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Except, you know, with potential. A covered diamond is a far sight better than a pail o' turds.
Not by my hand, D. I don't play that game.
Except, you know, with potential. A covered diamond is a far sight better than a pail o' turds.
klay thompson is better than most #7 picks tbh... the only reason why the Thompson thing would be silly is that you are missing out on the cheap years of the deal. the 2014-15 season is the last on his rookie deal, at which point you will need to pay him
Sure. Miami had oodles of potential a fortnight ago. Now he's light at 2 and the lights are still on in CT..
Laker fans in desperation mode...
Sorry...you still have to witness the ring ceremony in November...and they'll probably schedule the Lakers vs. Spurs for it.
^ this, tbh
Laker fans in desperation mode...
Sorry...you still have to witness the ring ceremony in November...and they'll probably schedule the Lakers vs. Spurs for it.
I can't wait to see that in person!
We're ed for the foreseeable future. Once Kobe is gone only then a new era will be ushered in.
There's still Lakers fans? I though they all misteriously dissapeared after the Clippers got more fans in the last months.
I know there is a correlation between this two facts, I just can't figure it out yet. :P
0-2 and ready to play him some b-ball.
You got some in' nerve, slope.
I told you spurfans today would be historic. The Lakers got a 20-10 big man in Randle who will on Duncan. Its over now God-Randle will destroy the NBA.
The real concerns are on the other end of the floor. Randle averages 0.1 steals and 0.7 blocks, awful for a big man with his athleticism. Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider has found that block and steal rates in college are important tools when projecting big men prospects. I suspect that's because they capture the problems players with comparatively short arms can have.
Individual defense might be an even bigger issue. It's not something I recognized immediately, because so few college big men have the length and skill to score over the top of Randle. For me, the eye-opening experience was Kentucky's loss to Baylor, when he was matched up with fellow Dallas-area big man Isaiah Austin (7'1 and 225 pounds with a 7'3 wingspan).
Austin talked a bunch of trash beforehand, like he knew Randle had no chance of guarding him, and that's exactly how it played out in the few first minutes. Austin took Randle to the block and hit a fadeaway, and then he went out to the perimeter and hit a pull-up three. At halftime, John Calipari switched defensive assignments, putting Willie Cauley-Stein on Austin and hiding Randle on Baylor's other big man. Few NCAA teams have two NBA-caliber big men, so Randle's individual defense is not a huge concern for Kentucky. That won't be the case at the next level, though.
It's hard to build around a player with Randle's skill-set. He is a post-scoring big man who can't protect the rim. If you play him with a big man who can't stretch the floor, there won't be much room in the paint for him to operate. If you play him with another big man who can't protect the rim, your defense will be limited. There aren't many NBA centers who can shoot, block shots and play hi-low to preserve proper spacing. Randolph didn't find much team success until he started playing withMarc Gasol, one of those rare birds. The same dynamic has blunted the impact Al Jefferson andDeMarcus Cousins make on their teams despite gaudy offensive numbers.
And while Randle should average a double-double in the NBA, his style of play is not conducive to the way the league is going. More teams are spreading the floor and playing with four shooting threats, which won't work with Randle, since he doesn't have the defensive chops to be the lone big man on the floor. He will have to be on a two-post team like Indiana or Memphis, one that slows the tempo, maintains spacing and throws the ball inside. However, that's a style many guards aren't comfortable managing.
In the right situation, playing next to one of those rare floor-spacing and rim-protecting big man like Serge Ibaka or Anthony Davis, Randle could be a really good player on a championship-caliber team. In the wrong one, though, drafting Randle could end up setting a team back significantly. In the NBA, the shorter your arms, the harder it is to reach your ceiling.
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