Walker and Biyombo going top 6 right now at draftexpress mock, seriously this draft is weak as shit, you could get a decent player later, trade down or trade this pick for cap relief if we cant get a decent prospect at 7
Walker and Biyombo going top 6 right now at draftexpress mock, seriously this draft is weak as shit, you could get a decent player later, trade down or trade this pick for cap relief if we cant get a decent prospect at 7
Joe D is apparently "scouting" in Slovenia.
Maybe he's actually house shopping.
Find a new slant.
Where's Tony Ronzone when you need him?
He's living off the salary Darko has been paying him to pump up his draft stock.
I'll tell you what, if Joe drafts a SG, at all, I'm going to chop his head off myself. Not a pure SG. Not a SG to be converted to a PG. Not a SG that can play SF in stretches. NO shooting guards.
Can haz Biyombo?
I want to know his vert/standing reach/how many reps he can do, but this guy certainly has an ELITE wingspan.
Let's take a look at current roster players with similar wingspans (31 of them, ranging from 7'7" to 7'4"), and their draft positions:
1-Shaq (7'7")
33-Whiteside
4-Eddy Curry
8-Diop
20-Haywood
2-Thabeet
19-McGee
35-DeAndre Jordan
32-Pittman
5-Cousins
15-Sanders
10-Brook Lopez
1-Brand
2-Darko
50-Alabi
2-Durant
2-Aldridge
11-Aldrich
1-Dwight
7-Nene
18-Jason Collins
6-Udoh
1-Oden
5-Shelden Williams
18-David West
33-Solomon Jones
12-Hilton Armstrong
2-Okafor
3-Favors
26-Taj Gibson
8-Brandan Wright (7'4")
16 were taken in the top 7. 21 were lottery picks. 25 were first round picks.
Yes, this is a weak draft. but on the physical tools alone, #7 is not a bad place to select such a player as Biyombo. He'd likely be a lottery pick in any draft.
While I realize that he could be an offensive liability, realize that the majority of teams in the players currently (i.e. their last playoff game) don't start an offensive threat at the 5!
ATL-Jason Collins 2.0
ORL-Howard 22.9
BOS-Jermaine O'Neal 5.4
NYK-Turiaf 4.2
MIA-Ilgauskas 5.0/Anthony/Dampier
PHI-Hawes 7.2
CHI-Noah 11.7
IND-Hibbert 12.7
OKC-Perkins, about 6ppg
DEN-Nene 14.5
SAN-McDyess 5.3
MEM-Gasol 11.7
LAL-Bynum 11.3
NOH-Okafor 10.3
POR-Camby 4.7
DAL-Chandler 10.1
8 out of 16 teams start a center that doesn't average double figures.
Of the teams that are leading their series, ALL start a big that averages at least a block a game. Horford-1.0, JO-1.2, Bosh-1.5, Noah-2.2, Perkins-0.9 (but his backup, Ibaka leads the league in blocked shots), Chandler-1.1, Gasol-1.7, and the tied teams LAL/NOH have Bynum-2.0 and Okafor 1.8.
i.e most of the time, players with the physical tools that Biyombo possesses are drafted about where we're picking. Most of the time, having an offensively challenged/5th option big man can still get you into the playoffs. Most of the time, to win (or at least lead in) a series you need a big that can anchor the paint and block shots.
We need him, and he'd be perfect to pair with Monroe. In a league that is guard-dominated (this is the fucking golden age of PGs, after all), an athletic, weak-side, defensive anchor is a must have.
Last edited by lospistones; 04-26-2011 at 03:05 AM.
I know little about Biyombo but your post seems to be more of an indictment (Whiteside, Curry, Diop, Armstrong, Wright, Williams, Sanders, Oden, Jones, Alabi, Thabeet, Pittman, Darko, Aldrich, Collins, Okafor, Udoh) of taking players based on their wingspan.
Only Shaq and Howard (athletic freaks) and Aldridge (elite shooter for a big man) are great evidence plus West, Brand and Nene seem like potential foundational pieces. (can't figure out how to make that last part a good sentence, let it be I've earned it...).
My intention was more to illustrate that players with such wingspans are generally capable of playing entire games at C. In the various drafts I made of that post, I somehow deleted that :-/
The only two listed who would be horribly out of place at the 5 would be Durant and Wright. I expect Biyombo to have a better vertical leap than the average big (most young "athletic" bigs average around 26-27 for their no-step verts, Dwight and Oden being exceptions), which should compensate for the two inches he gives up. Even if his body is shittily constructed so that his wingspan doesn't translate to having a high standing reach, he should be ok at the 5 anyway.
The point being that there is definitely room for a guy with the likely size to play the 5 and the athleticism of a 3 or 4, next to PF/C Greg Monroe.
Last edited by lospistones; 04-26-2011 at 04:20 AM.
If they draft him, here's to hoping Ben comes back for the last year of his contract and acts as a role model both defensively and with his work ethic.
_
I'd love that. Ben deserves to go out on a winning team (which, I expect, could happen with a coaching change).
If our four primary bigs were Monroe, Biyombo, Jerebko, and Villanueva, we'd have all of our bases covered.
We can enjoy great rebounders in Monroe and Biyombo, both capable of pulling down around 10 a night, and another who pulled down 6 a game as a rookie in Jonas. If he's beefed up as reports have said, he should be able to box out more strongly.
Three players that can operate out of the high post are Monroe, Jerebko, and Villanueva. Both Monroe and Villanueva are playmakers as far as bigs go, and the offense can be straight up ran through Monroe (also from the low post).
Two guys that can stretch the court out to the three point line in Villanueva and Jerebko. Monroe's mid-range jumper isn't shabby, either.
Garbage plays would be covered in Monroe, Jerebko, and Biyombo. All three of them could be successful without having a single play fan for them.
We'd have two players that can take fools off the dribble in Charlie and Jonas.
It'd just be a matter of finding combinations that worked best and matching up properly, but that frontcourt could be epic. If Maxiell and Wallace are our depth bigs, we'd be in great shape. I'd wager that our frontcourt could be in the top half of the league as quickly as next year.
Last edited by lospistones; 04-27-2011 at 09:27 PM.
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