Didn't stay up to watch the whole draft

[colhusker]

Did Teddie Buckets go?

[busticket]

38 minutes ago, colhusker said:

Did Teddie Buckets go?

Nope, and neither did several really good players like Kofi Coburn and Trevion Williams.  One thing I figured out is if you are an old school forward or center, DO NOT declare for the NBA draft.  If you can’t play 5 out you won’t get drafted.  
 

I seriously wonder where Shaq would get drafted if he were in today’s era of basketball.

[hhcmatt]

2 hours ago, busticket said:

Nope, and neither did several really good players like Kofi Coburn and Trevion Williams.  One thing I figured out is if you are an old school forward or center, DO NOT declare for the NBA draft.  If you can’t play 5 out you won’t get drafted.  
 

I seriously wonder where Shaq would get drafted if he were in today’s era of basketball.

 

If he didn't shoot 3s? Second round.

 

I was just thinking Kofi would have been a lottery pick in the 80s.

[Huskerpapa]

I thought all of the above withdrew from the draft...I am probably wrong though.

[millerhusker]

4 hours ago, busticket said:

Nope, and neither did several really good players like Kofi Coburn and Trevion Williams.  One thing I figured out is if you are an old school forward or center, DO NOT declare for the NBA draft.  If you can’t play 5 out you won’t get drafted.  
 

I seriously wonder where Shaq would get drafted if he were in today’s era of basketball.

Nah. Jalen Duren and Mark Williams went in the top 15 and neither one of those guys can play outside of the paint. Shaq was much more skilled than them, while also being taller, bigger, stronger, smarter, etc. 

[Handy Johnson]

16 hours ago, millerhusker said:

Nah. Jalen Duren and Mark Williams went in the top 15 and neither one of those guys can play outside of the paint. Shaq was much more skilled than them, while also being taller, bigger, stronger, smarter, etc. 

I saw Shaq as an 18 year old @ Williams Arena vs Eric Montross. He was already 7’ & 3 Bills, dunked it so hard he didn’t bend the rim or the backboard but the Standard they were attached too…

[bleujay]

Plenty of NBA centers with limited offensive skill. What matters most nowadays is agility - running the floor, PnR, switching on defense and not getting beat by a guard. Robert Williams is a good example.

Dudes like Jahlil Okafor, slow-footed post players - those are the dead breed of center. 21 year old Shaq could dominate today's NBA but his highlight reels would look very different. 

Edited June 25 by bleujay

[millerhusker]

2 hours ago, bleujay said:

Plenty of NBA centers with limited offensive skill. What matters most nowadays is agility - running the floor, PnR, switching on defense and not getting beat by a guard. Robert Williams is a good example.

Dudes like Jahlil Okafor, slow-footed post players - those are the dead breed of center. 21 year old Shaq could dominate today's NBA but his highlight reels would look very different. 

Yep. The two starting centers in the NBA finals, Williams and Looney, are wildly uncoordinated with the ball in their hands. Really their only purposes in the halfcourt offense are to set screens and get the occasional offensive rebound/put-back. Defensive versatility is where their value is. The biggest thing is they ACCEPT THEIR ROLE and take it seriously. A lot of centers in the league currently in that mold - Capela, Isaiah Stewart, Claxton, Jarrett Allen. Adebayo can handle the ball a bit, but can't shoot. 

But, there are also plenty of bigs in the league who are still those slow-footed post players. Vucevic, Steven Adams, Gobert, Ayton, Valenciunas, Nurkic, Poeltl, Dwight Powell, etc. These guys are absolute pros. There's a long list of recent one-and-done bigs who spent all their time training to be perimeter players while not being capable of ever being proficient at those skills, only to get abused by the players listed above. They end up being one-and-done in the NBA also. 

The list of players who have traditional center size along with a real skillset of a guard is very small. And it's elite. Jokic, Embiid and KAT. 

I actually think the NBA center position is in a great spot currently, better than it's been in a long time. I certainly don't miss the years when Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah and Andrew Bynum were the best centers in the league. Not really sure why I just went on a rant about the NBA center position, but no one at home likes to hear me talk about the NBA, so...

 

[Handy Johnson]

1 hour ago, millerhusker said:

Yep. The two starting centers in the NBA finals, Williams and Looney, are wildly uncoordinated with the ball in their hands. Really their only purposes in the halfcourt offense are to set screens and get the occasional offensive rebound/put-back. Defensive versatility is where their value is. The biggest thing is they ACCEPT THEIR ROLE and take it seriously. A lot of centers in the league currently in that mold - Capela, Isaiah Stewart, Claxton, Jarrett Allen. Adebayo can handle the ball a bit, but can't shoot. 

But, there are also plenty of bigs in the league who are still those slow-footed post players. Vucevic, Steven Adams, Gobert, Ayton, Valenciunas, Nurkic, Poeltl, Dwight Powell, etc. These guys are absolute pros. There's a long list of recent one-and-done bigs who spent all their time training to be perimeter players while not being capable of ever being proficient at those skills, only to get abused by the players listed above. They end up being one-and-done in the NBA also. 

The list of players who have traditional center size along with a real skillset of a guard is very small. And it's elite. Jokic, Embiid and KAT. 

I actually think the NBA center position is in a great spot currently, better than it's been in a long time. I certainly don't miss the years when Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah and Andrew Bynum were the best centers in the league. Not really sure why I just went on a rant about the NBA center position, but no one at home likes to hear me talk about the NBA, so...

 

Thanks (I think) for giving Bynum his Props. Played on one of the greatest frontlines ever with Pau Gasol & Lamar Odom, bum knees cut his career far too short. 

[basketballjones]

Shaq would go #1 in this years draft, last years draft, 5 years ago’s draft, 10 years in the future draft, etc…

[Huskerpapa]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Shaq would go #1 in this years draft, last years draft, 5 years ago’s draft, 10 years in the future draft, etc…

In my mind, it just depends.  The NBA tends to change from decade to decade.  Perhaps rule changes occur that will again put an emphasis on size.  If they alter the court size, alter the lane, extend the 3 point line, raise the basket, call fouls when contact occurs, establish a rule regarding the euro-step, alter the 24-second clock, remove the half-court line, adjust the ball size, et al, things could change back where conventional size matters.

 

(By the way, I originally read your take incorrectly --- I thought I read "Shaq wouldn't")

Edited June 26 by Huskerpapa

[Cazzie22]

Euro step to a purist is traveling.

[HuskerFever]

27 minutes ago, Cazzie22 said:

Euro step to a purist is traveling.

 

And the NFL would be same-ol same-ol without some of the innovations that the original USFL brought into the sport.

 

Disruption is good for innovation sometimes.

[HuskerFever]

1 minute ago, HuskerFever said:

30 minutes ago, Cazzie22 said:

Euro step to a purist is traveling.

 

And the NFL would be same-ol same-ol without some of the innovations that the original USFL brought into the sport.

 

Disruption is good for innovation sometimes.

 

Although to some NFL purists, that probably destroyed the sport 

[Dean Smith]

1 hour ago, Cazzie22 said:

Euro step to a purist is traveling.

Why? You get a step and a half on the way to the hoop - the Euro just doesn't go in a straight line. You are correct though that refs see something new and immediately blow the whistle because something had to be wrong there.

[bobcat402]

On 6/24/2022 at 3:37 PM, busticket said:

Nope, and neither did several really good players like Kofi Coburn and Trevion Williams.  One thing I figured out is if you are an old school forward or center, DO NOT declare for the NBA draft.  If you can’t play 5 out you won’t get drafted.  
 

I seriously wonder where Shaq would get drafted if he were in today’s era of basketball.

I’m honestly surprised Williams didn’t go, he’s seriously skilled but I’m also still on the hill that Shavon Shields could have an NBA run so who am I.. no surprised at Kofi, didn’t really like his game 

[49r]

18 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

 

And the NFL would be same-ol same-ol without some of the innovations that the original USFL brought into the sport.

 

Disruption is good for innovation sometimes.

 

USFL?

 

It was the old AFL that really shook up the sport.  Before then, people really hadn't accepted the forward pass as a means of matriculating down the field.

[Nighthawk]

18 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

 

And the NFL would be same-ol same-ol without some of the innovations that the original USFL brought into the sport.

 

Disruption is good for innovation sometimes.

 

Vincent McMahon...yes that Vince...also brought some innovations that are still used today...not in the game..but in the coverage.  That camera you see occaisionaly sliding over the field during a game...first appeared in the XFL.  I still call it the McMahon cam. 

[HuskerFever]

21 minutes ago, 49r said:

18 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

 

And the NFL would be same-ol same-ol without some of the innovations that the original USFL brought into the sport.

 

Disruption is good for innovation sometimes.

Expand  

 

USFL?

 

It was the old AFL that really shook up the sport.  Before then, people really hadn't accepted the forward pass as a means of matriculating down the field.

 

Absolutely. Another good callout.

 

My example of USFL was more in regards to improving aspects of the game, yours is tectonic shifts.

 

FWIW, the original USFL helped influence the NFL to adopt: instant replay, two-point conversion option, 15-yard pass incidental interference, introduced the run-and-shoot style offense, and took away the stigma of touchdown celebrations. There's probably many more examples, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.

[HuskerFever]

1 minute ago, Nighthawk said:

 

Vincent McMahon...yes that Vince...also brought some innovations that are still used today...not in the game..but in the coverage.  That camera you see occaisionaly sliding over the field during a game...first appeared in the XFL.  I still call it the McMahon cam. 

 

Good point too.

 

Some of that entertainment aspect was cringe-worthy, others really helped rethink how we see the game.

[Red Rum]

19 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

Why? You get a step and a half on the way to the hoop - the Euro just doesn't go in a straight line. You are correct though that refs see something new and immediately blow the whistle because something had to be wrong there.

 

[basketballjones]

23 hours ago, Cazzie22 said:

Euro step to a purist is traveling.

Why?

[49r]

8 hours ago, Nighthawk said:

 

Vincent McMahon...yes that Vince...also brought some innovations that are still used today...not in the game..but in the coverage.  That camera you see occaisionaly sliding over the field during a game...first appeared in the XFL.  I still call it the McMahon cam. 

 

Hate to rain on your parade there but this is false.  Skycam first appeared in the 80's.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skycam

 

In fact I remember watching the Orange Bowl on NBC in one of the first games it was used, and remember getting a feeling of seasickness watching it.

 

I want to say, but don't remember for sure, that several Huskers home games in the 90's featured Skycam.  Again, predating the XFL.

 

(Although it is true that the XFL was the first entity that tried, but eventually gave up on, using Skycam as the primary camera angle for broadcasts)

Edited June 27 by 49r

[HuskerFever]

A bit off topic, but does anybody remember FOX trying to implement the glow puck into TV coverage?

 

 

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

4 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

A bit off topic, but does anybody remember FOX trying to implement the glow puck into TV coverage?

 

 

 

Looking back now it seems pretty cornball, but as an elementary school student when this was unveiled I thought this was pretty cool!  I feel like this was one of the first really obvious occurrences of video games influencing sports broadcasting.  I'll concede that the XFL did some interesting things, but every network and league is trying to make their coverage appear more like a video game now.  Makes complete sense given the demographics being targeted and how titles such as Madden and 2K have become engrained into pop culture.