Originally Posted by
bajaden
As I stated, Porter isn't an above average athlete, but then, neither was Larry Bird. But like Bird, his BBIQ is off the charts, and he may have the best BBIQ in all of college. While his athleticism is a little suspect, I think to overlook what he does on the floor is foolish. He gets his share of steals, and is a good weakside shotblocker for a SF. He's a very good rebounder, averaging just under 8 boards a game, and he's an excellent passer. As I said earlier, he might be the most skilled SF in college.
I know we get caught up in this defensive stuff, and as a result pass on players that end up killing us down the road, and we wonder why we passed on that player. It always amazes me how we don't want this player or that player because their not good enough for our lousy team, but then they end up on a team contending for a championship. How is it that they're good enough for a good team, but not us. And I'm speaking in general here, and not about you Kingster.
Arby brought up freethrow shooting as a parameter in his analysis. I used too, but gave it up because too many times, it just didn't bear any fruit. For instance, Tyreke is a good freethrow shooter, but isn't a good jumpshooter, recent stats aside. I will admit, that in general, most good jumpshooters are also good freethrow shooters. Jimmer being an example of that. But I've seen quite a few players that were good freethrow shooters that never became good jumpshooters, and generally the reason is form. For instance, if you watch T. Robb take a jumpshot, he has very good motion and form, and thats why I think its only a matter of time and practice before he becomes consistent with his jumpshot. However, when he goes to the freethrow line, his form is terrible and very mechanical. As a result, at least so far, he's not a good freethrow shooter.
Now in the case of a player like Jordan, its very possible that his jumpshot will come later. The old rule, the more I practice, the luckier I get, is a correct one. But its alway a crapshoot to some extent. Will the player put in the work? You just never know. Donte Greene didn't. Nice guy that everybody liked, and wanted to succeed. But he was lazy, and you just never know what someone will do when that first big paycheck arrives. Thats why I like to get as much info on a player in highschool and college as I can. I try and go to the college website and read what the coach or others locally are saying about a player. For instance, I was reading an article about an interview with Victor Oladipo's coach. In the article, he said Victor spent the entire offseason working on his jumpshot. That Victor is always in the gym before anyone else arrives for practice, and has a key to get into the Gym late at night so he can get in extra practice. When I read stuff like that, it moves that player up a few notches on my board.
By the way, Harden was a very good passer in college, and basicly played the Point. He brought up the ball, and started the offense. I had people tell me he wasn't a good athlete. He wasn't a good ballhandler, and wasn't a good passer. I watched the guy play, counting the tournament, over 20 some odd times. All those people were wrong! They found out when he got to the combine that he was a terrific athlete with explosive leaping ability. But then these were the same people that told me that Blake Griffin was undersized, and not athletic. I sometimes wonder what these people are watching, or if they watch at all.
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