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Jazz draft Taylor Hendricks at 9

Kessler, Lauri, Hendricks that's a good frontcourt with some big positives....but at the same time that's 3 players who are best away from the ball on both ends. I like Hendricks as an off ball defender, do not like him on the ball against quicker players or strong physical wings.

It's puts the onus on the backcourt to 1) do all the playmaking 2) be the on ball defenders.
 
I don’t think I have ever seen a team come out and say that the guy they picked was the same ranking as their board except for at the very top of the draft where it’s obvious.

Wild they released that comment lol.
 
I don’t think I have ever seen a team come out and say that the guy they picked was the same ranking as their board except for at the very top of the draft where it’s obvious.

Wild they released that comment lol.
Thought the same. We thought the guy we picked at 9 was barely better than the guy we picked at 16… welcome to the team!
 
I don’t think I have ever seen a team come out and say that the guy they picked was the same ranking as their board except for at the very top of the draft where it’s obvious.

Wild they released that comment lol.
If they wanted to be so truthful with the media they should have just said we got 2 of our top 10 players. I wonder how the question was phrased in order to get that answer out of Zanik...
 
If they wanted to be so truthful with the media they should have just said we got 2 of our top 10 players. I wonder how the question was phrased in order to get that answer out of Zanik...

Especially with a a “surprise” pick in Bilal going ahead in the top 9. It was probably known to the Jazz he was going higher, but not to the public. For most fans, seeing Hendricks fall to 9 looks like a steal as he’s been mocked higher for the longest time. But JZ is like nah, we actually wanted the other guys lol.

I hope Hendricks does not see that quote.
 
I can get excited about a Lauri, Hendricks, Kessler frontcourt for sure. And just hope we have some guys who can set those players up.
 
I'm going to try to skip through 3 full games each of each prospect. If anyone wants to join me in my madness, I will be watching these 3 games for Hendricks:

vs MEM 1/1/23 - 12/6/3/2/2 - 5/14
vs TEM 1/28/23 - 6/11/2/2/0 - 3/7
vs MIS 12/17/22 - 11/3/1/0/1 - 4/10

If anyone knows where I can watch either of these two games I'd appreciate the assist:

vs Florida 3/15/23
@ Oregon 3/19/23

I also watched one half and summarized here:

HOU vs UCF (1H) 1/25/23:

Summary

Hendricks:
- Beautiful looking shot.....quick and high release. Has decent ability to attack closeouts off the dribble too. Long strides help him a lot.
- Explosive rim protector, had some highlight plays and does a good job contesting around the rim in general. Very alert help defender.
- Perimeter defense a little hit and miss, I think he's a little upright, but generally good.
- Had some good ideas passing wise, but couldn't execute the passing part
- He's a player that would look better around better players

Walker:
- Man amongst boys, overwhelms the other team with his physicality
- Very engaged off ball defender. Always looking to help and rotate
- Really good passer, it's just obvious on film
- Post up game is kinda BS. Does not work in college, don't think it will work in the NBA unless it's against smaller players. Wish he was used in PnR and not as a post up player with another big on the court.

- UCF starts out in a matchup zone, Hendricks does a good job showing on a PnR coverage, but not much threat from HOU. Play ends up with Walker chucking up a long 2 with nothing going on the first possession. No good.
- Catch and shoot 3 from the corner for Hendricks, easy. Walker didn't necessarily play coverage bad, just a quick release and easy shot over the closeout.
- Postup for Walker, nice hook over his left shoulder
- Walker plays perfect defense versus Spain PnR.
- Walker post up, perfect D by Hendricks. double team comes and UCF forces a turnover (wasn't Walker's fault)
- Relocation 3 attempt by Walker, nice movement to counter matchup zone but he misses.
- Another quick relocation 3 by Walker, Hendricks caught sleeping a little
- Hendricks poor transition defense leads to HOU dunk, whole team was sleeping tbf
- Walker pick 6, nice defensive play
- Hendricks lazy turnover with the ball, but crazy transition block on a poster attempt
- Bad press attempt by UCF out of a dead ball situation. Walker easily beats the scrambling defense with a nice dump off assist
- Both guys are really engaged as off ball defenders, great to see. Hendricks has another spot up, but Walker has a great closeout. It's an airball but not sure if Walker got a piece
- Hendricks has 1v1 opportunity on the wing against Walker, cooks him and gets a dunk.
- HOU also likes to run the pack the paint offense
- Walker makes a good pass to the corner in a blender situation for an assist
- UCF would be a lot better if they had Hendricks stand in the corner instead of having one guy in each dunker spot, come on coaches......
- High postup for Walker against Hendricks, overpowers him and gets two free throws
- Walker is so good at zoning up and covering a lot of area off the ball, Hendricks too....but his team needs him at the rim more.
- Just as I say that Walker gets caught ball watching a bit and Hendrick beats him on a cut.
- Now Hendricks messes up a defensive coverage, Walker explosive drive and dump off but his teammate gets stuffed.
- Walker out of the game now. Hendricks shows on a PnR coverage but overplays and gets beat.
- Hendricks with a pullup bank three that goes in lol
- Hendricks active hands gets a steal in post defense. In semi transition Hendricks has a decent spot up opportunity, decides to pump fake and drive instead. Decent read against double team, but defense knocks away his pass. Probably should have went with a lob but good look.
- Walker in, Hendricks out now. Walker makes a really quick pass to the corner for another assist. Simple play but he's got some velocity on these passes.
- Walker sort of gets confused in a drop coverage, but gets back and doesn't pay for it
- First real PnR roll man opportunity for either player. Walker takes a slip pass and finishes through multiple defenders for the and1. Man amongst boys.
- Hendricks playing the 5 now and gets his first chance as the screen setter. Pops out for three, but Walker switches the coverage and it leads to nothing for UCF
- #12 on HOU challenges Hendricks from a triple threat, kinda gets beat but there's a teammate waiting for him and it's a HOU turnover.
- Hendricks attacks a closeout and it leads to a pullup middy, misses
- Hendricks switch onto a smaller player with shot clock winding down, he plays good defense and slides his feet well but it's a bucket anyways
- Hendricks gets a dribble handoff, good drive gets him 2 FT's
- Another good closeout for Walker, forces a miss
- Pretty good #screenassist for Hendricks
- Hendricks gets tested 1v1 in high post, but it turns into a triple team due to terrible spacing. Play ended up getting a little crazy, but Hendricks showed good hustle
- Hendricks spot up 3 opportunity from the corner again, misses but he has a really nice looking shot
- Disrespectful block for Hendricks in rotation, Hendricks has the ball in semi transition, finds a man....but it's a badly thrown pass. Almost an amazing play. Game going a little off the rails with sloppiness.
- Hendricks gets an offensive rebound but a little soft with it and gets it knocked away
- Walker gets Hendricks in another post up and throws his body into him. Hendricks takes the contact well, however, and the double team comes over which forces a travel (refs didn't call the travel).
 
Let me drop some knowledge on you.... Tay Henny was actually #1 on our board. We told everyone he was #9 simply because the kid is real nice... but he needs a "nobody believes in me" attitude... he needs that chip on his shoulder. You think we said that stuff on accident? nah. They took a photo with their draft board and had it time stamped and notarized. In 5-10 years they will show him the photo and everyone will have a good laugh.
 
Kessler, Lauri, Hendricks that's a good frontcourt with some big positives....but at the same time that's 3 players who are best away from the ball on both ends. I like Hendricks as an off ball defender, do not like him on the ball against quicker players or strong physical wings.

It's puts the onus on the backcourt to 1) do all the playmaking 2) be the on ball defenders.
He's super athletic with length, That is probably the best on ball defensive package you can hope for in the modern NBA. He's still a teenager.
 
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