Draft prospects - Who do we want?

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I think Towns' tournament sealed his fate as the top pick. He showed off a semblance of a post game even though it was against PF strength level guys and carried Kentucky offensively in a couple games which he hadn't really shown most of the year. His missing piece was his offense most of the year and I think he showed enough where teams will perceive him as the top guy.

I will say though that the tourney also sealed it for me that he is a 5 at the next level and should only play 4 when absolutely no other options are available. The last two games showed that his defensive impact is non-existent when you pull him away from the basket. Getting 1 BPG against ND and Wisconsin who have smaller frontlines overall and largely getting taken to school on drives to the bucket didn't look great overall. If you take away his defensive impact, his offense isn't good enough to make up for it aka when Ibaka plays stretch 4's.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

I think Towns' tournament sealed his fate as the top pick. He showed off a semblance of a post game even though it was against PF strength level guys and carried Kentucky offensively in a couple games which he hadn't really shown most of the year. His missing piece was his offense most of the year and I think he showed enough where teams will perceive him as the top guy.

I will say though that the tourney also sealed it for me that he is a 5 at the next level and should only play 4 when absolutely no other options are available. The last two games showed that his defensive impact is non-existent when you pull him away from the basket. Getting 1 BPG against ND and Wisconsin who have smaller frontlines overall and largely getting taken to school on drives to the bucket didn't look great overall. If you take away his defensive impact, his offense isn't good enough to make up for it aka when Ibaka plays stretch 4's.

Very well said. He is a 5, plain and simple. He isn't athletic enough to play the 4 and he doesn't have the offensive game for it. That being said, I agree he has established himself as the top pick.

[bleedspeed]

Anyone else think Towns is overrated defensively? WCS is really good, but watching Towns he didn't seem to be in WCS league and really benefits from playing with him. Happy for Badgers though. I felt there and Duke had the best chance to beat them. After the watching the game I would have a hard time taking WCS over Frank.

[Monster]

Anyone else think Towns is overrated defensively? WCS is really good, but watching Towns he didn't seem to be in WCS league and really benefits from playing with him. Happy for Badgers though. I felt there and Duke had the best chance to beat them. After the watching the game I would have a hard time taking WCS over Frank.

They are very different defensive players imo. WCS is more like a 7' SF (kinda like a Marion or Josh Smith) on defense and Towns is a classic post defender that's also a pretty athletic shot blocker. I didn't see the ND game but basically playing PF a lot in this game his defense on Hayes was plenty good enough. From what I have seen Towns plays pretty good D for a freshman big man.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

WCS is NOT an NBA starter. 5 rebounds and 2 points? I am not basing my opinion on 1 game, as I have seen a ton of Kentucky ball this year. He is a situational defender at the next level. His offense makes Rubio look like James Harden. He may actually average zero points in the NBA next year.....incredibly bad! Much of his supposed skillset of "being able to guard all positions" is not something he will get to display nearly as often in NBA. Outside situational occasions, NBA teams just don't deploy a center against a guard and such for a variety of reasons. Many on this board have him top 6-7. Because I don't think you can start him, he is not top 20 for me.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

WCS is NOT an NBA starter. 5 rebounds and 2 points? I am not basing my opinion on 1 game, as I have seen a ton of Kentucky ball this year. He is a situational defender at the next level. His offense makes Rubio look like James Harden. He may actually average zero points in the NBA next year.....incredibly bad! Much of his supposed skillset of "being able to guard all positions" is not something he will get to display nearly as often in NBA. Outside situational occasions, NBA teams just don't deploy a center against a guard and such for a variety of reasons. Many on this board have him top 6-7. Because I don't think you can start him, he is not top 20 for me.

If by situational defender you mean him being put on the hot hand constantly and shutting them down, then yes he is a situational defender. Kamisnky was torching Towns and then WCS held him in check for the most part. He gives you incredible defensive versatility because he can guard anyone on the floor. His rebounding was low last night because Wisconsin basically plays 5 out basketball and WCS is defending the perimeter most of the game and when he's not he is the guy guarding the post up shot attempt so he's not in position to stop the shot and get the board. The two points is simply because they don't run any plays for him and he can't hit a mid-range jumper. Once his team learns to use him like DJ offensively and just throw the ball up for him to throw down, he'll be enough of a contributor on that end. At the beginning of the year Towns would dump the ball into WCS. In the tourney it was the opposite. He is a defensive game changer. His recovery on the Kaminsky block was insane. He's blocking jump shooters out to the 3pt line like he's Anthony Davis. He's basically Tyson Chandler but he can guard all 5 positions. That's why he is a top 5 pick. Davis is the closest NBA big man to him in terms of mobility on the defensive end and even he is limited to froncourt assignments.

[The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]]

I was impressed by Towns. He really got after those offensive rebounds.

It's tough in college ball to get clean post touches because everything is so damn packed in and defenders are more willing to front you than in the NBA.

Cauley-Stein....Not impressed. Yes, he defends well and can switch onto smaller players. Didn't see him attack the glass. Looked awful trying to score the basketball. He's a junior. If we draft him as our future Center, you are looking at a Rubio/Cauley-Stein pairing that can't do much offensively. That puts a hell of a load on the other three guys.

I've been thinking about that pairing. Can you imagine those 2 in the pick and roll? Both their defenders would simply back up 10 feet and ignore it. For the right team Cauley-Stein could be really good but I don't think that's the wolves. I wouldn't "waste" our top pick on him.

[KiwiMatt]

WCS is NOT an NBA starter. 5 rebounds and 2 points? I am not basing my opinion on 1 game, as I have seen a ton of Kentucky ball this year. He is a situational defender at the next level. His offense makes Rubio look like James Harden. He may actually average zero points in the NBA next year.....incredibly bad! Much of his supposed skillset of "being able to guard all positions" is not something he will get to display nearly as often in NBA. Outside situational occasions, NBA teams just don't deploy a center against a guard and such for a variety of reasons. Many on this board have him top 6-7. Because I don't think you can start him, he is not top 20 for me.

Agree. I've never been high on WCS. Kaminsky dominated him last night. There's no way you draft WCS ahead of Kaminsky.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I think neck tattoo man could become a Tyson Chandler, but I agree Matt, you take kaminsky ahead of him.

[WildWolf2813]

I think Towns' tournament sealed his fate as the top pick. He showed off a semblance of a post game even though it was against PF strength level guys and carried Kentucky offensively in a couple games which he hadn't really shown most of the year. His missing piece was his offense most of the year and I think he showed enough where teams will perceive him as the top guy.

I will say though that the tourney also sealed it for me that he is a 5 at the next level and should only play 4 when absolutely no other options are available. The last two games showed that his defensive impact is non-existent when you pull him away from the basket. Getting 1 BPG against ND and Wisconsin who have smaller frontlines overall and largely getting taken to school on drives to the bucket didn't look great overall. If you take away his defensive impact, his offense isn't good enough to make up for it aka when Ibaka plays stretch 4's.

Don't sleep on what Towns can offer offensively. Calipari even held Anthony Davis back on offense. Towns will be fine there.