Who should become the first person to be drafted to the pelicans?

I'm really starting to think Bazz will be a Pelican.

What's with the Bazz craze today? Is this coming from somewhere?

More to do with the fact that people probably think we'll miss out on Porter.

As the season goes I think we'll get a clear view of the possible targets in the draft. When we were winning a few and healthy it looked like we would be in line with oladipo and Burke. Now we have injuries and they are kind of rolling out the tank. Bazz and Otto back in range.

I'm getting more excited by the day. I have a really good feeling we're going to get a scoring wing like Porter or Bazz. I can't wait!

Carter Williams on ESPN right now just fyi, not that we'll take him like, ever.

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Originally Posted by Purple Haze

Carter Williams on ESPN right now just fyi, not that we'll take him like, ever.

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Man I really like this kid but ever since Big East conference play he's been inefficient with a lot of bad turnovers and bad FG%.

Hell I'd rather grab Triche in the second round than MCW in the first.

Just going off chad fords lottery machine (he basically ranks big boards for each team and the computer takes best available from that list) has Marcus Smart at #1 and Otto Porter at #2 above McLemore which I found interesting.

I think the NCAA tournament will make and break a few people.

Am I the only one who'd rather Bazz over Porter? The only reason I was aboard the Porter train in the past is b/c I thought Bazz was a foregone conclusion in the top 3.

I'd go Bazz, Smart, McLemore, Porter, Noel.

Some big games today from conference tournament:

Porter and his Hoyas face Cincinnati
Burke vs Penn st
Bazz vs Arizona st
And Smart leads his team tonight to face Baylor.

The Georgetown vs cinci should be a good one.

Fun little piece on Oladipo. If he becomes a Pelican, he and AD will have something else in common other than being New Orleans Pelicans.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...081828216.html

I don't trust Oladipo's sudden turnaround in shooting. I have a stupid feeling that he is going to turn out similar to Xavier Henry.

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I kind of agree with Kibner. Whether people want to believe it or not, players can have "on years" just like they have on games.

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Originally Posted by Kibner

I don't trust Oladipo's sudden turnaround in shooting. I have a stupid feeling that he is going to turn out similar to Xavier Henry.

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Well, Derek Williams is a prime example. What'd he shooting college from 3? 56.8 %. Shooting 28.9% form NBA 3 point range. The difference is Oladio is (perceived) an elite defender no matter so he brings a skill to the league where at worse he will be a role player. Henry does not do that. What's the 1 skill Henry does well? Nothing. He does everything Average or below average (IMO).

Oladipos shooting is a legitimate concern because I feel zeller has been the focus for other teams where he plays down low. Oladipo may be getting a lot of open 3s that he will not get in a man-to-man NBA defense.

GREAT pass by Porter. Man.

You can tell he's been coached the right way, too. Doesn't over pursue on D, doesn't reach in and get stupid fouls.

Otto Porter and Hoyas defeat Cinnci. Stat line for Porter.

18 pts (3-9, 1-3 3pt) - 6 reb - 2 asst - 1 steal - 1 TO

And key stat and my personal favorite: 11-11 FT

Early in the game Porter did a turn around fade, missed it, rippe the rebound out of a Cincinatti players hands and got the put back layup. Basically sums up Otto Porter in one play.

I was also liking Smith-Rivera. He could be a good late first pick in 2 years. He has a smooth stroke and is built like a tank.

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

Well, Derek Williams is a prime example. What'd he shooting college from 3? 56.8 %. Shooting 28.9% form NBA 3 point range. The difference is Oladio is (perceived) an elite defender no matter so he brings a skill to the league where at worse he will be a role player. Henry does not do that. What's the 1 skill Henry does well? Nothing. He does everything Average or below average (IMO).

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Yeah, there's just reason to be suspicious I guess. I must admit I haven't watched him all that much, but only 8 fg attempts a game? Less than 2 three point attempts? I'd think if someone is a great scorer (61% on the year), they would be taking more than 8 shots a game.

The one 3 that Porter hit... I swear on my LIFE that it was spinning sideways :hihi:

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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP

Yeah, there's just reason to be suspicious I guess. I must admit I haven't watched him all that much, but only 8 fg attempts a game? Less than 2 three point attempts? I'd think if someone is a great scorer (61% on the year), they would be taking more than 8 shots a game.

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I think his shot making should be in question.The nubers you pointed out suggest he only takes shots when he should which is a good thing to a degree, but also can skew his %. You can't have 2 guys like that (Aminu) on the floor at the same time IMO. The shorter shot clock i think will hurt him more than the space on the court will help him. I think Tony Allen with a better offensive game is a good comparison. I also wouldn't spend a top 8 pick on a Tony Allenish player when we have bigger areas of need and it would in essence nullify Gordon.

Yeah I'm with you. I honestly don't see him making all that much of a offensive impact in the league, especially as a rookie. Seems like his best offensive attribute is his transition offense, and that's not really what we do. I'm not sold on him as a shooter.

Mclemore is explosive as hell....he might get 30 plus this game if it isn't a blowout.

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Originally Posted by Kibner

I don't trust Oladipo's sudden turnaround in shooting. I have a stupid feeling that he is going to turn out similar to Xavier Henry.

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Oladipo's improvement seems to come from his work ethic. I'm not saying he's a good shooter, because I don't think his % percentage will carry over to the NBA, but when someone works and works and works --- good things happen.

As for McLemore -- he's got takeover ability if he would just assert himself more in games. Which IMO, is why he'll be the top pick.

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Originally Posted by Kibner

I don't trust Oladipo's sudden turnaround in shooting. I have a stupid feeling that he is going to turn out similar to Xavier Henry.

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Oladipo had an eFG% of .571 his freshman year. That is higher than the freshman year for Porter, Shabazz, McLemore, and Smart. And Xavier Henry. He didn't suddenly become good this year.

I watched every game of Xavier Henry's NBA career. His struggles were not surprising. Everyone knew he wasn't ready for the NBA and could benefit from more time in the NCAA. Oladipo, on the other hand, is a NPOY candidate. He won't fail--the only question mark is his ceiling.

And as someone else mentioned, Oladipo plays better defense than any of those guys too.

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Originally Posted by wuggie

Mclemore is explosive as hell....he might get 30 plus this game if it isn't a blowout.

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Yeah he is starting to look like the serious #1 overall, not just a, "well I guess he's #1..." :hihi:

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Originally Posted by greewe

Oladipo had an eFG% of .571 his freshman year. That is higher than the freshman year for Porter, Shabazz, McLemore, and Smart. And Xavier Henry. He didn't suddenly become good this year.

I watched every game of Xavier Henry's NBA career. His struggles were not surprising. Everyone knew he wasn't ready for the NBA and could benefit from more time in the NCAA. Oladipo, on the other hand, is a NPOY candidate. He won't fail--the only question mark is his ceiling.

And as someone else mentioned, Oladipo plays better defense than any of those guys too.

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Interesting question. What's his usage rate versus those other guys?

I brought up Xavier because he was touted for having a solid-to-good 3pt shot out of college. That's it. I was trying to make the point that I don't think it would be a smart idea to look at Oladipo's percentages this year and expect him to have similar in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

Interesting question. What's his usage rate versus those other guys?

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Oladipo:
FR: 22.5%
SO: 23.2%
JR: 22.1%

Porter:
FR: 17.4%
SO: 24.1%

Muhammad:
FR: 30.0%

McLemore:
FR: 23.9%

Smart:
FR: 26.7%

Henry:
FR: 23.4%

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Originally Posted by Bee-Fense

Oladipo:
FR: 22.5%
SO: 23.2%
JR: 22.1%

Porter:
FR: 17.4%
SO: 24.1%

Muhammad:
FR: 30.0%

McLemore:
FR: 23.9%

Smart:
FR: 26.7%

Henry:
FR: 23.4%

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To me, it's really scary when a players usage drops to its lowest point as a junior. Makes me think his coach knows something. Not that it's low, just interesting. That and he has the lowest usage rate among those players. Also has a junior or senior come out since Duncan that's been an impact player ?

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

To me, it's really scary when a players usage drops to its lowest point as a junior. Makes me think his coach knows something. Not that it's low, just interesting. That and he has the lowest usage rate among those players. Also has a junior or senior come out since Duncan that's been an impact player ?

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I'm not extremely familiar with usage rate, but .4% and 1.1% doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

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Originally Posted by Purple Haze

Yeah he is starting to look like the serious #1 overall, not just a, "well I guess he's #1..." :hihi:

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Yeah man he should be. His athleticism makes him seem bigger than he actually is, like DWade. Plus he can shoot.

Indiana's also stacked. They've got a bunch of good, efficient scorers aside from Zeller and Oladipo. That his usage #'s have remained static for 3 years despite the improvement of the team is a good sign IMO>

how did bazz do?

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

To me, it's really scary when a players usage drops to its lowest point as a junior. Makes me think his coach knows something. Not that it's low, just interesting. That and he has the lowest usage rate among those players. Also has a junior or senior come out since Duncan that's been an impact player ?

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What do you qualify as "impact"? Taj Gibson, Dejuan Blair, Collison, Thornton all did well their rookie year after coming out as upper classmen. I would need to go through draft lists to find more that became rotation players their first year in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

how did bazz do?

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16 pts 9 rebs 2 asst from what I got on my phone.

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Originally Posted by Kibner

What do you qualify as "impact"? Taj Gibson, Dejuan Blair, Collison, Thornton all did well their rookie year after coming out as upper classmen. I would need to go through draft lists to find more that became rotation players their first year in the NBA.

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None of those guys qualify as impact players. Maybe franchise type players would be worded better.

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Originally Posted by Inner_GI

I'm not extremely familiar with usage rate, but .4% and 1.1% doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

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Them not going up seems like a telling sign to me. I'd expect the trust by the coach to put the ball in his best players hands would be there by the junior year. Maybe I'm wrong here and I'll do more research tonight, but I'd expect it to go up if he was developing

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Originally Posted by NOLa.

16 pts 9 rebs 2 asst from what I got on my phone.

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But I thought he couldn't rebound? ;)

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Originally Posted by NOLa.

16 pts 9 rebs 2 asst from what I got on my phone.

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cool now bad numbers, how many shots did he take?

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

cool now bad numbers, how many shots did he take?

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he was 8-16

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

None of those guys qualify as impact players. Maybe franchise type players would be worded better.

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We aren't getting a franchise player in this draft.

Great example of Otto being Otto today. team's locked up with a team they're much better than with about 15 minutes to play. Otto deferring to his teammates running the offense and then took over when it mattered and ended with 18. great description from this article i just read "Georgetown's Otto Porter is a coach's dream: a team-first star who is grounded and puts wins before personal success."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/col...#ixzz2NYe2ds4Q

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Originally Posted by greewe

We aren't getting a franchise player in this draft.

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Just curious, do you consider Russel Westbrook a franchise player?

Update on prospects games today in conference tournament play. Smart has yet to play. Each player's respective team won today also.

Shabazz
16 pts(8-16, 0-1 3pt) - 9 Reb(6 OffReb) - 2 Asst - 2 TO

McLemore
24 pts(8-12 FG, 4-8 3pt, 4-4 FT) - 4 Reb - 1 Asst - 1 TO - 1 Stl

Burke
21 pts(7-15 FG, 3-5 3pt, 4-4 FT) - 2 Reb - 3 Asst - 2 TO - 3 Blk

sign me up for mclemore, porter or bazz

McLemore lit it up today. Then again not tough competition yet.