Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:RICK PITINO SAYS CHINANU ONUAKU WILL HAVE HEART SURGERY TODAY & STAY IN DRAFT

That's not good even if the surgery has been described as minor. Heart conditions of any sort will scare off teams. Onuaku was I guy I like a lot as a player and this will have to hurt his draft stock. He was probably a late first or early second rounder before the news came out and with this news I'd suspect he's a late second rounder or won't get drafted. Reminds me of the big guy (I forget his name) that found out he had a serious condition before the draft and had to forgo a lucrative NBA career.

I think you are thinking of Isiah Austin from Baylor, the thing is he was borderline draftable, but sad no matter what

Yeah, that's the guy I was thinking of. Thanks.

http://hoopshype.com/2016/05/24/towns-sees-a-little-westbrook-in-hs-teammate-baldwin/KAT sees a little Russell Westbrook in HS teammate Wade Baldwin

Its funny I had no idea until I saw this article that KAT and Baldwin are cousins and played together in High School. Baldwin kind of intrigues me with his athleticism and his huge 6"11 1/4 wingspan. I compared his Combine tests to Westbrook and they were pretty similar. I think Westbrook had a slightly faster sprint, but Baldwin scored higher on some other tests. Interesting that KAT brought up Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aA4aDYtpkKAT and Baldwin in a High School Dunk Contest

monsterpile wrote:OKC's best players tonight were drafted by OKC. Time to load up and get a good player/s this year in the draft. That's what the elite teams do they draft well.

I totally agree. Keep with the process and don't take short cuts. OKC has to be the model for us and every other small market team out there.

TRKO wrote:

monsterpile wrote:OKC's best players tonight were drafted by OKC. Time to load up and get a good player/s this year in the draft. That's what the elite teams do they draft well.

I totally agree. Keep with the process and don't take short cuts. OKC has to be the model for us and every other small market team out there.

Ditto!! Westbrook, Durant, Ibaka, Adams, Cameon Payne. Definitely a team built through the draft. If not for the salary cap, they'd have James Harden too. The key guys they've added to their draft picks are all similarly young recent draft picks from other teams like Kanter, Waiters and Roberson. They did not make the mistake of attempting to supplement their core of young star draft picks with 30+ year old veterans. Instead, they brought in player who were nearly the same age as their stars.

lipoli390 wrote:

TRKO wrote:

monsterpile wrote:OKC's best players tonight were drafted by OKC. Time to load up and get a good player/s this year in the draft. That's what the elite teams do they draft well.

I totally agree. Keep with the process and don't take short cuts. OKC has to be the model for us and every other small market team out there.

Ditto!! Westbrook, Durant, Ibaka, Adams, Cameon Payne. Definitely a team built through the draft. If not for the salary cap, they'd have James Harden too. The key guys they've added to their draft picks are all similarly young recent draft picks from other teams like Kanter, Waiters and Roberson. They did not make the mistake of attempting to supplement their core of young star draft picks with 30+ year old veterans. Instead, they brought in player who were nearly the same age as their stars.

They used a pick they got in the Harden trade to get Adams so no they wouldn't have Harden too. If you were OKC right now and Houston offered Harden straight up for Adams (take out salaries just for fun) OKC probably declines.

Also Roberson was likely a OKC selection in that draft even though his rights went from the Wolves (ugh) to GS then to OKC.

The larger point we are all making still stands but just wanted to point those things out. Mitch McGary is about the only pick they haven't hit on and maybe he can play Nick Collison doesn't even get much run.

TeamRicky wrote:http://hoopshype.com/2016/05/24/towns-sees-a-little-westbrook-in-hs-teammate-baldwin/KAT sees a little Russell Westbrook in HS teammate Wade Baldwin

Its funny I had no idea until I saw this article that KAT and Baldwin are cousins and played together in High School. Baldwin kind of intrigues me with his athleticism and his huge 6"11 1/4 wingspan. I compared his Combine tests to Westbrook and they were pretty similar. I think Westbrook had a slightly faster sprint, but Baldwin scored higher on some other tests. Interesting that KAT brought up Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aA4aDYtpkKAT and Baldwin in a High School Dunk Contest

Watch some tape on Baldwin. He is not close to being an explosive athlete. His speed/athleticism on-court isn't in the same stratosphere as Westbrook. He has trouble getting to the rim and finishing once there, he doesn't pass very well, is an average ball handler. He is decent at creating for himself and others. I do like his shot, and believe that is his biggest asset moving forward. The issue is, at 6'3 he's too small to play SG and I highly doubt he'll be a good PG in the NBA. Undersized combo guard is what i see. Overrated.

TheFuture wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:http://hoopshype.com/2016/05/24/towns-sees-a-little-westbrook-in-hs-teammate-baldwin/KAT sees a little Russell Westbrook in HS teammate Wade Baldwin

Its funny I had no idea until I saw this article that KAT and Baldwin are cousins and played together in High School. Baldwin kind of intrigues me with his athleticism and his huge 6"11 1/4 wingspan. I compared his Combine tests to Westbrook and they were pretty similar. I think Westbrook had a slightly faster sprint, but Baldwin scored higher on some other tests. Interesting that KAT brought up Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aA4aDYtpkKAT and Baldwin in a High School Dunk Contest

Watch some tape on Baldwin. He is not close to being an explosive athlete. His speed/athleticism on-court isn't in the same stratosphere as Westbrook. He has trouble getting to the rim and finishing once there, he doesn't pass very well, is an average ball handler. He is decent at creating for himself and others. I do like his shot, and believe that is his biggest asset moving forward. The issue is, at 6'3 he's too small to play SG and I highly doubt he'll be a good PG in the NBA. Undersized combo guard is what i see. Overrated.

I am in this camp. I saw Baldwin play several times at the end of the season, and he looked like garbage. Sometimes we assume too much when looking at raw testing numbers. I remember that Love actually had decent leaping measureables....but we all know he is fairly ground-bound in real life game situations. Not sure I have ever seen someone as quick as Westbrook with the ball in his hands, which is where speed counts. Baldwin not in same league in any facet.

TheFuture wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:http://hoopshype.com/2016/05/24/towns-sees-a-little-westbrook-in-hs-teammate-baldwin/KAT sees a little Russell Westbrook in HS teammate Wade Baldwin

Its funny I had no idea until I saw this article that KAT and Baldwin are cousins and played together in High School. Baldwin kind of intrigues me with his athleticism and his huge 6"11 1/4 wingspan. I compared his Combine tests to Westbrook and they were pretty similar. I think Westbrook had a slightly faster sprint, but Baldwin scored higher on some other tests. Interesting that KAT brought up Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aA4aDYtpkKAT and Baldwin in a High School Dunk Contest

Watch some tape on Baldwin. He is not close to being an explosive athlete. His speed/athleticism on-court isn't in the same stratosphere as Westbrook. He has trouble getting to the rim and finishing once there, he doesn't pass very well, is an average ball handler. He is decent at creating for himself and others. I do like his shot, and believe that is his biggest asset moving forward. The issue is, at 6'3 he's too small to play SG and I highly doubt he'll be a good PG in the NBA. Undersized combo guard is what i see. Overrated.

He's not small at all. Guy has enormous length. At the combine, he was 4th tallest point guard out of 13, 3rd in reach and he had the longest wingspan. The longest guy was McCaw and second was Dunn who are two other guys I'm very high on.

Regarding athleticism, Westbrook is a freak and probably is more athletic than his combine numbers indicated. Baldwin is not Westbrook but he's extremely athletic and has an incredible wingspan for a point guard. He scored 2nd in combine in lane agility which helps measure lateral quickness. His sprint time was 3.17 and vertical 38 which are definitely good numbers but not off the charts.

Regarding his passing and handle, lets look at his assists to turnovers. Here are some comparison numbers with other guys that should go in the first round. Dunn had 6.2 assists and 3.5 turnovers (1.77 Assist/Turnover ratio). Baldwin had 5.2 assists and 2.8 turnovers (1.85). Jamal Murray had 2.2 assists and 2.3 turnovers (.96). McCaw had 3.9 assists to 2.1 turnovers (1.85). Gary Payton had 5.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers (2.17). Looking at the numbers, its hard to knock Baldwin for his handle and passing without knocking Dunn and Murray for even worse numbers.

TeamRicky wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:http://hoopshype.com/2016/05/24/towns-sees-a-little-westbrook-in-hs-teammate-baldwin/KAT sees a little Russell Westbrook in HS teammate Wade Baldwin

Its funny I had no idea until I saw this article that KAT and Baldwin are cousins and played together in High School. Baldwin kind of intrigues me with his athleticism and his huge 6"11 1/4 wingspan. I compared his Combine tests to Westbrook and they were pretty similar. I think Westbrook had a slightly faster sprint, but Baldwin scored higher on some other tests. Interesting that KAT brought up Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aA4aDYtpkKAT and Baldwin in a High School Dunk Contest

Watch some tape on Baldwin. He is not close to being an explosive athlete. His speed/athleticism on-court isn't in the same stratosphere as Westbrook. He has trouble getting to the rim and finishing once there, he doesn't pass very well, is an average ball handler. He is decent at creating for himself and others. I do like his shot, and believe that is his biggest asset moving forward. The issue is, at 6'3 he's too small to play SG and I highly doubt he'll be a good PG in the NBA. Undersized combo guard is what i see. Overrated.

He's not small at all. Guy has enormous length. At the combine, he was 4th tallest point guard out of 13, 3rd in reach and he had the longest wingspan. The longest guy was McCaw and second was Dunn who are two other guys I'm very high on.

Regarding athleticism, Westbrook is a freak and probably is more athletic than his combine numbers indicated. Baldwin is not Westbrook but he's extremely athletic and has an incredible wingspan for a point guard. He scored 2nd in combine in lane agility which helps measure lateral quickness. His sprint time was 3.17 and vertical 38 which are definitely good numbers but not off the charts.

He's not small for a PG, but i'd argue his skillset is more SG than PG, hence why i said he's undersized. Also he was very underwhelming at the college level for a guy who has enormous length and is "extremely athletic" (which he isn't).

TheFuture wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:http://hoopshype.com/2016/05/24/towns-sees-a-little-westbrook-in-hs-teammate-baldwin/KAT sees a little Russell Westbrook in HS teammate Wade Baldwin

Its funny I had no idea until I saw this article that KAT and Baldwin are cousins and played together in High School. Baldwin kind of intrigues me with his athleticism and his huge 6"11 1/4 wingspan. I compared his Combine tests to Westbrook and they were pretty similar. I think Westbrook had a slightly faster sprint, but Baldwin scored higher on some other tests. Interesting that KAT brought up Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aA4aDYtpkKAT and Baldwin in a High School Dunk Contest

Watch some tape on Baldwin. He is not close to being an explosive athlete. His speed/athleticism on-court isn't in the same stratosphere as Westbrook. He has trouble getting to the rim and finishing once there, he doesn't pass very well, is an average ball handler. He is decent at creating for himself and others. I do like his shot, and believe that is his biggest asset moving forward. The issue is, at 6'3 he's too small to play SG and I highly doubt he'll be a good PG in the NBA. Undersized combo guard is what i see. Overrated.

He's not small at all. Guy has enormous length. At the combine, he was 4th tallest point guard out of 13, 3rd in reach and he had the longest wingspan. The longest guy was McCaw and second was Dunn who are two other guys I'm very high on.

Regarding athleticism, Westbrook is a freak and probably is more athletic than his combine numbers indicated. Baldwin is not Westbrook but he's extremely athletic and has an incredible wingspan for a point guard. He scored 2nd in combine in lane agility which helps measure lateral quickness. His sprint time was 3.17 and vertical 38 which are definitely good numbers but not off the charts.

He's not small for a PG, but i'd argue his skillset is more SG than PG, hence why i said he's undersized. Also he was very underwhelming at the college level for a guy who has enormous length and is "extremely athletic" (which he isn't).

I guess I'm looking at him as a point guard. But if you think he's undersized you'd have to say the same about Murray as he's about the same height but much smaller wingspan, shorter reach and less athletic.