Mickey is a stretch 4 in the NBA right now. Expecting him to handle Okafor and Cooley is ridiculous. I want to see Taj Gibson handle Okafor. Or imagine Gibson in his rookie year try to handle Okafor. Sully or Lee will work better with Mickey
This is pure nonsense. First, if he's a "stretch 4"like you suggested then he's not really good at it, because he doesn't stretch the floor much. Next, it was 6-10 PF Aldemir, who had 14 rebounds in 28 minutes, and 6-9 PF Cooley, who had 13 rebounds in 16 minutes, that did major damage on the glass vs Mickey. Neither is thought to be much more than a fringe NBA player at best. So please don't make it sound as though poor little Mickey has been going up against Shaq and Yao. For comparison, in 53 total minutes Mickey has a total of 6 rebounds.
Shots not falling is one thing and that you can dismiss to nerves, uncertainty, familiarity, etc. However, Mickey's lack of strength, complete inability to rebound in traffic, lack of multiple efforts on the glass (that motor that was questioned in college), unable to defend the post unless he's fronting, and softness are major concerns. I don't even see the athletic prowess you described. He's a good athlete, not a great one.
Aldemir has been playing pro ball for how many years vs Mickey?
Dude your hate is getting a little ridiculous
He's 23 and has a total 41 NBA games under his belt. Yeah, that's it. It's probably his experience that caused him to destroy Mickey on the glass.
Dude your blindness is getting a little ridiculous
Plus 3 years of Euro League before joining the NBA. Add up the age and experience and that's a vastly more developed player.
I have no idea if Mickey is going to amount to anything. Odds are he won't. Most 2nd round picks don't. But to grade him on one game when he's playing out of position, has no help on the front line and is going against a 23 year old 6-10 guy with 4 years of professional experience and a 7 footer who was drafted #3 overall....well, that's the essence of an overreaction.
You forgot to mention his performance vs the formidable frontline of the Jazz that had twin towers Jack Cooley and our long lost JaJuan Johnson. I guess their experience is what swallowed up Mickey on the glass too.
Yeah, 16 points and 3 blocked shots. So horrible. So he has to improve his rebounding. Big deal. Did you have him penciled in as a Day 1 starter or something?
Oh no, not me. You have the wrong guy. However, there is another guy lurking around here that had him getting major minutes as part of the rotation.
The points in the first game was a nice surprise. However, we didn't we get Mickey for his scoring, we supposedly drafted him for his ability around the basket on the defense end. However, it seems like the "rim protector" needs to be protected because he can't control the glass. Rebounding is something that translates to the next level and why scouting reports questioned him in that facet of the game.
DX-
Mickey is an average offensive rebounder, using his quickness to rebound outside his area, pulling down 3.4 per 40 minutes pace adjusted, which ranked 14th among 22 power forwards in the DX Top-100. He's also just a decent defensive rebounder, grabbing 7.1 defensive rebounds per 40 minutes adjusted, which is unremarkable.
Which is why he was a 2nd round draft choice.
I just don't see the reason why anyone is spending any energy complaining about him. He's playing out of position and has absolutely no help on the front line in the summer league games. He's a second round draft choice and those guys are a crapshoot with a pretty small chance of ever hitting on one that becomes worth anything. So if he pans out eventually, great. That's a massive bonus. If he doesn't, well that's the expected result.
That's not it. You had a certain poster here that was clamoring about his vast abilities. Suggesting that he was a 1st rd talent and comparing him favorably to the likes of Cauley-Stein, Turner, Portis, etc. Had those repeated statements not occurred I would chalk Mickey up as just a 2nd rd prospect who needs about 2 years to perhaps become a serviceable player in the NBA.
So someone (probably) vastly overstated his abilities. It tends to happen because fans *want* him to be the "next great thing". That's kind of natural and you take it with a boulder (not a grain) of salt.
Anyone who is comparing him to C-S, Turner or even Portis at this stage is pulling stuff out of their butt. There's a reason 30 GMs passed on him during the first round. But then again it's still not fair to try to pass judgement of him after two games where he's been outnumbered while playing out of position. So your last sentence is spot-on. He's a 2nd round prospect who needs work and time to
possibly mature into a contributing player. Anyone who wants to claim otherwise - for good or bad - is either reaching or overreacting.
