Horford Measures Up

that would suck for the C’s. Horford is the best option for the C’s that might fall to them. less of a project than other big men in the draft.

i’ll never understand why they list these two seperate heights. larry bird was listed as 6’9". not 6’9" in sneakers. why does this continue? i have to be missing something. why don’t they just say he was listed at 6’9"? serious question.

oh frget it i screwed it up anyway. i’m goin’ back to bed.

Because you really play the game in shoes, so that’s the height that matters. But then, how much added height from the shoes should you be able to get away with? :)

Yeah but everyone plays in shoes so what’s the diff? It’s not like one guy has 4 inch lifts in his shoes or something. No one is playing with Gene Simmons platforms out there. SO just pick a a hight (either with or without shoes) and stick with it. We all know they have sneakers on. That’s like giving a football players wieght with and without pads or a hockey players hight with and without skates. Now there’s a difference in hights.

p.s. this heat mush be getting to me more then I thought if i keep spelling height wrong.

I don’t know about you, but if a guy told me his height and he was counting his shoes, I’d think he was cheating. (And insecure.)

With the NBA I think it’s just plain marketing, wanting to make their players sound like greater freaks of nature than they are.

If you visit Atlanta’s team web site 41 percent of the fans want Conley Jr. he is their top choice. This would put them in a good position to trade with Portland or keep him. Point Guards are valuable players as Centers are in the NBA. If this happens it would open the door and Wright could be the Celtics pick, if Memphis takes Horford.

Even if they pick up Conley, it looks like Memphis can still pick Horford. So we get Brandan Wright. Which is not half-bad, but I think I’d rather have Horford.

wright, horford, i’ll be happy as long as it’s not yi.

interesting piece about conley and the florida trio:

http://shamrockheadband.blogspot.com/

http://shamrockheadband.blogspot.com/

I don’t care if Horford is 6-11. I have no interest.

i agree, brick. my problem with horford is that he seems to be a player that is good at a lot of things but not great at anything, as opposed to brewer, who seems to be, at the very least, great at defense.

The lack of interest in Al Horford is totally illogical. Why would anyone want to pass on a guy who’s 6’10", strong, athletic, is known for having a good work ethic and being a good guy, and has a history of winning national championships?

i do like him, just not as a fifth pick, and i don’t like him as much as brewer. then again, i have a man-crush on brewer, so maybe i’m the wrong guy to ask.

Gerald Green is apparently great in a couple of things (shooting and athleticism), and we all know how this is panning out.

being great at defense is a little different because the best shooters can be hot and cold but defense is defense, no matter what. it’s a useful skill to have and great defenders are hard to find. i also think brewer is athletic enough to develop a strong offensive game, too.
also i have high hopes for gerald green’s future. maybe i’m in the minority on that.

Brikowski,

What is it that you don’t like about Horford?

I haven’t seen enough of Wright, is his ceiling that much higher than Horford?

 Wouldn’t Horford be better for us than Rashard Lewis?

Al Horford=Armon Gilliam

You don’t waste a #5 pick on a plodder. He’ll be an ok pro, but nothing special. He lacks speed and lateral mobility. He’s strictly a pf, which means that Jefferson has to play center if the Celtics expect him to play starter’s minutes.

Waste of a pick.

These draft mavens look at the workout results, they count up the number of made shots and misses, they over-analyze everything and rate athleticism above basketball knowledge.

If they had evaluated players the same way in the 50’s and 60’s as they do today, Bob Cousy would have been a second round pick.

What about guys like Mike Conley who know how to play basketball and win games? Oh no, these idiots would rather have Javarais Crittenden who pounds the ball into the floor and couldn’t run an offense to save his life. What about Tiago Splitter, the best young big man in Europe, who has been to the Euroleage final four on several occasions and has been playing against men since he was 16? Oh no. Brandan Wright can jump higher and looks great dunking the ball.

Idiots. No wonder some of these teams that have top picks year after year after year (e.g. Atlanta) never get any better.

They do it without shoes so you know exactly how tall they are. Do it any other way and there would be conspiracy theories about player heights.

I hope Hoford is gone by the time we pick. That will leave us with at least 2 of 3 choices: B. Wright, Conley, or Yi. I’d be very satisfied for any of the 3. Right now leaning toward B Wright.

I see also where Noah is refusing to work out for the Bucks. I know John Elway and Noah is no John Elway. Don’t even work Noah out, let him take that “punk” attitude somewhere else. Super huge blunder if we take Noah and some mocks have us taking this kid. If I have to have a Gator, I’d rather have Brewer and make trades.

I think Horforfd will be a better rebounder and certainly a better shot blocker than Gillam ever was. I’m not sure after three years Splitter will be any better than Horford. I think Horford is a safe pick. Splitter intrigues me but I’ve never seen him play.

As for Conley, believe it or not, I didn’t pay enough attention to him.

I like Hoford’s attitude and I like the fact that he plays “D”. B Wright in my opinion has much more upside than Hoford and a lot better fit for the Celts. I would also move Pierce if I got B. Wright.

If Perk can remain healthy, not a bad front line of Perk, Al and B. Wright. B Wright has Bosh likes skills and I think that’s exactly what the Cs need, plus Wright can defend, block shots and board.

B. Wright is the closest thing to Bosh. We could have made a deal and gotten Aldridge last year when Toronto was asking to move down, but Danny wouldn’t do it. I won’t be happy with Danny if he takes a lesser player like Hoford or Noah.

A Bosh, Aldridge, B Wright don’t come along too often. When Pierce has deteriorated or been traded in 3 years, we will be wishing we had the likes of an Aldridge/Bosh/B. Wright player.

Brandan Wright is nothing like Bosh. Wright can’t shoot. He’s just a dunker.

Well, I see NBA draft.net where they break down jump shots, etc. They give B. Wright a 7 out of 10 and there is room for improvement. However, the kid can do about everything else real well, (quick, pass, move without the ball, run on the break, athletic, size, good foot work, rebound, block shots, etc). And his potential is rated a “10”.

If he’s there at 5 and we don’t grab him, or Danny trades away the pick and he falls to 5, it will be sinful.

By the way Conley’s jump shot is rated a “6”.

wright will take time to develop, though. i’d rather have someone who can contribute right away. i don’t get too excited about a player’s athleticism and whatnot as much as i do their results. brewer and horford were both great college players. wright is a player who has potential to be great, but the word “potential” terrifies me.

bceltfan said:

“Well, I see NBA draft.net where they break down jump shots, etc. They give B. Wright a 7 out of 10 and there is room for improvement. However, the kid can do about everything else real well, (quick, pass, move without the ball, run on the break, athletic, size, good foot work, rebound, block shots, etc). And his potential is rated a "10”.

If he’s there at 5 and we don’t grab him, or Danny trades away the pick and he falls to 5, it will be sinful.

By the way Conley’s jump shot is rated a “6”."

Yeah but on Brickowski’s Basketball Brain scale (commonly known as the “BBB” factor), Conley scores a 9.937 (out of 10) and Brandan Wright gets only a 3.894.

The BBB scale measures actual ability to play (and win) basketball when there are nine other players on the floor and the score is being kept.

We aren’t NBA contenders, so why are we wanting results right now. B. Wright’s stats are about the same as Hoford’s and both are better than Brewers. Stats don’t say all, but B Wright and the other 2 all had fine seasons.

Brewer will come into the league being a lock down type defender, but his offense is a piece of work. Here’s what they say, “Brewer- excellent finisher in transition”. How many trasition opportunites are we going to get with Wally and Pierce in the line up? Here’s what else they say, “passing and ball handling need work”, his offensive game is “raw”.

So we take Brewer and if he, West, Wally/Piece, Perk and Big Al are all on the floor, we’ve got one guy who can play better than average defense. If Brewer can’t score on the NBA level, then haven’t we crapped away the 5th pick regardless of him being a great defender?

Hoford’s game is too similiar to Big Al’s and I can see both he and Al fighting for the same spot on the floor on offense. Same thing on defense. If the Celtics ever move Pierce and want to go uptempo, B Wright, not Hoford is the better finisher. We already have Al bringing down 10 boards on D, he will be fighting Hoford to see who gets credit for the board, while B. Wright can run the wing with Rondo, West, Allen. B. Wright is the better fit and the better pick IMO.

Yi is a total crapshoot and either he is going to make those teams that don’t pick him look real dumb or the NBA is going to swallow that kid up. Yi is much more the “gamble” than B. Wright is.

You don’t think Horford can run? He was one of the best running bigs in college basketball and can certainly handle the ball… why do you think Florida was so damn good? Because Horford and Noah could beat the press as bigs and wreak havoc running the floor. Not to mention, he has an excellent mid range jumper. Also, his basketball IQ is off the charts (Donovan called him the smartest player he’s ever coached) and he really passes well out of the post. I love the kid, but maybe that’s because he was the best player on the back-to-back national champions.

I saw Florida probably 7-8 times in their two NCAA championship years, mostly in the tournament. I thought their best player in 2005-06 was Noah, and their best player in 2006-07 was Brewer.

Well Brick, as I recall, North Carolina beat Conley’s Ohio State team when they played head to head. I already know your come back, “O.S. didn’t have Oden”.
Well how much does Oden fit into your BBB scale and are you given Conley extra bonus points becuse of Oden?

Granted, N.C. lost to Georgetown, but March Madness is truly madness. Ohio State could very easily gotten beat in the Sweet 16 game verse Tennessee. Ohio State won by just 1 point. If the Buckeyes lose that game, are Oden and Conley “losers”?

Ohio State was never really in the game verse Florida either, they lost a very boring championship game where they were down double digit points most of the game. Had Oden gotten into foul trouble and not gone 25/12 verse the Gators, this would have been a pure blowout.

It’s funny, but when I was so high on Aldridge last year, I got all this, Texas is a football school, don’t trust anybody coming out of Texas. Well a lot of people blew it thinking that way last year. Now Durant is from Texas and I don’t hear a peep out of them anymore about not taking Durant because the Longhorns are pigskin and they are “losers” in hoops.

No doubt Hoford can run. I’m not saying he can’t. He is more of a down low rebounder like Big Al, than he is running the break. My post, and my point again is that B. Wright is the better “finisher” on the break.

If you want a player that is going to help the Celts and Big Al and Perk are doing the dirty work under the boards, it is B. Wright you want on the wing finishing the break, not Hoford.

In a sprint contest getting down the court it is probably a tie. Who is more likely to put the bisquit in the basket- B. Wright.

So did you give Brandan Wright extra bonus points for Roy Williams, Tyler Hansborough, Ty Lawson and Reyshaun Terry?

Horford was Florida’s best player in the tournament this year, IMHO, but I digress. I’ve also watched Al since his freshman year, when he came in as an under the radar, unheralded prep player, despite being POTY of the year in Michigan for his class. Here’s what I do know:

1) He’s 6’10 with a 7’3 wingspan. Those are outstanding measurements. Height isn’t everything, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

2) He’s an extremely good passer, particularly out of double teams. He’s the one Florida went to when in a jam, and he, in affect, made Noah better. Joakim would even admit to you that Al is more talented than him and that he wouldn’t be the player he is today without Horford having his back. And, believe me, that’s not Noah being modest, it’s true.

3) His rebounding is outstanding. 9.5 a game in under 28 minutes is awesome production, but, more importantly, he knows how to rebound. He was blessed with large, soft hands, long arms, and a big frame. He uses those to his advantage and really has outstanding rebounding fundamentals.

4) He can really shoot the ball. A lot of people don’t know this, but his jump shot is actually quite good… out to 15 feet. The great thing, though, is that he doesn’t shoot them at an excessive rate and wander around the perimeter. He uses his jumper to set up his low post game.

5) He’s still only 20 years old, which indicates lots of room for potential growth in the future. He’s far from a finished product.

6) His defense is excellent. He understands positioning and footwork, and really moves well. There were times, especially in the 2nd round game against Purdue, where he guarded, successfully, Purdue’s perimeter players and forced them into bad shots. He’s also a fairly efficient shot blocker.

7) He has a tremendous basketball IQ and is a very hard worker. He’s improved his game tremendously over the three years he was on campus at UF and never settles for anything.

I know you’re not a big fan of his, but I just can’t see this kid not being a terrific pro.

I’m not trying to run Hoford down, he is going to be a decent pro. I’m saying with the #5, if a choice between the two, Danny had better take B. Wright.

Probably one, maybe both are gone by the time we pick at #5, so much of the argument will be mute, especially if Danny trades the pick away anyway.

For what we are, for what we have, for where we are going and where we want to be, I take B. Wright.

North Carolina was a #1 seed and deservingly so going into the tournament. I don’t think you label B. Wright a loser because they got upset in the elite 8.

Brandon Wright is what he is: a 6-10 athletic freak who (at the moment) doesn’t play basketball that well. As for Horford, he’ll be a decent pro (like Chris Wilcox or Drew Gooden) but nothing special. I’ve seen both of them enough times to have made up my mind.

I’ll say this. If Pierce was 6 years younger and we didn’t have Big Al, I take Hoford. I just think Pierce is on his last legs and I see more of Wright’s game complementing Big Al’s game then I do Hoford’s. Both Hoford and Wright are good defenders so I think either one is a good upgrade for our interior defense.

To me B. Wright is the best player available with the most upside that meets our team’s needs. I am thinking past Paul Pierce as I don’t think Pierce can get us into contention. If we didn’t have Rondo, maybe I lean more than I do towards Conley.
 
If I had my gambling face on, which tonight I don’t, I roll the dice with Yi.

I like Horford a lot more than you two do, but we all have our opinions. That said, if you’re looking for someone, defensively, to cover Jefferson’s butt and bring some toughness to the team, Horford is more suited for that than Wright. I’m just not a Brandan Wright fan. He has no jump shot, is frail, and just rubs me the wrong way. Then again, I could be completely wrong.

i keep hearing about wright’s speed, wingspan, athleticism, etc, but i’m not hearing much about his actual game. can this kid play basketball? that’s what i want to know. i don’t care about his wingspan if he’s not a good player.

i don’t even like horford too much, but even i’ll admit that the kid can play. he’s not just a completely raw, unproven commodity.

B Wright is 19, I think Hoford is only 20. From all the draft sites I read, I gather that Hoford will be “a good role player but not a star”- quote from Hoops Hype.

The main knock on Wright seems to be he needs to bulk up and could use a “mean streak”.

To me the strengths right now are his athleticism and feel for the game. He already is a great finisher around the rim. He’s got a 7’4" wingspan.

If you have a team with Rondo’s motor, West/Allen, Perk getting boards and making good outlet passes, and Big Al also tackling the boards, B Wright allows a better uptempo transition offense. This is what Danny wanted to do last year but of course we never were going to be that with Wally & Pierce.

This is a team that is not great defensively and struggles getting cheap baskets in transition. Wright upgrades us defensively (as does Hoford) and Wright gives us more of a scoring punch.

He’s rated a 7 out of 10 on his jumper which is average. With Roy Williams coaching the type of team the Tar Heels had, B Wright wasn’t asked to and wasn’t supposed to be shooting 15-20 footers. Their offense was not set up that way. So now, as a pro, this is what B. Wright has to do and prove. That plus bulking up.

Almost every site raves that he has the most “potential” outside Duran/Oden of any big man (ESPN). “He will be a major scorer in the NBA” (Yahoo Sports).

We didn’t get one of the top 2 dogs in the draft, so for me he’s the best alternative. I want a big dog out of the draft, and B Wright if available.

Brick may be right, Wright could be a “loser”, but I think at 19, you can’t write the kid off. Look at Gerald Green, going on 22 and we are still giving him time to develop.

I don’t think Wright is a loser. But he’s a project, like Marvin Williams. Maybe he eventually “gets it” and becomes a good player. Maybe he doesn’t.

With Marvin Williams, we’re still waiting.

A lot of sites knock Horford’s ‘potential.’ Why, I don’t know. He’s only 20, has improved considerably each season, and has all the traits you look for in a terrific pro PF. And now that his measurements have been revealed, the only true concern about Horford has gone away.

He may only be a ‘solid’ player, but he could also be more than that. Wright, OTOH, could be really good or really bad. I’ll take Horford, personally.

We need a big who can play lock down Defense and then go out and hit the longish jumper on offense to open things up for Jefferson. I’m having a hard time finding any prospect that fits that profile it’s either one or the other. Sure Yi can shoot, but he’s not going to stop anyone on Defense. Horford seems to be the other way around. Although he has a bit of a jumper he prefers to go down low on the block.

I respect your guys opinions and I see your points. Personally, I posted that if Big Al doesn’t start turning it around by about the All Star game, I think about moving him. Big Al got it and then some, and to be honest I thought it was maybe a 50-50 chance he would make big strides verse be a “wash out”. I see a bit of the Big Al situation with B. Wright and I guess because many of the pro scouts share the “potential” theme, I have grabbed onto that too.

As a long time frustrated Celtic fan, I hope and think B Wright might be part of the puzzle to get us into contention in another 4 years or so. I could be very wrong. I do think both Hoford and Conley will be good pros and I think either one will give us a very decent upgrade for where we are now.

FrieCod said:

“We need a big who can play lock down Defense and then go out and hit the longish jumper on offense to open things up for Jefferson.”

Tiago Splitter.

but we’d be idiots to take splitter higher than 15.

I live in the south, and have seen Florida play many times (in person a couple of times) over the last 3 years. I would love to have Tito’s boy, and I think he has the ability to eventually compare favorably to Elton Brand. But I too believe the point to be mute, or maybe even moot, because he will go at 3 or 4.

I haven’t seen Wright play as much as Horford, but my biggest problem with him is that I haven’t seen the aggressive streak. I want a player that loves to play the game and absolutely hates to lose, and I haven’t necessarily seen that in Wright. (I haven’t seen it in Oden either and that would scare me about him if I was Portland.)

I still think Conley goes at 3 or 4, but if he slips, take him. His size and his jumper worry me a little, but PG is the most important position outside of the franchise center.

If Conley and Horford are gone, I say take Brewer or (as much as it pains me to say it) Noah. Brewer needs to put on 15 pounds, but could be our version of Kirilenko, but with a better jumper. Noah, even though he does look like a pre-op trans-sexual, has the size and the fire I’m looking for. He hates to lose, and he blocks shots. We’re in dire need of both of those qualities.

Of course all of this will probably be in vain when Danny trades down and takes Thornton.

BTW Brick, outstanding Armon Gilliam reference. I haven’t thought about Armon and his fade in several years. Takes me back to those Tuesday/Friday late night games in Phoenix on TNT with KJ, Chambers, and Thunder Dan.

burning todd bridges said:

“but we’d be idiots to take splitter higher than 15.”

Why, because that’s where the “experts” have him slotted?

Brickowski = blowhard = overcompensating for lack of knowledge/understanding of the game

Knox Harrington said:

“Brickowski = blowhard = overcompensating for lack of knowledge/understanding of the game”

Thanks, O brilliant one with great knowledge of the game. Coming from you, I’m duly humbled.

Let’s see what happens when Splitter comes into the league, shall we?

Brickowski said:

“I saw Florida probably 7-8 times in their two NCAA championship years, mostly in the tournament.”

Wow, you’ve sure got it all figured out, having watched Al Horford play all of 7-8 times. I agree — based on Brickowski’s in-depth analysis of Al Horford’s game (including comparing him to a player, Armon Gilliam, who could hardly move), let’s pass on Horford in favor of a consensus stiff.

Brickowsi, there’s a fine line between creativity and sheer stupidity. Luckily, by proving that you really do know it all, you’ve convinced me that you’re on the right side of the line.

While size does matter the real difference between 6’9" and 6’10" or any other similar comparison matters very little in comparison to athleticism, basketball IQ and the “intangibles” that ultimately make one player great and another mediocre. While size, athleticism and basketball IQ can be measured or otherwise evaluated, the most important asset for greatness, the “intangibles”, is the most difficult to evaluate.

Rebounding is considered a very important component when evaluating bigs, but it wasn’t that long ago that Charles Barkley (6’4"?) did O.K. Not even considered good enough to make our Olympic Team, he went on to become an NBA MVP. So much for statistics and NBA talent evaluators. So arguements that base their sole support on college stats, raw athleticism, size etc. as the basis for rating talent are inherently flawed as yardsticks.

What seems to matter more is how the player performs against better opposition. We should be looking at all-around skill level (offensive and defensive). How a player scores in college (or high school) could be very different with how he must score in the NBA where comparable size and athleticism will be defending. In other words, look for players that can score in multiple ways, have speed and handles to get open shots, have the strength/elusiveness to finish on moves to the basket etc. None of these skill sets were mentioned when comparing Tiago, Brandon Wright, Al Horford….

Brewer’s defensive success in college combined with his size, lateral quickness and athleticism foreshadow similar success at the NBA level. But will it? Pick and rolls have reduced other defensive players to defensively “adequate”. What other skills will Brewer bring to the table. Josh Howard was once described as a “Jack of all trades but master of none”. As a collegian, did Brewer fill the stat sheet like Josh Howard did? What kind of “upside” can we project for Brewer (or others) when comparing year-year improvement? Has Tiago’s game substantially improved from age 16?

NBA scouting is a difficult art/science and the standards by which player’s are rated/graded largely determine scouting success. As bloggers, we have to become a little bit more sophisticated in our player analysis than relying on “inches” when more important yardsticks must be considered.

The biggest thing with Horford for me is that I don’t see his game as being complimentary to Al. They have the same type of game. I have my doubts Horford could play the 5, except only against the worst centers. If they take him, he probably won’t wow us, but he won’t disappoint us either. He plays hard on both ends….he’ll make the Celts better, though probably not as much as we need.

All of the guys we could get at 5 are flawed in a noticable way. We could point out defects in Brewer, either Wright, Conley, etc.

I’d much prefer Yi over Splitter. Yi still claims he was born in 1987. If so, I think he’s very intriguing.

No projects in this draft. Splitter (espec) and Ji (less so) have international experience. The Florida boys have been to 2 ncaa finals.

Good point on Brewer. His calling card his defense but will he be able to seriously upgrade the C’s just on that alone? There would be some improvement, sure, but enough? We would probably be better served improving our team defense than having an upgrade at just one spot. Unfortunately, I don’t think our team D can be that good when you have Pierce and Wally and Gerald out there on the court.

As someone noted the picks at #5 all seem to have some flaws. I sense that Ainge may just end up drafting someone like Jeff Green or Julian Wright. Players who have a pretty well-rounded game, as mentioned by Moskqq earlier. I’ve like Julian for quite a while. The other thing I could see Ainge doing his picking Conley at #5 then seeing if the trade offers improve even after the draft into the summer. For Frank’s sake, maybe Ainge will hold onto Conley when all is said and done.

Knox Harrington said:
  Brickowski said:

“Wow, you’ve sure got it all figured out, having watched Al Horford play all of 7-8 times. I agree — based on Brickowski’s in-depth analysis of Al Horford’s game (including comparing him to a player, Armon Gilliam, who could hardly move), let’s pass on Horford in favor of a consensus stiff.”

Armond Gilliam was a solid pro who averaged 14-7 over a 12 year career. If Horford produces the same kind of career that Gilliam did, the team that drafted him ought to be pleasantly surprised.

And I suppose you’ve seen Splitter enough to call him a “consensus stiff?”

We’ve been forewarned that the predraft workouts seldom form the major basis for draft choices but that the whole “body” of prior accomplishments is usually weighted more heavily.

What happens when three standout players (based on their collegiate experience) have the necessary body of work to establish their NBA potential, but find themselves pitted against each other in predraft workouts? Could this be a situation where the predraft workout takes on major importance?

Rumor has it that Conley will be pitted against Acie Law and Crittendon and then Law against Crittendon etc. Will sheer athleticism be enough for Conley to prevail? Acie Law predicts that he is the best point. But of even more interest IMO will be….

The next rumored trio to play against one another will be Al Thornton, Brewer and Julian Wright. Should be quite a show as they all have superb athleticism, somewhat similar size, so differences may come down to offensive/defensive superiority, handles, toughness, inside/outside game etc. The match-ups could very well affect the order in which they are eventually drafted irrespective of their college performance.

There is a risk in evaluating too heavily the outcome of predraft workouts. Conley may well find himself on the short end offensively when pitted against Law and Crittendon. What will be missing from that evaluation are other important abilities like COURT VISION, passing ability, ability to penetrate the paint, ability to take command and “run the show”.

Acie Law, when criticisized for not being a “pass-first” PG says that his team needed him to score because he lacked teammates that could shoulder that burden, unlike what Conley had at Ohio.

Similar shortcomings can be used in weighing the outcome of Brewer vs Thornton vs Julian Wright match-ups.

So the body of prior work, the level of competition, size, athleticism, skill set, predraft workouts and the ever elusive “intangibles” must be weighted and then compared to team needs before Stern calls the name.

Brickowski said:

“And I suppose you’ve seen Splitter enough to call him a ‘consensus stiff?’”

No, hence the word “consensus.” I don’t pretend to know more than the people who analyze draft prospects for a living or people who avidly follow the Spanish league. You haven’t provided any basis for your love of Splitter other than superlatives and uninformed speculation.

I give much more weight to Legend’s comments above. I sure hope that our next “lock down defender” can average more than .5 blocks per game in the Spanish league. Are you saying that Al Horford couldn’t do better than that?

As for Yi Jianlian, what scares me about him is the lack of competition in the CBA. This past season, Wang Zhizhi averaged 26.6 points and 9.5 rebounds!

i remember armon gilliam as a pro, do not recollect him in college but i doubt he wasn’t half as good as horford in college. i predict horford will far exceed armon as a pro. he can be a boozer type rebounder as well and the celts could use a double pf flooring with the two on opposite boxes. i have not seen splitter- can’t say anything about him. i like brewer much better than noah but noah would not break my heart and would be better down low than battie ever was.