Vecenie Mailbag UConn Draft Talk (Clingan, Newton, small bit of Castle)

[Beowulf]

Interesting to see Oso Ighodaro so high...I love his game but he has no perimeter shooting ability...which is supposed to be key for the NBA. Also interesting to see no Dickinson who does have very strong perimeter shooting ability.

one is a good defender and the other is a big slow turnstile. Oso also has a kevin looney-esque passing ability out of the pick and roll.

shooting helps and is useful for opening up an offense but isnt make or break for bigs. plenty of long careers out there for dudes who don't shoot outside of the paint. just have to be realllllly good at the other stuff. dereck lively having a pretty big impact for the mavs this season.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I thought I was high on Oso until I saw Sam’s board, sheesh.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Interesting to see Oso Ighodaro so high...I love his game but he has no perimeter shooting ability...which is supposed to be key for the NBA. Also interesting to see no Dickinson who does have very strong perimeter shooting ability.

He can learn to shoot later. Bigs that can't shoot from outside can still get points off the pick and roll in the NBA. Bam Adebayo can't shoot. Oso can get out and guard smaller guys on the perimeter, like Al Horford does and provide rim protection. That's hugely valuable in the modern NBA. He probably needs to add strength but you can project that.

I'm still doubtful that Donovan goes in the first half of the 1st round. Too many question marks. Alex could carve out a bench role, but he'd also do really well in Europe. Same with Tristen probably. Tristen looks like he plays slow, but I think it's just his strange calmness at all times.

 

[That Guy]

I love AK but he cant guard anyone. He`d get eaten alive in the NBA at this point. Hes simply not athletic enough to deal with athleticsm. Its no coincidence so far this season the guys hes guarding in games have good nights against us. WARNING FOLLOWING COMMENT MAY TRIGGER SOME! AK needs to just stay in college, become one of the most celebrated huskies of all time, graduate then go have a nice career in Europe.

They play defense in the NBA these days? News to me...

 

[jibsey]

Love all the UCONN players but Newton is right at the top doing it all, and without him we’d be in trouble.

 

[aceboon]

Interesting to see Oso Ighodaro so high...I love his game but he has no perimeter shooting ability...which is supposed to be key for the NBA. Also interesting to see no Dickinson who does have very strong perimeter shooting ability.

despite what many boneyarders parrot on here it's not the be all/end all to being a successful big in the current NBA, Bam Adebayo is a playmaking/defensive big who get his points close to the basket and out to 15ft on dunks, face-up/turnaround jumpers and push shots. Oso has the push shots and floaters down, I nice face-up jumper would also serve him well.

 

[HooperScooper]

They play defense in the NBA these days? News to me...

People who say that haven’t watched the NBA in 20 years.

 

[HuskyHawk]

People who say that haven’t watched the NBA in 20 years.

Once they got rid of the illegal defense rule, things changed. It doesn't always look like great defense, because it's such great offense. The passing and shot-making really stress the defenses.

 

[NJHusky]

get his points close to the basket and out to 15ft on dunks, face-up/turnaround jumpers and push shots.

I thought you weren't allowed to take those shots in the modern analytics era...it had to be a 3 or dunk?

 

[navery12]

I thought you weren't allowed to take those shots in the modern analytics era...it had to be a 3 or dunk?

No, it's 3's or in the paint, and that's where the majority of Bam's shots come from

 

[ctchamps]

8 minutes or so on UConn guys. 24:08 start

Love his wall of sneakers. Can't argue with the commentary of UConn players. Hope a successful season and good play on our players part moves them up the board.

 

[NJHusky]

No, it's 3's or in the paint, and that's where the majority of Bam's shots come from

View attachment 94007

Good to know. I thought u weren’t supposed to shoot from the of the box

 

[NJHusky]

No, it's 3's or in the paint, and that's where the majority of Bam's shots come from

Good to know. I thought u weren’t supposed to shoot from the top of the box

 

[cohenzone]

Just crazy Newton isn’t higher. We seem to win a lot since he joined the team. What can’t he do?

Cuz the NBA looks for other things besides a player making his team a winner and doing a lot of things well. GMs aren’t always shrewd. In Newton’s case, it’s maybe he would never be a star or starter, but a guy like him seems to me isn’t a bad bet with a second round pick. We shall see.

 

[Huskyforlife]

If analytic departments love Newton, he’ll be drafted in the second round. That’s a great thing to hear from someone who’s plugged in like Sam.

 

[BoukofJames]

They play defense in the NBA these days? News to me...

Post / handle

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Erased my original; see directly above.

 

[TheChamps990411]

They play defense in the NBA these days? News to me...

How original.

 

[Husky68]

Sometimes I'm amazed at how off I am on seeing NBA talent in college kids. That Dickerson from Kansas is not a top 100 potential pick in NBA is just crazy to me, not saying is wrong, just that I don't get it.
I see some Dick Barnett in Tristen Newton (although Dick was left handed), cagy winner or maybe even a poor man's Earl Monroe.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I disagree with this. Yeah he does get out muscled on the ball at times and sometimes gets beat off the dribble but he seems to be able to make adjustments like he did with Hopkins last year. In the 2nd game last year he made sure to contain Hopkins. I think he is athletic enough to play as a shooter off the bench. He has decent ups too. Maybe not a starter in the NBA but a key guy off the bench.

We can agree to disagree.

 

[Hoophound]

Newton has shown some explosiveness lately. Nothing crazy but still notable. The most obvious one was the putback dunk against Pine Bluff. I’d never seen him do anything like that before. The other is his speed in the open court. I’ve been mentioning his fast break and outlet passing lately, it’s phenomenal. He’s also shown an ability to get up the court and to the rim with the ball at warp speed a few times. I think he may be deceptively quick.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I'm not sure he's really on NBA radars now, either. He and Tristen are both guys with ridiculous college skillsets that I'm not sure will translate to the league.

Cam is on nba radar. Anyone who shoots 43% from 3 gets a hard look.

No idea if drafted. But he will get a two way because shooting is a premium skill. Look no further than what Celtics did with Sam Hauser.

 

[husky429]

Cam is on nba radar. Anyone who shoots 43% from 3 gets a hard look.

No idea if drafted. But he will get a two way because shooting is a premium skill. Look no further than what Celtics did with Sam Hauser.

I understand what you're saying, but there's a huge difference between Cam and Hauser defensively. Yeah, he'll get a look, fair enough. But it's going to be a huge uphill battle for Cam to see rotation NBA minutes. Let's be realistic here--the chance of it happening is exceptionally small.

If anyone's going to make it happen, it will be Spencer. Sometimes your body is just a limiting factor though.