The Baseline Spin basketball blog by Bobby Gerould.                           blogspot  link

 

June 3, 2010 ...It is crunch time for the 2010 NBA Draft. We are looking for ANY nugget of information that might slightly sway the gut feeling that ultimately decides our BIG BOARD draft order. We are still trying to make determinations about players and their ability to be professionals going forward. I’ve had it with players who are either not trustworthy or even borderline knuckleheads. Why bother? Even a supremely talented player, if he does not care enough, is going to be a waste of time in the end. ...Does it strike anyone else as odd that the names JaMarcus Russell (failed Raiders QB who had a bad attitude and a poor work ethic) and DeMarcus Cousins both kind of sound the same? Hahaha. ...I follow potential draftable players on Twitter. Based on that - I foresee potential immaturity issues, and possible PR problems in the future of at least three guys. Paul George of Fresno State seems the most likely to say something he should not have said. Among his recent tweets: “I'm getting blasted soon as I step back into Cali!”. …”I can't stand lookin at Jared Dudley he funny lookin lol I respect his game tho!”. ...Food for thought. ...Jordan Crawford of Xavier tweeted that Vince Carter is “an actor” during a recent playoff game. He was critical of Carter to the point that, if (or more likely, when) it gets back to VC, - Carter will certainly note it. Crawford might want to make an NBA roster before he takes shots at an eight-time All-Star. My point is - I learned that Crawford is not just the cocksure gunner he was on the basketball floor. He is also (overly) confident off the floor.  I don’t foresee the Orlando Magic drafting him. (FWIW -  I’m no fan of Carter’s penchant to disappear in big games either.)  ...Then there is Tiny Gallon; the Vallejo, CA kid who played on a horribly underachieving Oklahoma team for one season and decided to call college a wrap. Gallon’s talent is unquestionable. His motivation and immaturity is what concerns me. Gallon tweets: ”Hurry up june 24th... im ready 4 this season 2 start”. (June 24th is the date of the NBA Draft). He tweets that he just wants to put on a jersey. The rest of his tweets are about rappers (specifically Drake) and telling wack jokes. Reading between the lines - I comprehend a guy that is all about the game and the show but not about practice, fundamentals, and the hard work it takes every day to improve.  It does not end when you are drafted. The hard work gets harder. ...I could be dead wrong about any of these tweets being a concern but I’d be lying if I told you I did not move all three of the above cats down on my board.  ... Solomon Alabi - PROFILE.  ... Cole Aldrich PROFILE.

 

May 20, 2010 ...The Chicago Pre-Draft Combine is underway and I am disappointed that Al Farouq Aminu is not participating. I still have major reservations about Aminu as a Small Forward offensively. I believe he can guard SF’s but his offense, seems to me, to be much more suited for Power Forward. If he is just a PF in reality—I view his value lower than if he can be a SF. It appears without being able to see any proof otherwise that I will continue to believe he is a PF. His value drops as such due to the crowded crop of talented PF’s in the NBA. An example? Let’s take Aminu’s NCAA career Efficiency Rating of .577 and compare that number with the regular season NBA rankings by position. A .577 EFR as a SF would rank 5th in the league at that position behind only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Corey Maggette, and Carmelo Anthony. However—Aminu’s .579 as a PF would rank 17th at that position. In front of Aminu at PF: Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Joakim Noah (if you want to call him a PF), Zach Randolph, Troy Murphy, Al Jefferson, DaJuan Blair, and Al Horford. You see the difference? I have long been a believer in the SF as a three-point threat. Doug Collins stresses this seemingly every telecast he is on. You have to be able to stretch the floor. It is natural for your SF to do this as opposed to your PF, who if shooting a three, is leaving your team more vulnerable losing the rebounding game. Common sense right? Keep the bigger better rebounders closer to the hoop and let the quicker wings do the majority of the three point shooting. So… Aminu was 25-105 from beyond the college arc at Wake. That is 23.8%. His career free throw number is 68.6%. He had 87 assists and threw away 180 turnovers. Those are not SF numbers in my book. ...As Len Elmore so succinctly said on the coverage of the Draft Combine on ESPNU Thursday morning - you cannot make your decisions on a player simply by being “data driven”. You must be “data informed”. I’ve seen Aminu’s tremendous athletic ability and his skill at going hard on a drive from about 15 feet and in. It is impressive to watch, and it can remind you of Carmelo Anthony’s ability to carve out space with power and ball-handling ability. ...If you do not believe you have to shoot the three as a SF - you could argue that Carmelo is hardly the deep-shooting SF type, yet he has  success. But I would counter by informing that Anthony’s career 3 pt percentage is 30.8—not 23.8. And that Melo has more assists than turnovers for four seasons straight. Anthony shoot over 80% from the line while Aminu has yet to crack the 70’s. ...Will Aminu improve? I’d bet he does. He is said to be a good kid. All I am trying to point out is that it may take some time for him to be the valuable SF that some are projecting him to be. At this stage - he is a Power Forward.