This was a long day. I flew to New Mexico today, which included a 4-hour layover in Denver. I finally get to my room, and see the Gophers are actually leading at halftime and have scored 50 points, which was weird. Then I look and see Charles Buggs had 11 of them. Even weirder. I tried to watch some of the game on the btn2go thing but the internet here sucks. Then I had tickets to the New Mexico/Utah State game at The Pit and we had to leave, and since the Pit is underground there's no cell service really and last I saw the Gophers were up 6 with 2:30 or so left, a perfect place to blow a game. Not until after we left did I get to find out they actually won. Shocker.
Thoughts on the game, looking only at the box score since I barely saw any of it:
- Obviously the Buggs thing is like WTF. More important than the 13 points is he didn't turn it over. This Buggs thing is something I'm going to have to go back and watch the first half. I also see Oto didn't see the floor, and I have no clue if this was expected or an injury or if he was just straight benched (twitter tells me it was a knee injury), but it sounds like Buggs looked great so that's pretty odd but excellent news.
- Obviously it's great to see the much maligned Austin Hollins have a breakout game (and not just because he's on my Big 10 Fantasy team and we're in the playoffs). 8-10 from the floor overall and 4-6 from three are great, and maybe even better was the 7-7 from the line. The offense must have been clicking like crazy looking at their shooting numbers of 61%/58%/83%. The 1.32 points per possession have to be a season high for this team, and with assists on 63% of their made buckets it must have looked awfully good. Bummed to have missed it.
- The defense, of course, was brutal again, allowing 1.24 points per possession. Iowa is at 1.21 for the season, so even playing a great offense like the Hawkeyes the Gophers still managed to make them look better than normal. Turnovers were ugly again as well at 19.4% of possessions, but you know what? In the end, it only really matters if you outscore your opponent, and the Gophers did, so I'm happy. I haven't stopped to think what this means for their NCAA hopes, but it most certainly is a nice boost.
- So anyway I got to see The Pit today and it was awesome. It goes straight down from street level to where the playing surface is actually way underground, thus the nickname. It's about as loud as I've ever heard any place. The Barn can certainly get there at its peak, but the New Mexico fans are just loud the entire game. If things are going well, they're loud. If things are going poorly, they're louder. The only place I can remember watching a game that kept that constant level of noise was Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum and that was back when I went when they were playing #1 Kansas, this was just against Utah State. The seats are really packed low to the ground and it has a really low ceiling so it just amplifies the noise. The other noticeable thing was everybody, I mean everybdoy, was in Lobo gear. Every old person, every kid, and I think every little girl was in a Lobo cheerleader outfit. It was pretty neat. The only place I remember seeing it like that was when I went to a game at Utah State. Really, really cool place to see a game and I'm glad I got to go in my lifetime.
- As for the team, New Mexico won by 9 and I was impressed by them. They won 67-58 despite shooting just 11-21 from the free throw line and they're going to be tough in March. They have this inside combo of Cameron Bairstow (6-9, 250 lbs) and Alex Kirk (7-0, 245 lbs) who just dominate their offense. Both can step out and hit a mid-range jumper and both are really good passers from the high post and they just play really well together. They are also both exceptionally good at screening off their man when a guard drives. Like if they're being fronted in the post and a guard drives baseline they'll just box their man out to give the guard an easy lay-up. Really underrated skill. Oh, and they also have Kendall Williams who averages 17pts and 5 assists per game, plus a bunch of shooters to surround those guys with. They can't defend the three for shit and Preston Medlin went 4-5 tonight because those bigs don't come out far enough on a pick and roll, but I'm a Lobo fan. Probably because it was so fun and they actually aren't very good but whatevs.
- So yeah I had a four hour layover at the Denver airport today. You know what they have in Denver? A shit load of really great beer. My favorites were the Upslope Brown Ale and the Oskar Blues Imperial Red, but really they were all good. They were also really strong, so yada yada yada, I slept the entire flight into Albuquerque.
- There was this one lady having lunch with her friend and they were sitting next to me at the airport bar and I couldn't help but notice how much I wanted to murder her. First she wanted to order one of their fancy cocktails, but didn't want any alcohol. So the server said they could use coke or something and she turned that down and then something else and she turned that down until finally they agreed on Sprite. Then she wanted a small. They only come in one size, but she haggled and begged and harassed until she got a smaller one. Then she ordered the veggie burger with nothing on it and wanted a plain bun instead of a pretzel bun, which she asked her friend, "what's a pretzel bun." Everything about her enraged me. Then when she got up to leave, of course she had brought a pillow for the plane. Oof. Good luck with all that some guy probably.
- Shabazz Muhammad had 20 points tonight? I told you dorks he was awesome.
- Since the hotel is so close to the University of New Mexico they had a free shuttle to go to the game. The guy started talking basketball with me and mentioned how The Mountain West had the son of the first NBA dunk contest winner. I said, "Yeah Larry Nance right?" And he said "yes" and then I said, "he just blew out his knee didn't he" and the guy was like "wow you much really watch a lot of college basketball" and I was both embarrassed and proud. But it made him like me so on the way back from the game I was able to get him to stop at a store for me so I could grab a six pack (went with Bud Light Platinum - don't judge me I've had a lot of heavy beer today and don't have a bottle opener - not all that bad, actually) so that was cool. Pretty sure they aren't supposed to do that or at least that's what I'm telling myself so I feel cool.
- Dinner tonight sucked. We got back to the hotel so late and it was such a long day I just went with room service. Decided to go with the New York strip encrusted with red chile since that's supposed to be a New Mexico specialty, and also because their best known for their Mexican and I'm pretty sure we'll be eating a lot of that the next two days and I don't want to overload because of my tum tum. Anyway it was horrible. Fatty steak, over cooked, and the chile sauce was pretty tasteless with very little spice. The herbed fingerling potatoes were mushy and I think the only herb they used was butter, and the spinach was just blech. I know I shouldn't expect much at a hotel, but I didn't expect total crap. Looking forward to crushing some good meals the next two days - you know I'll tell you about it.
- One thing that never ceases to baffle me is how guys who were terrible shooters/scorers in college can suddenly thrive in the NBA. Kendall Marshall is averaging 10.1ppg this year for the Lakers and shooting 47% from three. He never broke 9ppg or 40% shooting in his two years at North Carolina. It's not like he's been around forever either, it's just his second year in the NBA. Michael Carter-Williams is averaging 17ppg for the Sixers this year, and he was a terrible scorer for Syracuse. I guess he's actually a terrible shooter still as his percentages still suck, but it's just weird to see him scoring that much. I just saw Kendall Marshall on ESPN doing a fancy swoopy woopy lay-up thing and there's no way he could have pulled that off at UNC and that's why I wrote this part. Thank you for asking.
- I really need some sort of locking device on my computer that keeps me from playing online craps. Anyway, I'm pretty wiped out from the long day so I'm done here now. Hopefully I get really drunk at least once in the next two days and write some stupid crap.
Showing posts with label shabazz muhammad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shabazz muhammad. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Monday, July 1, 2013
Twins/Gophers/Wolves Pre-July 4th Round-Up
Before the Super-long holiday weekend when everyone disappears for five days, I figured I should do a quick round-up of the three Minnesota sports teams I know about and touch on the biggest story right now. See, I know (and love) both Gopher Hoops and the Twins, and I'm pretty knowledgeable about the Wolves and the NBA. I watch the Vikings every Sunday and play fantasy football, but I don't really cover them because I don't consider myself an expert unlike the others I mentioned. See, unlike some local folks who actually get paid around here, I stick to what I know so I don't end up saying things like whenever Paul Allen and Paul Charchian get together to talk baseball. Actually that'd be a pretty sweet live blog each week. I might quit my job and do just that. Soon I'll be richer than astronauts.
- Most importantly, and keep in mind we're still very early in the rumor stage here, but Rich Pitino may already have the wheels turning in a big way on some very good recruits for 2014. First, there was this:
For those who don't know, the Tweeter is Isaiah Whitehead, a 6-4 shooting guard out of Brooklyn who ranks as the #10 SG and #35 overall player by ESPN. He has offers from Minnesota, Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, St. John's, Syracuse, and UCLA. The re-Tweeter is Ja'Quan Newton, a 6-2 point guard from Philly who ranks as the #13 PG and #67 overall. He holds offers from Georgetown, Miami, Minnesota, Oregon State, Rutgers, St. Joe's, Syracuse, Temple, Xavier, and Villanova.
If you notice, the only two schools to have offered both are Minnesota and Syracuse. That would probably be enough to spazz everybody out (myself included), but next came this tweet:
From recruiting expert Jerry Meyer who has gotten 13 of 14 commits for 2014 correct, and if you click on the link you'd see he had updated his predictions page to forecast Whitehead and Newton heading to Minnesota.
To add a little more fuel to the fire, Newton and Gopher target Reid Travis were on the Celtics together at the NBPA Top 100 Camp (no, I have no idea what this is) this year, and Newton then sent Travis this tweet
Does this mean the Gophers should be expected a trio of big-time commits soon? Yes of course.
- In the most anticipated arrival of a Twins' pitcher since Les Straker, Kyle Gibson made his debut on Saturday and was inevitably called Gibby by Gardenhire. He was also pretty solid, going 6 innings and allowing 8 hits, no walks, 2 runs, and striking out 5 while picking up the win which we all know is the real key to evaluating a pitcher so way to go Gibby. It's super exciting for all us Twins fans because we've been hearing about Gibson forever, he truly has #1-#2 stuff which looks even more better when your team is full of #4 guys, and he struck out five which is actually more than any other Twin on the staff averages in nine innings so yeah and stuff.
Just remember, one start does not a career make. Using Game Score, Gibson's debut was on par with Liam Hendriks and Pat Mahomes when they made their first starts, and we know how that turned out (ok Hendriks isn't done yet, probably, but the train isn't currently pointed towards Cooperstown or even Decentville. Actually the best debut by a Twins pitcher since 1970 belongs to Anthony Swarzak in 2009 when he went seven innings and allowed just 5 hits and zero runs. Do I think Gibson will go the way of Hendriks or Mahomes or Swarzak? No, not at all. He put up a good game and has the pedigree and scouting reports behind him that none of those other guys did. Then again, so did Rick Ankiel, Ben McDonald, and a whole mess of Met's prospects. This year alone Cardinals stud prospect Michael Wacha pitched a gem his first time out, then got bombed the next time and is back in the minors. Dan Straily had an awesome debut for the A's last season, but has jumped back and forth from the rotation and AAA since.
Ok, now I'm just depressing myself and realizing I'm preparing myself for disappointment because being a fan of Minnesota sports means being disappointed. Let's just agree to stop now.
- When the T-Wolves chose Shabazz Muhammad I wrote on the Twitter, "Yes! Shabazz!" and I was immediately and almost completely savaged (JB of Late Night Hoops was one of the few who agreed with me). Frankly I was stunned people would hate the pick. Who else are you going to take at 14? The afro dude? There wasn't a single other player available who was remotely interesting. And looking at the draft there were only a handful of guys with the potential to be all-stars some day: Bennett, Oladipo, Porter, McLemore, Caldwell-Pope, Carter-Williams (if he learns to shoot), Shabazz (with the right coach), and maybe Shane Larkin. Once Pope went at 8 the entire draft was in shambles already, trading back and getting a possible future star in Muhammad and an immediate defensive presence in Dieng was a great move. Seriously, who would you have taken at 14? If it's anybody other than Shabazz you're really dumb, FYI.
Oh, I get it, you wanted them to keep Burke. I get it, I really do. I mean he's so smooth out there. He looks like he's moving at half speed but is just as fast as everybody else, and he's just got such a good head for the game he's mentally a step ahead. I know there are some questions about his athleticism and his jump shot, but he's battle tested in the best conference in the land, I'm sure he'll be fine in the NBA. That's what you're telling yourself, right? That's what you think? Well guess what? Guess who else that describes?
EVAN TURNER!
Hello exactly. You could have written the exact same thing about Turner before he was drafted #2 overall by the Sixers three years ago and he's been bust city. He's been so bad Philly tried to trade him to Phoenix before the draft for the Suns late 1st rounder AND THEY WERE DENIED even though the Suns wing players right now are Jared Dudley, Wes Johnson, P.J. Tucker, and Shannon Brown. Oh my! Burke is such a sure thing that a team in desperate need of a PG, the Pistons whose current PGs are Jose Calderon and Brandon Knight and Knight is so bad they're moving him to the 2 next year, who also had a significant home town angle with him chose a shooting guard over him instead.
I'm sorry, but when Caldwell-Pope was taken (over Burke) by the Pistons the Wolves' draft was all fucked up. Literally the only acceptable answer to the question, "what could have better than what the Wolves did" was "draft C.J. McCollum." I don't like him as an NBAer and Flip has come out and said that he and the team viewed McCollum as a point guard so they weren't all that interested but I can see where somebody would think he could be a Steph Curry type with less gay. That's your only answer. If you have a different one feel free to leave it in the comments but just know that chances are you're a pretty big moron.
- Lastly, Joe Coleman announced he's transferring to St. Mary's. Other than the Gaels total reliance on the three and commitment to defense it's a perfect marriage.
- Most importantly, and keep in mind we're still very early in the rumor stage here, but Rich Pitino may already have the wheels turning in a big way on some very good recruits for 2014. First, there was this:
Me & My Bro @J_Newton20 Thinking Of A Master Plan All Imma Say Is #StayTuned 👌😎
— Isaiah Whitehead (@Isaiah_W15) June 28, 2013
For those who don't know, the Tweeter is Isaiah Whitehead, a 6-4 shooting guard out of Brooklyn who ranks as the #10 SG and #35 overall player by ESPN. He has offers from Minnesota, Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, St. John's, Syracuse, and UCLA. The re-Tweeter is Ja'Quan Newton, a 6-2 point guard from Philly who ranks as the #13 PG and #67 overall. He holds offers from Georgetown, Miami, Minnesota, Oregon State, Rutgers, St. Joe's, Syracuse, Temple, Xavier, and Villanova.
If you notice, the only two schools to have offered both are Minnesota and Syracuse. That would probably be enough to spazz everybody out (myself included), but next came this tweet:
Based on a tweet, a hunch and a little more, changed Crystal Ball picks for JaQuan Newton & Isaiah Whitehead. http://t.co/9AYj29zATo
— Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) June 28, 2013
From recruiting expert Jerry Meyer who has gotten 13 of 14 commits for 2014 correct, and if you click on the link you'd see he had updated his predictions page to forecast Whitehead and Newton heading to Minnesota.
To add a little more fuel to the fire, Newton and Gopher target Reid Travis were on the Celtics together at the NBPA Top 100 Camp (no, I have no idea what this is) this year, and Newton then sent Travis this tweet
@Reid_Travis_22 follow back Bro
— Ja'Quan Newton (@J_Newton20) June 29, 2013
Does this mean the Gophers should be expected a trio of big-time commits soon? Yes of course.
- In the most anticipated arrival of a Twins' pitcher since Les Straker, Kyle Gibson made his debut on Saturday and was inevitably called Gibby by Gardenhire. He was also pretty solid, going 6 innings and allowing 8 hits, no walks, 2 runs, and striking out 5 while picking up the win which we all know is the real key to evaluating a pitcher so way to go Gibby. It's super exciting for all us Twins fans because we've been hearing about Gibson forever, he truly has #1-#2 stuff which looks even more better when your team is full of #4 guys, and he struck out five which is actually more than any other Twin on the staff averages in nine innings so yeah and stuff.
Just remember, one start does not a career make. Using Game Score, Gibson's debut was on par with Liam Hendriks and Pat Mahomes when they made their first starts, and we know how that turned out (ok Hendriks isn't done yet, probably, but the train isn't currently pointed towards Cooperstown or even Decentville. Actually the best debut by a Twins pitcher since 1970 belongs to Anthony Swarzak in 2009 when he went seven innings and allowed just 5 hits and zero runs. Do I think Gibson will go the way of Hendriks or Mahomes or Swarzak? No, not at all. He put up a good game and has the pedigree and scouting reports behind him that none of those other guys did. Then again, so did Rick Ankiel, Ben McDonald, and a whole mess of Met's prospects. This year alone Cardinals stud prospect Michael Wacha pitched a gem his first time out, then got bombed the next time and is back in the minors. Dan Straily had an awesome debut for the A's last season, but has jumped back and forth from the rotation and AAA since.
Ok, now I'm just depressing myself and realizing I'm preparing myself for disappointment because being a fan of Minnesota sports means being disappointed. Let's just agree to stop now.
- When the T-Wolves chose Shabazz Muhammad I wrote on the Twitter, "Yes! Shabazz!" and I was immediately and almost completely savaged (JB of Late Night Hoops was one of the few who agreed with me). Frankly I was stunned people would hate the pick. Who else are you going to take at 14? The afro dude? There wasn't a single other player available who was remotely interesting. And looking at the draft there were only a handful of guys with the potential to be all-stars some day: Bennett, Oladipo, Porter, McLemore, Caldwell-Pope, Carter-Williams (if he learns to shoot), Shabazz (with the right coach), and maybe Shane Larkin. Once Pope went at 8 the entire draft was in shambles already, trading back and getting a possible future star in Muhammad and an immediate defensive presence in Dieng was a great move. Seriously, who would you have taken at 14? If it's anybody other than Shabazz you're really dumb, FYI.
Oh, I get it, you wanted them to keep Burke. I get it, I really do. I mean he's so smooth out there. He looks like he's moving at half speed but is just as fast as everybody else, and he's just got such a good head for the game he's mentally a step ahead. I know there are some questions about his athleticism and his jump shot, but he's battle tested in the best conference in the land, I'm sure he'll be fine in the NBA. That's what you're telling yourself, right? That's what you think? Well guess what? Guess who else that describes?
EVAN TURNER!
Hello exactly. You could have written the exact same thing about Turner before he was drafted #2 overall by the Sixers three years ago and he's been bust city. He's been so bad Philly tried to trade him to Phoenix before the draft for the Suns late 1st rounder AND THEY WERE DENIED even though the Suns wing players right now are Jared Dudley, Wes Johnson, P.J. Tucker, and Shannon Brown. Oh my! Burke is such a sure thing that a team in desperate need of a PG, the Pistons whose current PGs are Jose Calderon and Brandon Knight and Knight is so bad they're moving him to the 2 next year, who also had a significant home town angle with him chose a shooting guard over him instead.
I'm sorry, but when Caldwell-Pope was taken (over Burke) by the Pistons the Wolves' draft was all fucked up. Literally the only acceptable answer to the question, "what could have better than what the Wolves did" was "draft C.J. McCollum." I don't like him as an NBAer and Flip has come out and said that he and the team viewed McCollum as a point guard so they weren't all that interested but I can see where somebody would think he could be a Steph Curry type with less gay. That's your only answer. If you have a different one feel free to leave it in the comments but just know that chances are you're a pretty big moron.
- Lastly, Joe Coleman announced he's transferring to St. Mary's. Other than the Gaels total reliance on the three and commitment to defense it's a perfect marriage.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Wolves NBA Draft Notes
The NBA Draft is June 27th and the Timberwolves have the 9th and 26th picks. Let's look at what might be there at #9.
Flip Saunders has made it no secret that he has a burning desire for Indiana shooting guard Victor Oladipo. After working out some players on Thursday he hopped a plane to go see Oladipo in DC. Everyone knows that Oladipo is a good defender, but he's been climbing mock drafts based on his improvements in his offensive game. Oladipo would be a great fit for the Wolves, but is it better to try and get a big man at 9 and wait on a shooter until 26 given the depth there in this draft? Or do they just take the best available guy? Or dangle Williams in a deal to move up to get "their guy"?
Here's a vid of Oladipo scoring against no defenders:
BTW, I like those drills where they whack on the guy with pads while he's in the lane. Good stuff.
So, what do the Wolves need besides having everyone heal up and stop doing knuckle pushups? Here's the roster and their contract length:
PG:
Ricky Rubio through 14/15
Luke Ridnour through 13/14
JJ Barea through 14/15
SG:
Alexey Shved through 15/16
Malcolm Lee through 13/14
SF:
Andrei Kirilenko PLAYER OPTION
Chase Budinger FREE AGENT
PF:
Kevin Love through 15/16
Derrick Williams through 14/15
Dante Cunningham TEAM OPTION
C:
Nikola Pekovic FREE AGENT
Greg Stiemsma TEAM OPTION
Other FA/Release: Brandon Roy, Josh Howard, Louis Amundson, Wil Conroy, Mickael Gelabale
Official free agency negotiations don't begin until July 1, so the Wolves have some opportunity to be flexible in the draft. Needs still appear to be a shooting guard that can defend and shoot from the outside and a big man. Budinger is a nice option presuming he can bounce back, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge the Wolves trying to get a legit SF as Kirilenko plays a lot of 4 and is no spring chicken. Ridnour and Barea are both serviceable players as backups at the point -- unfortunately they've been pressed into much more service than you'd like. Shved also can play some point, so I don't think it's a huge need. There's some depth at the 4, even if Williams is moved. I refuse to list Williams as a 3 since he's proven he can't do it.
For the bigs, Nikola Pekovic is pretty much a must sign even though he'll cost the Wolves a lot of cash. Stiemsma showed some energy and defense at times, but I was surprised at how many mistakes he makes on the court as well. I do like his shot blocking, but if we score someone in the draft in might be worth saving the money it costs to bring him back. The Wolves have until July 17th to decide, so they can draft and even consider potential free agent options before making a move.
Looking at a bunch of mock drafts the consensus is Oladipo will be gone by the #9 spot. I've seen a couple of 8s, a 6 and even a 5 pick for him. If he's there at 8 would the Pistons move back a pick for the #26 selection? Maybe. Is it worth it? I lean a little more towards keeping the #26 and taking two stabs in a draft that seems to have a big group of guys that aren't separated by much.
For the #9, the mock draft group-thinkers almost all think that CJ McCollum out of Lehigh is the pick. McCollum is terrific with the ball in his hands and can shoot (51% from 3). He even got a Stephen Curry comparison from Hoopshype.com. He's also a big time transition scorer, which fits well with Rubio. What he doesn't have is size (6'3") and he's not much of a defender. He's also a senior, so what you see might be what you get. Here's an incredibly long youtube clip about him:
The odd man out on the four mocks I looked at had the Wolves taking Shabazz Muhammad, the 6'6" shooter out of UCLA. They must have assumed that Wolves brass where watching his 6 of 18 performance against the Gophers in the NCAA Tournament. Or the fact that he's now magically 20 instead of 19 years old. In other mocks I reviewed he's at #17 (twice) and #13th. Most consider him not an amazing athlete like an Oladipo, but he's a high volume shooter and some believe he still has upside. He also has Tourette's Syndrome which is pretty kickass. He's also a lefty with a beard, so obviously he's the next James Harden.
Another wing to consider is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a sophomore out of Georgia. Caldwell-Pope is right in that 9-13 range at the end of the lottery by most mocks. I've seen him in the 10 spot to Portland a few times. Paul Allen (Blazers owner, not homer Vikings guy) even attended a workout. Kentavious is a very good shooter and at 6'5" 205, he's got decent size. He's also a pretty great rebounder, notching 7.1 a game; which means he's not afraid to mix it up at least I guess. KCP is also considered a very good defender and kicked butt in speed and agility drills. I dig him and wouldn't mind him at #9 one bit.
There are also some big men that are near the #9 spot in the mock drafts. The bonus of taking a big instead of a wing is there are a lot of wings later in the draft that could be had at #26. However, if Nikola is signed and delivered, the SG/SF is the greater need. Here's a quick look at a few big men:
Cody Zeller, 6'11" Soph Indiana -- Zeller has been previously thought of as a sure fire top 5 pick, but his stock has slid in some circles. He looks like a big goofus but he's incredibly athletic for his size. He recorded a 33.5" standing vertical leap, which is like crazy high. In fact, it's the best by anyone over 6'8" in more than ten years. He shoots a nice jumper and runs like a mofo. He'd be a great change of speed with Pek banging around in the middle.
Steven Adams 7' Frosh Pitt -- Adams is a big bad man in the middle. The seven footer clocks in with a 7'4.5" wingspan and had a great combine where he flashed a pretty nice jumper. He also has gigantic hands. Adams is another player I'd be ok with in the 9 spot.
Lucas Nogueria (Bebe) 7' Spain -- Bebe has been linked to Philly at #11 in a few mock drafts after a recent good showing at the Eurocamp. He's athletic for a man with a 7'6" wingspan. At just 220 pounds his body is not quite ready for the NBA. He's about as high risk, high reward as it gets as he was previously though of as a stud in the making and then had a poor showing in 2011 at Eurocamp. I like the untapped potential, but not at #9 overall.
Kelly Olynyk 6'11" Junior Gonzaga -- I've seen Olynyk in the #15 range in mocks so I'm throwing him on this list. It could be the goofy hair, but he has a bit of a Luis Scola vibe to him. The NBADraft.net comparison is Fabricio Oberto, so there's that. He's getting a lot of "skilled" big man comments on the internet and he backed that up with 18.1ppg on 66% shooting. In addition to looking goofy he also has a freakishly short wingspan for his height. He's 6'10.75" without shoes and has 6'9.75" arms.
So there you have it. I'm at least 72% sure that one of these guys is on the Timberwolves come draft night (barring a trade). I'll take a look at the #26 pick next week.
Flip Saunders has made it no secret that he has a burning desire for Indiana shooting guard Victor Oladipo. After working out some players on Thursday he hopped a plane to go see Oladipo in DC. Everyone knows that Oladipo is a good defender, but he's been climbing mock drafts based on his improvements in his offensive game. Oladipo would be a great fit for the Wolves, but is it better to try and get a big man at 9 and wait on a shooter until 26 given the depth there in this draft? Or do they just take the best available guy? Or dangle Williams in a deal to move up to get "their guy"?
Here's a vid of Oladipo scoring against no defenders:
BTW, I like those drills where they whack on the guy with pads while he's in the lane. Good stuff.
So, what do the Wolves need besides having everyone heal up and stop doing knuckle pushups? Here's the roster and their contract length:
PG:
Ricky Rubio through 14/15
Luke Ridnour through 13/14
JJ Barea through 14/15
SG:
Alexey Shved through 15/16
Malcolm Lee through 13/14
SF:
Andrei Kirilenko PLAYER OPTION
Chase Budinger FREE AGENT
PF:
Kevin Love through 15/16
Derrick Williams through 14/15
Dante Cunningham TEAM OPTION
C:
Nikola Pekovic FREE AGENT
Greg Stiemsma TEAM OPTION
Other FA/Release: Brandon Roy, Josh Howard, Louis Amundson, Wil Conroy, Mickael Gelabale
Official free agency negotiations don't begin until July 1, so the Wolves have some opportunity to be flexible in the draft. Needs still appear to be a shooting guard that can defend and shoot from the outside and a big man. Budinger is a nice option presuming he can bounce back, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge the Wolves trying to get a legit SF as Kirilenko plays a lot of 4 and is no spring chicken. Ridnour and Barea are both serviceable players as backups at the point -- unfortunately they've been pressed into much more service than you'd like. Shved also can play some point, so I don't think it's a huge need. There's some depth at the 4, even if Williams is moved. I refuse to list Williams as a 3 since he's proven he can't do it.
For the bigs, Nikola Pekovic is pretty much a must sign even though he'll cost the Wolves a lot of cash. Stiemsma showed some energy and defense at times, but I was surprised at how many mistakes he makes on the court as well. I do like his shot blocking, but if we score someone in the draft in might be worth saving the money it costs to bring him back. The Wolves have until July 17th to decide, so they can draft and even consider potential free agent options before making a move.
Looking at a bunch of mock drafts the consensus is Oladipo will be gone by the #9 spot. I've seen a couple of 8s, a 6 and even a 5 pick for him. If he's there at 8 would the Pistons move back a pick for the #26 selection? Maybe. Is it worth it? I lean a little more towards keeping the #26 and taking two stabs in a draft that seems to have a big group of guys that aren't separated by much.
For the #9, the mock draft group-thinkers almost all think that CJ McCollum out of Lehigh is the pick. McCollum is terrific with the ball in his hands and can shoot (51% from 3). He even got a Stephen Curry comparison from Hoopshype.com. He's also a big time transition scorer, which fits well with Rubio. What he doesn't have is size (6'3") and he's not much of a defender. He's also a senior, so what you see might be what you get. Here's an incredibly long youtube clip about him:
The odd man out on the four mocks I looked at had the Wolves taking Shabazz Muhammad, the 6'6" shooter out of UCLA. They must have assumed that Wolves brass where watching his 6 of 18 performance against the Gophers in the NCAA Tournament. Or the fact that he's now magically 20 instead of 19 years old. In other mocks I reviewed he's at #17 (twice) and #13th. Most consider him not an amazing athlete like an Oladipo, but he's a high volume shooter and some believe he still has upside. He also has Tourette's Syndrome which is pretty kickass. He's also a lefty with a beard, so obviously he's the next James Harden.
Another wing to consider is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a sophomore out of Georgia. Caldwell-Pope is right in that 9-13 range at the end of the lottery by most mocks. I've seen him in the 10 spot to Portland a few times. Paul Allen (Blazers owner, not homer Vikings guy) even attended a workout. Kentavious is a very good shooter and at 6'5" 205, he's got decent size. He's also a pretty great rebounder, notching 7.1 a game; which means he's not afraid to mix it up at least I guess. KCP is also considered a very good defender and kicked butt in speed and agility drills. I dig him and wouldn't mind him at #9 one bit.
There are also some big men that are near the #9 spot in the mock drafts. The bonus of taking a big instead of a wing is there are a lot of wings later in the draft that could be had at #26. However, if Nikola is signed and delivered, the SG/SF is the greater need. Here's a quick look at a few big men:
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| Zeller doesn't need to see to dunk |
Cody Zeller, 6'11" Soph Indiana -- Zeller has been previously thought of as a sure fire top 5 pick, but his stock has slid in some circles. He looks like a big goofus but he's incredibly athletic for his size. He recorded a 33.5" standing vertical leap, which is like crazy high. In fact, it's the best by anyone over 6'8" in more than ten years. He shoots a nice jumper and runs like a mofo. He'd be a great change of speed with Pek banging around in the middle.
So there you have it. I'm at least 72% sure that one of these guys is on the Timberwolves come draft night (barring a trade). I'll take a look at the #26 pick next week.
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