Sensabaugh is one of the best shooters and easily the most efficient volume scorer in a class littered with snipers. There’s an impressive smoothness and poise to Hood-Schifino’s game, though he is an older freshman and will be 20 by draft night. The 6-foot-6-inch big guard is a stellar ball-screen operator, flashing pace, craft and feel as a passer in pick-and-roll setting, with the ability to rise above defenders in the mid-range and get all the way to the cup. Strong group of that includes two players in the '23 class (Missouri's Kobe Brown & UCF's Taylor Hendricks) /CTIcmMxTBC- HoopsWill April 9, 2023īoth Sensabaugh and Hood-Schifino made the 22-23 Big Ten All-Freshman team, with Hood-Schifino taking home Freshman of the Year honors. Wanna know how many players in NCAA Division I basketball matched Hendricks’ 5.9 block percentage, 61 made threes and 36 made dunks as a freshman in a major conference this past season? Zero.Īll 'high-major' players since '08 to hit the following minimum thresholds: Same goes for Hendricks, whose jack-of-all-trades defensive skillset and off-ball scoring in a stout 6-foot-9-inch frame are tailor-made for the modern NBA. That’s still worth a top-10 draft pick given his positional value and athletic traits. While there’s admittedly a gap between Amen and Ausar, the latter twin is still a high-level athlete that projects as a versatile wing defender, budding catch-and-shoot threat and a nightmare in transition. ![]() He’s a similar prospect to Miles Bridges athletically but with significantly more upside as a shot creator and defender.Īusar Thompson, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh and Jalen Hood-Schifino are a few more lottery prospects I’m a bit higher on than others. Cam Whitmore is a clear-cut top-five prospect for me despite the limitations and utter lack of production as a playmaker at Villanova the amalgamation of brute strength, lateral and vertical explosiveness separation ability, shot creation off the dribble, shooting touch and defensive activity, all while being one of the youngest players in the class (Whitmore doesn’t turn 19 until July 8) is wildly enticing to me. He damn near teleports around his defender.ĮXCUSE ME AMEN THOMPSON?!?! /kgwkl5mgc0- NotZay OctoTier 2: Perennial/potential All-Star prospectsĪ couple of “my guys” from this class land in this tier. Still, Amen’s first-step burst, quickness in tight quarters and sheer speed in the open court make him look like he’s playing basketball at 1.5x speed and I find it hard to believe he’s only making athletic plays like the one embedded below because he’s on the court with lesser talent than himself. Yes, the questions about his translation as an athlete, passer, defender and scorer from Overtime Elite to the NBA are real - but the talent pool in that league has deepened since last season to the point where the Thompson Twins are regularly facing off against fellow draft prospects, albeit none with apparent top-five pick potential. However, there’s a third player I’d include in this lofty group Amen Thompson. Otherwise known as the “Wemby and Scoot” tier in this class. Tier 1: Perennial/potential All-NBA prospects Here’s the first iteration of the At The Hive Top-100 for the 2023 NBA Draft class. ![]() I’ll break down the notes by tiers to highlight risers, fallers, sleepers, and players we’re higher/lower on than the consensus. Each update will be accompanied by a post like this one, which essentially act as open notepads for my thought process while evaluating these prospects. The Top-100 can be viewed there whenever one sees fit and will be updated periodically until the final version of this cycle is released on draft day, June 22. Thanks to Jon, the new At The Hive site has a very cool feature where our NBA Draft Big Board is featured under it’s own heading on the homepage. Victor Wembanyama is a Charlotte Hornet, at least until May 16 (manifesting that slogan worked quite well for me with LaMelo Ball in 2020, for what it’s worth. This period of the draft cycle between March Madness and the lottery is perhaps the most enthralling for fans of lottery teams - anything is possible, yet nothing is overly probable, and it’s somewhat reasonable to envision any top-15 prospect landing in their respective city. It’s been about a month since I’ve written anything substantive, so why not go back to the well and pump out some good, old-fashioned draft content. ![]() I hope everyone’s been enjoying the independently-operated At The Hive so far. Just when you all thought you’d gotten rid of me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |