I've got one for Y'all
- Thread starter dubtown80
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He is a really good player. Going into this season he was an undersized center but he took a lot of threes this year and hit at a high percentage.
I'm not saying I'd take him over Bam right now but he certainly showed more ability than bam this season.
Bam is probably a better and more versatile defender though
Too short to play C in the NBA, lacks athleticism to play PF position. Also his shot isn't exactly NBA caliber
Yeah, that's why he won't be a stud but I think he'll do well. Hell who knows? I'd take him over OG and Bryant though.
If he can improve his athleticism, then his ceiling is Kenneth Faried type player
Undersized, incredibly limited athleticism. Biggie's game has a ton of fundamentals to it, but fundamentals will only take you so far, especially in the NBA, where everybody has God given talent, superior size, superior athleticism, and all turn out to be highly fundamental at one point or another. He's a big guy by college standards, but he's small in a league like that.
He will never be the kind of athlete Faried is. Just won't happen for him.
I think a couple of important details here are, when you get into the second round, it's a crapshoot. Projecting who gets taken where in the second round is really, really hard to do, so I'm not shocked. It's also an absolutely loaded draft, so that isn't going to help him as a prospect. Ultimately, in this draft, if he did project to be a less athletic Kenneth Faried, I think it's fair to put him in the late first, middle of the second round.
I don't love his potential as an NBA player by any stretch, because he's always going to be a defensive liability, but I think a lot of what his draft stock boils down to is:
1. There are a ton of better options in the lottery, middle of the first round, and all the way into the ~22nd, 23rd pick. It's just that kind of draft. There will even be a couple of better options outside of that.
2. Where does he fit into the scheme of things on the elite teams of the NBA at the tail end of the first round? Usually, those teams are going to go for high boom/high bust potential, sans the Spurs. They're going to be more meticulous about their pick, but if a team has wiggle room at the end of their bench with the opportunity to pick up a potentially very good NBA player, and can afford to miss on a pick, they're going to pick that guy over a guy that has obvious deficiencies that cannot be fixed, and has probably shown the best of his game.
Then you get into the second round. The rules that apply to the end of the first round will apply to maybe, half of the teams at the start of the second round. About half of those teams will pick players that they think has the ability to bud into a star, but in all likelihood, will not be able to hack it out in the league, and the other half will pick "best available player, as long as they fit", which is where Swanigan would fall in. Perhaps some of these mocks don't see him fitting for any of those teams, which I think it unlikely. I think he's going to get drafted between 31-40.
The last 15 picks or so of the draft will stop being about any substantial potential at all, and they're probably going to go off of a lot of different factors. Sheer college/overseas production, personal ties through a program, valuable player, or another organization, at the very most, expecting very modest production, and bring at least one valuable trait as a player sitting at the very end of your bench, and use a swap-out for the better d-league players.
You're probably right but for some reason I think he'll end up being pretty decent. One thing I like is he actually seems durable for a big guy which is important as most seem to have foot, ankle, or knee problems. I guess in 3 or 4 years we'll see if he had what it takes or not. But, I do agree with your assessment. I'm an IU fan but I'll root for him in the NBA since he's from Indiana. What happened to teague? I thought he would make a solid NBA player too. His numbers in the D league this year were good the last time I checked. Will he ever make it?
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Measuered out 6'8" ni shoes last NBA combine but had good reach and wingspan, not that he is a shotblocker
I love his skill-set. If he was 2 inches taller and a bit more athletic, I would be absolutely sold on him as a 12-20 pick in this draft, but I think you have to compare him to certain other players at this stage. To me, I feel like you could compare him, right now, to a present day Al Jefferson, which is fine. If you're a second round pick and you get 15 minutes or so per game, then that's solid in the grand scheme of things. That said though, if you stuck present day Al Jefferson in this draft, I think he would hit the second round as well (thus, me saying what I just said).
I think it's hard for NBA folks to look at him though, and feel like he didn't just play the best season of basketball at any and every level that he'll play in his whole life. Do I feel the same way? Not sure. Part of me does, because he had a damn good season, one that I'm not sure he can replicate even if he came back to college, but especially in the NBA. Just a lot of things working against him physically.
That said, I will say, he's always had something working against him physically, and he's always overcome it. Something should be said for that. I really do hope he has a long, comfortable NBA career, because he's worked harder than most to get to where he is right now.
It really hurts him that he doesn't fit the mold of the new breed of big men. Honestly, if he went back to school and worked absolutely relentlessly on his ball handling and passing ability, and flashed those more often, his draft stock may shoot up. Being skilled in all facets is almost necessary for bigs today, especially the undersized and less athletic ones.
One thing I really, really think hurts him, is his past with obesity and how susceptible he truly is to that issue coming back. He's worked hard, and that's a giant plus, but the most important thing in the NBA, bar-none, is how well you take care of your body. He's not going to live at school and be the star, and trainers aren't going to watch him like a hawk in the NBA and feed him the things that he has to eat to stay at a healthy weight. It will be up to him on his own to do these things, and NBA teams are probably concerned with his ability to do that. Scouts and GM's are super meticulous about any kind of health issue, and morbid obesity certainly qualifies as a health concern.
I'd take Swanigan over Bryant. Wouldn't bat an eyelash afterwards either. He's a better player, and he's not a headcase like Bryant. I don't really love Bryant all that much either. His body is super funky, so I question how it would hold up in a league played by men, over twice as long as a college season.
Anunoby though, I wouldn't take Swanigan over. There's the injury concern, obviously, but the guy has so many tools to work with. At the very least, I think all NBA teams see an elite level 3 and D guy. His ceiling though is pretty high as either a 3 or a 4 in the modern NBA.
You're right, it will probably be important for him to land with a really good coach. Someone like Stevens who excels at putting guys in a position to succeed and hide their weaknesses as much as its possible. It's kind of a shame Stevens wanted to go to the NBA. Their coaches usually don't get a lot of credit unless they win a ton of Championships where college coaches become legends more frequently. With what he did at Butler and what he's doing with the Celtics to me is amazing. I think he has to be considered the best basketball coach in the world even though he hasn't won the big one at either level yet. You guys agree or think you have to win titles before one can be considered the best? With the talent he's had to work with and what he's done with it I think he's the best.
Yeah, I Prolly would take OG over him but I'd have to think about it. I love OG but he really hasn't played that much the last 2 years. Another plus for OG ia I don't think he's even 20 yet so age wise he could have been a freshman this year. But oh yeah definitely take him over Bryant. Bryant needs to come back for another year.
I was a little harsh on you in the other thread. You seem like a pretty legit poster regardless of being an Indiana fan. Wish all your fans were like you.
Yeah, I just talk ball. I like coming to this board sometimes when i'm bored as it's usually very active. And I think it's ok to give fans of other teams some friendly razing but people take it too far a lot and that's kinda douchey to go to someone else's board and say stupid stuff. Plus your program is on top right now and IU has been a Rollercoaster ride at best under Crean. I'm not really in any position to say anything bad about your program. I think coach Cal probably did some really dirty things at UMass and Memphis to land top talent but I doubt that he does at UK because there's no need to.
It's a tough call man. Maybe he's the second coming of Gregg Popovich, or maybe he's the second coming of Doc Rivers. Some coaches thrive with team building, but have an inability to take them over the hump. Some coaches thrive with coaching the good players that they have to monumental feats, but struggle to build something up when it inevitably falls apart for one reason or another, and some coaches can do it all.
Doc Rivers to me falls in the category of guys that could build a beautiful thing over and over again, but struggles to get over the hump once he has it. Brad Stevens may be that guy, or he may be something else. I think he's a helluva coach though regardless, and he's young, has a long way to go. Nobody knows what he is yet. He isn't the best, but he's damn good.
I will say this. With Archie being the head coach now of IU we might see a renewal of the series
That's true we haven't seen what he can do when he has the most talented team. The Celtics should be loaded in a year or two so we'll see what happens then. I wouldn't be surprised if they make it to the NBA finals this year though.
I was glad when they stopped it because I had no confidence that Crean could put a good product on the court with consistency. I have no doubt that CAM will do it though so yeah in a few years he should have things rolling and it would be a very competitive game most years. The problem is the fan bases. I wish it could be a home and home as I've never been to Rupp and would like to go at least once. Obviously if I'm ever going to go though it would only be for an IU game. I'm not sure if the fan bases can have fun without being total jerkoffs. If it's renewed it will probably be at a neutral site which is fine but it's not the same.
You have to blame your IU brothers and sisters for that man. What happened in 2011 was truly despicable and I'm not talking about the shot. That is the reason why we will never do a home and home
They seem to undervalue shorter guys. Boozer was a second-rounder and Florida's Haslem, was he even drafted? But they proved the decision-makers wrong. Seems to me the Purdue kid with the jump shot will prove to be a good pick.
I knew it was going to be bad since that was the first year under Crean that IU was actually good and the fans were really up for that game. I'm sure a lot of stupid things were said but I don't believe the stories of beer being poured on kids heads though. I wasn't there but have a hard time seeing people go that far. I know drunk people are idiots I've been there many times but I've never even thought of pouring beer on someone especially a child just because they are rooting for the other team. Anyone that went to the game on this board...tell me what you actually saw?
