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Following potential 2015 draftees

Eminence said:
Done some more detailed looking at most of the wings we've been looking at and here are my impressions:

Hezonja: + Great spot up shooter, also probably 2nd best off the dribble shooter in the draft (behind Russell, Booker also good), seems to have the physical tools, defense generally pretty solid, creative if not always the most willing passer
- His handle is a little loose, I think he'll have trouble finishing at the rim in the NBA, gambles on defense routinely

Booker: + Great spot up shooter, good off the dribble as well, willing passer, good decision making
- defense is a bit of a question, creativity seems low, just an alright athlete (for a lottery pick)

Winslow: + Strong athlete, good in transition, plays hard on D/on the boards, solid finisher around the basket
- His shot is not good (as in actually slightly broken), relatively no offensive game for pro level

Oubre: + Smooth athlete, active hands on defense, good (not great) spot up shooter, solid in transition
- his ballhandling is on the weaker side, passing isn't a strength, I think he could get pushed around a bit by NBA size

Johnson: + Absolute freak athlete (seriously, this man is Lebron/Melo size, he may not be as quick as some of the others on the list, but for his size he is more than quick enough), great in transition, along with Booker I'd say he has the best ball skills of the bunch, good defender- both physically and in being in the right spots (watch vs Levert and Michigan), solid passer and rebounder
- shot is not a strength, needs to work on a bit of a post game at his size (I put this as a weakness, but really he's the only one of the bunch I could see developing any post scoring)

Other general notes: Hezonja/Johnson seem to be the only two with a bit of "the man" complex, which could be good or bad depending on what we're going for. All interview alright, but in my opinion Johnson comes off as very well spoken for a college freshman.

Overall I'd go with this rating for the Jazz:
1. Johnson - chance to be absolutely special, I see shades of Paul Pierce
2. Booker - seems to have a very high floor
3. Hezonja - shooter, not sure he has much else
4. Oubre - potential to be best here, but does need to develop
5. Winslow - really not that interested in him

Side note: I fully expect Arizona or Wisconsin to upend Kentucky in the tourney. Wisconsin's offense is a machine and Stanley Johnson does not know how to lose.
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Regarding Side Note: while UK has a better chance of losing a game, statistically, than remaining undefeated, I had to laugh at your reasoning behind AZ being the victor.
And Wisconsin, while I feel is the most likely to do so, has only played two top 20 teams all year, and lost both.
 
Dr. Jones said:
Regarding Side Note: while UK has a better chance of losing a game, statistically, than remaining undefeated, I had to laugh at your reasoning behind AZ being the victor.
And Wisconsin, while I feel is the most likely to do so, has only played two top 20 teams all year, and lost both.
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Team defense and frontline size/skill are also reasons for Arizona. Mostly it's due to what I feel is a slight overestimation of Kentucky though- not to say they aren't extremely good and shouldn't be the favourites, but the SEC is easily the weakest of the big 5 conferences and their out of conference wasn't a gauntlet by any stretch. They have about 4 real solid wins. Kansas(shot 20%...), UNC(a team a contender should beat), Louisville(tough game/team), Arkansas(a team with no real good wins).

Anywho, from what I've seen of Johnson he seems like a "winner", more often than not his team seems to wind up on the right side of the scoreboard when it counts. Grant it, that was high school, but I would not be surprised to see it transfer.
 
Eminence said:
Team defense and frontline size/skill are also reasons for Arizona ;) Mostly it's due to what I feel is a slight overestimation of Kentucky though- not to say they aren't extremely good and shouldn't be the favourites, but the SEC is easily the weakest of the big 5 conferences and their out of conference wasn't a gauntlet by any stretch. They have about 4 real solid wins. Kansas(shot 20%...), UNC(a team a contender should beat at home), Louisville(tough game/team), Arkansas(a team with no real good wins).
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The reasoning you are using is laughably bad.
First you say Arizona would upset Kentucky because Johnson refuses to lose. Yet, AZ has multiple losses to UK's none.
Next you mention AZ's team defense (even though UK ranks #1 in that category) and their frontline size (even though UK has a bigger front line that 29 of 30 NBA teams).
Add to that UK not having a tough schedule because;
Kansas - only shot 20% (you see why that is funny?)
UNC - UK "should" win that (why should a contender be defined as should be beaten by an overrated UK team?)

I don't disagree with Arkansas having no real good wins, but then how do you pimp Wisconsin so heavily? Zero wins against top 20 teams...
And Arizona? Losses against UNLV, Oregon State, and Arizona State??

Look, I will be the first to say UK has a better chance of losing a game than winning out, but your arguments are awful.. I would suggest sticking with a "gut feeling" or something of more substance than what your brain is telling you.
 
Dr. Jones said:
The reasoning you are using is laughably bad.
First you say Arizona would upset Kentucky because Johnson refuses to lose. Yet, AZ has multiple losses to UK's none.
Next you mention AZ's team defense (even though UK ranks #1 in that category) and their frontline size (even though UK has a bigger front line that 29 of 30 NBA teams).
Add to that UK not having a tough schedule because;
Kansas - only shot 20% (you see why that is funny?)
UNC - UK "should" win that (why should a contender be defined as should be beaten by an overrated UK team?)

I don't disagree with Arkansas having no real good wins, but then how do you pimp Wisconsin so heavily? Zero wins against top 20 teams...
And Arizona? Losses against UNLV, Oregon State, and Arizona State??

Look, I will be the first to say UK has a better chance of losing a game than winning out, but your arguments are awful.. I would suggest sticking with a "gut feeling" or something of more substance than what your brain is telling you.
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1. How much did any of those Arizona losses matter? I'm talking about the fact that Johnson is a 4x California state champion. Sure seems like he wins a lot in elimination games.
2. I didn't say they were either better or bigger than Kentucky in either of those categories, nor did I mean to. I mean they are better than anybody Kentucky has played in those categories.
3. If you don't think Kansas shot hilariously poorly in that game I don't know what to say, any team in the top 25 on their game would have beat Kansas that day.
4. That'd be because I try not to blindly follow the rankings. Somehow according to the rankings UNC is a better win than Iowa, but they have the same record in a major conference and Iowa went in to UNC and beat them? Yeah, Wisconsin has some wins that are just fine.

At the end of the day, Kentucky is easily the favourite and fairly so. I personally expect them to get beat at some point, and Wisconsin and Arizona are the two other teams in the nation that I see as truly elite this season. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see all three in the final four (barring the fact that it looks like Kentucky and Wisconsin will be in the same bracket at this point).
 
Catchall said:
Oubre's size, weight and wing-span are very close to Tracy McGrady. It's pretty prototypical. That said, TMac also had a 40" vertical, which I'm doubting Oubre has, and TMac was super quick and explosive. Will be interesting to see how Oubre develops athletically.

This young TMac stuff is obviously over the top, but if Oubre could do even a fraction of this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYxJ5MmiuFc
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Thats a great point. As much as we talk about desire, at some point you just have ask if a guy is plain good enough to make it in the nba. I might be the hungriest bball player in the world but i aint even going to make the granger high school team. Oubre seems to have all the traits of a good wing player. There are legitimate questions about his desire and so forth, but his skills are very nice.
 
Eminence said:
1. How much did any of those Arizona losses matter? I'm talking about the fact that Johnson is a 4x California state champion. Sure seems like he wins a lot in elimination games.
2. I didn't say they were either better or bigger than Kentucky in either of those categories, nor did I mean to. I mean they are better than anybody Kentucky has played in those categories.
3. If you don't think Kansas shot hilariously poorly in that game I don't know what to say, any team in the top 25 on their game would have beat Kansas that day.
4. That'd be because I try not to blindly follow the rankings. Somehow according to the rankings UNC is a better win than Iowa, but they have the same record in a major conference and Iowa went in to UNC and beat them? Yeah, Wisconsin has some wins that are just fine.

At the end of the day, Kentucky is easily the favourite and fairly so. I personally expect them to get beat at some point, and Wisconsin and Arizona are the two other teams in the nation that I see as truly elite this season. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see all three in the final four (barring the fact that it looks like Kentucky and Wisconsin will be in the same bracket at this point).
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Finally the final paragraph isn't bad. Welcome to decent posting.
 
The only way I see Kentucky losing is if the other team catches fire from 3 and Kentucky has a day off...
 
We will be drafting 12th pending a lotto miracle. At that range would rather grab Booker or Frank the Tank. Both will be able to contribute something immediately and both have sneaky upside IMO. If we bring in tomic if lean towards booker.

I don't think we should trade Hood to move up. If we move up we need to use draft assets and cap space to do it. Hood has improved steadily and if he'd stayed healthy all year I think we would look at him differently. In addition to being a good shooter, which we need, he can create good shots for himself. He has also been okay on defense which was the biggest worry coming into the season.

The way he moves on offense is tricky... When he puts the ball on the floor I can't tell if he's moving into his drive or his shot. He also has big for a two guard and has great elevation on his jumper... I think he can get the pull up shot whenever he wants.

We really don't need another prospect on this team but I don't see a young vet that we could move the pick for that would make sense. With burks back and our internal development we will be great next year. We need one of the playoffs teams out west to fall of a bit, but I could definitely see this current roster in the playoffs next year.
 
Dr. Jones said:
Pretty much.
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Duke has the shooters and they have a big who would require enough attention for those shooters to get open looks and he's shown that he's pretty good finding the open shooter on the perimeter. They also have the general competence of their squad to be competitive.
 
Could Johnson work as a stretch 4 in certain situations? He's got a similar build to Lebron who has been really effective causing mismatches at the 4 spot in playoff series.
 
spycam1 said:
Could Johnson work as a stretch 4 in certain situations? He's got a similar build to Lebron who has been really effective causing mismatches at the 4 spot in playoff series.
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I believe so. I mean he's 18 .. maybe 19 ... he can only get stronger from here.
 
spycam1 said:
Could Johnson work as a stretch 4 in certain situations? He's got a similar build to Lebron who has been really effective causing mismatches at the 4 spot in playoff series.
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Lets say yes, but compare him to Draymond Green instead of LeBron.

I think he is strong enough to guard 4s and would certainly cause matchup issues on the other end.

I really like him... I would trade our pick this year and next year to move up and take him.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Lets say yes, but compare him to Draymond Green instead of LeBron.

I think he is strong enough to guard 4s and would certainly cause matchup issues on the other end.

I really like him... I would trade our pick this year and next year to move up and take him.
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I like this assessment, I think he's a little bit better ballhandler, not quite the shooter, and obviously not as strong yet. But in a couple years time I could see him playing some minutes at the 4 for sure. And he's still 18, his birthday is at the end of May.
 
here is a stat to look at when it comes to the draft. the 2 best teams in the nba are Atlanta and golden state. I think most would agree. both teams are also the 2 best teams in 3 pt field goals bot at about 40%. the jazz need shooting. hezonja I think is the best fit but booker is next.
 
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