re: Who we picking at 8?

Like I said I love Branham... but his defense is horrendous. And he's less than a year younger than Mathurin so I don't buy the youth excuse.

The difference between the two is Branham struggles athletically on defense. Dude gets ran by like he's moving in slow motion. (Similar to AJ Griffin who is probably the worst defender mocked in the 1st)

It's really really bad. You can't coach defensive agility...

Im a fan of Branham... but to act like Mathurin's defense is worse is a joke.

quote:

---

Like I said I love Branham... but his defense is horrendous

---

horrendous? have you watched him play and you're giving your personal opinion b/c you watched him a lot, b/c there aren't draft profiles on him saying that.
Most profiles allude more to him being out of position and not being as physical on drives as to why he defense was lacking, and i would attribute that to him not getting as much good coaching as other guys that have been in college for 2+ years.
One thing you'll notice too if you watch his profile video is he gets upset after giving up baskets, so you know he cares.

quote:

---

You can't coach defensive agility..

---

I would agree you can't make unathletic guy more agile, but you absolutely can work more on your agility when you're athletic, and Branham is athletic enough. And you dont' have to be an elite athlete to be a great defender, or even a good defender. There was nothing super athletic about Bruce Bowen or Tony Allen. Anticipating where you should be and how quickly you react to certain situations is far more important. Some of that can be coached up, but i would say you also need to have the defensive instincts to excel at that, and that can't be taught, like what Herb has, if you want to be elite. I doubt Branham, or Mathurin become elite defenders.

Paying attention to a scouting report and knowing that this guy likes to drive left when run off the 3 point line, and then going into the game and actually applying that knowledge in the game to how you defend is how you improve the defensive agility you're talking about getting blown by, which isn't defensive agility, but more being a student of the game and being able to use that knowledge effectively.

quote:

---

So, who determines that the reason a player does not play good defense is more about effort than ignorance? Seems somewhat judgmental based on which player someone likes or does not like.

---

To be fair, and I'm not picking a side because I don't know much about Branham, but I feel like it's pretty easy to tell bad defense apart from when a guy isn't trying vs he just doesn't know what he's doing, if you know what you're looking for.

Take Jax for example, I don't think he's a good defender, but I think he generally plays pretty hard. I just don't think he has the instincts for it.

i'm kind of surprised there seems to be a pool of nearly 8 guys at least in contention. not sure if this is very good or very bad.

quote:

---

It's.... not good.

---

i mean it's not Herb, but it's definitely not bad.
The biggest thing i see is that he seems scared to body people up and foul them, and seems to more or less let them get to the goal as opposed to getting physical with them. That's both a good thing and bad thing. Recognize when you can be a little more physical and when you should just sort of let them go and not get and 1'd, and he'll do just fine.

He also played lazy defense most of the time, standing up too much in his stance instead of bending his knees and being in a better defensive stance, and his close outs were lackluster.

If he's really the leader and high iq player he's supposed to be, i'd expect him to get better at those simple things that will help him improve defensively.
Again, you have to remember that he might have played for a high school coach that didn't really emphasis good defensive technique, and he's only been getting college coaching for less than a year.


I do'nt expect him to be a shut down defender in the NBA, b/c i don't think he has quick feet, but that doesn't mean he can't be a decent defender. I see a lot of Kris Middleton in him.

You could definitely talk me into selecting Daniels at 8.

I think his defensive potential with Herb would be pretty damn good. Plus he shot over 40% from 3 on his final 10 games... maybe his shot will get better as well.

Would be thrilled with Sharpe/Murray/Griffin/Mathurin

Replace Griffin with Daniels and you got a winner.

I just want us to draft a player at 8 and run it back with this team. Id like to see one more year of Jax and Kira before shipping them out. If we move anyone I'd like for it to Graham and Temple, but the only way I say that happening is if we trade down to get off the Graham contract