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Following Potential 2025 Draftees

How does a 6'9 shooter not make sense for Moreyball? Why does VJ Edgecombe make more sense for "Moreyball".

Is "moreyball" even a thing when his team's best player takes a ton of midrange shots?

Name a single player in the draft who got less "moreyball" offense than Ace. You can't. That can change in the NBA of course, but the reason why people question Ace is because he was there isn't a prospect that shoot less from the Rim, FT line, and 3 point line.

Just because someone isn't a moreyball player (or wasn't in college) does not mean Morey will avoid drafting him. Morey could look at him and say "I can make him Moreyball and that's why I want him". But "moreyball" itself is objective. Why is VJ more moreyball? Because he shot more moreyball shots. It's like calling someone taller or shorter, it's objective.

Whether or not this is something he values in the draft process is subjective and tbd.
 
Damnit.....I wanted to see him.

He looks good?

TBH, they keep cutting away and I'm only half watching while working. But I saw a couple minutes of him playing and in B2B he made a nice post move score on one end and completely shut down the other C when he tried to post up Yang. The other things I noticed were that he didn't contest a shot he probably should have and it looks like he can't really communicate with his teammates. Also, good boxout guy.
 
TBH, they keep cutting away and I'm only half watching while working. But I saw a couple minutes of him playing and in B2B he made a nice post move score on one end and completely shut down the other C when he tried to post up Yang. The other things I noticed were that he didn't contest a shot he probably should have and it looks like he can't really communicate with his teammates. Also, good boxout guy.
Good. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Let him take some time to learn English. Still think he’d be a great pickup in the 2nd round.
 
Yeah, I'd agree about none of them being positive defenders at the next level....but when I'm watching these clips, none of them are really THAT bad. And tbf, I still think clips that show highlights/lowlights don't paint the full picture so I'll have to find some full games to watch.

Another way to look at this is that it's the opposite of what we often say about college offense. I wouldn't say that college basketball is "harder" to play than NBA offense, but there are things that we generally accept that will make things easier in the NBA. Having better teammates, better spacing, better offensive systems ect. But that flips on the defensive end. Because of the lack of talent, it's easier to defend on an individual level and especially in a team concept. The NBA prospect level guys can often struggle to create at this level because of X, Y, Z. When it's not an NBA prospect level guy, the offense is just hopeless and defense is so easy.

There's a lot of clips of them guarding individually in isolation.....but it's guarding a guy who is probably not that good and the paint is clogged and there are no shooters. And these guys are good enough to lock those guys down in that situation. Kon, for example, is obviously not a great athlete by NBA standards, but at the college level guys are like bouncing off his chest at any contact and he's not really that slow compared to his opponents. He's like a defensive wall when guys test him. I think it can bait you into thinking he might do the same vs pros, but it's just a whole different sport.

And it's even more extreme in off ball defense scenarios. You don't have to be great at closeouts. There's no mental energy required to stay in the possession. You won't find yourself in a situation where you have to zone up two guys to let the defense recover. It doesn't matter if don't navigate a screen.....I can go on forever about this. Individual defense isn't less important in the NBA per say, but there's this giant list of things you have to do in addition to individual defense that do not come up at the NCAA level. It really is chest vs checkers.

I know you are going to hate this, but for me I feel pretty comfortable with keeping defense as a 90% subjective analysis. I feel like I'm keyed in enough to defense as something I really value that I've been pretty accurate in the past with which prospects are going to be good and bad defenders in the NBA. Yes there are many differences between the NCAA and the NBA when it comes to defense, but in general guys who care, have BBIQ, and the physical tools make good defenders in the NBA. Usually that stuff comes through in the film.
 
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