Consensus Big Board for 2-6-2010

1. I should have explained that in the post. NR = not ranked. I don’t like “guessing” on rankings, so if I haven’t seen them play a live game, then I don’t feel comfortable ranking them. Even guys I have seen played like Hayward or Booker aren’t ranked because I didn’t watch a game keying in on how he was playing – so it’d be more of an afterthought.

2. My thoughts are I wish he played better talent and that he were healthy at this moment.

I agree that at this point he likely could be had with the Utah pick if he comes out (which is likely not going to be the case). Athletically, I think he’s up there with Wes Johnson. I think he plays a similar brand of gambling defense as well, though he’s not quite as jumpy and is more likely to be on the perimeter instead of playing pseudo-PF like Johnson does. He’s definitely a gambler however – not anything close to having lockdown qualities.

Offensively, he’s got a great stroke, but as David Thorpe wrote a couple weeks back, he really needs to take advantage of his athleticism advantage on the offensive end by driving the lane more instead of settling for jumpshots. He also is a good playmaker at the wing and can make great, tight passes to the interior or handle the ball at times for Fresno St.; however, he can be overaggressive at times and throw it away.

He’s got tools to be a great wing prospect. His athleticism and physical profile are what people look for out of wings – though maybe slightly on the skinny side. He’s a case where my eyes could easily be leading me to believe something that isn’t there, however, since the talent he’s been facing isn’t nearly as good as the guys coming from big conferences. The upside is why I have him higher than guys like James, Robinson, and Anderson.

3. I have Elliot Williams rated right by Jeff Taylor and Quincy Pondexter in the late 20s. One of the main reasons for this is that I’ve seen him play only twice this year at Memphis, and while he certainly looked the role of a scorer and athlete, I wasn’t taken aback by his defensive tools or his ability to translate his driving ability against the bigger, stronger guards. His game against Marshall, however, was impressive. If he were 6’6 or so instead of 6’3 (skeptical of his listed 6’4), would be a different story. If other people have comments on Williams, feel free, since I’m by no means very familiar with him as I’m in Minnesota and the Calipari-less Memphis Tigers aren’t a hot draw.

4. Almost everyone agrees with you on my Ebanks ratings who see my boards. I see him being a great defensive talent who has offensive tools at his disposal, it’s just that his shot is not falling – whether because of poor luck, poor vision, or just being a tease with a seemingly good shooting stroke (most likely the latter). I will not hide that I’m a fan of his after the way he played in the tournaments last year.

Defensive ability to guard three positions well, on top of being a stellar rebounder for a SF (second to James out of the guys I track), and great passer… leads me to probably overrate him based on the upside I see if he can get that jumper to fall. His jumper not connecting and his potential attitude problems are definitely big detractors at this point – it’s more just that I’m not ready to drop him… not yet.

5. Yeah, I like Bradley and i really hope he can eventually learn to play the point part-time (whether in college next year or coming off the bench in the NBA). For the Wolves, I probably would take a few of the guys I listed after him before I’d take Bradley, but I really like his potential as a scorer that can really lock down PGs and smaller SGs. If the Timberwolves take him as BPA, I would expect groaning from the fanbase, but I would be happy and extremely patient because he’s an elite talent in a body that’s about 2" small.

…is that it’s completely up in the air. He’s so raw on the inside but has such great tools to fit with almost all the teams in the lotto, that he could go early or relatively late.

There are arguments on both sides if he comes out this year or not as well. The side that says he will or should cite his age and that teams love athletic bigs with upside. Those that say he shouldn’t cite how well raw bigs normally do in the NBA as well as him needing to gain interior skills and add muscle – things best done in college.

I’m sure there is a large disparity on opinions on this relatively unknown prospect (he’s rarely available to view) on this board – just as there is on every board that I visit. I wanted to drop him down on my rankings, but instead of finding guys who were worthy of moving up, I didn’t really see anyone screaming to be ahead of him – so he stayed the same even after the Tulsa game.

Half are going “this kid is tall, athletic, can protect the paint and has a lot of potential”

The other half are going “he’s playing at a no-name school against no-name competition and his stats even then aren’t very good compared to similar players at better schools”

If Thabeet and Jason Thompson prove anything, it’s that he’s more likely to be a high pick than not. But I don’t know what to make of him really and honestly, I’m not real confident in him panning out as a pro.

…a lot and I think he’s going to be a very good pro. Then again, the Wolves have a terrible history of picking small shooting guards and I don’t know if I could get over the Foye/Shaddy aversion to actually wanting them to pull the trigger on that pick.