[2021] Cricket's Big Board - 70's Night

[cricket]

Unless I trade picks (?) then most likely I am going to draft someone in the first round at or above 80, and in the second round at or below 69. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to do a Big Board style thing for those prospects in the 70-79 range.

 

Disclaimers:

• This does take production into account, but not always the nature of the team the player was on (a bit much to do for this kind of quick hot-take analysis)
  
• Some of the higher players might be rated above some of the 80+ guys on my list (might...)
  
• Some of the lower players might be rater below some of the <70 guys (might...)
  
• This does not consider team needs or positional meta (e.g., a Microball team having little use for the PF/C positions)
  
• Players will be ordered 1-whatever, but on my actual board this is not their real rank (think a bit lower)
  

 

Rankings:

1. SG Darin Bowman
   
2. C Roger Turner
   
3. SF Dennis Hall
   
4. SG Martin Bailey
   
5. SF Johnny Hall
   
6. PG Thomas Williams
   
7. SF Jesse Rodriguez
   
8. PG Arthur Smith
   
9. SF Ryan Wilson
   
10. C Len Shultz
    
11. C Lawrence Baker
    
12. PF Thomas Goodman
    
13. SF Stephen Bryant
    
14. PG Ali Bunnell
    
15. SG Mark Ross
    
16. PG Devin Houston
    
17. PG Rich Valasquez
    
18. SG Victor Adams
    
19. SF Ronald Lucas
    
20. SF Reid Beltran
    
21. ??? (See Discussion)
    

 

 

Discussion:

 

I think there is a top three in this category, and to be honest it was difficult to slot each of them into a particular place. I felt real bad putting Dennis Hall at 3, despite his overall being the highest, and his shooting being outstanding (best 2PT% and FT% in this grouping. What dropped Dennis Hall for me was the 2-star recruiting ranking and the B- potential, both of which were lower than his peers. I would bet that Bowman reaches a better shooting than the numbers suggest from last year based off that amazing potential, and at 6-4 he's one of the biggest guards. For Turner this is probably a, what do you value, play. A Center with 18/20/18 for Finishing, Rebounding, and Defense though is probably a big value add somewhere; also, note that FT% despite the Shooting score.

 

Bailey jumped out above the next grouping of guys, with his size, shooting splits, and potential; he is probably closer to that top three than the rest, and I would not argue if someone put him higher.

 

Five through Nine was an interesting group of players. Ryan Wilson and Arthur Smith feel a little low here, but I knocked both of them for some flaw. For Smith it was the 3PT% shooting; those numbers were hideous for a PG. Perhaps if you can live without that, or if you think he would be better in the NBA with this, then he probably goes higher on this list with just about everything else he brings to the table minus the defense. For Wilson this is mostly a knock on his combined pedigree and potential, but the skills are there for a team that will want a quicker impact player. Johnny Hall is an archetype of a slasher with some good defense to boot, and just like with Turner that FT% is enough to keep him out of trouble for me. Williams and Rodriguez were pretty close together, but Williams brings a little more overall in my perspective based on position. That said, if you need a SF, Rodriguez looks like he might be a good all-around guy to plug into a roster.

 

Shultz versus Baker is going to be such a fascinating comparison. This is really a case of what do you want in your Center? Both are similar height, Junior underclassmen, with B potential. I put Schultz ahead solely because of his 76 to Bakers 75 and his more traditional game, but I will not argue with anyone who flips that order at all. If you want the small-ball hybrid of those guys, this is where Goodman comes in. That 2PT% worries me, but he's a monster Rebounder and the right team might really like running him at certain spots. Bunnell purely drops this low on potential because he is a Junior, but he seemed to fall in place here on the board based off his numbers. Bryant's shooting splits and attributes gave me a little pause, but if he works on that a bit there is no reason he could not be a great 3-and-D piece with a little extra creativity for a good team.

 

Mark Ross is in a bit of a category of his own, because I think he's just under someone like Bunnell but over most of the other guys. He will probably have a nice long career as a second-unit microwave guy, which is something I think you will see a lot in the next few players. Ross though has a higher ceiling and a higher starting point than most of them, and that puts him here.

 

Victor Adams breaks up two different dueling pairs of players. A team looking for an immediate starter in a weak group or rotation guy will probably rank him higher than this, but that low ceiling limits some of his future usefulness. I picked Houston over Valasquez due to age, 3PT%, and Defense which seems weird to say, but both have good size, potential, and Shooting. Lucas versus Beltran is another one of those, what do you value, picks, and both will likely have to make more of a contribution as role players due to potential. Lucas has some tantalizing attributes which if the potential were better would vault him much higher, while Beltran will give you contributions on each phase of the game which is definately something to speak about at the SF position.

 

Past this point things got really hazy. There are probably guys in this level who should go higher based on what a organization values. For now I am going to pause, but I will come back and edit this once I shuffle those last few guys in. Some of them might rank up, but we will see.

 

 

 

Comments:

 

It would be great to hear some discussion around this list. I know for some of you it might be sensitive to reveal things, and I get it I did not rate the 80+ guys out of that, but some chatter would be great.

[Bingo415]

Coached both Hall boys last year at CU. Dennis Hall is remarkably consistent. Just plugged away at 15-20 a night. Johnny Hall filled up more of the stat sheet, however. JH was our best assist man, and a better rebounder than Dennis.

 

I agree the B- is a knock on Dennis, I'm just not completely convinced he's even the best HALL in this tier.

[cricket]

In lieu of editing the OP, I will state that I will rank the 21 and below players here (and later edit OP). I will also respond to some commentary too.

 

 

21. SG Tyrell Wooldridge

22. SG Shawn Johnson

23. PF Steve Henderson

24. SG Frank Ward

25. PG Ronald Hill

26. C Antoine Blythe

27. PG Darin Quinn

28. PG Lynwood Funk

29. SF Keith Sanchez

30. PG Earl Diaz

31. PF Gene Cortez

32. C Erick Mclaughlin

33. PF Demarcus Haller

 

 

 

These ranks are tough to give out at this point, and I could easily see how someone would shuffle some value depending on that their team needed. More flexible positions, especially in the backcourt, could be valued higher (partially reflected here). Someone very limited like Antoine Blythe, on the other hand, might be an absolute gem for someone willing to play with a traditional five-man.

 

The Hall debate is so interesting. Johnny has more ups and downs, but slightly more potential. Dennis is more solid overall, and slightly higher starting. Anyone who values one over the other, is probably going to lean that way.

 

Sage mentioned Ryan Wilson being a major enigma, to which I agreed with. Someone will have to figure out the best way to use him, and I suspect that will be someone picking in that lower first/upper second round where the picks bleed together. I don't think his draft stock is totally busted, but someone in a more win-now mode might really like him.