The future of Australian Basketball feat. Thon Maker

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Jesus. Didn't expect to see that kind of scoreline.

Folks will question now how if Ben is as good as advertised, how he couldn't elevate Tigers into at least the tourney. Think it's system more than anything, but if Ingram has a great campaign then...who knows.
 

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splendidham

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"Making the case for and against Simmons

For months, NBA scouts and GMs have insisted Simmons is the no-brainer No. 1 pick in the draft. In November a longtime GM told me, "Anyone who doesn't have Simmons No. 1 should be fired."

But there have been cracks in the consensus. Multiple teams have started to question whether it's a foregone conclusion.

On Saturday, that same GM backed off. "I stand by those comments in November," he said. "There wasn't anyone even close. But as the season has gone on, I think he hasn't improved and other guys have.

"When guys don't improve, I get a little nervous. I thought he'd get more comfortable with his jumper. He'd start molding this team into a cohesive unit.

"It's gone the opposite direction. I still love him as a prospect, but I've got a lot more question marks."

It hasn't helped that Duke's Brandon Ingram has emerged as a real competitor to Simmons. Ingram can score, and his length and agility allow him to guard multiple positions.

Ingram's very thin, with a streaky jumper. But he plays really hard. He's shown toughness. He defends. And he can shoot.

And he'll probably play several games in the NCAA tournament, where a strong performance could vault him ahead of Simmons on the draft board for some teams."

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insi...n-simmons-lsu-deserve-nba-no-1-draft-pick-nba

In spite of Ben being the superior player, I said it before, I believe Ingram has a real shot at number 1 and that's even with his terrible shooting as of late. I hate saying that. He needed to show some passion and drive, instead he bounces a ball really high, gets a tech and that's as much emotion as we see


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Yeah you are right. Not being number 1 would also take some of the pressure off I think as well


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He's going at 1. This stuff happens every time there's a foregone 1.

The only way I see it not happening is if a team gets pick 1 who has a different need, but the other guy in the frame (Ingram) isn't a fundamentally different player - he just has less tools.
 
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He's going at 1. This stuff happens every time there's a foregone 1.
It's far from that conclusive though, just look at Okafor last year. Consensus no.1 since high school and about two thirds of the way into the college season, before KAT just completely surpassed him.

Same was going to happen with Wiggins and Embiid the year before, until Embiid needed surgery on his foot before the draft.

Anyway, lead up to the draft is going to be fun.
 

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splendidham

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He's going at 1. This stuff happens every time there's a foregone 1.

The only way I see it not happening is if a team gets pick 1 who has a different need, but the other guy in the frame (Ingram) isn't a fundamentally different player - he just has less tools.
But there are teams with different needs. And Ingram has demonstrated he can shoot the ball, even if he has shot poorly recently. While Ben is the better player in my opinion, he hasn't done anything t demonstrate that


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djrossie

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Ultimately he made a bad choice going to LSU but that's obvious considering he went for personal reasons rather than having a good unbiased look at their program, personnel and playing style. It's a lesson to all big ticket prospects coming through. The turning point for me was that Oklahoma game when he wasn't put in a position to impact the game when he was playing well. Despite all this his stats hold up, he's a freshman and aside from the issues with shooting everything else looks solid as a rock. I think it would be a brave team to pass on him at no 1.
 

didaksrightfoot

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It won't be the worst thing if he doesn't go number 1, he's still going top 3 and will be looked to as a potential franchise player by whichever team gets him, not going number 1 takes a lot of pressure off.
This.

I think he still goes 1 - but a big tournament from Ingram could change that.

Personally, I couldn't care less if he's 1 or 2 (or 3). We do know that he has some clear deficiencies in his game, but also has some strengths that are probably not far from being NBA All-star level. (very reminiscent of Okafor).
Going 1 and there will be this sudden pressure for him to be a superstar and be able to carry a team, while I think dropping to 2 or 3 will give him more leeway in being able work on those deficiencies a bit more out of the limelight.

I guess the downside of that is that it will be the guys paid to make those decisions no longer consider him the best prospect of the bunch.
 

didaksrightfoot

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Ultimately he made a bad choice going to LSU but that's obvious considering he went for personal reasons rather than having a good unbiased look at their program, personnel and playing style. It's a lesson to all big ticket prospects coming through. The turning point for me was that Oklahoma game when he wasn't put in a position to impact the game when he was playing well. Despite all this his stats hold up, he's a freshman and aside from the issues with shooting everything else looks solid as a rock. I think it would be a brave team to pass on him at no 1.
Does anyone else think he just thought he would be good enough to succeed in any environment, and was probably chasing the fairytale (getting LSU to some success in March) rather actually looking at what would be the best situation to be in?
 

Happy Mastenator

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Does anyone else think he just thought he would be good enough to succeed in any environment, and was probably chasing the fairytale (getting LSU to some success in March) rather actually looking at what would be the best situation to be in?
He probably thought highly rated players in Blakeney and Quarterman wouldn't completely shit the bed in games, and that Hornsby and Victor would play more than half the season.

They should have qualified for the tourney fairly comfortably if two out of the four above either delivered, or played more.
 

splendidham

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Blakeney played pretty well towards the end though. Ben and him are pretty close or were as far as I know. Blakeney really played a team role earlier when his shot wasn't falling and played with probably the most passion on the team when it started going in. Ben was also the one who recruited Antonio, not JJ. He wouldn't have gone to LSU if Ben weren't there.
I feel the problem was there are a few too many borderline NBA prospects on that team, the one standing out being Tim Quarterman. He was supposed to be a 1st round pick this year and then you have Ben and Antonio coming in, taking away all his attention, taking away his role essentially. Was like, everytime Ben made a play, it seemed like Tim needed to match it. He'd take a lot of ill advised 3s, make wild passes that led to turnovers etc nobody seemed to fill the roles that they were supposed to. It didn't help that there center is soft as butter and no actual real point guard play when Ben was in the post.
I don't want to single out just Tim though. Surely everyone on that team was so sick and tired of hearing only about Ben. They also have careers they are aspiring to, yet when they play well, who is in the post game interview. That's why aben really should have gone to another team with established stars, if not one of the big programs like Duke or Kentucky


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Gak Attack

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Blakeney played pretty well towards the end though. Ben and him are pretty close or were as far as I know. Blakeney really played a team role earlier when his shot wasn't falling and played with probably the most passion on the team when it started going in. Ben was also the one who recruited Antonio, not JJ. He wouldn't have gone to LSU if Ben weren't there.
I feel the problem was there are a few too many borderline NBA prospects on that team, the one standing out being Tim Quarterman. He was supposed to be a 1st round pick this year and then you have Ben and Antonio coming in, taking away all his attention, taking away his role essentially. Was like, everytime Ben made a play, it seemed like Tim needed to match it. He'd take a lot of ill advised 3s, make wild passes that led to turnovers etc nobody seemed to fill the roles that they were supposed to. It didn't help that there center is soft as butter and no actual real point guard play when Ben was in the post.
I don't want to single out just Tim though. Surely everyone on that team was so sick and tired of hearing only about Ben. They also have careers they are aspiring to, yet when they play well, who is in the post game interview. That's why aben really should have gone to another team with established stars, if not one of the big programs like Duke or Kentucky


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I don't think Duke would have been great for him either, not really into one and done's. I just don't get what LSU were doing not utilizing Ben more, if they didn't want to run more for him because he would be gone after one year, why get him at all? Just an extremely poor run program.
 

Happy Mastenator

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I don't think Duke would have been great for him either, not really into one and done's. I just don't get what LSU were doing not utilizing Ben more, if they didn't want to run more for him because he would be gone after one year, why get him at all? Just an extremely poor run program.
That's changing, they've got Ingram, and they're about to add at least 2, and possibly 3, next year who will be aiming to play only one year before leaving.
 
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