Hello there, NBA Draft enthusiast. You've been busy studying up on 2012 NBA Draft prospects and now your opinions on players are starting to calcify as draft day approaches, right? When the name Tyler Zeller comes up, you have an opinion. If I say "Terrence Jones," something pops into your mind. Same goes for everyone else that might be in the Milwaukee Bucks' range at pick No. 12 -- Austin Rivers, Kendall Marshall, Perry Jones III, Terrence Ross, Meyers Leonard and Jeremy Lamb.
In the spirit of reinforcing the inherent uncertainty of the draft process, I have designed a quick test to see if we really know what the heck we are talking about when strong opinions are formed on players yet to touch an NBA court. Projection is a tough business (I've been wrong enough times to know that I'm not a reliable source of scouting wisdom), but let's see if you can pick John Henson out of a lineup....
I have assembled direct quotes from Draft Express scouting reports on three players: John Henson, Hassan Whiteside and Larry Sanders. Any identifying language has been scrubbed from the quotes, but otherwise this is stuff straight from a very respected source. If you recall, Whiteside was selected with the No. 33 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings and Larry Sanders got plucked by the Bucks at No. 15 overall in the 2010 NBA Draft. Henson is considered a top-10(ish) pick in the current class. Should be pretty easy to pick out which column is for Henson, right? Let's call them players A, B and C (going left-to-right) for now:
"Though he remains largely an unpolished prospect, particularly in terms of his footwork, post-moves and decision making ability, he shows flashes of potential in many different areas, namely his ability to put the ball on the floor, knock down mid-range jumpers and utilize his tremendous length to score inside."
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"[His post game is unconventional in style, something that stems largely from his very unique physical characteristics, namely his very long legs and superb coordination and balance for his size."
"His ability to finish consistently outside 10 feet is not great at this stage, as his jump shot is still unreliable and he uses face-up drives sparingly."
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"[His] main intrigue continues to revolve around extremely rare physical tools, as he is an excellent athlete with a freakishly long wingspan. His frame continues to fill out, but there is still plenty more he can do to continue to add strength, which is a big key for his development."
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"His main issue revolves around his extremely underdeveloped frame, which hinders him on the offensive end, but more importantly makes him a constant target for post-up plays and renders him an exceptionally poor man to man defender against average college big men."
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"Projecting his post game to the next level, there are some significant question marks, namely in how he will adjust when his notable lack of strength becomes more of an issue."
"While there are some questions about [his] ability to not get backed down in the post at the next level due to his slight frame and average toughness, he makes up for it somewhat by using his smothering length to block shots in man-to-man situations."
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"A significant question mark, however, surrounds his strength and frame. Though he has wide shoulders and looks capable of adding muscle in the future, he does not appear to have improved his frame substantially [at his NCAA school], which may make things difficult for him in the NBA at times."
"Athletically, he will be among the elite at the next level, boasting excellent explosiveness, mobility, and quickness for a player with his size."
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"As a weak-side shot-blocker it’s an entirely different story, though, as indicated by the fact that he led the entire NCAA in this category on both a per-game and per-minute basis, which is extremely impressive considering the stage of development he’s currently at. [He] possesses freakish length…and he has absolutely terrific timing rotating, contesting and rejecting shots. He’s one of the most productive rebounders in college basketball for these same reasons."
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"While [his] offensive game is still raw and developing, the same cannot be said for his defense and rebounding, which are his strongest selling points in terms of immediate impact. [His] tools on this end are phenomenal, and he does an excellent job utilizing them.
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"[He] is an extremely good shot blocker, combining his incredible length, athleticism, and timing to alter a tremendous amount of shots over the course of the game. Though his tendency to gamble causes him to bite for fakes around the basket, there is no denying his ability as an anchor in the post, the kind of player that can alter a team's game plan by his presence."
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It's obvious at this point which one is Henson (right?), so I won't even bother to explain which scouting report is associated with which player. Make your votes and I will explain in the comments tomorrow if you haven't already ruined the surprise by checking DX. Don't cheat yourself!