09-26-2020, 01:43 PM
(09-26-2020, 01:24 PM)Kammrath Wrote: So hold on, let me try something:
His name is JERAMI GRANT.
NOW what do you think??
Haha. So for real, yes he is often the biggest or one of the biggest players on Colorado's team, but that happens ALL THE TIME in college. Just because he was one of the biggest players on his team doesn't mean he isn't a "wing" in the NBA. You have to evaluate the skillset and ability.
He is constantly switching the pick and roll and guarding 1-5. He moves his feet AMAZING on defense and keeps his hands up like a vet. And if you don't see him as athletic, I don't even know what to say. How he runs, jumps, changes directions and speeds.
I seriously have no idea how you watch his tape and think he isn't:
1) An NBA athlete.
2) An NBA ready defender for multiple positions.
Look, if he can do everything that Grant does, you have something. No argument. The body type is a huge plus in that scenario, and indeed, part of what I like about Grant. Grant's game is way different than this guy's, imo. Similar bodies, but not similar games.
I'm not holding his size (him being the biggest player on the floor because it's a college game) against him, I'm saying that the POSITION he's playing in that video most closely resembles the NBA center position. He's not out there chasing off ball players around screens, he's waiting in the paint. In the defensive-focused portion of the video, there's literally only one play that DOESN'T start with him standing under the basket, and that's because all 5 of the opposing players are in a weird grouping above the 3 point line. In that play, he winds up guarding the ball, gets blown by in one step, and then uses his length to swat the shot. It's a great play against a college player.
"Evaluating his skill set" is exactly what I'm trying to do, but I can only form an opinion on what I've seen, and that video is all I've seen. I don't see anything in that video that makes me think he's a wing. Doesn't mean he can't be, I'm just saying that video doesn't prove it to me. Going solely off of that video, which I have to, I see a small ball center in the NBA, not someone who's prepared to chase players off ball as they run around multiple ball screens, or guard great scorers 1 on 1 in space away from the basket.
And all of that is just about defense. Can this guy handle well enough to drive? Can he shoot from outside well enough for his defender not to harass Luka/KP? To use the comparison you posed, Grant can do all of that. THOSE SKILLS are why Grant's size factors in positively. If he was a center, his size wouldn't be special.