ZoomSlowik

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ May 20, 2014 -> 07:54 PM) I don't really think that would have been a stretch. Barnes and Drummond has a ridiculous amount of upside and everyone knew that. I mean, you can definitely make the upside argument, but he was also incredibly raw and his stock seemed to be slipping because of it. Obviously it looks silly in retrospect. I think I had him #2 before his college season but started dropping him like everyone else when he kept putting up like 8-6 every game. I don't think I'd have taken him over Beal or Barnes and MKG was an interesting argument (definitely not Beal, I liked him a lot).

QUOTE (bmags @ May 20, 2014 -> 07:37 PM) Couldn't be a more boring top 3 I thought for sure that at least one of LA and Boston would be in there. Dan Gilbert must have incriminating photos of a bunch of people at the league offices.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 20, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) Or Jonas Valančiūnas over Thompson. Or Barnes over Waiters. Even scarier, Drummond over Waiters. A bit of a stretch admittedly, but they could have definitely used a big. They'll have to work to screw this one up. Wiggins and Parker are at least decent starters and Embiid could be a beast if he stays healthy.

Imagine if they had taken Oladipo last year. Irving/Oladipo/Wiggins would have been an insanely fun perimeter trio.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 20, 2014 -> 07:26 PM) Aaron Gordon #1 overall I was assuming Embiid and then he pulls an Oden.

QUOTE (lord chas @ May 20, 2014 -> 07:25 PM) Go f%$# yourself Cleveland Seriously, how many chances are they going to get?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 20, 2014 -> 07:20 PM) The NBA still feels bad for Cleveland. They'll still find a way to f*** it up.

So, Northwestern got a commitment from a guy named Simba...

So, there are people on RealGM talking about the Bulls getting Love AND Melo. Those poor deluded fools.

QUOTE (farmteam @ May 16, 2014 -> 08:00 PM) I generally assumed that it's slightly more difficult to qualify at Northwestern, but not by much. Or maybe they take fewer chances on borderline guys. Like I said, it's relative. I've talked with former players, and my impression is they'll take basically any decent student for football. However, a guy with a 3.0 GPA and a 1000 SAT would still be significantly below their normal standards, but that's got to be at least in the top third for college football players. NU supposedly rejected a good recruit (4-star on Rivals) that had like a 2.8 GPA and a 18 on his ACT. That's enough to get into most D-1 schools as a normal student much less as an athlete.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 16, 2014 -> 01:24 PM) Doesnt make it any less true. The Big Ten thing is interesting, looks like NW or ILL and I'm not clear if he had the grades to get into NW. NU recruited him out of high school, so I doubt it's an issue. From what I've heard, the requirements aren't THAT high, but it's all relative when it comes to football.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 5, 2014 -> 10:05 PM) I'd really like the way Ariza would look in the Bulls lineup I would be very wary of paying him legit money (ie more than MLE). He's a career 35% three point shooter that makes .9 per game and he hit 2.3 per game this year on a 40.7% clip. Actually, his career high in his 9 seasons outside of Washington is 33.4%. John Wall just sets corner 3's up for him constantly, and without that crazy 3-point efficiency he's basically Jimmy Butler with fewer FT's. I don't see it working out terribly well if someone besides Washington signs him. The last team to give him a legit contract (the Rockets) regretted it almost immediately.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 5, 2014 -> 09:04 PM) Whoa, I didn't say juggernaut. I just don't think this is one of those fluke playoff runs, that's all. They're set in the back-court. Porter has a 27-inch vert? I don't believe that for s***. And yes, their FO is going to have to be smart. That's the biggest difference between the two conferences. Teams are just run much better in the west. Wait, a no-step vert? What was his overall vert? His overall vert was a 36, which is solid for a guy with his length. I choose to look at no-step vert because IMO it's a better gauge of "explosive athleticism". His vertical is kinda comparable to Tyler Hansbrough (27.5/34), who is far from explosive. Then you look at Blake Griffin, who only had a 35.5 inch max vert but a 32 inch no-step. A lot of guys can get up if they get some momentum. I've seen guys that play for Northwestern throw down vicious dunks if they get a step or two. The combine is far from the bible, all you have to do is look at Kevin Durant's awful testing numbers (26.5/33.5, still don't understand that one). You also have to adjust expectations relative to size (ie DeAndre Jordan only had 26/30.5 verticals, but he also had a freakish 9'5" standing reach so he doesn't need much to get way above the rim). The problem is "athleticism" is somewhat subjective. OJ Mayo tested just as well, if not better, than Westbrook and Rose, but doesn't play nearly as explosively. I just threw it in there as a frame of reference. My main opinion is from watching him half a dozen times at Georgetown and seeing him rely mostly on mid-range shots. The guys at Draftexpress had some similar comments.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 5, 2014 -> 08:38 PM) The guy makes me look like a fool last year in the playoffs and this is what he's become? I'm done. And the Wizards have a chance to be really good. Their backcourt is just gross and should get better. Otto Porter, the 3rd pick last year, was hurt so you can't really judge him yet (though he's an athletic freak). A big FA signing and this team is right there. You gotta love the Wall/Beal combo, but I'm not seeing a juggernaut in the making. Porter's not the kind of guy I would call a freak athlete. He has great length, but he's not particularly quick, doesn't take guys off the dribble much and isn't an explosive leaper (which is why he only had a 27 inch no-step vert at the combine). He kind of reminded me of Luol Deng at Georgetown. That's not the worst thing in the world for a guy on a rookie contract though. They're probably going to need him to produce too. Gortat and Ariza are both free agents this year and were a big part of them being decent this year. If they both walk, the Wiz would have about $19 million in space, but would need 7 more players. I would guess that it's quite a bit more likely that they overpay one or both of those guys (or someone else) than they add a stud.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 2, 2014 -> 09:50 PM) Mavs barely hold off the Spurs. These west playoffs have been too much. And this is round 1. We've got 5 (6 if Houston wins) game 7's comin' up in the next 2 days. BUT TODAY'S NBA IS SO f***ING HORRIBLE, signed Jerry West, Charles Barkley, or any other old fart who wants to be young again. Two of them shouldn't count because they're in the East. The West is pretty damn fun though.

Last post on this since it's a dumb argument spawned from another dumb argument... LeBron was obviously a monstrous prospect with a lot of hype. I'm not debating that. This whole thing started with "pressure to win" though. That's not there because of hype. That's there because... 1) He kicked ass once he got to the league. 2) He didn't get his title until well into his career, with a couple of series losses considered to be "chokes" along the way (the only one I count is Dallas, but others add Orlando and Boston). 3) The Decision. He was catching craps before that, but it hit another level after. While few (if any) have matched his hype, others would be getting at least some of that pressure if that were really the driving force.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ May 1, 2014 -> 10:57 PM) Oden was close. Wiggins didn't have anywhere near the hype. If we go back before the season, there was plenty of hype. I mean how much tanking talk was there because of Wiggins and the rest of this class? That doesn't happen for normal prospects. Obviously it died during the year since he didn't dominate.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ May 1, 2014 -> 08:58 PM) Zoom, I normally would agree with you, but LeBron had more hype coming out than any player I have seen in my 30 years. Here is one article of many on his hype. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney03/story?id=1533960 "I don't think there's a chance he goes ahead of LeBron," one prominent scout said. "Anthony's a great prospect, but when you compare his game to LeBron's, LeBron wins out simply because he's just got a better feel for the game. I think Anthony will be an All-Star in the league some day, but LeBron has the chance to be a legend. He has a certain feel, a knack, for the game that just doesn't come along very often. Guys like Kidd, Kobe, Jordan have it. And that's what separates them from the pack." "LeBron's a once in a decade talent," a Western Conference GM said. "Teams always say that you draft the best talent, you don't draft for position. It doesn't always work out that way, but in this case it will. No one in their right mind would pass on him. He's about as sure a thing as you can get in the NBA draft." Yes, he was hyped. That's not an argument. But if he didn't live up to it, people would have moved on by now like they do with plenty of other people. I'd also argue that Yao, Oden and Wiggins had relatively similar levels of hype (the last two before they got to college). That's a subjective thing obviously though. Edit- If we're going back 30 years, I'd also include guys like Sampson, Ewing, MJ, Olajuwon, Shaq, probably Duncan. I wasn't really following the draft at the time though, and if media attention is your biggest factor the newer guys have an edge.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 1, 2014 -> 08:23 PM) You're honestly telling me the LeBron coverage was typical? That he didn't have crazy expectations from the get go? More so than your typical top prospect? I'm saying the reason he got so much crap wasn't because he had hype or gave himself a nickname. It's because he was really f***ing good and took quite a while to get a title. Obviously the Decision took it to another level for those first two Miami years. Harold Miner and Isaiah Rider were supposed to be the next Jordan two, but I bet a bunch of people on this board don't even remember them.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 1, 2014 -> 08:13 PM) Being deemed The Chosen One as a junior isn't enough? Or the heir to MJ? Yeah, because he's the only high school athlete that gets hype. Harrison Barnes was supposed to be Kobe 2.0. Rick Mount, Tom McMillen, Kevin Garnett, Sebastian Telfair and Jabari Parker were all on the cover of SI while still in high school. They wrote a big article on Demetrius Walker when he was like 14.

Also, giving him s*** because he "talks" is silly. Dozens of players talk big. Hell, Dion Waiters thinks he's big s***.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 1, 2014 -> 08:06 PM) But people talked that way with LeBron. And then he talked/acted that way once he got to the league. Durant was never like that. Please find one quote that's anything along the lines of "Lebron will be one of the 10 best players of all time" before the draft. Of course it started when he was in the league because he was raping people.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 1, 2014 -> 07:57 PM) Right but Durant didn't put that together and then brag about winning a bunch of titles. Like I said, LeBron wants and creats the attention. Durant doesnt. That's why they're not treated the same. That's a different argument than saying he has a weak team. Lebron is older than Durant. If KD goes a few more years without a ring and loses a couple series they "should have won" like Lebron did, he'll start catching s***. Last year was the first time they "choked" and Westbrook missed the series.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 1, 2014 -> 07:52 PM) Bull. LeBron was the 2nd coming in high school. Durant was never, ever thought of that way. He was considered a likely multi-time All-Star coming out of the draft. He was just unfortunate to be in the same draft as the guy many though would be the next great big man. And as I said, it's not like you ever assume a guy is going to win 4 MVP's and be a top-10 player ever no matter how good a prospect he is.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 1, 2014 -> 07:49 PM) And which one colluded with an all star and a half of famer? And which one has a good, but injured SG and not much else? Yeah, poor Durant. He only gets to play with another multi-time All-Star, had several years with a guy that might be All-NBA this year, and a guy that'd easily be an All-Star big in the East. They have plenty of talent, albiet they're top-heavy.