Duncan was a center in high school and college. He was both in the NBA, but maybe 60/40 a center. Karl Malone was a power forward.
Willis Reed is another name. He played some 4, but mostly center.
2022 NBA Draft
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Willis Reed is another name. He played some 4, but mostly center.
Whatever, when people discuss Tim Duncan and the NBA it is as arguably the best Power Forward of all time because that was his primary. position. David Robinson, McDyss, Oberto, Thomas and others started at the 5 not Duncan. He is never, ever mention by NBA people as a center on any All Time line ups as a 5 but as a 4 because that's what he played,. I just looked at a dozen box scores and all had someone else starting at center besides Duncan .
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I should have said Duncan did play some center certainly but on All Time teams and most often he is discussed as a 4 and as arguably the best Power Forward of all time. I shouldn't get so fired up when folks nit pick. Duncan did play both primarily later in his career as he got older. However he is thought of by most as a power forward most often when folks reflect on his amazing career.
Anyway good luck Thursday night in the draft King Kofi.
Anyway good luck Thursday night in the draft King Kofi.
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I get the sentiment but our (the bulls) perimeter defense is already sus enough. Throw another big out there who will struggle in P/Rs with guards who already aren’t great perimeter defenders and you’re asking for trouble.
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This is why Lonzo is so important, one of the best perimeter defenders in the game. Pair that with the bulls intentions to move Vucevic and become a bit more athletic at the 5, then I could see Kofi going to them late as a back up center capable of contributing in certain matchups.
Regarding potential undrafted FAs for da Bulls, I think Diabate would be a better fit than Kofi.
We’ve needed a decent right hook since Portis left
I'm a bit surprised Diabate isn't mentioned in a lot of mock drafts. He is super raw, but is arguably the most athletic big man in the draft.
Diabate combine results:
Lane Agility: 11.16 (1st among centers)
Max Vert: 36 (1st)
Standing Vert: (2nd)
3/4 Sprint: 3.26 (1st)
Shuttle Run: 2.9 (1st)
Body Fat %: 2.7% (lowest among all NBA Combine participants)
He definitely would have benefitted from another year at Michigan, but I'm glad he's gone. He has a ton of potential.
Givony says there's some teams that have their eye on Kofi in the late 2nd round. I really think his floor is high enough to warrant a late 2nd selection.
This would be a big problem if kofi was playing starter mins. But as a back up center playing 10-15 mins per night, he has a lot of value. Put him on the floor w ball, caruso, ayo and Williams and i think he’ll do more damage than harm
Yes he would have been a PITA in the B1G if he had chosen to return.
Do you want that lineup to score?
Lucky for us that Diabate is choosing to develop that rawness in the G League rather than Michigan
2022 NBA mock draft: Final projections for all 58 picks - Sports Illustrated
Orlando appears ready to select Jabari Smith Jr. at No. 1 and more projections on draft day.
www.si.com
Only 4 Juniors and Seniors in the Top 20 picks in SI's mock nba draft.
So, not sure if this is exactly the right place to put this but I’ve been wondering, did Painter, who I respect as one of if not the best coach in our league, botch how he handled Ivey?
I get that he had 2 really good bigs, but it just seems to me Purdue’s offense isn’t designed to highlight a player like Ivey’s strengths. The lane was too clogged for him to really dominate like I think he could have. And it doesn’t seem like Painter adjusted his schemes at all, save maybe for the second half of the second Illinois game.
I just wonder if BU would have handled it differently. He scrapped pretty much his whole offensive and defensive schemes in favor of ball screens and drop coverage when Ayo and Kofi arrived. I think he would have made adjustments to get more spacing for Ivey to operate.
Holmgren is a unicorn and thus has the highest ceiling but I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Ivey winds up being the best player from this draft. Just not that many players in the league with his first step and explosiveness.
I get that he had 2 really good bigs, but it just seems to me Purdue’s offense isn’t designed to highlight a player like Ivey’s strengths. The lane was too clogged for him to really dominate like I think he could have. And it doesn’t seem like Painter adjusted his schemes at all, save maybe for the second half of the second Illinois game.
I just wonder if BU would have handled it differently. He scrapped pretty much his whole offensive and defensive schemes in favor of ball screens and drop coverage when Ayo and Kofi arrived. I think he would have made adjustments to get more spacing for Ivey to operate.
Holmgren is a unicorn and thus has the highest ceiling but I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Ivey winds up being the best player from this draft. Just not that many players in the league with his first step and explosiveness.
Bigtex
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Kofi was a good defender of his man but less than average rim protector and helper/swatter on others driving. Mountain of a man but not very quick reacting to doubles and passing out to open man.
When two of your best 3 players are true low post centers, I think its pretty tough to scrap that style of play. It's an interesting thought, and in hindsight maybe you are right, but I certainly wasn't thinking that way about them during the season. I really thought they could go far doing what they were doing. I assume Painter did as well.
I think Kofi has proven he can score against 85% of the centers that he is matched up with. They'll need to double him.
I have not looked exhaustively, just scanned, but just saw 2 that have Bob McAdoo as a center. One had Elvin Hayes. Dwight Howard seems to be exclusively listed as a center. My recollection is McAdoo was a power forward. Hayes played center in college, but was really a power forward. So for players who played both positions, how they show up on all time lists becomes fairly arbitrary.
Bob Pettit, who was an early version of a face up 5, is mostly on power forward lists. Power forward was not really even a position when he played. I noticed Dave Cowens makes lists as a center. He was kind of a 4 with post skills playing the 5. The Knicks did that with Jerry Lucas. They had the offensive skills to pull opposing centers away from the basket. Michigan played that way in college with CJ Kupek and Phil Hubbard playing center.
To me Duncan was a center who played some power forward. He had exceptional ball skills for his size. If he played now, he would probably extend his shooting range.
btw, one guy that is overrated imo -- Bill Walton.
texillwek
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*in college
The problem is that while Kofi got better at kicking the ball back out, he never got proficient at it. I read one article on the draft that noted his really bad assist to turnover ratio as a concern for NBA GMs. So while I'm not sure they'll "need" to double him, they probably will, he'll almost definitely not make them pay for it, and they'll probably take the ball away from him. I think that's the major concern with whether he can score in the NBA. The defensive concerns are even more glaring.
Best scouting stuff I heard regarding Kofi is that he's a scheme specific player but that he's nowhere near ready to play in the pros.
Amazing stat I heard with him was that in his 3 years in college he shot a total of 30 shots from outside of 9 feet. Not per year...total.
Amazing stat I heard with him was that in his 3 years in college he shot a total of 30 shots from outside of 9 feet. Not per year...total.
Kofi isn't a perfect player, but he was a really quick study and worked really hard at the things he needed to for us. Hope at least one NBA team knows that. And also, you can't teach size and man does he have that.
Murray will get all the pt he want, and Ivey just made Detroit something something.
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