2014 Draft Discussion

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

how can people still put wiggins #1? the kids shown nothing other than being a project!

For as good as Jabari is offensively, Wiggins is that good defensively. And Wiggins is better offensively than Jabari is defensively at the moment. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but I think Wiggins made a small tweak to his form on his shot, and it's looked pretty good recently (strictly when spotting up, because his mechanics aren't very consistent when he tries to pull-up). But in the very least, you're getting a guy that will likely be an All-NBA Defense kinda guy along with being a solid spot up shooter and a good finisher inside. He needs to get lower when he's handling the ball (he's very straight-up when he's handling the ball) and get more consistent with his pull-up, but I'm confident he'll end up being an efficient 17-18 points per game kinda guy with the potential for more while playing defense at an All-NBA level. I think he and Embiid are the two best prospects in the class at the moment.

Smart is also a very good defender though, but I don't know what position he'll play in the NBA.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

I don't know if I'd go that far in praising Wiggins' defense.

[turty11]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

yeah ive watched 4 kansas games and well.. wiggins has done nothing that impressed me like these other guys....if he was as good a defender as you are saying his coach would allow him to defend the jabari parkers and what not

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

I don't know if I'd go that far in praising Wiggins' defense.

I'm not saying he's already an elite NBA defender, but I think it's pretty easy to see that he has that kind of potential. And I do think he's as good defensively at the moment as Jabari is offensively at the moment. I'm guessing that's where you disagree?

[redsrule]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

yeah ive watched 4 kansas games and well.. wiggins has done nothing that impressed me like these other guys....if he was as good a defender as you are saying his coach would allow him to defend the jabari parkers and what not

He guarded Parker late in their game and that was the reason Kansas won. Also you said Dawson and Poythress are good defenders, Dawson got lit up by Randle when he guarded him. Poythress is an average defender, he gets beat in the post when he plays the 4 and guys get around him into the paint when he plays the 3.

Parker played the 4 for most of the game, and Perry Ellis was on him while Wiggins shut down Rodney Hood (another lottery pick).

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

yeah ive watched 4 kansas games and well.. wiggins has done nothing that impressed me like these other guys....if he was as good a defender as you are saying his coach would allow him to defend the jabari parkers and what not

He did defend Jabari in the 2nd half and Jabari struggled big time to get a decent look when Wiggins was on him. I believe Chad Ford said he shot something like 2/8 when Wiggins was on him, but I'd have to find the game online somewhere to rewatch it to see if those are the exact numbers. But it was pretty obvious that Jabari was bothered by him.

Self was quoted after the game saying that it was a mistake that he didn't have Wiggins on Jabari the whole time, but that he was concerned about foul trouble. But yeah, Wiggins pretty much sealed that game with his defense on Jabari and then the transition buckets and a stepback.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

I don't know if I'd go that far in praising Wiggins' defense.

I agree, he's been solid but no reason to act like he's going to be a superstar defender.. I've saw him look rough plenty of times defensively, even posted in here after watching him get beat 3 or 4 straight trips down.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

I'm not saying he's already an elite NBA defender, but I think it's pretty easy to see that he has that kind of potential. And I do think he's as good defensively at the moment as Jabari is offensively at the moment. I'm guessing that's where you disagree?

This is where I disagree. Parker has the tools to arguably be the best offensive player in the nation. Wiggins isn't on the level defensively.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

This is where I disagree. Parker has the tools to arguably be the best offensive player in the nation. Wiggins isn't on the level defensively.

Best offensive player in the nation as in for a college player right?

That's fair enough. We can agree to disagree.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

Best offensive player in the nation as in for a college player right?

That's fair enough. We can agree to disagree.

Definitely college lol not NBA.

And I don't mean best pure scorer, I just mean as far as the total package. Off the dribble, spot up, post up, pull up, etc.. Just really complete I feel like.

[jeebs9]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

Best offensive player in the nation as in for a college player right?

That's fair enough. We can agree to disagree.

I don't know if there is anything to disagree about here., Parker has the best offensive game in college basketball. I can't think of anything he can't on the offensive end.

I'm not sold on the idea that parker is a bad defender yet. He's been playing out of position. I'd like to see him guard his natural position of SF.

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[ojandpizza]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

And I also don't mean to say that Wiggins can't or won't become an elite NBA defender.

I just think at this point Parker's offensive ability outweighs Wiggins defense. And this is purely based on what I've seen. I may not have watched enough games or the right games to make fair judgement anyways.

[RedSceptile]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

That's fine and dandy and all but there's no reason to believe that Wiggins can't make that leap to a phenomenal two way player. It's not as if it's unheard of a guy being a good defender then becoming a good offensive player.

I'd like to point out that you guys are all making these claims yet you all seem to overlook a couple of key things.

1)It's December
2) Most of these highly touted guys are freshmen in other words they have room to make leaps and bounds at such a young age.
3) They all have different roles on their respective teams.

[turty11]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

both parker and wiggins have the potential to be phenomenal 2-way players...

parker has a more complete offensive game already where wiggins has alot more development to do and you cant really judge eithers defense (parker isnt playing his offensive position and self wont let wiggins guard big time players who can possibly get him fouls) which is why i cant fathom anyone having wiggins #1 on their big board. marcus smart is a more complete player than wiggins and possibly a better 2-way than parker is but hes not a 6'7 6'8 freak of nature athlete so his stock isnt as high

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: 2014 Draft Class

I don't know if there is anything to disagree about here., Parker has the best offensive game in college basketball. I can't think of anything he can't on the offensive end.

I'm not sold on the idea that parker is a bad defender yet. He's been playing out of position. I'd like to see him guard his natural position of SF.

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The part that I'm agreeing to disagree with is that I think Wiggins has the tools to be an elite defender and that he's already one of the best defenders in the country.

1. I think his natural position might end up being the PF when it's all said and done. I think it will make things easier for him at the next level. He stands a much better chance of being able to defend PFs than SFs IMO, and he'll have an easier time creating separation from PFs than he will with SFs. Jabari has a great pull-up and a great step-back, but you don't really see him go by SFs very often. He's really only successful in getting past his man when it's a slower PF trying to defend him on the perimeter. The biggest issue for him playing PF at the next level is that he has no idea how to defend the pick and roll. He usually ends up playing in no-man's land, not hedging, not helping on the ball-handler, and also not staying with his man. But I think he's a smart enough kid to pick that up. Not sure he'll ever be able to get quick enough to stay with most NBA SFs.

2. I don't know, even PFs have been able to blow by him with relative ease. It's not very hard to see that he's lacking in lateral quickness. He was defending Kyle Anderson a decent amount the other night and Anderson (who is extremely slow) was making Jabari look completely lost on the defensive end. I think there's a pretty decent chance that if he's played at SF, he'd end up being like the David Lee of SFs (can give you 20+ points per game, but will also give up just as many).

We'll see though. Long way to go in the season still, and maybe when he loses his baby fat he'll be quicker.