# 2006 Draft Position Rankings



## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

This is not who I think will be picked first at each position, but a ranking of who I think are the best players. Strictly college guys, with the exception of Bargnani.

Point Guard:
Marcus Williams
Kyle Lowry
Mardy Collins
Jordan Farmar
Rajon Rondo
Quincy Douby
Darius Washington
Guillermo Diaz
Dee Brown

Shooting Guard:
Brandon Roy
JJ Redick
Ronnie Brewer
Randy Foye
Maurice Ager
Mike Gansey
Richard Roby
Allan Ray
Hassan Adams
Bobby Jones

Small Forward:
Adam Morrison
Rudy Gay
Rodney Carney
Shawne Williams
PJ Tucker
Steve Novak
Brandon Bowman
Steven Smith
James White
Louis Amundson

Power Forward:
Lamarcus Aldridge
Tyrus Thomas
Andrea Bargnani
Shelden Williams
Cedric Simmons
Paul Davis
Josh Boone
Paul Millsap
James Augustine
Nick Fazekas

Center:
Patrick O'Bryant
Hilton Armstrong
Aaron Gray
Kevin Pittsnogle
Ryan Hollins
Matt Haryasz
Solomon Jones
Yemi Nicholson
Justin Williams
J.P. Batista

After the top couple guys, the small forward class is extremely weak this year. There is some depth at shooting guard, even if it lacks standouts. The point guard class has gotten a lot stronger over the last couple weeks with the early entries. The big man are clearly the strength of this draft.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Where is Mustafa Shakur and why is Rodney Carney a SF? He's going to play the 2 in the NBA.


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## AZwildcats4 (Feb 9, 2004)

Ager and Gansey over Richard Roby? Other than that I pretty much agree.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

HKF said:


> Where is Mustafa Shakur and why is Rodney Carney a SF? He's going to play the 2 in the NBA.


Probably should have mentioned I only did the top 10 for each spot, point guard was easily the hardest to fill as I actually had to leave guys off, I should mention a fair amount of guys on the center and small forward list won't even be drafted.

The next two would be Gibson and Shakur.

I see Carney as being similar to Caron Butler (position wise, not game). He'll probably end up as a 2 eventually but it could take a couple years. I don't think his ball handling or mid range game is good enough to play the position as a rookie.

As for Richard Roby... I've never been impressed when I've watched him play. I don't think he's going to do much.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

You're too low on Dee Brown. Last year he dominated Chicago and unless he got hurt he was odds on to be a first round pick. His shooting percentage dropped this year, but let's be serious, he'll never be focused on in the NBA like he was in college and he definitely can run a team for 20 minutes a night. At the end of the first round, Dee is a known commodity.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Mike luvs KG said:


> After the top couple guys, the small forward class is extremely weak this year. There is some depth at shooting guard, even if it lacks standouts. The point guard class has gotten a lot stronger over the last couple weeks with the early entries. The big man are clearly the strength of this draft.


the big men are not the strength of this draft. just look at the guys you listed. after the top 4 power forwards(and i have questions about some of them too), i don't really see anything to be impressed by. a bunch of guys who will only play in garbage time in they manage to stay in the league. center is even worse. o'bryant might develop into a starting caliber center. other than that, armstrong can block shots and pittsnogle can hit 3s. if that's a strength, this draft may be the worst ever.

however, i do see several perimeter guys that should make an impact. that is where the real strength of this draft is. brandon roy is the best player in this draft and rudy gay and rodney carney aren't too far behind. then there are several capable pgs(williams, lowry, farmar, rondo, douby, brown) and some more role players on the wings(gansey, redick, novak, ager, morrison).


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## pmac34 (Feb 10, 2006)

Foye>Brewer


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## pmac34 (Feb 10, 2006)

rondo is 2nd best PG, you have dee brown underrated


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## NBADraftWorld (Apr 16, 2006)

Where is Shannon Brown? Did you forget about him? His athletic ability alone puts him ahead of guys like Gansey and Roby.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

NBADraftWorld said:


> Where is Shannon Brown? Did you forget about him? His athletic ability alone puts him ahead of guys like Gansey and Roby.


I left off a lot of guys who haven't hired agents. I've gotten the impression Shannon Brown will probably stay. 

If he does come out he is easily better than Gansey and Roby. I might take him over Ager.


I still say the big men are the strength of the draft (strength being a relative term, this is not a strong draft). That doesn't mean the center spot is strong, the center spot is never strong. Pittsnogle's a second rounder, I'm not talking about Pittsnogle. I'm talking about Aldridge, Thomas, Bargnani, Shelden Williams, O'Bryant, maybe Noah, Thornton, and Alexander Johnson. Josh Boone, Paul Millsap, Fazekas. Those guys will all be able to contribute. There is even good second round value with guys like Erick Hicks, Killingsworth, and Pittsnogle.

There are guys in the power forward group that have a chance to be stars. I like the point guard class, I think a lot of the guys are solid, but not special. There are some good shooting guards in the draft, but it's a very small group, expecially with Marcus Williams going back to Arizona. Ronnie Brewer is the only guy with any sort of size.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I like your ratings fairly well.I don't have any major disagreements.Can't talk about the Italian guy because I have no clue about him beyond what has been written about him.I think Ced Simmons is a pretty intriguing guy who may go higher than expected if he shows well in Chicago.Some people think he has a lot of upside and I like him a lot.

I don't know why anyone thinks that Rondo is still rated highly as a pg.He simply isn't.He lost his starting job at UK because the team was erratic and ineffective when he started at the point.He has no offensive game whatsoever unless he is in the open court.If there wasn't such a dearth of good points in this draft Rondo probably wouldn't get drafted.He certainly wouldn't have been drafted last year when there were at least six better PG's available.I think Douby will absolutely be drafted before Rajon and I really doubt whether or not ROndo can make it in the Association right now.The same thing goes for Dee Brown although I think he's going to go in the second round.If Darius Washington has any sense he will go back to Memphis and hire someone to teach him how to play point guard,because he sure as hell isn't learning anything from Calipari so far.


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## NBADraftWorld (Apr 16, 2006)

Diable said:


> I like your ratings fairly well.I don't have any major disagreements.Can't talk about the Italian guy because I have no clue about him beyond what has been written about him.I think Ced Simmons is a pretty intriguing guy who may go higher than expected if he shows well in Chicago.Some people think he has a lot of upside and I like him a lot.
> 
> I don't know why anyone thinks that Rondo is still rated highly as a pg.He simply isn't.He lost his starting job at UK because the team was erratic and ineffective when he started at the point.He has no offensive game whatsoever unless he is in the open court.If there wasn't such a dearth of good points in this draft Rondo probably wouldn't get drafted.He certainly wouldn't have been drafted last year when there were at least six better PG's available.I think Douby will absolutely be drafted before Rajon and I really doubt whether or not ROndo can make it in the Association right now.The same thing goes for Dee Brown although I think he's going to go in the second round.If Darius Washington has any sense he will go back to Memphis and hire someone to teach him how to play point guard,because he sure as hell isn't learning anything from Calipari so far.


Cedric Simmons along with Patrick O'Bryant are two guys that should soar after pre-draft workouts mainly because of their sizes. Simmons has great potential, and I like him as a prospect basically more than any other center in this draft. He's a bit raw, but could become a stud in the league.

Rondo gets rated a lot higher than he should because of his pure point guard abilities. He might be wild at times, but he can run an offense in the right system, and be a pretty darn good point in the process. He isn't a tweener like some other guys, and Rondo just has that court sense and passing ability that you look for in a point guard.

Darius Washington really is making a mistake by even putting his name out there, and he is so incredibly raw that he might need another two years at Memphis to be a first rounder IMO.

The guy that I absolutely love in this draft is Mardy Collins. He kinda reminds me of a better DerMarr Johnson / Joe Johnson hybrid. I think he might be one of the most successful guards in this draft with exception to Marcus Williams. He's probably a lottery pick right now, but that really depends on what some of the big men who haven't signed agents yet decide to do.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Being a Dermarr Johnson is not a good thing. Mardy Collins reminds of Reece Gaines and John Salmons.


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

Quincy Douby is no more a PG than Randy Foye...


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## jmk (Jun 30, 2002)

Why is Douby listed as a PG, and even further, 6th best?


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Jonathan Watters said:


> Quincy Douby is no more a PG than Randy Foye...


but at his size won't he have to "play" pg?

not that foye and allan ray is any different in that aspect.


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

I think Douby can handle the ball a little bit, but his game is definitely more suited for an off the ball type of role. Douby is undersized, but a talented enough scorer to make up for it. He can light it up from literally anywhere. There are plenty of shorter guards playing off the ball these days, and Douby could contribute as an off the bench scoring assassin sooner than you might think. Maybe it is the physical resemblance, but I think of Cuttino Mobley.


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## NBADraftWorld (Apr 16, 2006)

HKF said:


> Being a Dermarr Johnson is not a good thing. Mardy Collins reminds of Reece Gaines and John Salmons.



Yet being Reece Gaines and John Salmons is a good thing? That's somewhat strange.


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## Quasi-Quasar (Jul 18, 2002)

Jonathan Watters said:


> I think Douby can handle the ball a little bit, but his game is definitely more suited for an off the ball type of role. Douby is undersized, but a talented enough scorer to make up for it. He can light it up from literally anywhere. There are plenty of shorter guards playing off the ball these days, and Douby could contribute as an off the bench scoring assassin sooner than you might think. Maybe it is the physical resemblance, but I think of Cuttino Mobley.


Cat isn't much of a comparison IMO. Cat is wide and long, which makes him play more like 6-6 or 6-7... Douby is slight and plays even smaller... He reminds me of a taller, less skilled Eddie House a bit.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

NBADraftWorld said:


> Yet being Reece Gaines and John Salmons is a good thing? That's somewhat strange.


I didn't say it was a good thing. I said he compares to those guys. I'm actually really down on Mardy Collins. John Chaney hasn't had a very good NBA player since Eddie Jones, Rick Brunson and Aaron McKie were playing there in 1994.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

HKF said:


> I didn't say it was a good thing. I said he compares to those guys. I'm actually really down on Mardy Collins. John Chaney hasn't had a very good NBA player since Eddie Jones, Rick Brunson and Aaron McKie were playing there in 1994.


It's such an easy comparison to make, same high school, same college, point guard in a shooting guards body, etc... but he seems like the exact same player as Aaron McKie.

I don't think he's the guy for every team, but there are places he could go where he would be a great fit. He's the kind of point guard you pair with an undersized shooting guard so you can switch the matchups on defense. Which leads to an even further Aaron McKie comparison as staying in Philly is the obvious fit for him. 

Or maybe the whole Aaron McKie thing is just too obvious.

I think the highest he could go is to Seattle. If Seattle and Philly pass on him he'll probably slide late into the 1st round to the New Jersey, Memphis, New York crowd.


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## butr (Mar 23, 2004)

I will respectfully disagree with the PF rankings.

<<< will be better in his first year than the rest. I'm sure I'm in the minority. The large minority.

If you go by career, it is too hard to tell. SW is ready now, the rest are not.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

Shelden Williams.... 

Cedric Simmons scored 28 on him, Al Thornton dropped 63 and 21 in two game against him, Hansbrough dropped 27 and 10.... the list goes on. For somebody who is supposed to be a defensive player, he gets lit up a lot. And his offense isn't going to be nearly as good on the next level.

He could easily be more effective than Tyrus Thomas as a rookie (in the kind of way that Nick Collison is effective) as he's quite a bit older, but those other guys are clearly better prospects, and if you combined the big guy lists Patrick O'Bryant would be ahead of him too.


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## butr (Mar 23, 2004)

Mike luvs KG said:


> Shelden Williams....
> 
> Cedric Simmons scored 28 on him, Al Thornton dropped 63 and 21 in two game against him, Hansbrough dropped 27 and 10.... the list goes on. For somebody who is supposed to be a defensive player, he gets lit up a lot. And his offense isn't going to be nearly as good on the next level.
> 
> He could easily be more effective than Tyrus Thomas as a rookie (in the kind of way that Nick Collison is effective) as he's quite a bit older, but those other guys are clearly better prospects, and if you combined the big guy lists Patrick O'Bryant would be ahead of him too.


Yeah, Ben Wallace gets 30s put on him. Magloire outrebounded him 12-4. Is Ben Wallace a poor defender? Take that award back. I've argued his merits and in his favour against these kind of points before, but the other side has to be willing to look beyond numbers. Most can't.

You are looking at numbers. Numbers mean things. But they mean more in conjunction with watching the games. 

I'm not too worried about Olowokandi, I Mean O'Bryant. Tyrus might be a nice player. Aldridge is soft. Bargnani will be a perimeter player. Shelden is unique in that his role will be mainly defensive but his numbers, including FT% show he has an underrated O game.

But like I said, I'm in the minority.


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## jmk (Jun 30, 2002)

Shelden will be a journeyman at best in the NBA. A good 6 fouls worth.


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

TheGoods said:


> Cat isn't much of a comparison IMO. Cat is wide and long, which makes him play more like 6-6 or 6-7... Douby is slight and plays even smaller... He reminds me of a taller, less skilled Eddie House a bit.


I don't think Mobley plays like he's 6'6 - he's still basically a jumpshooter. He started his career as a combo guard that got on the floor because of he could handle a bit and get his shot off from anywhere. Douby has already mastered getting his shot off from anywhere, and is a better ballhandler than many people are giving him credit for. The styles of play are definitely similar...


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Jonathan Watters said:


> I don't think Mobley plays like he's 6'6 - he's still basically a jumpshooter. He started his career as a combo guard that got on the floor because of he could handle a bit and get his shot off from anywhere. Douby has already mastered getting his shot off from anywhere, and is a better ballhandler than many people are giving him credit for. The styles of play are definitely similar...


douby is listed at 6'3 175. mobley is listed at 6'4 215(though i don't know what he was listed when he was drafted).

height isn't that different, but it still is a large size difference.


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## butr (Mar 23, 2004)

Dark Knight said:


> Shelden will be a journeyman at best in the NBA. A good 6 fouls worth.


And Douby is the next superstar.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Dark Knight said:


> Shelden will be a journeyman at best in the NBA. A good 6 fouls worth.


Agreed.

Shelden = Trash.


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## Quasi-Quasar (Jul 18, 2002)

Jonathan Watters said:


> I don't think Mobley plays like he's 6'6 - he's still basically a jumpshooter. He started his career as a combo guard that got on the floor because of he could handle a bit and get his shot off from anywhere. Douby has already mastered getting his shot off from anywhere, and is a better ballhandler than many people are giving him credit for. The styles of play are definitely similar...


I'm not sure when the last time you saw Cat play was, but he posts up bigger players quite often... Earlier in the season he had his most memorable game against Lamar Odom... He dominated Odom playing him on the post quite often...


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## jmk (Jun 30, 2002)

blowuptheraptors said:


> And Douby is the next superstar.


Compared to what Shelden will do, yeah, you can call Douby a superstar.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Mike luvs KG said:


> Shelden Williams....
> 
> Cedric Simmons scored 28 on him, Al Thornton dropped 63 and 21 in two game against him, Hansbrough dropped 27 and 10.... the list goes on. For somebody who is supposed to be a defensive player, he gets lit up a lot. And his offense isn't going to be nearly as good on the next level.
> 
> He could easily be more effective than Tyrus Thomas as a rookie (in the kind of way that Nick Collison is effective) as he's quite a bit older, but those other guys are clearly better prospects, and if you combined the big guy lists Patrick O'Bryant would be ahead of him too.


This argument really brings your knowledge of basketball into question.If you had actually watched any of those games or any other game that Duke played this year you would know that Shelden was the only interior player in the entire NCAA who was truly left alone in the post to defend his man without any help whatsoever.You never see this in any game unless the other post player is a complete nonfactor offensively.Not one of those guys actually outplayed Shelden...Not Simmons,Not Thornton and not Hansbrough.

However if you leave a man one on one against good scorers they are going to score some times.That isn't exactly a novel concept,but it may go above the heads of someone who gets their knowledge from stat sheets or watches the game without seeing what is actually happening.

The simple fact is that Duke has focused upon defending the three point field goal more successfully than any other team in the NCAA because they had SHelden Williams.It is a philosophy that would be absolutely impossible w/o a dominant post defender.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

Diable said:


> This argument really brings your knowledge of basketball into question.If you had actually watched any....


Oh look, a Duke fan. Yes, I watched those games.

How much help do you think he's going to get in the NBA against better players?

Al Thornton outplayed him both times they met. Hansbrough outplayed him in the second game and Shelden did nothing in the first game.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Sheldon Williams, from what I've been able to gather from watching him play, seeing his stats, and talking to a friend who was at Duke practices I gather that he's the ultimate guy you want to force guards into. He's the kind of guy you want in the middle of a zone. He's not however, a great one on one defender and you can see that by all the huge games adequate big men have against him. Duke always tried to force the guards to drive baseline into Sheldon, they didn't really want post guys to go to work on Sheldon.


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## butr (Mar 23, 2004)

Mike luvs KG said:


> Cedric Simmons scored 28 on him


And Duke won by 23, SW with 21, 9 and 4 on 8 of 13.




> Al Thornton dropped 36 and 21 in two game against him


win by 1, 27, 13 and 4 on 8 of 14 an lost by 5 with 20, 16 and 4. (redick 10 of 28)




> Hansbrough dropped 27 and 10....


18, 15 and 6 in the loss to UNC. (Redick 5 for 21)

See a pattern? If you know anything about Duke, you know they make and defend 3s, when you do that the inside is left open. But that is the deal, trade 2 for 3 and you'll win on sheer math. Shelden gets left alone on most occasions. You'll note in those games, Shelden was not a weak spot and that you could say he "dropped X" on your listed player.

Bottom line is SW allowed Duke to play the way they and be successful. It should also be noted he was the only one to play well v. LSU in the end.


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## Darknight1996 (Mar 6, 2006)

t Guard:
Marcus Williams
Kyle Lowry
Mardy Collins
Jordan Farmar
Rajon Rondo
Quincy Douby
Darius Washington
Guillermo Diaz
Dee Brown

Shooting Guard:
Brandon Roy
JJ Redick
Ronnie Brewer
Randy Foye
Maurice Ager
Mike Gansey
Richard Roby
Allan Ray
Hassan Adams
Bobby Jones

Small Forward:
Adam Morrison
Rudy Gay
Rodney Carney
Shawne Williams
PJ Tucker
Steve Novak
Brandon Bowman
Steven Smith
James White
Louis Amundson

Power Forward:
Lamarcus Aldridge
Tyrus Thomas
Andrea Bargnani
Shelden Williams
Cedric Simmons
Paul Davis
Josh Boone
Paul Millsap
James Augustine
Nick Fazekas

Center:
Patrick O'Bryant
Hilton Armstrong
Aaron Gray
Kevin Pittsnogle
Ryan Hollins
Matt Haryasz
Solomon Jones
Yemi Nicholson
Justin Williams
J.P. Batista

How did you put Pittsnogle so high? All he does well is shoot outside


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

Darknight1996 said:


> Center:
> Patrick O'Bryant
> Hilton Armstrong
> Aaron Gray
> ...


He's a mid second rounder. Like I said, most of those guys won't even be drafted. Who on that that list below him would you rather have.

All he does is shoot the ball well.... at least he's guaranteed to do something well, unlike anybody below him on that list.


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## pmac34 (Feb 10, 2006)

Mike luvs KG said:


> Oh look, a Duke fan. Yes, I watched those games.
> 
> How much help do you think he's going to get in the NBA against better players?
> 
> Al Thornton outplayed him both times they met. Hansbrough outplayed him in the second game and Shelden did nothing in the first game.


no, half your rankings are retarded. im a UNC fan man...


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## PHXSPORTS4LIFE (May 8, 2003)

Jonathan Watters said:


> I don't think Mobley plays like he's 6'6 - he's still basically a jumpshooter. He started his career as a combo guard that got on the floor because of he could handle a bit and get his shot off from anywhere. Douby has already mastered getting his shot off from anywhere, and is a better ballhandler than many people are giving him credit for. The styles of play are definitely similar...



no, cat is unusually strong for his size also. he'll effectively post larger players. just watch the suns series. not only does he punish nash and barbosa in the post (yeah, yeah, real tough to do, i know), but he was taking marion down into the post. that's 3 inches shorter in the post and effective. mobley is long and plays long. he's so dangerous 'cuz he'll bust the jumper and if you rush out at him he can put it on the floor and explode. now can he take someone off the dribble? no. but that's maybe the only shortcoming in his offensive game.


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## pup2plywif (Dec 20, 2005)

Diable said:


> This argument really brings your knowledge of basketball into question.If you had actually watched any of those games or any other game that Duke played this year you would know that Shelden was the only interior player in the entire NCAA who was truly left alone in the post to defend his man without any help whatsoever.You never see this in any game unless the other post player is a complete nonfactor offensively.Not one of those guys actually outplayed Shelden...Not Simmons,Not Thornton and not Hansbrough.
> 
> However if you leave a man one on one against good scorers they are going to score some times.That isn't exactly a novel concept,but it may go above the heads of someone who gets their knowledge from stat sheets or watches the game without seeing what is actually happening.
> 
> The simple fact is that Duke has focused upon defending the three point field goal more successfully than any other team in the NCAA because they had SHelden Williams.It is a philosophy that would be absolutely impossible w/o a dominant post defender.


Sheldon wasnt exactly left alone in the post. McRoberts also played help defense in the post so he wasnt exactly left alone.
I also think that Sheldons stock will depend greatly on what his actual height measurement too. His height might be a reason why other college players were able to score on him so easily.


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