SF/PF Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky Commit) | Page 2 | The Boneyard

SF/PF Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky Commit)

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Ok I will surprise the choir out there - I actually think Facey has a decent stroke - not perfected mind you but not mechanically beyond repair like so many guys unfortunately.
What he has not demonstrated is s passion to work his way to be that special player both in the weight room and in individual shooting workouts.
 
Any updates on this kid? I saw that he's taking a visit to Storrs in another thread. Is it an official or unofficial?
 
Among this group from Rivals, any other serious targets besides Gabriel?
 
MDHusky said:
Among this group from Rivals, any other serious targets besides Gabriel?
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Definitely Makai Ashton-Langford. Believe Taelon Martin is very young, possibly still in middle school, but supposedly very young.

Obviously, the other could develop as well and turn out very good.
 
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Thought UConn was recruiting Gabriel as a PF - per a 247 article, Gabriel says UConn is recruiting him as a SF.
 
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wenyen gabriel thinking he can play sf is like that time drummond was asked who his game resembles and he said kevin durant ha.

jokes aside he can just fill the old daniels role, forget positions. push the ball if you get boards and create. dont fall in love with the jumper. snatch boards.

isn't maryland super hard on this kid? (who knows just off 247 we cooled off) I really like his teammate the pg Makai Ashton Langford , i actually like him more than waters.
 
tcf15 said:
Thought UConn was recruiting Gabriel as a PF - per a 247 article, Gabriel says UConn is recruiting him as a SF.
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Maybe we're just trying to avoid another Cleveland Melvin/Moe Harkless situation.
 
I know he is young but i get turned off by prospects who are hell bent ( this probablyy isn't the case with gabriel, just saying though) on playing a certain position on a team, just be a good basketball player. Why shoehorn yourself into something when its not even beneficial. so many undersized sg's masquerading as point guards now adays. Not trying to beat a dead horse but its sunk many careers. (ahem scoe)
 
James said:
I know he is young but i get turned off by prospects who are hell bent ( this probablyy isn't the case with gabriel, just saying though) on playing a certain position on a team, just be a good basketball player. Why shoehorn yourself into something when its not even beneficial. so many undersized sg's masquerading as point guards now adays. Not trying to beat a dead horse but its sunk many careers. (ahem scoe)
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Because they are trying to get to the NBA. A guy like Roscoe wasn't going to make to the NBA as a pure PF, which is why he thought transferring was his best option to get game action as a SF. Just didn't work out for him.

IMO looking at Gabriel, his frame doesn't lend itself to the idea that he will get any bigger than 215-220 lbs. A 6'10"(or whatever Gabriel's real height is) 220 lbs SF is a good size for a SF. For a PF? Not so much.
 
Dynasty said:
Because they are trying to get to the NBA. A guy like Roscoe wasn't going to make to the NBA as a pure PF, which is why he thought transferring was his best option to get game action as a SF. Just didn't work out for him.

IMO looking at Gabriel, his frame doesn't lend itself to the idea that he will get any bigger than 215-220 lbs. A 6'10"(or whatever Gabriel's real height is) 220 lbs SF is a good size for a SF. For a PF? Not so much.
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But that's the thing, stop worrying about the position and just develop the skill set and you'll be fine. You can develop a handle, work on you jumper, and be a good passer while playing the PF, Roscoe didn't. Look at someone like Draymond Green, he's long enough and strong enough to defend 4s while being a bit undersized height wise, and then on the opposite end he can be a matchup problem because he can pass, shoot, and dribble. Guys just gotta work on their skill set and work on being versatile, that will help them at the next level more than anything.
 
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aceboon said:
But that's the thing, stop worrying about the position and just develop the skill set and you'll be fine. You can develop a handle, work on you jumper, and be a good passer while playing the PF, Roscoe didn't. Look at someone like Draymond Green, he's long enough and strong enough to defend 4s while being a bit undersized height wise, and then on the opposite end he can be a matchup problem because he can pass, shoot, and dribble. Guys just gotta work on their skill set and work on being versatile, that will help them at the next level more than anything.
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Bingo ace. Just try to be the best overall "basketball player" you can be. Draymond Green is a basketball player and a guy who committed himself to being someone everyone needs on their roster. He succeeded because he does everything well, not great just really well - great story. Love the way he plays.
 
aceboon said:
But that's the thing, stop worrying about the position and just develop the skill set and you'll be fine. You can develop a handle, work on you jumper, and be a good passer while playing the PF, Roscoe didn't. Look at someone like Draymond Green, he's long enough and strong enough to defend 4s while being a bit undersized height wise, and then on the opposite end he can be a matchup problem because he can pass, shoot, and dribble. Guys just gotta work on their skill set and work on being versatile, that will help them at the next level more than anything.
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I agree with your general points, but Draymond Green is the exception not the rule. Before he even arrived at Michigan State, Green was already known as a versatile player. With his frame, that was something he had to be in order to play in the front court.

Look at a guy like DeAndre Daniels. We all love him here because he played PF for two years without complaint, right? He gets drafted early in the second round in a relatively deep draft and then gets sent to Australia. Why? Because the Raptors wanted him to work on his wing skills. (article)

Sure we would love to have players that will do anything for the team, but they also have to do the right things for themselves too. In order to be a SF, he will have to see time at SF. Which is why I have no problem with Wenyen Gabriel wanting to be recruiting as a SF.
 
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DD was scouted wrong, he was never athletically 'there' to be a pure wing (say an ariza), however the skills that he developed as a stretch 4 has translated to him being on the raptors roster. Sure they may be developing his wing skills , but thats only to add potency to his overall skillset while playing stretch 4 ( his true position in the nba, i dont care what the raptors say). dd wasn't in storrs being the ball handler in pick n roll situations, that would have been utterly useless due to how long those specific skills take to develop.

He got his bread n butter; the importance of screen setting, catch n shoot, post game. its a myopic view to come into college as a prospect and want to cater your game to a certain position ( thats prettyy antiquated, 6'10 dudes are playing the 4 now)
 
tcf15 said:
I should note that there was no indication of what Gabriel prefers - just that UConn was recruiting him as a SF.
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if thats true thats surprising. I would envision that uconn was recruiting him as a 6'10 dude who does everything on the floor. not a guy coming off screens etc
 
Dynasty said:
I agree with your general points, but Draymond Green is the exception not the rule. Before he even arrived at Michigan State, Green was already known as a versatile player. With his frame, that was something he had to be in order to play in the front court.

Look at a guy like DeAndre Daniels. We all love him here because he played PF for two years without complaint, right? He gets drafted early in the second round in a relatively deep draft and then gets sent to Australia. Why? Because the Raptors wanted him to work on his wing skills. (article)

Sure we would love to have players that will do anything for the team, but they also have to do the right things for themselves too. In order to be a SF, he will have to see time at SF. Which is why I have no problem with Wenyen Gabriel wanting to be recruiting as a SF.
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I think that's DeAndre's issue, not where KO played him(which he did have issue with according to his AAU coach). DD made alot of strides in his game, his 3 point shot improved every year until he was over 40% and he got much better with his post game until the point where I thought he was much more developed operating with his back to the basket and/or pivoting to faceup than alot of other prototypical college wings, but he was still subpar with his handle and he didn't develop his body enough. If he had got up to about 220-225lbs, with his size and length teams could have used him as a 4. If he had also developed a handle, that would have have helped in his ability to play the 3 and also create a mismatch problem with slower 4s who have trouble defending in space. Playing the 4 in college shouldn't have stopped him from developing both his body and his handle, really putting on weight should've been priority #1 because he's still too thin even as a 3. I know guys have issues putting on weight, but for DD to leave college weighing 196lbs when he weighed 193lbs in 2010 leads me to believe something was up with his weight training.
 
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aceboon said:
I think that's DeAndre's issue, not where KO played him(which he did have issue with according to his AAU coach). DD made alot of strides in his game, his 3 point shot improved every year until he was over 40% and he got much better with his post game until the point where I thought he was much more developed operating with his back to the basket and/or pivoting to faceup than alot of other prototypical college wings, but he was still subpar with his handle and he didn't develop his body enough. If he had got up to about 220-225lbs, with his size and length teams could have used him as a 4. If he had also developed a handle, that would have have helped in his ability to play the 3 and also create a mismatch problem with slower 4s who have trouble defending in space. Playing the 4 in college shouldn't have stopped him from developing both his body and his handle, really putting on weight should've been priority #1 because he's still too thin even as a 3. I know guys have issues putting on weight, but for DD to leave college weighing 196lbs when he weighed 193lbs in 2010 leads me to believe something was up with his weight training.
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Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but it seems you think that it is DD's fault that he wasn't prepared to be a 4. A position that he wasn't recruited to play at. At least not primarily.

Looking at a guy like DD, I'm not sure how you could think he could get to 220-225 lbs. As you acknowledged, guys have issues putting on weight. Even if there was something was really wrong with his weight training regime, DD doesn't have the frame of a guy who can go from 193 to 225 in 3 years during college unless he starts using "stuff".

Yes, DD's handles were/is subpar. But don't you think that if he played the 3 instead of the 4 that he could have achieved more progress? He would have had more opportunities to put the ball on the deck and do something with it in realtime game action. DD's dribble wasn't getting challenged by being guarded by more traditional 4s as much as it would have being guarded by 3s since he had the speed advantage over those kinds of 4s.

DD played the 4 valiantly out of necessity. Initially because of the roster situation and then simply because it was Ollie's best lineup and he did pretty well. Kudos to him for not transferring or anything like that, but if he is going to make the NBA it has to be at the 3, a position he didn't really get prepared while he was here.

Looping back what got this discussion started, I have no problem with guys declaring their desire to play a specific position(though I guess that doesn't apply to Gabriel at this moment). Guys like Draymond Green aren't common. Sure, they could improve through practice and scrimmage but that doesn't compare to realtime game action against different oppenents and styles of play.
 
Love how Gabriel is a selfish player because KO is recruiting him for a different position than what he is listed for on recruiting sites.

The Boneyard, where logic goes to die.
 
Dynasty said:
Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but it seems you think that it is DD's fault that he wasn't prepared to be a 4. A position that he wasn't recruited to play at. At least not primarily.

Looking at a guy like DD, I'm not sure how you could think he could get to 220-225 lbs. As you acknowledged, guys have issues putting on weight. Even if there was something was really wrong with his weight training regime, DD doesn't have the frame of a guy who can go from 193 to 225 in 3 years during college unless he starts using "stuff".

Yes, DD's handles were/is subpar. But don't you think that if he played the 3 instead of the 4 that he could have achieved more progress? He would have had more opportunities to put the ball on the deck and do something with it in realtime game action. DD's dribble wasn't getting challenged by being guarded by more traditional 4s as much as it would have being guarded by 3s since he had the speed advantage over those kinds of 4s.

DD played the 4 valiantly out of necessity. Initially because of the roster situation and then simply because it was Ollie's best lineup and he did pretty well. Kudos to him for not transferring or anything like that, but if he is going to make the NBA it has to be at the 3, a position he didn't really get prepared while he was here.

Looping back what got this discussion started, I have no problem with guys declaring their desire to play a specific position(though I guess that doesn't apply to Gabriel at this moment). Guys like Draymond Green aren't common. Sure, they could improve through practice and scrimmage but that doesn't compare to realtime game action against different oppenents and styles of play.
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Throw the positions aside for a minute, I'm saying DD didn't develop enough as a player and physically for the next level, and what positions he played didn't factor into that. KO used DD all over the floor extended out to the 3 point line, so I don't really see what playing the 4 should have to do with his lack of a developed handle, its not like we stuck him near the basket or had him only shoot foul line jumpers like Jeff Adrien. As for the weight, DD weighed 193lbs in 2010 at Nike camp, he weighed 196lbs in 2014 at the combine as a 22 year old. A 3lb weight gain for a 6'9 guy is a kinda ridiculous to me. DD had a skinny frame but so did Lamb and Scoe and when you see their bodies now compared to what they looked like as freshmen it is night and day. DD has shown no development at all there.
 
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