux of why he was drafted at all. Also, nothing like Przybilla. Much more athletic, at least vertically, but laterally he can't respond. His defense is completely with jumping and timing, not at all with his body or muscling his spot.
