From Distance: Vlogging about Collin
2019-03-29In this edition of Cavs: the Vlog, I update my take on Collin Sexton.
Aside: Kobe Bryant was never the best player in the world for a single second of his career. He was fantastic for a long time, but this nonsense has got to stop.
Kobe, you should be more concerned about whether you were as good as Manu Ginobili. Save us all an eye roll and leave Jordan out of this.
Also to be clear, I have grown on Culver. Really, I will be happy if the cavs just win one of the top four picks. Zion would potentially be game changing of course and force the rebuild to maybe speed up a bit. But still, Morant is a great second prize. I have issues with RJ. Those are less about shooting and more about his decision-making, first step, and fluidity off the dribble. Culver would be fine as well, but I always tend to want to go younger when a guy comes in as a freshmen and shows some of… Read more »
Calipari is terrible, but he coaches in a field where if you get the best talent you have a huge advantage. I’d love for him to come to the NBA again. And get embarrassed. Again.
Calipari, ugh. Can’t believe he hasn’t got caught up in recruiting violations again.
Boy, does RJ Barrett not blow my skirt up. I really hope the Cavs take someone else…
He has his issues, but I would take him over the current 6’7″ – 6’8″ Culver.
Boy, I’m not sold on that at all. Say Culver is 6’8″ right now (and he looks it)…I think he has better NBA potential…he just does everything well…
Except, like RJ, shooting.
And he has a year of development on RJ.
Culver this year: FG% .484 3pt % .319 FT % .702
Barrett this year: FG% .457 3pt % .313 FT% .662
He is a year younger, though.
My point exactly. Their shooting is nearly identical, with Barrett taking 2 more threes a game, having a nearly identical percentage and being a year younger. Culver was also a big 0/5 on threes last game.
I don’t care what either was last game. Culver is better right now. Barrett’s assists and rebound numbers are very slightly better, while playing with much better talent. Culver is pretty clearly better defensively. I think Culver is a better prospect.
I am off the Barrett train as well…coach K makes a lot of excellent high school players look better than they are. He gets the majority of them to the NBA high in the draft. Most have been decent bench players for a few years. Which means they should be drafted nearer the end of round 1 or in round 2, but coach k drove their stock higher.
Except I don’t know if this team makes a guy like Barrett or Reddish look better. No one can shoot. Tre Jones aberration game today as an exception. They have all paint guys and no shooters. The only guy so utterly dominant at any level to take advantage is Zion. Put Barrett on a team with a bunch of shooters you might have a different opinion. Put Zion on a team with a bunch of shooters he might average 40 on 70% TS in college. Duke is a flawed team. Athletically talented on d. Talented at scoring in the paint.… Read more »
Thats a pretty darn good rebuttal lol. All I can say is you are kind of making the case that Barrett could be a bit like Ben Simmons if you surrounded him with shooters…and I dont see him being able to find those shooters like Ben Simmons.
I mean Barrett has some semblance of a j. Simmons couldn’t/won’t shoot beyond 15 feet. If Simmons does get a respectable J Philly will win a lot of ships if Embiid stays healthy. Simmons is next level (top 5 nba potential) talent with a j. Obviously he is nowhere near that as far as a j, yet.
I think Barrett probably won’t be a bust, but he’s going to be drafted quite high, and will probably be a disappointment.
College basketball is so hard to watch sometimes. And Zion isnt going to be anywhere near Bron level good in year 1 unless he goes to a team with a good coach. His handle is really inconsistent, his passes are predictable, and he wont have the same strength advantage so he wont see many double teams. He reminds me of the guys who used to own the UFC in the early days…it almost always was the strongest guy winning. Once skillsets rose, you started seeing fewer monsters winning just by rag-dolling their opponents. The NBA is a different game. College… Read more »
That said…i think the Drew would be a great coach for him as clearly he has helped Colin correct so many details. And also…by year 3 Zion could be an All star.
He tries to do more with his handle than LBJ did or really ever did. I think his passing is good and in an nba system with shooters spreading, it will be just fine. His transition vision and passes are remarkable. One handed on the run bounce passes? I mean come on. Nba is a different game in that there are fewer monster strong paint patrollers than when lbj came in. Far fewer. And the rules are against them. LBJ was maybe 230 (forget what they listed) when he came in. He was skinny. Decent size for an NBA wing,… Read more »
I usually read your comments and agree John B…but I have to disagree with this one. Trying to do more sometimes means you arent as good at basic crossovers and jab steps. It doesnt mean your handle is better. I dont hold LBJ’s handles in high regard…but Zion’s arent better. Transition passing is easier to learn than figuring out where to pass off a double team. Also…i didnt say his passing was bad. Its just predictable. The NBA scouts you way more than college. As for his motor…what are we comparing him to? LBJ in the regular season? Or LBJ… Read more »
Of course as far as talking bout his potential he is not a sure thing top 15-20 all time, but he has that ceiling. His ball handling is as iffy as lbj was during high school. Zion needs to realize what lbj did. Just get a step and go. You have never seen LBJ crossing people because he realized he never had to. He pulls off incredibly advanced dribble moves though. Just has to tighten up his decision making. LBJ also really didn’t start coasting in the regular season until Miami. He wasn’t a good defender until about year three.… Read more »
To be clear…he is the #1 pick. Every time. But I dont see the evidence of top 15-20. LBJ was playing college level ball in 8th and 9th grade. Vision was a part of that for sure, but vision doesnt mean seeing stuff. It means you know whats going to happen before other guys do. Zion does not show that…albeit ive only seen about 8-10 games. Call it vision, call it bball iq, call it whatever you want: that thing we are talking about is what gets guys to the top 50 all time list.
I get that. Zion will probably step in as a guy that is a top finisher off the drive, break, or post right away though. Defensively, he could be a monster. Not there yet, but he has such amazing anticipatory instincts on the perimeter and as help. I think better than LBJ in high school and as far as defensive impact. Needs to learn to be more disciplined. But so did LBJ and most rooks, and Duke encourages gambling a bit with their hyper aggressive scheme of press, trapping, and roaming in the half court. But he will not be… Read more »
Zion weakness on d is constantly going for homerun highlight play.
Barrett gets some harden calls. Hopefully that continues to next level.
Duke not riding Zion enough. VA tech not playing zone. Jones/Barrett need to dump down and let him go to work
So much d potential from Zion. I wouldn’t even say he is a good defender yet as far as his potential. Still cheats, but man his potential when he gets more disciplined is DPOY for year after year with his motor.
Zion shot won’t be a problem. Don’t care if it is a set shot. Kid has confidence.
VA tech kid should be in concussion protocol.
Kobe wasn’t even the best player on his own team in championship years.
Disagree on Kobe, maybe. There was a time from 2008-2010 where there is a good case for him. Before Bron figured out the post-season and Timmy & the Spurs were down a bit. KG/Dirk in convo as well.
But Kobe as #1 is a joke. He is not even in my top 10: Russell, MJ, Kareem, Wilt, Bron, Magic, Bird, Duncan, Oscar + Shaq/Mikan.
You mean before Bron had a tiny bit of help? 2007 lbj, 48 point/25 straight point performance against Detroit, was better than Kobe. 2006 Lbj was better than Kobe too. Boy those 1.0 teams had no one, and I am fond of some of those 1.0 guys. But there was just no talent there. He just dragged the cavs everywhere.
But…. Shaq…. /s
The 08-09 Cavs were ranked 3rd in defense and 4th in offense. The next year it was 6th in offense and 7th defense. It’s pretty popular to say LeBron had “no help” but those were great teams that complemented Lebron’s skill set perfectly.
Regular season. Too easy to shut everyone but LBJ down in the playoffs with game planning. Compare the talent on those teams to the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs at the time and the no help argument becomes true.
Even Orlando.
About to listen, but I’m pretty sure Kobe was joking when he made that comment. (although he may well personally believe it) Kobe was IMO objectively like a top 12-20 player in NBA history, which is really good, obviously, it’s just uber annoying how that’s just not good enough for Kobe stan.
Thanks for answering my question and glad you’re coming around to Sexton! I think the biggest thing, and what many of us pointed out at the beginning of the season, is Sexton’s work ethic and desire to learn. That is what we were all sort of banking on in terms of looking for Sexton to improve. I’ve been really glad to see that is leading to results.