a few things on Harchers post;
ive seen NBA scouts saying Vonleh shows 'great anticipation' on D and he does get some high quality blocks, one of my favorite games was in the upset over #3 Wisconsin, Noah started the game with 2 three pointers in the opening minutes and in the second half he blocked Kaminsky twice and Sam Dekker on a dunk. for all the BBIQ issues you see defensively, you still have his post defense in his strengths so i dont really have much to disagree about.
his discipline is not what you'd like to see but at 18, but its very fixable, i think this was exacerbated a bit by a few things at IU but no doubt their were plenty of lapses, vs 6'11" 255lb SR center Garrick Sherman of Notre Dame he got pushed around for most of the game, he was outmatched in toughness but i liked the way he ended up trying to use his length and quickness advantage.
i really question Crean's ability as a "game" coach after seeing last season, I was often left asking my tv 'is he trying to win the game?', if noah struggled or picked up quick fouls there was very little adjustment, Crean often sent him back in to do the same exact thing.
any defense vs Indiana is going to pay alot of attention to Noah, this was very obvious watching them (he was the one drawing double teams) for that reason alone Crean needed to find better ways ways to keep him on the court.
Once Noah got his 3rd foul, he should have been moved a bit further from the basket, with Hanner Mosquera-Parea at C, instead like idiots IU chose to live and die with his foul troubles, whether it looked like he needed help or not. Im not trying to absolve him of blame, or let him off the hook at all, but i think its worth mentioning the lack of adjustments, there were a few things painfully obvious about IU last year, Crean was directly to blame for alot of them.
the bit on 'he doesnt need the BBIQ of a PG' is great and very true, in the NBA you can have a ****load of BBIQ on defense, but with the footspeed of Al Jefferson your still going to get burned in P+R everytime, Noah has the footspeed, and hes very intelligent off-the court so i hope once basketball is his full time profession some of that translates. I dont think his instincts are bad
here is where i differ from the DX vids though, and ive said this throughout
im not sold that hes always going to be this 'under the rim' player, with that type of vertical at 18 and his body type, if the Jazz were to send him to p3 every summer, you couldnt tell me that he wouldnt be improving yearly. compared to Gordon, sure hes not that type of jumper, but at 247lbs, 37" inches is enough of a jump, thats not BS, he can jump, I always predicted he would best 36"... Burks didnt always show that vertical in-game, but in year 3 we saw more of it, i could see that being the case with Vonleh.
as for the strength/getting pushed around/knocked off balance im also particularly confident this is only a problem at 18 and will end up being a strength more than in issue in a few years, I really like his build,
25lbs added in his first summer lifting weights, and he has a low center of gravity, I think Noah ends up very strong for a PF, i could see him putting on more weight and ending up thicker than people would expect, maybe 260 lbs or more. Also i wouldent rule out Noah growing a bit more, ive still got hope he ends up 6'10 in shoes
https://vinebox.co/u/woOjD4LjLMv/wkLYz9D1JrT - touching 12'1"