2014 NBA Draft Thread (No Spoilers You Clowns)

[Cellar-Door]

Wiggins has amazing potential, the major problems I've seen in the few games he's played are more mental than physical. He isn't agressive enough, and he doesn't force himself to good shots, whether that is settling for jumpers, or blowing by a man on the perimeter, but being indecisive on whether to go hard at the rotation or pass, leaving him to either pull up or take bad floaters.

 

[nighthob]

Yeah, Wiggins doesn't shoot as well. So there goes that comparison.

He can, on the other hand, defend. Knows where he's supposed to be defensively, can dribble the ball. And, all in all, actually know what he's doing on the court. Now Gerald has finally mastered this, well, aside from the ability to dribble a basketball, in his 9th year of professional basketball. Wiggins at least has the advantage of being slightly smarter than a bag of hammers.

Wiggins has amazing potential, the major problems I've seen in the few games he's played are more mental than physical. He isn't agressive enough, and he doesn't force himself to good shots, whether that is settling for jumpers, or blowing by a man on the perimeter, but being indecisive on whether to go hard at the rotation or pass, leaving him to either pull up or take bad floaters.

I think the other thing they ignore about him is that he's still short of 200lbs. And the jump to college has sort of removed his ability to finish through traffic. Like Paul George at a similar age he needs another 30lbs or so.

 

[Brickowski]

Wiggins didn't defend that well in the games I watched. Where's the beef?

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Is anyone else dreading draft lottery day?
 
I have bad memories of 1997 and 2007.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Is anyone else dreading draft lottery day?
 
I have bad memories of 1997 and 2007.

I don't so long as we get to no better than the 4th worst record. The dropoff to me is at 7. So as long as we have zero chance of dropping below that I;m fine.

 

[nighthob]

Wiggins didn't defend that well in the games I watched. Where's the beef?

Jabari Parker begs to differ.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Jabari Parker begs to differ.

huh? They didn't guard each other much in the Kansas v Duke game.
Also Parker had 27 points on 18 shots, so he wasn't exactly shut down.

 

[nighthob]

Did you watch the game? Look at how many of Parker's points came in the last 8-10 minutes when Wiggins switched himself onto Parker because Jabari had been killing them. Now I love Parker as he's the living reincarnation of Pierce, but he vanished at the end as Wiggins took away all his angles and closed so quickly that Parker couldn't get a clean look at the basket. Wiggins can defend either wing spot and has the size and length to really frustrate guys (especially once he gets up into the 225-230 range). More impressively still KU had him defending K-State's PG, Marcus Foster, today, and he was the quicker of the two. He might be able to legitimately defend three positions in the NBA. That ain't Green.

 

[Blacken]

He might be able to legitimately defend three positions in the NBA. That ain't Green.

I think three is almost a given if he gets up to 225 or so. It's possible (though probably unlikely) that he might be able to defend four depending on what that weight does to his quickness. He's just so fast right now, but it's unpredictable.

Everything considered, if I had to draft somebody today, he's still the guy. He may not have the highest ceiling, but he probably has the highest floor.

 

[ElcaballitoMVP]

I don't so long as we get to no better than the 4th worst record. The dropoff to me is at 7. So as long as we have zero chance of dropping below that I;m fine.

 
Top 6 would be ideal (Wiggins, Embiid, Parker, Exum, Smart, Randle) but Aaron Gordon at 7 would be a pretty nice consolation prize. But I agree with you that it drops off pretty significantly after 7. I have no idea who I'd take at #8. 

 

[ALiveH]

Exum's the hardest for me to get a handle on.  At least with the other 6 at the top of the lottery I've seen them play similar level competition plenty of times.

 

[The X Man Cometh]

For me Embiid is the clear #1. His two-way potential is just awesome.
 
First of all, I have a hard time seeing him not end up with a legitimate 18 foot jumper. His free throw shooting has gone from .560 in November, to .697 in December, to .889 in January. He shoots with good form and gets rotation on his shots, nothing flat about his J. He's shown a great first step and a nasty spin when facing up defenders in college - adding that mid range shot to his arsenal IMO makes him a guy who can play in the high post, on top of his scoring ability inside. He's shown he can pass the ball and that will put him in the position to both pass and score offensively.
 
And that's before taking into account his potential as a rim protector and defensive anchor. His defense is behind his offense right now from what I've seen but he can be a very good defensive center with his length and agility.

 

[ElcaballitoMVP]

Nice lineup for those interested in watching a few prospects on ESPN tonight. Duke vs UVA starting up in a few minutes followed by Kansas vs Iowa State. 
Of Chad Ford's top 100 prospects, we'll get to see Parker (2) and Rodney Hood (10) for Duke early followed by Andrew Wiggins (1), Joel Embiid (3) and Wayne Selden (20) late. 
 
1st half Duke update:
Tough start for both Parker and Hood.
 
Parker has 3 points on 1-5 shooting (hit a 3 on opening possession), with 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. He's been active offensively, but hasn't been able to get many open looks. Plays with effort defensively, but is clearly too small to be playing the 5, which is where Duke has been playing him. 
 
Hood started slowly but finished with 2 late 3's to finish 2-6 from deep, 8 points overall, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 turnover. I didn't like a few of the 3's he attempted, but his shot is smooth. 
 
Final edit: Of course Wiggins and Embiid have big games when I don't watch. 

To wrap up my thoughts on the Duke game, Parker had an off night. He finished with 8 points on 3-11 shooting. He also had only 3 rebounds. Playing the 4 and 5, Parker was consistently over matched in the paint and lost a lot of potential rebounds to bigger guys. He's playing out of position and would likely feel much more comfortable at the 3. He was active all night, but took some tough, contested shots and had trouble playing inside against bigger guys. 
 
Hood, on the other hand, finished with a decent line, 14 points on 5-12 shooting with 2 boards and 2 assists. He had some bad shots early, but made a couple of big, tough baskets in the 2nd half. He has a little bit of Michael Redd in him. His defense didn't stand out positively or negatively other than a bad foul early on, but I was also focusing primarily on Parker. He's a guy who could be available in the range of the ATL pick we have. 

Duke was using weird lineups where Coach K would make line-shift changes and I think that kept Parker and Hood from getting into a good rhythm. 

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Wiggins went for 17 and 19 last night.

 

[The X Man Cometh]

I like Wiggins for what he is, not what the media builds him up as. Humble kid on the court, hustles and can play defend 3 positions, great physical tools. I've seen them play 3 times and my impression is that the "floats through games" stuff is bogus. People expected to see him draining 3s and taking people off the dribble 10 times a game, since the media said so, and now that he's doing the stuff he actually can do (which is not that), he must be "floating"? Gimme a break.
 
If we can't get Embiid I'd like to have Wiggins. He'd do well to play with Rondo and Stevens - instead of being asked to be a go-to messiah by some dysfunctional franchise, he could play on a ball-movement focused team that gets him get easy buckets with his athleticism while he expands his game.
 
Wish I could see this Exum kid.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

I like Wiggins for what he is, not what the media builds him up as. Humble kid on the court, hustles and can play defend 3 positions, great physical tools. I've seen them play 3 times and my impression is that the "floats through games" stuff is bogus. People expected to see him draining 3s and taking people off the dribble 10 times a game, since the media said so, and now that he's doing the stuff he actually can do (which is not that), he must be "floating"? Gimme a break.
 
If we can't get Embiid I'd like to have Wiggins. He'd do well to play with Rondo and Stevens - instead of being asked to be a go-to messiah by some dysfunctional franchise, he could play on a ball-movement focused team that gets him get easy buckets with his athleticism while he expands his game.
 
Wish I could see this Exum kid.

 
I basically agree with this assessment of Wiggins, although I still wouldn't rule him out for #1 yet.  Especially for a team without many true long term building blocks (Sully and ???), there's a lot to be said for a versatile guy like Wiggins.  I also think a lot of people actually underrate his basketball skills - he can dribble, he has good shooting mechanics, and he seems to have a pretty good understanding of the game for an 18-year-old.  There's projection in all these kids but I think his realistic floor is a fairly useful offensive player who is also a plus defender and plus rebounder for his position.  That's a far cry from "The Next Lebron" but its player I want on my team.
 
I really like Embiid as well.  My primary reservation is just that the NBA game today revolves so much around wing/perimeter players.  Obviously, having a great big would be amazing, but you have to be truly great as a big man today to end up as a Top 10-15 player in the league right now.  I can probably count on one hand the number of 4s and 5s who have entered the league since 2000 who have ended up as a Top 10-15 player at any point in their career.  That's partly a paucity of talent at those positions but also partly a function of the league itself.  In any case, I do think Embiid has a very high ceiling and I'd be very happy to add him.  He'd also pair really well with Sully.

 

[Jer]

 
Wish I could see this Exum kid.

He's #14 in white.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNRGoik0q58

 

[The X Man Cometh]

 
I basically agree with this assessment of Wiggins, although I still wouldn't rule him out for #1 yet.  Especially for a team without many true long term building blocks (Sully and ???), there's a lot to be said for a versatile guy like Wiggins.  I also think a lot of people actually underrate his basketball skills - he can dribble, he has good shooting mechanics, and he seems to have a pretty good understanding of the game for an 18-year-old.  There's projection in all these kids but I think his realistic floor is a fairly useful offensive player who is also a plus defender and plus rebounder for his position.  That's a far cry from "The Next Lebron" but its player I want on my team.
 
I really like Embiid as well.  My primary reservation is just that the NBA game today revolves so much around wing/perimeter players.  Obviously, having a great big would be amazing, but you have to be truly great as a big man today to end up as a Top 10-15 player in the league right now.  I can probably count on one hand the number of 4s and 5s who have entered the league since 2000 who have ended up as a Top 10-15 player at any point in their career.  That's partly a paucity of talent at those positions but also partly a function of the league itself.  In any case, I do think Embiid has a very high ceiling and I'd be very happy to add him.  He'd also pair really well with Sully.

 
Its all about scarcity for me with Embiid.
 
I value rim protection a ton. Defensive anchor and legitimate offensive option in one player is the rarest skillset. Given the trajectory he's on, I think Embiid will be a guy who can effectively play both 4 and 5 on offense, and guard 4 and 5 on defense. See that play near the end of the game where he tried to close out a 3 point shot and got back to contest the layup?
 
Most rim protectors are black holes. Can't trust them in crunch time with FT%, etc. With a guy like Embiid you have a guy who's not only one of the best centers on offense and defense, but because of his versatility and developing shooting stroke it would be easy to put a team around him. Stick a flawed big next to him and cross-match to hide the guy, use him in small ball as a lone big, keep him out in crunch time, etc.
 
Plus he sounds like he's got the intangibles. Army brat from Cameroon, soft-spoken off the court, assertive on the court and has mean streak moments (like getting himself kicked out the other day).

 

[Jer]

One more thought on Exum... He's a 6'6" PG. If he could distribute like a PG but defend the 2, then the Celtics could hang on to Bradley to defend the 1. Then trade Rondo for an upgrade in the front-court.
 
PG: Bradley
SG: Exum
SF: 2015 Draftee
PF: Larry Sanders
C: Sullinger
 
...could be an interesting lineup.

 

[Mloaf71]

 
One more thought on Exum... He's a 6'6" PG. If he could distribute like a PG but defend the 2, then the Celtics could hang on to Bradley to defend the 1. Then trade Rondo for an upgrade in the front-court.
 
PG: Bradley
SG: Exum
SF: 2015 Draftee
PF: Larry Sanders
C: Sullinger
 
...could be an interesting lineup.
 

 
That team would be terrible in 2014 and draft very high in 2015

 

[nighthob]

I don't think there's any way for them to not be terrible next year.

 

[Jer]

 
That team would be terrible in 2014 and draft very high in 2015

 
Well that lineup isn't even possible in 2014 or 2015. We're in the 2014 season now. A 2015 draftee would play in the 2015/16 season. And yes... rookies typically aren't awesome, so any team built on draftees won't be a real contender until the 2017/18 season at the soonest. By then you would've likely swapped in/out a couple of the guys I mentioned. Luckily there are assets remaining to work with.
 
I do think Ainge will pay attention to roster construction throughout. You can really stunt a young players development by shoving him into an awkwardly constructed lineup.

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

I'm surprised that nobody has asked why you want to trade Rajon Rondo for Larry Sanders. A month ago, there was honest debate here as to whether or not it was worth giving up Jeff Green for Omer Asik (and I'm pretty sure you were opposed to the idea) and now Larry Sanders is worth Rondo? That seems odd to me.

 

[The X Man Cometh]

I don't think there's any way for them to not be terrible next year.

 
I disagree. There are plenty of ways for them to not be terrible.
 
Sure, if they put the minimum possible effort to put a competitive team on the floor in 2014 for "rebuilding purposes", like they did this year, you will get you a team that is in the bottom 5 in the NBA (terrible). But if Ainge were to use his resources to field a 6th-8th seed squad in 2014 he could absolutely do it.
 
Not that I would endorse that approach but its absolutely possible.

 

[The X Man Cometh]

I mean look at the rest of the East.
 
The Miami, Indiana, Toronto should be better than us in 2014. Chicago should be as well, barring some drastic blowup. Atlanta presumably will be.
 
Why can't Boston finish ahead of some of these these teams in 2014?
Brooklyn - Ticking age/injury time bomb.
New York - Their best player wants to bolt and they have no assets to speak of. He opts out and its the JR Smith show.
Washington - Will find innovative new ways to perform below their talent level, while dreaming about Durant.
Cleveland - Unmitigated disaster. Probably going to give Luol Deng the max or something.
 
The most intriguing team would be Charlotte/New Orleans, who figure to have a lot of cap space this offseason, which even if they can't translate into some kind of championship core, could conceivably vault them to the 4th seed over the clown car that is the Eastern Conference.
 
Charlotte? Says it all.

 

[beezer]

Granted, its just one highlight clip, but the video above reinforces the knock on Exum that he struggles going left.  He has great vision and size, but I really worry about his handle against NBA guards based on his inability to drive left.

 

[Jer]

I'm surprised that nobody has asked why you want to trade Rajon Rondo for Larry Sanders. A month ago, there was honest debate here as to whether or not it was worth giving up Jeff Green for Omer Asik (and I'm pretty sure you were opposed to the idea) and now Larry Sanders is worth Rondo? That seems odd to me.

 
I was thinking of net-net, not a 1-for-1. I assume Larry could be had for less. Rondo might also be part of a sequence that brings us a SF (If the position wasn't filled properly in a future draft). 

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Granted, its just one highlight clip, but the video above reinforces the knock on Exum that he struggles going left.  He has great vision and size, but I really worry about his handle against NBA guards based on his inability to drive left.

 
Draftexpress also claims he isn't much of a midrange and long distance shooter, at least at this stage of his career.  I know nothing about Exum but I'm less than enthusiastic about building the team around another PG who can't shoot.

 

[bowiac]

I'm surprised that nobody has asked why you want to trade Rajon Rondo for Larry Sanders. A month ago, there was honest debate here as to whether or not it was worth giving up Jeff Green for Omer Asik (and I'm pretty sure you were opposed to the idea) and now Larry Sanders is worth Rondo? That seems odd to me.

These seem unrelated to me. I might not trade Jeff Green for Asik, but I'd jump at Sanders for Rondo.
 
Put another way, I think Larry Sanders is much better than Omer Asik.

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

These seem unrelated to me. I might not trade Jeff Green for Asik, but I'd jump at Sanders for Rondo.
 
Put another way, I think Larry Sanders is much better than Omer Asik.

 
I'm not sure I understand why. Both are very good defensive centers that offer very little on the offensive end. Sanders is locked in at 11 million a year for 4 years, Asik has his weird contract (8 million cap figure, 15 million salary) that's expiring. I guess I just don't see what value Sanders brings to the table that makes him worth Rondo, while Asik isn't worth Green. Is the gap between Asik and Sanders that substantial?

 

[bowiac]

 
I'm not sure I understand why. Both are very good defensive centers that offer very little on the offensive end. Sanders is locked in at 11 million a year for 4 years, Asik has his weird contract (8 million cap figure, 15 million salary) that's expiring. I guess I just don't see what value Sanders brings to the table that makes him worth Rondo, while Asik isn't worth Green. Is the gap between Asik and Sanders that substantial?

I think Asik is a good, but overrated defensive center, who built his reputation as a top rim protector mostly through tremendous rebound numbers, which people conflated with rim protection. This is supported in some of the rim protection numbers available these days, as well as by the fact that the Rockets weren't able to trade him. Ask Rockets fans, and they'll largely tell you the same thing. Not quite as good around the rim as they hoped.
 
I think Sanders really is a Roy Hibbert-esque presence around the rim meanwhile, albeit incapable of playing as many minutes effectively due to foul issues.
 
I think the gap between being a top 2-3 guy at that skill and being a top 15 guy is large.

 

[Devizier]

Sanders definitely has a bit more upside than Asik, as his season last year proved. But he's a much bigger risk, both in terms of his durability and contract. There are obvious off-court issues, too, which is why he's even being discussed. Kirk Goldsberry (Grantland, SportsVU) loves him, and so did I, initially, but there are a lot of caveats associated with the guy.
 
That said, I would consider the Rondo-Sanders deal ahead of Green-Asik if only for the fact that I don't see Rondo with the Celtics past his current contract, and I see noway for the Celtics to contend next season, either.

 

[nighthob]

I mean look at the rest of the East.
 
The Miami, Indiana, Toronto should be better than us in 2014. Chicago should be as well, barring some drastic blowup. Atlanta presumably will be.
 
Why can't Boston finish ahead of some of these these teams in 2014?
Brooklyn - Ticking age/injury time bomb.
New York - Their best player wants to bolt and they have no assets to speak of. He opts out and its the JR Smith show.
Washington - Will find innovative new ways to perform below their talent level, while dreaming about Durant.
Cleveland - Unmitigated disaster. Probably going to give Luol Deng the max or something.
 
The most intriguing team would be Charlotte/New Orleans, who figure to have a lot of cap space this offseason, which even if they can't translate into some kind of championship core, could conceivably vault them to the 4th seed over the clown car that is the Eastern Conference.
 
Charlotte? Says it all.

I have no idea who Charlotte/New Orleans is or why we'd be discussing a WC team. As for the Bobnets, they already play pretty good D, what they need is a scorer to grind out wins with. Put another way, they're a player rather than half a roster away from being competitive. And while it's true that it isn't easy finding that scorer that can generate key baskets down the stretch, Boston doesn't have that guy either. Or a secondary scorer. And really not even a tertiary scorer as both Green and Sullinger (like most of this roster) seem suited for the "other guy on the floor" role. Can Boston field a .450 team next year? Sure. But unless you're claiming that the EC will suffer a tsunami of injuries to their all-stars for the foreseeable future that's about the ceiling for anything they'd do around this roster.

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

I think Asik is a good, but overrated defensive center, who built his reputation as a top rim protector mostly through tremendous rebound numbers, which people conflated with rim protection. This is supported in some of the rim protection numbers available these days, as well as by the fact that the Rockets weren't able to trade him. Ask Rockets fans, and they'll largely tell you the same thing. Not quite as good around the rim as they hoped.
 
I think Sanders really is a Roy Hibbert-esque presence around the rim meanwhile, albeit incapable of playing as many minutes effectively due to foul issues.
 
I think the gap between being a top 2-3 guy at that skill and being a top 15 guy is large.

 
I see what you're saying, and agree completely that Larry Sanders is a better rim protector than Asik. I think Sanders and Hibbert are basically in a class of their own when it comes to pure rim protection, and on their own merits, I'd take Sanders over Asik, as well.
 
But Jeff Green looks pretty lost to me and if I'm the Celtics and can get a very good defensive center and rid myself of his contract, I prefer that option to giving up my best player for an excellent defensive center. Admittedly, I also have no idea how consistent rim protection numbers stay from year to year. Basically, I've read the same Goldsberry analysis as everybody else (which I think included 2 years of data?), but would want to see several seasons of that data and see some consistency in it before I felt comfortable enough about what it means to give up Rondo for Sanders.

 

[TroyOLeary]

I think Asik is a good, but overrated defensive center, who built his reputation as a top rim protector mostly through tremendous rebound numbers, which people conflated with rim protection. This is supported in some of the rim protection numbers available these days, as well as by the fact that the Rockets weren't able to trade him. Ask Rockets fans, and they'll largely tell you the same thing. Not quite as good around the rim as they hoped.
 
I think Sanders really is a Roy Hibbert-esque presence around the rim meanwhile, albeit incapable of playing as many minutes effectively due to foul issues.
 
I think the gap between being a top 2-3 guy at that skill and being a top 15 guy is large.

 
He's built his defensive reputation partly on his tremendous on/off court statistics.
 
2013-14: Net -7.3 pts. per 100 opponent possessions (in 17% of the available minutes)
2012-13: -6.5 (62% minutes)
2011-12: -7.6 (30% minutes)
2010-11: -9.7 (25% minutes)
 
Sanders:
 
2013-14: -4.2 (15% minutes)
2012-13: -6.1 (49% minutes)
2011-12: -11.6 (20% minutes)
2010-11: +2.0 (22% minutes)
 
Some small sample sizes there, on/off has its flaws, and besides 2012-13 Asik has had horrible on/off offensive numbers.  But all that said, those numbers seem to indicate a great defensive player.  Maybe not a great "rim protector", but there's more to defense than rim protection.

 

[bowiac]

Unadjusted on/off stuff doesn't do much for me. Once you do adjust, Asik's defense rep doesn't really hold up. 

 

[Jer]

Any chance a Mod could break the Sanders conversation out into a separate topic (i.e. "Larry Sanders... worthy trade target?") ?
 
He's come up in a few threads lately. I'd like to continue, but it is a tangent from the draft thread.
 
Never mind. I forgot about this one. I'll post a reply over there.

 

[Kliq]

I think Exum will end up being picked out of top 5. First you have the sketchy history of Non-American players being drafted in the top 10, and the competition Exum has been playing against isn't even close to the competition in Europe. Why would you take a guy that has very little footage against actual competition over a guy that has played at an elite level in college? His shooting is questionable and his mechanics are poor, so it sounds like he is still a work in progress. If the Celtics drafted him over someone like Randle, Parker, Gordon or Smart, I would be legit pissed.
 
Speaking of Exum, do you think a year in college in the US would hurt or help his draft prospects? NBA teams would get a much better taste for him, and that could really ease a lot of the uncertainty. On the flip side, I would argue that the fact that he is mostly an unknown property would HELP his draft stock because he is almost like a myth than an actual player. It's amazing how little we know about this guy. I did some searching on DraftExpress and they only had videos from the Nike Summit and that was about it. Very interesting to see where he goes.

 

[TroyOLeary]

Unadjusted on/off stuff doesn't do much for me. Once you do adjust, Asik's defense rep doesn't really hold up. 

 
Unless I'm missing something here, that site seems to rate Asik's defense pretty highly, and significantly better than Sanders.
 

 

 

[Devizier]

Kevin Garnett really was one hell of a defender.

 

[cardiacs]

 
Unless I'm missing something here, that site seems to rate Asik's defense pretty highly, and significantly better than Sanders.
 

 

 
Holy shit that site is awesome. Am I the only person who didn't know about it?

 

[bowiac]

 
Holy shit that site is awesome. Am I the only person who didn't know about it?

It's pretty amazing, yes. I think it's pretty under the radar for now, although I imagine he's about two minutes from getting hired by Nate Silver.

 

[bowiac]

 
Unless I'm missing something here, that site seems to rate Asik's defense pretty highly, and significantly better than Sanders.

What season is that for? I'm working off the spreadsheet, not the chart he provides, so I'm not sure what that is?

 

[TroyOLeary]

What season is that for? I'm working off the spreadsheet, not the chart he provides, so I'm not sure what that is?

 
Oh, it's a cumulative chart from 2003 on that apparently doesn't include the last couple years, my bad.
 
According to the individual year stuff, Asik rated very well in Defensive ASPM with the Bulls; he was 3rd in the league in 2011-12.
 
His Rockets' numbers show him as a defensive plus, but not nearly as pronounced (and Sanders rates much better).
 
This site really is incredible.  Besides the data being interesting, the individual year chart applets are really fun to play around with. 

 

[bowiac]

Shh...

 

[Seabass]

Embiid with 13 points, 11 boards and 8 blocks. He completely dominated on defense.

 

[Mloaf71]

And 3pts for Wiggins on 1-5 shooting. The case for Embiid for #1 is getting stronger every game it seems.

 
Does it worry anyone that Wiggins has a little Jeff Green in him?

 

[nighthob]

Jeff Green's problem is that he doesn't do anything particularly well and has been thrust into a primary scorer role that he is actually 1000% incapable of doing.

 

[bowiac]

 
Does it worry anyone that Wiggins has a little Jeff Green in him?

It worries me, but I can't judge athleticism. People claim Wiggins is the best athlete in the draft, while nobody said that of Green it seems.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Wiggins is very quick, has solid handle and very good body control which gives him many more ways of getting to the hoop than someone like Green who more or less can only drive in straightish lines. He made a couple nice floaters tonight after blowing by his man and almost every one of his drives resulted in either a bucket or free throws. He had a subpar 1st half but came out in the 2nd half and made a clear effort to assert himself on both ends of the court. I would like to have seen more of his jumpshot but he wasn't forcing too many outside the flow of the KU offense, which was mostly trying to work inside-out against Baylor's 3-2 zone. Finished with 17 points on 7 fg attempts and added 7 well-earned rebounds. When he gets stronger he should be a solid rebounder for the position - right now he's managing 6 per game on length and effort alone. He's not as polished as Parker and needs to add some weight, but I was impressed with how well he bounced back after a bad game and an iffy half.