RonRon wrote:very impressed with what I see from the young jedi, WALKER, the force is strong in him
once again, great find Briggs...

seriously though

he looks like his physical abilities/skills/potential is as high as a Paul George/Tmac or at the very least between Rudy Gay/Lance Stephenson
of course he will still need to develop, work on his shooting, DEF, fundamentals, and work hard just like Paul George did to go with his physical abilities..

if he is eligible to be drafted with our next draft pick at 2015, I would not mind blowing up the team for asset's and tanking for him, while still using the MINI MLE on a player worthy keeping like Sessions for our future, and keeping/trading salaries that would allow us to target the FA class of 2015

but most importantly we need a HEAD COACH that develops players and teaches the team to PLAY THE RIGHT WAY
A GM with a plan that works with the coach and management/Dolan to be behind them 100% ,without interfering their decisions, we cannot afford to overpay for talent in FA or trades with this CBA, unless for Lebron/Durant

maybe Love/Aldridge/Hibbert to a certain extent at a near max deal which would still be under 20m per year, preferably a deal starting at 15m with raises each year and player option for 4th year

We really need to retool the whole team--this time with a strategy. Not lets get the three best NBA players we can find and throw them together--lets find a combination of players with size skill length IQ athleticism who fit piece by piece into a team that can stand up for a decade instead of playing for the moment--were always in hock.

yellowboy90 wrote:I compared Walker to a young Amar'e when he was in H.S. I was going to see Walker play in person because he was playing my H.S. but it was an away game. Walker is on track to join the team in January if he passes his online course. He needs to practice with Donavan and learn from the coaches. Also, going against Patric Young in practice would be good for him too. If UF get him back and the injured players back look for them to make a run.

Kasey Hill is a blur but will need time to develop his game and body. He is out with a bad ankle sprain and may be out 2-4 more weeks.

A real sleeper is (PG) Scottie Wilbekin. Who is out with an ankle sprain too. He was looking good in his two games(suspended). I always thought he was being held back by the upperclassmen offensively. Defensively he is probably a more athletic Kraft(OSU). The guy was pushing the ball more and getting into the lane with regularity. He was a good spot up shooter last year and this year was shooting the three off the bounce from the PnR.

Another major Sleeper who has came out of no where is Casey Prather,an athletic 6'5 - 6'6 and 220 lbs wing. From his freshmen thru Junior year he avg 3.3 pts a game but Donavan raved about how hard he worked and that he wished people so the Prather he saw in Practice. Well this year he is averaging 19 pts and 5-6 rebs. The Dude is like a young wade. All he does is attack off the bounce, slash, and shoot a few mid range shots. He doesn't really have an outside game though just like Wade. If he did he would be a very nice pick up in the 2nd.

I saw Prather the other nigh against Uconnt--he'll go in the 2nd round. He needs to learn how to shoot and is kind of a tweener but he certainly is a guy who will have a great chance to find his way on to an NBA team with how he attacks the basket. Notice a lot of Florida players who dont get big minutes seem to do very well in the NBA--Parsons Lee etc.. thats just how they rotate players/depth of their squad.

I was really hoping we would be able to trade up for this kid and it probably could have been done with some of the assets we used to acquire AB, instead of having 3 SG's now

I know we don't believe in actually DEVELOPING PLAYERS but I think this kid has some crazy upside, with HUGE HANDS, LONG WINGSPAN, athletic, mobile, good handle/court vision, and all round skilled

He will take 2-3 years before he fills out his body but his potential could be comparable to a bigger Julius Erving with his huge hands and physical abilities
Will he develop at the NBA PRO ELITE LEVEL? I dont know, Probably not with our current player development coaches but like Hibbert, Paul George, Bynum, and many others we passed up in recent years by the time he shows signs that he is the real thing, no TEAM would give up on him

But

his Ceiling is very high
He will likely be at least a LOCK DOWN DEFENDER with an all round game similar to Iggy/Gereld Wallace's younger years
but
currently physically resembles Kevin Durant's body frame when he entered the league, without the range/shot, and is much younger/greener

http://www.onlygators.com/12/04/2013/chris-walker-to-join-florida-gators-next-week/#ixzz2mYPrvEM8

Chris Walker to join Florida Gators next week

Posted by Adam Silverstein | Posted in Basketball | December 4, 2013

There has been little positive news for the Florida Gators early in the 2013-14 campaign as an avalanche of injuries and suspensions wiped out the promise of roster depth the team believed it would have this season.

Fortunately for Florida, a major piece of the puzzle is about to come into place as two sources – one close to the player and another close to the program – told OnlyGators.com over the past few days that five-star forward Chris Walker (Bonifay, FL) is scheduled to join the Gators and practice with the team for the first time next week, no later than Saturday, Dec. 14.

Walker, a 2013 commitment who did not academically qualify to join the team in the fall, has completed his required coursework online and achieved the necessary grades for enrollment. However, he is still waiting for official approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse and admittance to the University of Florida.

That is expected to be a formality at this point with one source indicating he is already in the process of being cleared by the NCAA and accepted into UF.

Contrary to a report from ESPN’s Andy Katz on Monday that stated Walker was still working to earn an extra half of a credit that he needed, the player has been done with his academic work for weeks and is currently spending his days getting in shape while practicing on his own in nearby Ocala, FL.

It will be up to head coach Billy Donovan when Walker plays his first game with the Gators but chances are he will see the court on Tuesday, Dec. 17 when Florida takes on Memphis as part of the Jimmy V. Classic in New York NY.

When Walker does play, he will provide immediate depth in the frontcourt behind seniors Will Yeguete and Patric Young. It is unlikely he sees more than 10-15 minutes per game off the bat with his minutes expected to increase as he gets into the swing of things and becomes more familiar with the program.

We need a REAL DEVELOPMENT Coach with the equipment, because the new CBA requires us to do so in order to develop and keep players/talents on the roster
Besides Hopla *which I haven't even heard about this season*, is he even still on the team with the way we have been shooting?
I don't believe Iman actually had the right development coaches, equipment, along with the system and players that compliment him
It was a misfortune because the injuries have set him back 2 years in terms of development on top of coming in on a year of the lock out
But these are the type of things we MUST correct, player development is very important with the limited cap space we have on building a contender

We won't be built like OKC because we won't have that many draft picks in a row and that high, but can we be built with a similar philosophy to Pacers and Houston
The only players that Pacer's really drafted were

Pacers
=========

Hibbert around pick 17
Paul George around pick 9 or 10
Lance Stephenson late 2nd round pick

(Granger was once the the man of the team, but he is no where as talented as George is)

Houston
=========

Chandler Parsons is the only real player that they draft with a middle 2nd round pick

my point is that we can rebuild through the FA class of 2015, primarily, but we CANNOT afford to overpay for talent
We still need talent, with draft picks, MINI MLE along with 2016 5m MLE (in this summer, would target players Sessions, Bayless, Ariza, Marion??, Dejuan Blairre, Gortat, Channing Frye)
Along with finding YOUNG talent, that we can get 2 year deals on to get early bird rights, doesn't have to be undrafted, many players from around the league had potential that they never fulfilled like Darren Collison, BJ Mullens, Blairre, Danny Green at one point, Lin, many of Laker's players this year, Stephen Jackson when he was a Spur etc....

We need to be able to attract TOP FA along with role players with the same philosophy that Houston used to recruit Dwight....
We cannot expect players to just want to come over, like we did with Lebron, it would help if we get at least one top tier player like Aldridge/Love/Hibbert though to have a chain reaction
With 2015, we have to have a game plan, on how to attract free agents here other than "it is the Mecca of BB or with a max deal"
Make it promising by recruiting the top management/GM's/Coaches, with development staff/equipment/ new practice gym, and players
Fill management, with president of operations, GM, Coaching (start building the correct philosophy and correcting bad habits), along with spending extra money on development coaches/equipment, and for the team, recruit the players that could be part of our core or/and become a future asset

If we can have a great facilitator like a Lebron James/Durant/Paul George, I think having 3 efficient PG's in the mold of Charlie Ward/Childs, with Norris Cole, Sessions, Vasquez *if price is right*, or finding the next Patrick Beverely /Reggie Jackson *possibly even using the poison pill in 2015 for some players*

Those top 3 players are unlikely, even Kevin Love/Aldridge seems like a long shot right now with the success they have on their teams now and fut their future

Along with even signing some vets to LOW DEALS like 2-3m per year at 2-3 years but allow them to retire after a season or 2, like Duncan/KG/AK47 and promise them a future job as a development coach or whatever, especially with the leadership of someone like Duncan that would be our Hakeem to come with Poppavich on high paying jobs and moving them up the ladder like Pat Riley wanted

Duncan's experience/leadership and fundamentals could be a huge asset and even after he retires from the league could be a great asset as an assistant/development coach

We have to trade Melo to start things off but what will teams pay for a 1year rental, along with unloading Felton with him
We will have more ball movement and play at a fast pace, possibly improving the value of players like Felton, JR, Iman, and even give Tourrey Murry/ Alrich a chance to be our spark
Then we have to build up JR/Iman/AB and sell trade them at their peak or have them part of our plan which would affect our financial flexibility for 2015 FA's

trade Udrih, Pablo, Kmart, for 2nd round picks if possible

We will never win or come close to it by paying Melo 20m +, therefore we should trade him and try to get either multiple picks, with expirings, or some younger talent/quality role players/ with some picks