TeamRicky wrote:After going thru each game Russell played in, I see a guy who disappears in big games. Folks, its a two man draft. Big drop off to number three. We need to keep our pick and draft Towns (preferably) or Okafor.
Well going through each game I noticed Towns scored 4 or less points in 8 games.
Russell was Ohio State last year. He had to be on in order for them to win, don't go solely on numbers with these guys.
Russell put up his best numbers against cupcakes. Ohio State was 1-6 against ranked teams with Russell shooting under 36%. No need to reach for a player like Russell when better players are available and those better players fill a team need more.
Maybe because he was the only thing on Ohio State that would beat them. Look at how many Kentucky and Duke guys will be drafted in the first round. How many other Ohio State guys.
Have you watched Russell play?
Have you watched Mudiay, Porzingas, Stanley Johnson, Devin Booker or Myles Turner play? I think some of these guys will have better NBA careers than Russell.
bleedspeed177 wrote:LST - Problem is it has not translated to games. That is a concern. If people say that is because of Cap then if I am a player picking a college and plan to go pro I an not going to Kentucky. I will go to a coach that will let me show my potential.
I think elite players will continue to go to Kentucky because 1) they will likely be in a position to challenge for a national championship most years, and 2) Kentucky players have done very well in the draft. Those are the only 2 things elite high school players want, and Calipari delivers. At the beginning of the year, I predicted that even though I believed Towns had the best talent in the draft, he wouldn't go in the top 3 because his lack of playing time would produce meagre stats. I was right about the meagre stats part, but I underestimated the ability of NBA scouts and GMs because Towns is at the top of most draft boards. I think Calipari saw a team that was so physically dominant compared to its competition that he could win a national championship through defense and pounding the ball inside, and he was almost right. Towns had to defer to three star upperclassmen...on any other team in the country (except possibly Duke) he would have been the focal point of the offense, and would have put up terrific offensive stats. He showed this in his final two games when Calipari had to turn to him for offense, and he responded with 41 points on 17-24 shooting against very good defenses.
Coach Cal keeps saying that his job isn't to win a championship but to get guys drafted. Part of that I think is serious part of it is marketing for blue chip players and part is to have some fun with people. He has enough of a track record and reputation he can do just about whatever he wants as long as it's legal and who is going to question him?
TeamRicky wrote:After going thru each game Russell played in, I see a guy who disappears in big games. Folks, its a two man draft. Big drop off to number three. We need to keep our pick and draft Towns (preferably) or Okafor.
Well going through each game I noticed Towns scored 4 or less points in 8 games.
Russell was Ohio State last year. He had to be on in order for them to win, don't go solely on numbers with these guys.
Russell put up his best numbers against cupcakes. Ohio State was 1-6 against ranked teams with Russell shooting under 36%. No need to reach for a player like Russell when better players are available and those better players fill a team need more.
Maybe because he was the only thing on Ohio State that would beat them. Look at how many Kentucky and Duke guys will be drafted in the first round. How many other Ohio State guys.
Have you watched Russell play?
Have you watched Mudiay, Porzingas, Stanley Johnson, Devin Booker or Myles Turner play? I think some of these guys will have better NBA careers than Russell.
I haven't seen much of Mudiay or Turner. Have you watched Russell play?
TeamRicky wrote:Harden LOL. Harden shot over 50% in college. Russell under 45% overall and under 36% against ranked teams. Russell is most overrated guy considered in the Top 5. Even Evan Turner shot around 50% in college and what a bust he turned out to be. Two great bigs to draft and Russell shouldn't even be considered since we have the top pick.
And Russell shot 5% better than Harden from 3. Harden shot 49/36/76 his sophomore year to Russell's 45/41/76 freshmen year. I don't see an LOL level of difference between those numbers and that was with an extra year of seasoning for Harden.
TeamRicky wrote:After going thru each game Russell played in, I see a guy who disappears in big games. Folks, its a two man draft. Big drop off to number three. We need to keep our pick and draft Towns (preferably) or Okafor.
Well going through each game I noticed Towns scored 4 or less points in 8 games.
Russell was Ohio State last year. He had to be on in order for them to win, don't go solely on numbers with these guys.
Russell put up his best numbers against cupcakes. Ohio State was 1-6 against ranked teams with Russell shooting under 36%. No need to reach for a player like Russell when better players are available and those better players fill a team need more.
Maybe because he was the only thing on Ohio State that would beat them. Look at how many Kentucky and Duke guys will be drafted in the first round. How many other Ohio State guys.
Have you watched Russell play?
Have you watched Mudiay, Porzingas, Stanley Johnson, Devin Booker or Myles Turner play? I think some of these guys will have better NBA careers than Russell.
I've seen Johnson, Booker, and Turner play, and none of us have watched Porzingas or Mudiay on anything but Youtube, and I've seen Russell play. I can't speak for Mudiay (doesn't blow me away on Youtube) or Porzingas, but Russell is clearly the best right now of the college players on this list.
TeamRicky wrote:Harden LOL. Harden shot over 50% in college. Russell under 45% overall and under 36% against ranked teams. Russell is most overrated guy considered in the Top 5. Even Evan Turner shot around 50% in college and what a bust he turned out to be. Two great bigs to draft and Russell shouldn't even be considered since we have the top pick.
And Russell shot 5% better than Harden from 3. Harden shot 49/36/76 his sophomore year to Russell's 45/41/76 freshmen year. I don't see an LOL level of difference between those numbers and that was with an extra year of seasoning for Harden.
I'm not saying Russell can't shoot the 3s well. He did, though it was against weak competition for the most part. Harden shot much better overall and his freshmen year he did shoot nearly as well in the 3s as Russell. Harden developed into a much better player in the NBA than many figured. I think its a long shot that Russell develops anywhere close to Harden's ability, but there is at least as good a chance that Towns develops into an Anthony Davis impact player.
Those who like Russell bring up his 3 point shooting. Well, there are over 100 college players who had better 3 point shooting than Russell this year. It's not a big sell to me, especially since his best shooting days were agains weak teams. Here's a list of best college 3 pt shooters: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/3-points/sort/threePointFieldGoalPct
The probability of Russell developing into as good a player as Harden, and Towns as Davis is not very high. The chance of them becoming all stars in the league someday is much higher. The chance of one of them never seeing an all star game is over 50%. Sage advice from the old statistician.
Another thing I don't like about Russell, is his bragging. He doesn't give any credit to the Arizona players who shut him down to 3 for 19 shooting day. He also says number 0 is the number of guys that can defend him. I don't want us to draft a bragger. We've had enough of them in the past that didn't pan out. In contrast, Towns and Okafor seem pretty humble and seem like their personalities would blend in with the team much better.
TeamRicky wrote:Harden LOL. Harden shot over 50% in college. Russell under 45% overall and under 36% against ranked teams. Russell is most overrated guy considered in the Top 5. Even Evan Turner shot around 50% in college and what a bust he turned out to be. Two great bigs to draft and Russell shouldn't even be considered since we have the top pick.
And Russell shot 5% better than Harden from 3. Harden shot 49/36/76 his sophomore year to Russell's 45/41/76 freshmen year. I don't see an LOL level of difference between those numbers and that was with an extra year of seasoning for Harden.
I'm not saying Russell can't shoot the 3s well. He did, though it was against weak competition for the most part. Harden shot much better overall and his freshmen year he did shoot nearly as well in the 3s as Russell. Harden developed into a much better player in the NBA than many figured. I think its a long shot that Russell develops anywhere close to Harden's ability, but there is at least as good a chance that Towns develops into an Anthony Davis impact player.
Towns is nowhere near the athlete Davis was. Anthony Davis is LeBron James rare.
