2006 Draft

Please feel free to post any draft eligible players, or request grades. This is also where the actual draft will take place.

[SpursGM]

Derrick Caracter.

I've personally seen him play, (considering Scotch Plains- Fanwood HS was a rival of my old highschool), and the kid has enormous amounts of talent. (Probably the hottest prospect out of Jersey since Wagner and Harrington.)

Though, he really isn't playing against much competition. Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS is not a "big anything" HS, so I think that all this hype about him may be over reacting. I say the kid should go to college, but then again, money talks. I don't think he's going to be a Amare Stoudamire or a Dwight Howard right off the bat.(Won't even compare him to Lebron.)

The kid has a bright future, no doubt, but I'd give him maybe 2-3 seasons in the NBA before he makes ANY significant impact.

[SpursGM]

Sergio Rodriguez shooting ratings should be raised to atleast a C+ C+.

Based on this

Rodríguez has very good shooting mechanics coupled with great quickness, but for whatever reason his shooting percentages are not very high from the perimeter. When he shoots the ball you think he will hit it, simply because of how smooth his form is, but then you see that his percentages are not exactly sharpshooter-esque. Other then that, he’s reliable from the mid-range area, and I think he will eventually be a good shooter, like Raul Lopez turned out to be. Physically he’s very fast and explosive, like Raul Lopez, but taller and with slightly superior leaping ability.

Yes, his percentages are low, as the article says, but FG% and ratings really don't go hand in hand.

Caracter is rated pretty well IMO.

Rodriquez isnt a scorer from everything Ive read. After training camp of his rookie season I expect him to be a C+ C or C C+ player, with his biggest attribute being his ball handling and assists. Giv me something that says he'll score in the NBA and Ill change my mind.

[SpursGM]

As noted above, Rodríguez needs to become a better outside shooter if he is to make it in the NBA. A Spanish ACB fan recently pointed out to me that he almost always puts the ball on the floor before shooting, and I think that’s absolutely true: he never really receives and shoots, he always dribbles first. That’s both an advantage and a disadvantage: to create your shot off the dribble is much more difficult as it requires a lot more skill, and he has perfected this technique. But there are times when if you have the space, you must square up your shoulders and shoot as quickly as possible. So he might be complicating things more then necessary. But this is a fixable weakness, and I think its cause is closer to an unconscious movement (he’s very used to create his own shot) than to a technical defect, because the second kind of shot (the stationary one) is much easier and it’s also the more conventional one.

While it does critique his weak outside shooting(which also states that it is very much fixable), it says that he can great a shot off the dribble with ease, and that's the reason why his IN should atleast go to a C+. What makes me think that he can do this in the NBA....

I saw the game against Oak Hill (Josh Smith’s school amongst many many others- the #1 high school in America) and he absolutely held his own. Rajon Rondo scored 55 points, but Sergio was never defending him. He was defending KC Rivers, who was playing as a SG [Rivers scored 22 points on 7/13 from the field, 6/9 for 3’s]. Rajon Rondo did defend Sergio, and the Spaniard beat him one on one every time. This game was to me a confirmation of Sergio’s status as a young superstar. No one from his team (Estudiantes) was capable of beating his defender one on one. The Americans quick hands were just too tough for them, and they were afraid to dribble. At best, they dribbled a little just to take a couple of steps but never shaking loose of their defender. They never broke the defense to force rotations and create open shots for others. So from the fifth minute of the game, Estudiantes’ coach understood that it was impossible for the rest of the players to beat thier defenders with their static offense, and decided that every Estudiantes play should start with Sergio beating his defender (not with the typical pass to a wing player). The result: he had to play an unbelieveable amount of one on one basketball, perhaps 80 times, and he almost always succeeded. To me, just the simple fact of thinking about the mental and physical challenge of having the duty to break and create on every single play is exhausting in itself. The boy played 40 minutes and he did it on almost every possession. From that point (5th minute), Estudiantes held it’s own against Oak Hill: Sergio started splitting the defense and passing the ball wonderfully. The passes would sometimes be to a perimeter player, who then had a good amount of space from his defender who was recovering his position from rotating. In these situations it was possible for the Estudiantes players to beat their matchups by attacking the basket when they were unbalanced coming back from the help, so they could force more helps from other players. Sergio wreaked havoc, and could have dished out about 20 assists to the paint players. The problem was: Estudiantes’ big men are all under 6-7, and very unpolished, so they got blocked every time they went up because they were trying to pump-fake and just generally shooting with fear. Had his teammates been better, capable of dunking from a static position under the rim if they received the ball alone (like Josh Smith was doing) he would have got 20 or 25 assists, and I’m not exaggerating. Everything Estudiantes did started with him. The few plays that (in order to get some rest) he passed the ball without breaking the defense, ended with a turnover, a block or an airball. Estudianes, with Sergio and Carlos Suárez aside, is a pretty poor team. Somehow they managed to get to halftime down by just 2 points, after actually leading after the first quarter. They were only down by 12 after the third, but ended up losing by 36. For Oak Hill this was their only game in Spain that they actually had to break a sweat to win. Estudiantes with Sergio Rodríguez was the only team that played them to win, not to lose by as few points as possible. The entire game Rodríguez was playing with a huge amount of flair- behind the back passes, using screens to throw split passes between two defenders (ala Ginobili), dribbling between his legs and then taking the ball with the same hand and then behind the back... Rodríguez wanted to prove to Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo and the rest of the fantastic Oak Hill team that he was one of them.


Long article, haha, but good read.

I think that a C C grade pre training camp will be C+ C or C C+ after training camp. I do a good amount of research on how TC's affect players, and the ratings are based on what I think player will look like after TC's. I wouldnt feel comfortable with Rodriquez as a C+ in either in or out scoring before TC, because it would then be possible he could have a B- in either his rookie season. A one grade jump is pretty common in TC's expecially for A potential guys. Point guards score with much lower scoring grades, check the league. I still dont feel a C+ in either is warranted. He is a great ball handler, and good penetrator, but to me the chance that he could be a B- as a rook is just unrealistic.

[Jayborne23]

Justin Catchens d- b d a- c- c- c-

[SpursGM]

a little small detail but Caracter is no longer at Scotch Plains he transferred to St. Patricks