Who Do You Like at #19?

[twinbree]

the 7 footer Alabi from FSU really isn't raw. He is a good shooter from 15, and is a 90% plus from the FT line. Good shot blocker and a really solid man to man defender. I like him more than Whiteside (who is really raw, good shot blocker but that's it)


I hope we land Bradley or Dominique Jones, both of them are studs...especially Bradley

I know next to nothing about the draft so I don't have any preferences but I've warmed up to Alabi already. 90% FT shooting from a 7 footer is enough to make me an fangurl.

[FallGuy]

the 7 footer Alabi from FSU really isn't raw. He is a good shooter from 15, and is a 90% plus from the FT line. Good shot blocker and a really solid man to man defender. I like him more than Whiteside (who is really raw, good shot blocker but that's it)


I hope we land Bradley or Dominique Jones, both of them are studs...especially Bradley

I know next to nothing about the draft so I don't have any preferences but I've warmed up to Alabi already. 90% FT shooting from a 7 footer is enough to make me an fangurl.

With you on the ignorance thing. I find college basketball unwatchable most of the time so mostly I'm just gonna enjoy an evening of irrational hyperbole. One of my favorite nights of the year.

[nickagneta]

Damion James and Poindexter.

James Anderson is a long way from the kind of defender we're going to need to contribute next year. I'll take a pass on anyone from a Travis Ford system.

Neither Pondexter or James can shoot and scoring droughts are also one of the reasons why we didn't win the finals.

Actually this was their rap as juniors but if you watched them this year you would have seen great improvement in both their results and form, especially from Pondexter.

James was a career 36% three point shooter in college with close to 300 taken. For a guy that played PF in college that's pretty darn good. He shot 38% from three this year and 50% from the field while taking over 3 shots per game from beyond the stripe and 12 shots total per game. While his shot isn't perfect, with the development and work he has shown in it over the past three years I would expect him to be a decent to good mid range shooter and okay from deep. Think Gerlad Wallace. In a few years he will be a monster defender with a good offensive game and be deadly on a team that is fast break oriented.

Pondexter might have been the most improved player in the nation last year. Over the lasty three years he has made huge strides in all phases of his shooting going from being a bad free throw shooter to a very good one(68% to 83%). He has also increase his field goal percentage as well as extended his range tremendously over the last three years as well(FG% of 45% to 53%, 3PT% of 28% to 35%). He did some off season work on his shooting form last year and it paid off with huge dividends.

Chad Ford loves saying these guys can't shoot but they both had very good shooting senior years and both have the athleticism and skills to be able to create their own shot as well as finish and run the floor. They are two of the supreme athletes that have some developed skill and maturity in this draft. People rave about Lukle Babbitt but take a look at Babbitt's stats in an extremely weak conference versus that of Pondexter's in a very tough Pac-10:

            G   MPG   PPG   RPG   APG   SPG   BPG   FG%   3P%   FT%   TO
Pondexter  36  32.3   19.3  7.4   1.8   1.3   0.6   52.8  35.3  82.7  1.9
Babbitt    34  37.1   21.9  8.9   2.1   1.0   0.8   50.0  41.6  91.7  2.4

Babbitt played more 5 minutes more per game in a vastly weaker conference and played no where near the quality of defense that Pondexter. Babbitt surprisingly measured out well in the athletic end of the combines. Pondexter is a known athletic freak that didn't get measured at the combines(speculation being he has a first round guarantee from someone).

I just don't agree with the "they can't shoot" label and having seen both on more than 10-15 times over the last couple years, I have seen great progress on this end.

[Levis107]

Damion James and Poindexter.

James Anderson is a long way from the kind of defender we're going to need to contribute next year. I'll take a pass on anyone from a Travis Ford system.

Neither Pondexter or James can shoot and scoring droughts are also one of the reasons why we didn't win the finals.

Actually this was their rap as juniors but if you watched them this year you would have seen great improvement in both their results and form, especially from Pondexter.

James was a career 36% three point shooter in college with close to 300 taken. For a guy that played PF in college that's pretty darn good. He shot 38% from three this year and 50% from the field while taking over 3 shots per game from beyond the stripe and 12 shots total per game. While his shot isn't perfect, with the development and work he has shown in it over the past three years I would expect him to be a decent to good mid range shooter and okay from deep. Think Gerlad Wallace. In a few years he will be a monster defender with a good offensive game and be deadly on a team that is fast break oriented.

Pondexter might have been the most improved player in the nation last year. Over the lasty three years he has made huge strides in all phases of his shooting going from being a bad free throw shooter to a very good one(68% to 83%). He has also increase his field goal percentage as well as extended his range tremendously over the last three years as well(FG% of 45% to 53%, 3PT% of 28% to 35%). He did some off season work on his shooting form last year and it paid off with huge dividends.

Chad Ford loves saying these guys can't shoot but they both had very good shooting senior years and both have the athleticism and skills to be able to create their own shot as well as finish and run the floor. They are two of the supreme athletes that have some developed skill and maturity in this draft. People rave about Lukle Babbitt but take a look at Babbitt's stats in an extremely weak conference versus that of Pondexter's in a very tough Pac-10:

            G   MPG   PPG   RPG   APG   SPG   BPG   FG%   3P%   FT%   TO
Pondexter  36  32.3   19.3  7.4   1.8   1.3   0.6   52.8  35.3  82.7  1.9
Babbitt    34  37.1   21.9  8.9   2.1   1.0   0.8   50.0  41.6  91.7  2.4

Babbitt played more 5 minutes more per game in a vastly weaker conference and played no where near the quality of defense that Pondexter. Babbitt surprisingly measured out well in the athletic end of the combines. Pondexter is a known athletic freak that didn't get measured at the combines(speculation being he has a first round guarantee from someone).

I just don't agree with the "they can't shoot" label and having seen both on more than 10-15 times over the last couple years, I have seen great progress on this end.

I agree with Nick.  But also, Pondexter is a creative offensive player, not just a shooter, and what I was most impressed with was the way he performed in isolation and being able to create offense.  That's the kind of guy the Celtics are missing right now

[gPowell]

Nothing would make me happier on Thursday night than to hear, "with the 19th pick in the 2010 NBA the Boston Celtics select James Anderson from Oklahoma State"

This kid can shoot! He's a much more athletic Mike Miller (whom everyone seems to want). He's about the on;y guy who could drop too us that can effectively play 2-3. He's a nice bench player for BOTH PP and Ray.

[xmuscularghandix]

Nothing would make me happier on Thursday night than to hear, "with the 19th pick in the 2010 NBA the Boston Celtics select James Anderson from Oklahoma State"

This kid can shoot! He's a much more athletic Mike Miller (whom everyone seems to want). He's about the on;y guy who could drop too us that can effectively play 2-3. He's a nice bench player for BOTH PP and Ray.

I’d like this kid as well. And if we get him I really hope that McHale will give him minutes.

[Tr1boy]

Hassan Whiteside

[SCBirdman]

Unless someone slips, my list includes these guys:

James Anderson
Patrick Patterson
Hassan Whiteside
Solomon Alabi
Damien James
Jordan Crawford
Daniel Orton
Dominique Jones.

[boscel33]

I like Whiteside and Albabi (sp?).  I'm really hoping that they can get another first.  There is a lot of rumors aout teams wanting to sell their picks. 

[Rondo2Giddens]

What do you guys think about Kevin Seraphin, the french big guy?

[nickagneta]

I don't get the people ho love Daniel Orton. I watch a ton of college ball and never saw him play last year or if I did he was so unremarkable as to be unmemorable. He's big and the draft gurus are saying stuff about him but that's all I know and I have to guess, that's all anyone here at CB knows unless they know the kid or is some kind of Kentucky basketball nut.

But I have seen people for weeks professing to want this kid that averaged 3 PPG and 3 RPG. He only twice scored more than 10 points and never had more than 9 rebounds in a game while only having over 5 rebounds in a game 4 times(6 once, 7 twice and 9 once).

Also, he apparently has a bad knee. I don't get the love of this guy. Me, I just don't have an opinion on him one way or the other, but I would never use a first round pick on a guy that could not even get minutes on his college team to show what he has.

[MBz]

I don't get the people ho love Daniel Orton. I watch a ton of college ball and never saw him play last year or if I did he was so unremarkable as to be unmemorable. He's big and the draft gurus are saying stuff about him but that's all I know and I have to guess, that's all anyone here at CB knows unless they know the kid or is some kind of Kentucky basketball nut.

But I have seen people for weeks professing to want this kid that averaged 3 PPG and 3 RPG. He only twice scored more than 10 points and never had more than 9 rebounds in a game while only having over 5 rebounds in a game 4 times(6 once, 7 twice and 9 once).

Also, he apparently has a bad knee. I don't get the love of this guy. Me, I just don't have an opinion on him one way or the other, but I would never use a first round pick on a guy that could not even get minutes on his college team to show what he has.

I agree 100%.  Also, everyone on this board wasn't patient enough with Billy Walker.  How are we going to be patient with this guy?  Walker was beyond Orton in terms of NBA readiness.  We need an NBA ready guy at 19.  A guy who can come in and contribute.  That is not Orton.

[Evantime34]

My board:
Xavier Henry
Avery Bradley
Hasaan Whiteside
Larry Sanders
Alabi
Kevin Seraphin
Jordan Crawford

Whoever is available from this list would be a good pick.

[Chris]

the 7 footer Alabi from FSU really isn't raw. He is a good shooter from 15, and is a 90% plus from the FT line. Good shot blocker and a really solid man to man defender. I like him more than Whiteside (who is really raw, good shot blocker but that's it)


I hope we land Bradley or Dominique Jones, both of them are studs...especially Bradley

I know next to nothing about the draft so I don't have any preferences but I've warmed up to Alabi already. 90% FT shooting from a 7 footer is enough to make me an fangurl.

Honestly, my biggest worry about Alabi is that everyone seems to be talking themselves into him.  That is the sign of a bust.

I mean, lets think about it.  The guys who like him describe him as an athletic, dominant interior defender, who is 7'1" and very long, who has a good mid range shot, and is great from the line. 

When you hear that description, where do you think they would go in the draft?  Top 5?  Top 2?

But no, he is being projected in the 20's...and he has risen to get there.

This is not like Roy Hibbert who was talked about as a top 5 pick, returned to school, and dropped after not dominating.  This is a guy who was projected as a second round pick by most people until a month or two ago. 

So if he really can do all those things, why is he projected so low?  Its not like he was playing for a small conference, and people couldn't see him.  And he is not some young guy, who got lost in the shuffle on a loaded team.  He was in the ACC, and played major minutes. 

You know what that tells me?  He is just not that good.  People are falling in love with his size, and his ability to hit a wide open shot, and ignoring the fact that he is just not a very good basketball player. 

[Cman]

Larry Sanders
Stanley Robinson
Quincy Pondexter
Damion James

(no particular order)