Adams a Top Tier PG

[BlueMAB]

DraftExpress - Jalen Adams DraftExpress Profile: Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook - ranked as the 41st best sophomore

NBA Draft Room: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - No Jalen Adams

2018 Mock Draft | NBADraft.net - No Jalen Adems

NCAA Sophomore Rankings - Class of 2019 | NBADraft.net - 2nd round draft pick, with 18 guards rated higher than him.

I expect him to continue to improve and to move up that list. He's got the tools to become a special player. But he's not one of the best right now, based on impartial projections.

 

[AntG168]

DraftExpress - Jalen Adams DraftExpress Profile: Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook - ranked as the 41st best sophomore

NBA Draft Room: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - No Jalen Adams

2018 Mock Draft | NBADraft.net - No Jalen Adems

NCAA Sophomore Rankings - Class of 2019 | NBADraft.net - 2nd round draft pick, with 18 guards rated higher than him.

I expect him to continue to improve and to move up that list. He's got the tools to become a special player. But he's not one of the best right now, based on impartial projections.

Cool. I disagree. And im 100% certain my belief will be validated next season

 

[BlueMAB]

I think he could be special next year. As I said before, if he makes the same level of improvement from Soph to Jr year as he did from Frosh to Soph year, then he will be somewhere in those projections. All I've said is that he's got work to do. He can't come back next year being the same player he is today, and be considered one of the best (i.e., worth a first round pick).

You can measure "the best" however you want. I think of them as 1st round draft picks. Guys with guaranteed NBA contracts. The 2nd rounders tend to be a mix between guys that might make a squad, and guys that are loaded with "potential" who end up stashed overseas for a few years. It's difficult to judge whether teams are seriously trying to gain value with their second round picks when you watch the Lakers draft Ater Majok.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

The OP didn't say anything about next year. And you made an argument for why he's not in this year's draft. Then, you moved the goalposts to next year's draft.



No the OP didn't. @Matrim55 brought up next year's draft. Then you decided to talk about next year because you know I'm right. If he was one of the best/elite/top of the line PGs in the country this year, he'd be in the draft. But he's not, because he wasn't.



Yeah, okay.

If you want to argue that your definition of "top of the line" is better than mine, have fun with that pointless exercise. Adams wasn't one of the best PGs this year. He's not even the best PG at UConn. How do I know that? He's not playing PG at UConn next year, because Gilbert is.

The rest of the discussion is nothing but noise.

We shall see if Adams is the off guard, the PG, or if we have 2 PG's on the floor. I think that Jalen needs to be our #1 playmaker, however that translates to position.

 

[AntG168]

I think he could be special next year. As I said before, if he makes the same level of improvement from Soph to Jr year as he did from Frosh to Soph year, then he will be somewhere in those projections. All I've said is that he's got work to do. He can't come back next year being the same player he is today, and be considered one of the best (i.e., worth a first round pick).

You can measure "the best" however you want. I think of them as 1st round draft picks. Guys with guaranteed NBA contracts. The 2nd rounders tend to be a mix between guys that might make a squad, and guys that are loaded with "potential" who end up stashed overseas for a few years. It's difficult to judge whether teams are seriously trying to gain value with their second round picks when you watch the Lakers draft Ater Majok.

Khalid el amin wasnt a first rounder, aj price wasnt a first rounder, boatright wasnt a first rounder, shabazz was barely a first rounder, quinn cook wasnt a first rounder, isaiah thomas wasnt a first rounder. I can name many more. ALL of these guys were top of the line COLLEGE pgs. You cant base how good a college player is on if theyll be great NBA players

 

[AntG168]

Nic moore wasnt a first rounder, joel berry wont go first round, russ smith didnt go first round. These are just guys i can think of right now but you get the gist

 

[RUSS56]

Right now he is not an NBA player. He is too small to be a shooting guard, and at 43% this year, he has to really become the knockdown shooter, and he can become that, so it will be interesting to see how Ollie uses him this year. I would imagine, he will play both, and depending on how Gilbert does, will depend on what becomes the bigger role for him.

 

[AntG168]

Right now he is not an NBA player. He is too small to be a shooting guard, and at 43% this year, he has to really become the knockdown shooter, and he can become that, so it will be interesting to see how Ollie uses him this year. I would imagine, he will play both, and depending on how Gilbert does, will depend on what becomes the bigger role for him.

Agreed thats a different conversation tho

 

[RUSS56]

It is kind of a moot point for now, his junior year will tell the story, prospect or suspect? His future as an NBA player has not been determined yet, it will be defined next year.

 

[BlueMAB]

We shall see if Adams is the off guard, the PG, or if we have 2 PG's on the floor. I think that Jalen needs to be our #1 playmaker, however that translates to position.

I see Jalen/Gilbert in the same view as Shabazz/Kemba. Both can play point, but we were better with Kemba off the ball, and Shabazz taking that pressure.

It wasn't until Gilbert got hurt that Jalen really started playing PG. But if Jalen makes the NBA, that's the position he'll play. He's got size, the athleticism, etc, etc. Just needs to continue improving his game.

 

[BlueMAB]

Khalid el amin wasnt a first rounder, aj price wasnt a first rounder, boatright wasnt a first rounder, shabazz was barely a first rounder, quinn cook wasnt a first rounder, isaiah thomas wasnt a first rounder. I can name many more. ALL of these guys were top of the line COLLEGE pgs. You cant base how good a college player is on if theyll be great NBA players

That's a fair point.

But he's still not close to being as good as all of those players were in college either. Every one of those guys were nuch better their last year of college, than Adems was last year. We'll find out how much better he is next year, but we don't yet know.

 

[BlueMAB]

Nic moore wasnt a first rounder, joel berry wont go first round, russ smith didnt go first round. These are just guys i can think of right now but you get the gist

And last year he wasn't nearly as good as any of those guys either.

 

[AntG168]

And last year he wasn't nearly as good as any of those guys either.

Agreed. But he's ahead of where most of them were when they were sophmores. If he continues on the course hes going he will ne better than the majority of them

 

[jibsey]

If the outside shooting improves he's a top point guard. And he needs to do that because Gilbert will assume some of the playmaking role.

 

[GetTheFacts]

One thing I sneaky love about this message board:

Everyone always compares current players to former ones. Is it fair? Absolutely not. Love doing it anyways.

 

[BlueMAB]

One thing I sneaky love about this message board:

Everyone always compares current players to former ones. Is it fair? Absolutely not. Love doing it anyways.

I wasn't comparing their game or their style, merely how Kemba Walker, current NBA PG, didn't play PG at UConn because we were a better team with Bazz at point, and Kemba off the ball.

I think the same will be true next year. I think we'll be a more dangerous team with a true PG (AG) running the point, and a potential NBA PG (Adams), playing the 2.

That's not a comparison of the players, only how they were used.

 

[gtcam]

1) I was responding to the OP, he didn't say anything about next year.
2) I was responding to the OP. he said "PG", not "guard".

When I consider the "top" I think top 5-10. Adams is not one of the top 5-10 PGs in the country.

If his game improves as much this offseason as it did last offseason, I expect him to be one of the top 10-15 guards in the country. But he won't be doing it playing as much PG as he does the 2, because Gilbert will be our main point guard.

Semantics BS aside
JA was definitely one of the top 10 guards in the USA this past season and would venture he will be in the top 5 after next

 

[Palatine]

JA is a very good player, to be elite he must do three things.

1. Improve his left hand.
2. Improve his three point shot.
3. Learn to draw fouls when he takes the ball to the rim.

Do this and he can be a pro.

 

[pj]

Adams has a long way to go, and I am not saying he won't get there. Right now he is on the NBA watch list, not a player that would be drafted. He certainly has a lot of talent, and this will be a big year for him. What is most disappointing, in the 5 biggest conference games (3 vs Cinn, 2 vs SMU), he shot 14-49 28.6%, and from 3pt range 1-13 7.7%. He definitely has to show he can get it done in the biggest games. That being said, he scored 34 vs Okla St., but the caveat in that game he had 10 turnovers. He certainly has displayed a strong skill set, and if he can tighten up his game over the summer, get stronger, and become a knockdown shooter, his stock will rise quickly. I expect that he will likely step up his game considerably, how much? We have to wait and see.

Getting physically stronger and better conditioned will help him against the strong defensive teams, as will having better teammates around him. I agree he needs to improve shooting and cut down turnovers. He'll get there.

 

[TyroneShoo]

well..he is definitely a talented player.
"top ten" is certainly a designation that is yours. Its personal to you. BUT You might be the only one that feels that way

 

[Robertelamin]

El-Amin was a second round pick and Shabazz was probably only a late first rounder because LeBron talked him up. No one would deny they were top tier PGs at the college level.

 

[Son of Robert]

I have been saying right along that Gilbert is a pure point guard and team leader. If he had not gotten injured this year he would have played 30 minutes a game. While Jalen adjusted this year and really really became better at being the point he is not a natural. He is more of a scorer. Next year he will play the 2 when Gilbert is on the floor. Adams is a much more complete player now after having played the point all year. Ollie wants an Alpha point guard to run the team and that is Gilbert. He is a floor general. Adams will probably average 20ppg playing off the ball 80 to 90% of the game and right now he and Larrier look to be our primary scoring threats. I like Larrier's game but he is a little quick on the trigger, little bit of a gunner.

 

[Robertelamin]

I have been saying right along that Gilbert is a pure point guard and team leader. If he had not gotten injured this year he would have played 30 minutes a game. While Jalen adjusted this year and really really became better at being the point he is not a natural. He is more of a scorer. Next year he will play the 2 when Gilbert is on the floor. Adams is a much more complete player now after having played the point all year. Ollie wants an Alpha point guard to run the team and that is Gilbert. He is a floor general. Adams will probably average 20ppg playing off the ball 80 to 90% of the game and right now he and Larrier look to be our primary scoring threats. I like Larrier's game but he is a little quick on the trigger, little bit of a gunner.

They tried that last year for the first two games and it failed, though its was a small sample size. I want the ball in Jalen's hands as much as possible, at least to start the season.

 

[champs99and04]

My greatest fear is that we are going to waste him. Kid might be the best player in the country next year and I really don't want him to take the Dennis Smith or Fultze route.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

My greatest fear is that we are going to waste him. Kid might be the best player in the country next year and I really don't want him to take the Dennis Smith or Fultze route.

He has to greatly improve vs. good teams. OK State he was great but had like 10 turnovers, and he was very mediocre vs cincy and SMU, if he can do that he will be one of the best players in the country