Right on Sochan and Wrong on Brown

2,613 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by RegentCoverup
BUCANDOIT82
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Yes, I was the first to call Sochan a Lottery Pick and I was right.

I also called Brown a Lottery pick, though I can't claim to have been first. I was the first to say I thought he could go number one. After I made that call his performance didn't match that prediction.

But I am baffled as to why he fell to the 48th pick in the draft. I know Butler, Motley, and Kenny Perry all had medical red flags and that's the reason they slid in the draft. But I currently do not know why Brown slid.

Sam Vecenie of the Athletic reported 2 very different, but interesting tidbits. First, he reported before the draft that teams were calling agents and asking which players would accept two-way contracts in the second round all the way up into the thirties and we should expect to see some surprising names slide. Second, he reported that Baylor had a positive +2 net rating per 100 possessions when Brown was on the court and a whopping positive +23 rating per 100 possessions when Brown was off the court for a +21-point differential. He then reported that the other 6 full season rotation players didn't have a differential greater than 5 points when they were on or off the court.

I wanted to create an independent thread for those who would like to fire away about how they were right, and I was wrong. Or, add insights into what happened last night. I think the one thing we can agree on this is not a positive for Baylor Basketball to have a one-and-done almost not even get drafted.
Crawfoso1973
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I am not firing away on you and I am also shocked KB fell that far. I knew he never had a shot to go #1 overall but still I thought he would go in the late teens or early 20s all along and even when he started dropping, I thought he would still go in early 2nd round. Minnesota got a huge steal I think he has upside to be an elite 3 and D guy. He is a top 5 percentile athlete in the NBA and that doesn't grow on trees. Here's to hoping that puts a chip on his shoulder and multiple teams regret passing on him.

Back in November after just a few games I predicted Sochan would be a one-and-done so I don't think you were alone there.

historian
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I don't care who predicted what or when, I'm just happy for Kendall that he now has a chance to prove himself & excel. It's going to be tough but it's all up to him now.

Sic 'em Kendall!
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
MashedPotatoes
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Another year of development under Coach Drew would have put his pro career on a completely different trajectory.
vanillabryce
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I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.
BEAR 45
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vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Crawfoso1973
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BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.
Stefano DiMera
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Yeah maybe sliding was better for him .now he should have a chip on his shoulder..if there was a criticism of KB it was he lacks that edge.

And ironically..that edge that Sochan showed at the end of year especially the chippiness against North Carolina along with the ability to play out front in the press helped vault his stock up.
BU82EX
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I posted this on another thread and believe it is spot on regarding Brown - This from an NBA scout on Kendall Brown: "He makes me nervous. He's probably slipped more than anybody right now. I went to some of their games, and I'm like, did he get off the bus? Freak athlete, but he has not shown the ability to make shots, and he doesn't handle it well enough right now to be a small forward. He'll need to be a four at the start. People say he's such a good passer, but I didn't see that. The shooting piece is scary. He's an open-court transition player, but when the game gets in the halfcourt, does he have the passing, the shooting, the basketball IQ? I don't know if he loves the game. He looks the part more than he plays the part. Little bit of an enigma to me."

BEAR 45
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Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.e was a Junior
Just to be clear, I was not expecting him to be a lottery pick this year if that was you thought I meant. If he was an upperclassmen it might have been worth the chance to enter the draft, but an additional year in college to improve his skill set and he might have well been a lottery pick next year.
RegentCoverup
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I don't give a **** about what anyone on an internet message board thinks about making predictions about human talent. I make predictions as a routine in my work. Even on the best day, I'm wrong quite often.

It has the same value as my throwing a dart against a dartboard with a blindfold on.

So make all the predictions you want. The value is what it proves to be over time, reinforced by predictive feedback and straight up proof.

Outside of that, it's still just a guess.


Crawfoso1973
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BU82EX said:

I posted this on another thread and believe it is spot on regarding Brown - This from an NBA scout on Kendall Brown: "He makes me nervous. He's probably slipped more than anybody right now. I went to some of their games, and I'm like, did he get off the bus? Freak athlete, but he has not shown the ability to make shots, and he doesn't handle it well enough right now to be a small forward. He'll need to be a four at the start. People say he's such a good passer, but I didn't see that. The shooting piece is scary. He's an open-court transition player, but when the game gets in the halfcourt, does he have the passing, the shooting, the basketball IQ? I don't know if he loves the game. He looks the part more than he plays the part. Little bit of an enigma to me."


Not aiming this at you, but this scout is a moron. If that scout actually watched games he would see KB actually has an extremely high BBIQ with advanced court vision and passing skills, and his handle is more than adequate. He always played within the flow of the offense and never forced anything. We had Akinjo and Mayer in the starting unit who were more than happy to put up shots. KB's shot is far from "scary" or broken, he just needs a bit more assertiveness. He tends to fade into the background which is a product of his personality moreso than his skill set. Teams passed on him 47 times and I hope he proves them all wrong.
Crawfoso1973
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BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.e was a Junior
Just to be clear, I was not expecting him to be a lottery pick this year if that was you thought I meant. If he was an upperclassmen it might have been worth the chance to enter the draft, but an additional year in college to improve his skill set and he might have well been a lottery pick next year.
Coulda/woulda/shoulda. He made his choice based on feedback that he would have been a mid 1st - late 1st rounder.
BEAR 45
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Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.e was a Junior
Just to be clear, I was not expecting him to be a lottery pick this year if that was you thought I meant. If he was an upperclassmen it might have been worth the chance to enter the draft, but an additional year in college to improve his skill set and he might have well been a lottery pick next year.
Coulda/woulda/shoulda. He made his choice based on feedback that he would have been a mid 1st - late 1st rounder.
Fully understand he made the decision and will now have to live with it. I thought the purpose of this message board was to express different ideas about sports issues ? You might find it interesting to look at last years rookie salary scale [ spotrac.com ] has it listed. Top pick @ $8.5 mill to 30 th pick @ $1.6 mill, in fact after pick 10 it doesn't really matter that much. If he was good enough to make it into a top 10 pick next year, he left a lot of money on the table. If he isn't good enough to make top 10 next year maybe he made the right choice,
Crawfoso1973
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BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.e was a Junior
Just to be clear, I was not expecting him to be a lottery pick this year if that was you thought I meant. If he was an upperclassmen it might have been worth the chance to enter the draft, but an additional year in college to improve his skill set and he might have well been a lottery pick next year.
Coulda/woulda/shoulda. He made his choice based on feedback that he would have been a mid 1st - late 1st rounder.
Fully understand he made the decision and will now have to live with it. I thought the purpose of this message board was to express different ideas about sports issues ? You might find it interesting to look at last years rookie salary scale [ spotrac.com ] has it listed. Top pick @ $8.5 mill to 30 th pick @ $1.6 mill, in fact after pick 10 it doesn't really matter that much. If he was good enough to make it into a top 10 pick next year, he left a lot of money on the table. If he isn't good enough to make top 10 next year maybe he made the right choice,
Where did I say this message board wasn't to express different ideas about sports issues? You, with the full benefit of hindsight, said he should have returned. I simply stated that given the information at his disposal he made the choice that he felt was best for him at the time.
SonOfZuno
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Crawfoso1973 said:

BU82EX said:

I posted this on another thread and believe it is spot on regarding Brown - This from an NBA scout on Kendall Brown: "He makes me nervous. He's probably slipped more than anybody right now. I went to some of their games, and I'm like, did he get off the bus? Freak athlete, but he has not shown the ability to make shots, and he doesn't handle it well enough right now to be a small forward. He'll need to be a four at the start. People say he's such a good passer, but I didn't see that. The shooting piece is scary. He's an open-court transition player, but when the game gets in the halfcourt, does he have the passing, the shooting, the basketball IQ? I don't know if he loves the game. He looks the part more than he plays the part. Little bit of an enigma to me."


Not aiming this at you, but this scout is a moron. If that scout actually watched games he would see KB actually has an extremely high BBIQ with advanced court vision and passing skills, and his handle is more than adequate. He always played within the flow of the offense and never forced anything. We had Akinjo and Mayer in the starting unit who were more than happy to put up shots. KB's shot is far from "scary" or broken, he just needs a bit more assertiveness. He tends to fade into the background which is a product of his personality moreso than his skill set. Teams passed on him 47 times and I hope he proves them all wrong.
A paid, professional NBA scout's assessment versus an anonymous free public sports blog site poster's assessment?

I'll take the pro's..............
BEAR 45
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Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.e was a Junior
Just to be clear, I was not expecting him to be a lottery pick this year if that was you thought I meant. If he was an upperclassmen it might have been worth the chance to enter the draft, but an additional year in college to improve his skill set and he might have well been a lottery pick next year.
Coulda/woulda/shoulda. He made his choice based on feedback that he would have been a mid 1st - late 1st rounder.
Fully understand he made the decision and will now have to live with it. I thought the purpose of this message board was to express different ideas about sports issues ? You might find it interesting to look at last years rookie salary scale [ spotrac.com ] has it listed. Top pick @ $8.5 mill to 30 th pick @ $1.6 mill, in fact after pick 10 it doesn't really matter that much. If he was good enough to make it into a top 10 pick next year, he left a lot of money on the table. If he isn't good enough to make top 10 next year maybe he made the right choice,
Where did I say this message board wasn't to express different ideas about sports issues? You, with the full benefit of hindsight, said he should have returned. I simply stated that given the information at his disposal he made the choice that he felt was best for him at the time.
"easy to sit on your pedestal and criticise " I didn't criticise his decision, just questioned the logic of it based on the amount of $ he could expect even if he did go in the late 1 st round. It is not like he didn't know the vast difference in compensation between being the 1st and last picks in the first round. Maybe he read this message board too much and believed all the early posts from fans expecting him to be a lottery pick this year [ just kidding ] His return would have put him in the major spotlight Nationally in what could be one of the best teams in the country next year.
Crawfoso1973
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SonOfZuno said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BU82EX said:

I posted this on another thread and believe it is spot on regarding Brown - This from an NBA scout on Kendall Brown: "He makes me nervous. He's probably slipped more than anybody right now. I went to some of their games, and I'm like, did he get off the bus? Freak athlete, but he has not shown the ability to make shots, and he doesn't handle it well enough right now to be a small forward. He'll need to be a four at the start. People say he's such a good passer, but I didn't see that. The shooting piece is scary. He's an open-court transition player, but when the game gets in the halfcourt, does he have the passing, the shooting, the basketball IQ? I don't know if he loves the game. He looks the part more than he plays the part. Little bit of an enigma to me."


Not aiming this at you, but this scout is a moron. If that scout actually watched games he would see KB actually has an extremely high BBIQ with advanced court vision and passing skills, and his handle is more than adequate. He always played within the flow of the offense and never forced anything. We had Akinjo and Mayer in the starting unit who were more than happy to put up shots. KB's shot is far from "scary" or broken, he just needs a bit more assertiveness. He tends to fade into the background which is a product of his personality moreso than his skill set. Teams passed on him 47 times and I hope he proves them all wrong.
A paid, professional NBA scout's assessment versus an anonymous free public sports blog site poster's assessment?

I'll take the pro's..............


No offense, but I don't give 2 f***s about your opinion on my assessment of KB.
Crawfoso1973
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BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BEAR 45 said:

vanillabryce said:

I think KB made the right decision with the information available at the time.

No use in looking back in hindsight. He's going to do well if he wants it enough.


What information is that ? This kid is one year out of high school and has MANY years to play in the NBA, if he develops as expected, Huge difference between being a lottery pick and being a later 2 nd round pick. For starters, when an owner has a lot of money and prestigue wraped up in a lottery pick, they have a greater incentive to actually prove they made the right decision. Bad decision on his part and those advising him. One more year in a high profile program with great supporting cast and his stock should have soared. He will have to make it the hard way now.
Not that I need to speak for Vanilla, but all throughout the process KB was projected mid-late 1st round and at worst early 2nd round. That was the information available to him when he made his decision. It wasn't until the past couple of weeks that KB's draft stock started to slide, for whatever reason. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to sit on your pedestal and criticize his decision in hindsight but that is life. We can all look at watershed choices we made in life, some worked out and others didn't. He is 19 and has a lot of basketball (and life) ahead of him. He still has every opportunity in the world to make the most of his career in Indiana.e was a Junior
Just to be clear, I was not expecting him to be a lottery pick this year if that was you thought I meant. If he was an upperclassmen it might have been worth the chance to enter the draft, but an additional year in college to improve his skill set and he might have well been a lottery pick next year.
Coulda/woulda/shoulda. He made his choice based on feedback that he would have been a mid 1st - late 1st rounder.
Fully understand he made the decision and will now have to live with it. I thought the purpose of this message board was to express different ideas about sports issues ? You might find it interesting to look at last years rookie salary scale [ spotrac.com ] has it listed. Top pick @ $8.5 mill to 30 th pick @ $1.6 mill, in fact after pick 10 it doesn't really matter that much. If he was good enough to make it into a top 10 pick next year, he left a lot of money on the table. If he isn't good enough to make top 10 next year maybe he made the right choice,
Where did I say this message board wasn't to express different ideas about sports issues? You, with the full benefit of hindsight, said he should have returned. I simply stated that given the information at his disposal he made the choice that he felt was best for him at the time.
"easy to sit on your pedestal and criticise " I didn't criticise his decision, just questioned the logic of it based on the amount of $ he could expect even if he did go in the late 1 st round. It is not like he didn't know the vast difference in compensation between being the 1st and last picks in the first round. Maybe he read this message board too much and believed all the early posts from fans expecting him to be a lottery pick this year [ just kidding ] His return would have put him in the major spotlight Nationally in what could be one of the best teams in the country next year.


Again, coulda/woulda/shoulda. Him returning would not have guaranteed a place in the lottery. I am sure he would have returned had he have known he would have dropped to 48 but he didn't have a crystal ball so no use crying about it now.
TWD 1974
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SonOfZuno said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BU82EX said:

I posted this on another thread and believe it is spot on regarding Brown - This from an NBA scout on Kendall Brown: "He makes me nervous. He's probably slipped more than anybody right now. I went to some of their games, and I'm like, did he get off the bus? Freak athlete, but he has not shown the ability to make shots, and he doesn't handle it well enough right now to be a small forward. He'll need to be a four at the start. People say he's such a good passer, but I didn't see that. The shooting piece is scary. He's an open-court transition player, but when the game gets in the halfcourt, does he have the passing, the shooting, the basketball IQ? I don't know if he loves the game. He looks the part more than he plays the part. Little bit of an enigma to me."


Not aiming this at you, but this scout is a moron. If that scout actually watched games he would see KB actually has an extremely high BBIQ with advanced court vision and passing skills, and his handle is more than adequate. He always played within the flow of the offense and never forced anything. We had Akinjo and Mayer in the starting unit who were more than happy to put up shots. KB's shot is far from "scary" or broken, he just needs a bit more assertiveness. He tends to fade into the background which is a product of his personality moreso than his skill set. Teams passed on him 47 times and I hope he proves them all wrong.
A paid, professional NBA scout's assessment versus an anonymous free public sports blog site poster's assessment?

I'll take the pro's..............
Just one of the headscratchers on draft night. Lakers make a trade to get in the draft with the 35th. pick. The guard from Michigan State. I was not all that impressed with him in our game against them last Fall. Shot 38% fg, 31% from 3. Admittedly, my knowledge is far from professional, but I can't fathom anyone picking him over KB.
vanillabryce
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That's pretty much exactly what I would've said
SonOfZuno
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TWD 74 said:

SonOfZuno said:

Crawfoso1973 said:

BU82EX said:

I posted this on another thread and believe it is spot on regarding Brown - This from an NBA scout on Kendall Brown: "He makes me nervous. He's probably slipped more than anybody right now. I went to some of their games, and I'm like, did he get off the bus? Freak athlete, but he has not shown the ability to make shots, and he doesn't handle it well enough right now to be a small forward. He'll need to be a four at the start. People say he's such a good passer, but I didn't see that. The shooting piece is scary. He's an open-court transition player, but when the game gets in the halfcourt, does he have the passing, the shooting, the basketball IQ? I don't know if he loves the game. He looks the part more than he plays the part. Little bit of an enigma to me."


Not aiming this at you, but this scout is a moron. If that scout actually watched games he would see KB actually has an extremely high BBIQ with advanced court vision and passing skills, and his handle is more than adequate. He always played within the flow of the offense and never forced anything. We had Akinjo and Mayer in the starting unit who were more than happy to put up shots. KB's shot is far from "scary" or broken, he just needs a bit more assertiveness. He tends to fade into the background which is a product of his personality moreso than his skill set. Teams passed on him 47 times and I hope he proves them all wrong.
A paid, professional NBA scout's assessment versus an anonymous free public sports blog site poster's assessment?

I'll take the pro's..............
Just one of the headscratchers on draft night. Lakers make a trade to get in the draft with the 35th. pick. The guard from Michigan State. I was not all that impressed with him in our game against them last Fall. Shot 38% fg, 31% from 3. Admittedly, my knowledge is far from professional, but I can't fathom anyone picking him over KB.
Outside of the Top 3-5 picks, almost all experts say the rest of the draft selections are all on a sliding downhill scale of whether they ever pan out to be starting, top NBA talent. I'll go with the experts on that outlook.

Due solely to draft position, I can see where Jeremy has a much better shot than KB at this point. And frankly, I have to lean that KB has an uphill climb ahead of him to even make a NBA team next season. But maybe he will. I would tend to think chances are greater, again based on draft position, that the G-League may be where he lands first like so so many have before him have. Then, earn his way back like all of those Ignite players did in this year's draft.

I'm no expert by any stretch, only another fan opinion, but throughout the Bear's season I always felt/saw many of the same things this particular professional scout saw:
-- Did he get off the bus? Never really "put the team on his back" like you saw many "lottery" players did with their teams. Many times KB simply was in the background of the team's successes.
-- Freak athlete, yes ESPN Top 10 dunks, but didn't show the ability to make big (or consistent) shots. Overall shooting below NBA quality.
-- Looked the part more than played the part. Nothing more spectacular than a ton of other guys in the draft.

As a Baylor fan I'm wishing him well, and Lord knows he'll get some nice cash simply from being selected in the draft. But realistically, he clearly has a lot still to prove or grow into in order to show team's he's a top NBA talent.

Sic'em


p.s. And anyone who actually thought Akinjo would be drafted was simply being a green-n-gold blinded homer.
BUCANDOIT82
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Indiana traded for KB, and they plan to rebuild. They will have a roster spot for him. It remains to be seen if they sign him to an NBA contract or a two-way contract. It's actually a really good place for him to land. You could see the disappointment in his face when they finally called him on draft night.

Akinjo will find a place in the G-League and hope for an in-season call up to a team that needs a point guard. Akinjo will start out on a G-League contract.

Most of the rookies drafted will play some in the G-League but will be on NBA contracts.
themarkness
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Not to be a cynic about the draft, but as a casual follower of college basketball, I've haven't heard of half these names. Are they purposely devaluing known quantity, because they know there's so many solid players at least on the college level that have as much likelihood of become solid NBA players as the one's drafted that they go for potential, good player in a bad situation, didn't really get a chance to shine, the mystique. I'm still puzzled how the Mavericks passed over Garland's finest since Mookie Blaylock, Tyrese Maxey at pick 18 in the 2020 draft (who went 21st).
JP1037
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Really great kid who got drafted on potential. What he showed on the court most nights was not NBA level.
Crawfoso1973
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JP1037 said:

Really great kid who got drafted on potential. What he showed on the court most nights was not NBA level.
Same could be said for about half of guys drafted ahead of him.
themarkness
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It's crazy to say that NBA teams have basically written you off before your Sophomore year. These are ruthless businessmen running the NBA, loyalty, second chances, redemption stories mean little except when it sells tickets. I can't say that Indianapolis seems like the best final destination for him, they seems like a do-nothing, remain relevant and in the conversation, yet content with mediocrity NBA city, but that means patience on the end of the front office, and an eye to the future to eventually turn things around. I'm sure there's a superficial reason why his stock dropped, a thing which may not disappear given an extra year of college. It was a good decision to stay in the draft despite the swirling market, real or not-real, fluctuations which I'm sure he's all aware of. Screw that type of foregone reasoning that drops a player a round an a half despite no games being played and no stakes actually made.
RegentCoverup
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JP1037 said:

Really great kid who got drafted on potential. What he showed on the court most nights was not NBA level.
This. And people forget that NBA execs do get fired from time to time.

Which is to say they aren't always right.
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