2015 Nba Draft Discussion: Russell, Nance Jr., Brown

OH. LOL. Thanks for that. I think I get it now. Wow! You know he jumps doing everything else when it is necessary ..... getting his shot off .....on some rebounds and he looks very coordinated for a big man already. I bet Coach K definitely has him not being aggressive or jumping on D to keep him in the game. Looks fairly athletic to me and seems to run the floor well. Definitely the number one pick. Come on Silver you guys freaking owe us. Think how damn good for the league. Yeah, Randle and Okafor and Durant and Clarkson (maybe Kobe for reasonable dollars) How much fun would that be? Who wants this pipe?

 

Derek Bodner @DerekBodnerNBA · 1h 1 hour ago
Okafor's efficiency when generating his own offense from post-ups is more efficient than the half-court efficiency of all but 16 ncaa teams.

 

Okafors free throw shooting is woefully bad

 

I watched a good amount of Stanley Johnson today in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament. As a UCLA fan, I wasn't really paying too much attention to Arizona's player individually, but the announcers were raving about how Johnson took over defensively and shut down some of our best players in the second half. Aside from that, he had some clutch plays. He hit a clutch 3 to extend the lead. He had a couple of really nice offensive boards over some of UCLA's bigger players. Just seemed to have good ball awareness and tenacity.

I guess I can see some of the loftier comparisons to players like Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler. He has a similar physical skill set, but he just needs a lot of work. But at the same time, he could easily become just another solid roleplayer who doesn't provide anything other than decent defense. Again, this is based on one game that I didn't pay the most attention to, so I could be completely off base.

 

His 66.7FG% more than makes up for it. Free throw percentages can be overblown sometimes. Even at 52.4% he is scoring more than a point per possession which is highly efficient.

This is a good read
http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/articles/math-and-shooting-efficiency

".....any player who make more than 46.41% of his free throws should to go to the line as much as possible.
The reasoning for this is fairly simple: most NBA teams hover at slightly over one point per possession. So, at first blush, you'd think that a player would need to hit more than 50% of his free throws to make a possession 'break-even'. This however, ignores offensive rebounds. Free Throws don't always end a possession, just as shooting doesn't always end a possession. This is why shooting at about 45% from 2-point range is "break-even" and shooting at a 50% clip from 2-point range will net you much more than one point per possession."

In other words, a player would have to be bad as DeAndre Jordan before you start worrying about FT%.

Now, back to his 66.7FG%. That is a higher clip than Shaq as a junior or Duncan as a senior in college. That is crazy efficient considering the attention he gets as the 1st option of Duke.

 

I'm getting more fascinated with a Okafor/Randle pairing; in this modern version of the NBA, Memphis is sitting 2nd in the West presently with two post options and play with a more deliberate/slower pace than the rest of the NBA. Things seems to be going all right for them...

 

Stanley Johnson highlights - Edit new 2015 highlights.

 

Kentucky mixed with WCS from today's game against Auburn.

 

Don't forget Marc was DPOY and they have Conley and Tony Allen to help shut down drives from the perimeter. The concern with a Okafor/Randle combo is there is no rim protection.

However, if the Lakers get the first pick and determine that Okafor is more likely to become a star than Towns then they should draft Okafor and deal with fit later.

 

Yes, I'm aware of all that. Nevertheless, I still think it could work but it's all dependent on scheme, personnel, etc. Heck, give it a shot, and if it's not working, trade the lesser player for pieces that could fit...

 

Marc was considered a defensive liability in college so you never know with these kids.

Besides, I think Randle has tremendous upside as a defender. He still lacks the fundamentals and has his share of lapses (ball-watching, P&R reaction), but he has the tools (strength, quickness, motor, effort) to be a terrific defender. Watching film with Kobe will help accelerate his understanding of defensive schemes.

 

Well we're likely finishing 4th this season, so our chances of landing a top 3 pick (37.8%) are greater than landing the 5th pick. (35.1%)

1. 11.9%
2. 12.6%
3. 13.3%
4. 9.9%
5. 35.1%
6. 16%
7. 1.2%

Having said that, here are my thoughts heading to the lottery.

1st or 2nd pick
Chances of landing in Top 2: 24.5%
Draft grade: A+++, JACKPOT!!!
Pick: Okafor or Towns

3rd pick
Chances of landing in Top 3: 37.8%
Draft grade: A, still a huge WIN!!
Pick: Towns or Russell, whichever is left

4th pick
Chances of landing in Top 4: 47.7%
Draft grade: B, satisfactory
Pick: Russell or Stanley, whichever is left

5th pick
Chances of landing in Top 5: 82.8%
Draft grade: C, a little disappointing but have to grateful that we kept our pick
Pick: Stanley

6th or 7th pick to Philly
Draft grade: F, Epic FAIL

I currently rate Stanley higher than Russell as a talent, but Russell likely has higher demand around the league (including our front office) And I feel the shooting ability of Russell and the slashing ability of Clarkson would make a great backcourt.

As for Mudiay, I have to see more against real competition... not in a league where Stephon Marbury has Jordanesque stats.

 

Unless the front office has an EPIC failure in making it crystal clear, no ifs ands or buts to Scott to not blow the 4th seed in the lottery. Would be outstanding if they had pics of Silver with the midget Stern......

 

If we land Town, DH will become the 3rd best center wearing N°12 in Lakers history after Town and Divac !!

 

Looking at 1:08 of this video makes me nervous about Towns.....


Look how much thinner his legs are compared to Okafor.
Not just that they are thin (admittedly Kobe has chicken legs too), the lack of coordination is quite apparent..... injury waiting to happen IMHO