As long as we have Stat and Melo, we'll never get a high pick. Every pick we have has to count, and one way to make sure it does is to find players who are solid fundamentally, work hard, and are coachable.
We don't need the #1 pick, we don't need stars, we need solid, smart role players who lock up on d, and make good decisions with the rock. We can develop players who have the right physical tools and work ethic. Players who want to win.
Draft players with upside and develop them. If the staff doesn't exist to develop PG's and Bigs, hire them. Its as simple as that.
In this draft there are a number of interesting prospects who will be available when and after we pick. W eshoudl buy a few 2nd rounders and combined with our first rounder, grab 3 of these players.
The players I'm looking at are:
Reggie Jackson -tall, long athletic PG. who's from Colorado. No thats not a typo. We have Chauncey here to mentor him.
Much of Jackson's development since last season can be attributed to the way he utilizes his athleticism. Standing 6'3 with a giant wingspan, but an underdeveloped frame, Jackson has excellent size for a point guard, and while he does a lot of scoring at the college level, he has the makings of a potential floor general on the NBA level if he improves his ability to orchestrate an offense. He took a big step towards that end by learning how to play at different speeds, something that he didn't do effectively last season. That change has allowed him to cut down on his mistakes considerably, yielding his impressive 2.9 assists-to-turnover ratio. Slowing the game down and using his excellent quickness to exploit seams within the flow of the offense instead of using it to force action, Jackson has looked terrific in the open floor and in most half court situations early this season.Though Jackson has been producing at a high-level as a passer and a scorer in the early going, he still has plenty of room to grow to become a legitimate point guard. The Colorado native shows great court vision, is not one to miss an open teammate to take his own shot, and has become extremely adept and scoring and passing in pick and roll situations, but spends a considerable amount of time off the ball where Steve Donahue can best exploit his scoring ability and give his team a dynamic athlete on the wing to complement Joe Trapani's shot-up shooting and off-ball scoring ability.
From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Reggie-Jackson-6325/#ixzz1LD7xAlfi
http://www.draftexpress.com
Iman Shumpert - tall, long atheltic PG who is a beast on man to man defense. 6-4, quick first step. Needs development to be a true PG, but the fact that he locks in on D, says alot about his work ethic. Greta project for coach Chauncey.
Shumpert's most consistent contributions come in transition, where he can use his speed and first step most effectively. A solid finisher who has become more adept at drawing contact and finishing plays himself instead of forcing tough passes, Shumpert still flashes good court vision on occasion, but has a great deal of room to improve offensively on the whole.The same can't be said for his play on the defensive end, where he has absolutely flourished this season. Combining excellent length and lateral quickness with good intensity, Shumpert is simply exceptional one-on-one, rebounds the ball at an outrageous rate for a guard, and leads our database in steals by a pretty considerable margin. Extremely active with his hands and feet, Shumpert does a great job maintaining his balance and denying penetration and has the physical tools to defend multiple positions in the NBA.
From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Iman-Shumpert-5156/#ixzz1LD72xLQq
http://www.draftexpress.com
Keith Benson - 6-11 long wingspan, shotblocker with developing offensive game. Has alot of upside. Needs to hit the gym. But could be a nice compliment next to Amare, blocking shots ad grabbing boards. He has a nice touch already. He'd be MOsgov part II, not as big though.
CHris Singleton - 6-8 long wingspan athletic SF/PF
With his terrific size, length, lateral quickness and intensity, Singleton puts tremendous pressure on the ball and is an absolute menace in passing lanes. He gets his team tons of extra possessions every game with his ability to collect rebounds, blocks and steals, and is the type of player who would have no problem guarding multiple positions at the NBA level —be it face-up 4's, shot-creating wings, back-to-the-basket forwards, or even switching out onto quicker guards on the perimeter (if that's how his coach elects to defend the pick-and-roll). This type of versatility makes him extremely attractive in today's NBA. From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Chris-Singleton-1342/#ixzz1LCwjsiCI
http://www.draftexpress.com
Jordan Williams - 6-10" 260. Pretty decent in the post. Excellent rebounder. Not a good shooter, but probably can be because he has soft hands and good form. He works hard too, but his conditioning is an issue. He lost tons of weight already though through hard work. I think he can be a really good player, because he likes to play in the post, although he lacks athleticism, he does have size. But he's several years away.
Free agency can give us some known commodities but there is really nothing there in terms of PG. The best of the bigs are Samuel Dalembert. Deandre Jordan is a bit of a long shot and Marc Gasol is seeming more and more like a pipe dream considering how well he's playing.
We have to develop players now, because we dont need to make stars, we just need to make a solid supporting cast for our stars. Of course that starts with Toney Douglas, Landry Fields and Billy Walker.
5/2/2011 12:38 PM
