2010 Draft (getting a jump on things)

[Zekyl]

I don't really know much about the college game and have no idea who to keep an eye on this season, so thought I'd get this started (slow work day).

What Cs are out there? We're set at SG if we keep Rip, SF with our 09 draft class, and most likely PF with CV, Max, and Wilcox being able to play there. Stuckey is our PG of the future. What we need most is a C (or a physical PF with size, in the modern NBA):

All the potentials from NBADraft.net's Top-60:
Cole Aldrich
Donatas Motiejunas
Solomon Alabi
Greg Monroe
Larry Sanders
DeMarcus Cousins
Jan Vesely
Tony Woods
Daniel Orton
Ryan Richards
Jerome Jordan
AJ Ogilvy
Dexter Pittman

Any thoughts?

From a quick look at a couple guys:

Keep Donatas Motiejunas away from us. He's just like Darko from what I can tell. He's 18, he doesn't get many minutes, and he gets frustrated that he doesn't get the ball enough.

Jerome Jordan is intriguing.
Rebounding numbers translate well to the NBA, and he's pulling in solid #s. Plus he's got to have some ability to protect the paint with 2.5 blocks per.
Kwame Brown part two? So-so hands and 2.4 turnovers per
He's a Joe-type, 7' 235lb with a 7'6" wingspan.
He's a big man that can actually hit free throws, 74%.
Problem is, he sounds like he's a bit uninterested, which immediately throws up a red flag.

Solomon Alabi sounds like he could turn into Sammy Dalembert from his DE profile, then I read his NBADraft.net profile and that's who they compare him to. Tons of hustle, doesn't shy away from contact, but extremely raw on offense and he's got no muscle.
He's got a 9'1" wingspan. That's insane.

Larry Sanders has a ton of potential and he's supposedly a beast on D, but he's got zero offense, no strength and he's far from ready.

AJ Ogilvy is a bigtime post presence on offense but has no defensive skills, doesn't block shots, and i a poor rebounder.

[Kstat]

Cole Aldrich should be a main target, but again he's a lottery pick.

[Glenn]

That's just fine.

[WTFchris]

Cole Aldrich should be a main target, but again he's a lottery pick.

We might be there.

[Kstat]

barring injuries, we're a very solid bet to make the playoffs in some capacity. We had a much worse roster last year and still made it.

[Glenn]

We'll score more and give up much more.

Not sure how that is better than last year.

[WTFchris]

Made it with a much worse team last year?

First off we don't know that Gordon is going to fit with RIP/Stuckey any better than AI did. Their games aren't totally the same (Gordon has better range and AI is better mid range), but they are similar styles. It's totally possible the 3 of them clash just as bad.

Charlie is going to have to replace Sheed and Dice if you want us to be much better. I think he can score, but we're losing two solid defenders and rebounders. Wilcox isn't solid in either capacity either.

I think we're going to get tourched by teams with penetrating PG's (even worse than before). They'll be more exciting to watch, but better?

We also made the playoffs at 4 games under .500.

I expect Toronto to be better, Washington (if they stay healthy), Charlotte to be better (added a nice scorer to the mix).

I wouldn't exactly pencil us in just yet.

[Kstat]

AI's problem wasn't just fit, it's that his skills were leaving him. Missing wide open layups wasnt a function of the offense, it was a function of him getting old.

Sheed last year hurt the team much, much more than he helped. They would have been better off if he and AI had not been on the team at all.

IMO, the only good player they lost was mcDyess, but that itself was nearly canceled out by dumping Sheed and AI.

chemistry and coaching will both be better by default, possibly much, much better. There's also quite a bit more talent, most of it young.

as much as losing dice sucks, they added a lot of things offensively that we never had at all last year.

[Zekyl]

barring injuries, we're a very solid bet to make the playoffs in some capacity. We had a much worse coach last year and still made it.

Fixed. Now this is true and should be taken into account