BloopOracle wrote:Q12543 wrote:The thing I like about Collins is that unlike Markkanen, he really will punish guys that go small on him. He is adept with either hand in the post and has a great touch around the hoop. And he will aggressively rebound the ball.
He needs to add a little weight and I'm not sure about his ability to defend on the perimeter - which is critical - but I like a lot about him if he's the consolation prize to Isaac.
how exactly is a prolific 7 foot 3 point shooter not going to be able to punish smaller players when he can just shoot over the top of them? You tried to say anyone could just stick a wing on him like Pop did to Ryan Anderson but putting a little guy on a legit 7 footer in Markkanen is drastically different than 6'9 Ryan
Pop has used Bruce Bowen against Nowitzki as well with some legit success. So going with small against big that is really good shooter is not anything new. And Nowitzki had a legit post game compared to Markkanen. I watched some Instagram clip with Markkanen shooting 18 straight corner three pointers in minute. His shooting form was really good but I was little disappointed that his release looked little slow. Worst thing about his shooting was that he started always shooting motion by lowering the ball to waist level. If he does same in game situation, much smaller players are able to hack the ball away from him, when he is shooting. Luckily Lauri is still so young that he can hopefully get rid of that habit.
Personally I still think that Markkanen is the closest thing to Nowitzki as a prospect that we have seen. They have almost identical size as both are legit 7 footers with not that long wingspan. (7 foot in case of Markkanen) and neither has elite athleticism or was taught much as a defender or rebounder as draft prospect. Since Nowiztki didn't play any college basketball, it is little difficult to compare those two players but I still try.
Both players played in junior European championship games against other best players in their age. Here are stats from Markkanen against competition that generally one year older than he:
24.9pts, 8.6rbs, 1.0asts, 2.3stls, 1.3blks, FG% 50.4 3P% 39.4 FT% 83.3 in 26.4 minutes per game
When Nowiztki was draft prospect they didn't organize u20 championship games but just U22 championship games. Nowitzki played there at age 20. Here are his stats:
18.0pts, 7.2rbs, 0.5asts, 1.8stls, 0.0blks, FG% 41.5 3P% 39.5 FT% 87.9 in 32 minutes per game
With limited sample size statistics, it looks like Lauri is actually ahead Nowitzki as a prospect at same age. That matches comments from former German national team coach that has had opportunity to coach both players at same age. (he is currently Finnish national team coach)
Still even if I think Markkanen is better prospect than Nowitzki was at age 20, I wouldn't probably draft him for Wolves with 7th pick since I think Wolves need defense much more than offense. Comparing prospects to Nowitzki is problematic since he actually wasn't that good when he was 20, so many players have looked better than Dirk as draft prospects but they end up being busts or just mediocre players. What made Nowitzki so special is that he was able to improve so much after he entered to league. He is one of those rare players that has really reached his ceiling. Also I think that in addition of his elite shooting, Nowitzki has another elite skill; his mental strength that has been visible in several clutch plays. Many of his clutch plays have not even been related to his smooth jump shot at all. He has won critical play off games for Dallas by scoring on offensive rebounds, getting to free throw line and driving to hoop. He has even blocked Duncan's game winning lay-up attempt.
