• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2019 NBA Draft

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Brunson looked much better in Preseason and DiVicenzo perhaps was overdrafted, but he will find a good role. He does it all on the court.

What I said has no bearing on what they will become as far as NBA players. Just that both of them were the engine of that Villanova team.

I swapped Mikal with Miles and I really do think he can be real good. His ability to finish with both of his hands and his ability and willigness to play big in the post almost secures it for me. Ambidextrous players succeed..it's a fact lol.

What do you think of Shai Gilgeous Alexander so far?

And Sexton?

SGA has been as expected, really good. I still don't buy he'll ever develop a 3 off the dribble. I think he'll be top 5 in ROY voting, but don't think there's that much room for growth without adding that shot. He's so far advanced in his slashing game already. I like him, but I still doubt he can be a starting PG on a championship level team.

Sexton's been really interesting to me. Idk if it's because I just follow the Cavs, but I'm really curious to watch him this season more than most rookies. I think he's more fit-dependent than most rookies... and so far I don't like what TLue has done as far as non-shooting lineups with him. The first preseason game he was out there with Clarkson, Nwaba, Dekker, and Nance. 4 non-shooters lol. Some of my concerns have shown a little... his handle isn't good enough to break guys down 1-on-1. And his quickness is predictable right now - almost always goes to his left. He couldn't beat Jaylen Brown or Aron Baynes on switches yesterday. The clogged up paint won't help him either.

But the shooting looks better than expected. Small sample, but he was just 29.4% on catch & shoot jumpers at Alabama. Hasn't hesitated at all. Getting to his pullup can look funky at times too, but I think he's improving for sure and making changes. He doesn't have that long pause on his FTs anymore I noticed lol.
 
SGA has been as expected, really good. I still don't buy he'll ever develop a 3 off the dribble. I think he'll be top 5 in ROY voting, but don't think there's that much room for growth without adding that shot. He's so far advanced in his slashing game already. I like him, but I still doubt he can be a starting PG on a championship level team.

Sexton's been really interesting to me. Idk if it's because I just follow the Cavs, but I'm really curious to watch him this season more than most rookies. I think he's more fit-dependent than most rookies... and so far I don't like what TLue has done as far as non-shooting lineups with him. The first preseason game he was out there with Clarkson, Nwaba, Dekker, and Nance. 4 non-shooters lol. Some of my concerns have shown a little... his handle isn't good enough to break guys down 1-on-1. And his quickness is predictable right now - almost always goes to his left. He couldn't beat Jaylen Brown or Aron Baynes on switches yesterday. The clogged up paint won't help him either.

But the shooting looks better than expected. Small sample, but he was just 29.4% on catch & shoot jumpers at Alabama. Hasn't hesitated at all. Getting to his pullup can look funky at times too, but I think he's improving for sure and making changes. He doesn't have that long pause on his FTs anymore I noticed lol.

I have to go, so i'll reply to this in detail tomorrow or something lol.

Just as far as Sexton goes, I'm very hopeful as far as his shot is concerned. It starts kinda stiff, but it becomes fluid half way through the shooting motion and I especially like his rythm and follow through on the way down...it's fluid and confident.

The thing that imo makes it kinda stiff looking is his awkward guide hand and his shot preparation. He has the touch and he will have the work ethic to improve that..especially with a good coach to fix those issues.

Sexton has long ways to go on defense. He is either out of position by design or he has no idea what he is doing as far as position goes. The switching absolutely makes no sense right now. So again, its either by design(Lue), or he has to fix that shit asap. He gives up too much space for his man, so the screener just sets flare screens on him and we switch, and on the ball as far as the PnR is concerned, again, he gives up too much space or he just goes under and the Cavs automatically switch.

This automatic switching has to stop because we are getting killed in the post(Freedom of movement makes it almost impossible to defend the post unless you front and Sexton is too small)...it's just that the shots are not falling.

I have gathered a bunch of gifs that show the automatic switching and I don't get it. The refs don't allow that much leeway on screens right now, so it just makes no sense. I'm in favor of switching if you just must..especially when you have a big presence like Zizic for example in position to defend head on. You give up the mid range all day.

If Sexton is being told to automatically switch, then he will develop/reinforce bad habits defensively. He will have to know how to defend screens/PnR in a normal scehem effectively. And with his athleticism and lack of size it's a criminal to make him switch every pick.
 
Last edited:
I have to go, so i'll reply to this in detail tomorrow or something lol.

Just as far as Sexton goes, I'm very hopeful as far as his shot is concerned. It starts kinda stiff, but it becomes fluid half way through the shooting motion and I especially like his rythm and follow through on the way down...it's fluid and confident.

The thing that imo makes it kinda stiff looking is his awkward guide hand and his shot preparation. He has the touch and he will have the work ethic to improve that..especially with a good coach to fix those issues.

Sexton has long ways to go on defense. He is either out of position by design or he has no idea what he is doing as far as position goes. The switching absolutely makes no sense right now. So again, its either by design(Lue), or he has to fix that shit asap. He gives up too much space for his man, so the screener just sets flare screens on him and we switch, and on the ball as far as the PnR is concerned, again, he gives up too much space or he just goes under and the Cavs automatically switch.

This automatic switching has to stop because we are getting killed in the post(Freedom of movement makes it almost impossible to defend the post unless you front and Sexton is too small)...it's just that the shots are not falling.

I have gathered a bunch of gifs that show the automatic switching and I don't get it. The refs don't allow that much leeway on screens right now, so it just makes no sense. I'm in favor of switching if you just must..especially when you have a big presence like Zizic for example in position to defend head on. You give up the mid range all day.

If Sexton is being told to automatically switch, then he will develop/reinforce bad habits defensively. He will have to know how to defend screens/PnR in a normal scehem effectively. And with his athleticism and lack of size it's a criminal to make him switch every pick.

Yeah, the low-resistance switch is something that's going on across the league right now that causes defensive issues. Not sure what the answer to it is, because it's difficult in the moment to have both players always agree on when to, and when not to switch. It's easier to just switch literally everything unless totally out of the play.

And actually I think that an advantage of switching IS getting the opponent to make their offense come out of the post. Even the best post players have just decent efficiency in comparison to other offense. But they definitely have things to improve as far as doubling the post and recovering.

One thing that has stuck out to me in the first two games is that a HUGE way to combat having mismatches in the post is having the guard "scram". The Warriors are great at this. Basically before the ball is entered into the post, or while the ball is in the air, the opposite big (the one who isn't switched out onto the perimeter), comes over and picks up the post player, and the guard "scrams" out to the perimeter onto his man. They've had a fair number of opportunities to do it and I've not seen it.

But yeah, when teams in the playoffs have employed switch-heavy schemes that cause their guards to defend the post, I often wonder if the coach is actually trying to gode the other team into isolation post ups that really aren't as efficient as they seem. I know we don't have a guard anywhere close to him, but Marcus Smart switching onto Love/LeBron is an example of what I mean this past playoffs.
 
Yeah, the low-resistance switch is something that's going on across the league right now that causes defensive issues. Not sure what the answer to it is, because it's difficult in the moment to have both players always agree on when to, and when not to switch. It's easier to just switch literally everything unless totally out of the play.

The answer is to not switch unless necessary. Especially if the redfs continue to enforce moving screens better. With Sexton you can recover so fast because he is so athletic. His ability to cover ground is impressive...so there shouldn't be a reason for him to automatically switch.

And actually I think that an advantage of switching IS getting the opponent to make their offense come out of the post. Even the best post players have just decent efficiency in comparison to other offense. But they definitely have things to improve as far as doubling the post and recovering.

But have you seen how easy it is to get a great position and score in the post this pre-season because of the new rules? if this continues, switching might not be a great option. Definitely stupid to switch against bad PnR players that are especially terrible shooting off the dribble like Smart.

One thing that has stuck out to me in the first two games is that a HUGE way to combat having mismatches in the post is having the guard "scram". The Warriors are great at this. Basically before the ball is entered into the post, or while the ball is in the air, the opposite big (the one who isn't switched out onto the perimeter), comes over and picks up the post player, and the guard "scrams" out to the perimeter onto his man. They've had a fair number of opportunities to do it and I've not seen it.

Yeah, I know. We don't do that for some reason. There were tons of opportunies to switch back or have the big man on the weakside switch with whomever was switched against the Big.

But yeah, when teams in the playoffs have employed switch-heavy schemes that cause their guards to defend the post, I often wonder if the coach is actually trying to gode the other team into isolation post ups that really aren't as efficient as they seem. I know we don't have a guard anywhere close to him, but Marcus Smart switching onto Love/LeBron is an example of what I mean this past playoffs.

Yeah, he is a big guard and their switching scheme is on a different level than ours. Though, i'm telling you, switching with the new ruels is bbq chicken when an aggressive big is switched against a pg/wing. Brown could guard Love pretty well in the playoffs, and in the preseason he was BBQ chicken.
 
The answer is to not switch unless necessary. Especially if the redfs continue to enforce moving screens better. With Sexton you can recover so fast because he is so athletic. His ability to cover ground is impressive...so there shouldn't be a reason for him to automatically switch.



But have you seen how easy it is to get a great position and score in the post this pre-season because of the new rules? if this continues, switching might not be a great option. Definitely stupid to switch against bad PnR players that are especially terrible shooting off the dribble like Smart.



Yeah, I know. We don't do that for some reason. There were tons of opportunies to switch back or have the big man on the weakside switch with whomever was switched against the Big.



Yeah, he is a big guard and their switching scheme is on a different level than ours. Though, i'm telling you, switching with the new ruels is bbq chicken when an aggressive big is switched against a pg/wing. Brown could guard Love pretty well in the playoffs, and in the preseason he was BBQ chicken.

I was talking about Smart switching on defense. He's a unique player, but that was the first example that came to mind from the past playoffs that I felt he was being used to gode the Cavs into iso-ball.

I haven't noticed those calls yet, but I'll be looking for it now.

Also TLue has been willing to change up defensive coverages based on competition, but it takes awhile for him to feel comfortable implementing it. I remember back when Byron Scott used to have Varejao do a hard hedge out to half court on the worst shooters in the league even lmao.
 
I was talking about Smart switching on defense. He's a unique player, but that was the first example that came to mind from the past playoffs that I felt he was being used to gode the Cavs into iso-ball.

I haven't noticed those calls yet, but I'll be looking for it now.

Also TLue has been willing to change up defensive coverages based on competition, but it takes awhile for him to feel comfortable implementing it. I remember back when Byron Scott used to have Varejao do a hard hedge out to half court on the worst shooters in the league even lmao.

Yeah, I know. I just gave Brown as an example for a player that could kinda guard Love in the post on a switch in the playoffs, but couldn't do shit in the preseason.

Thing is, you can't put a hand on a player in the post, so it's much harder to deny post position and it's much harder to not get backed down.

The question is if it's going to stay and if the refs are going to make the calls on certain teams and completely disregard it when it comes to their favorite teams like GSW, Boston and LA? cause that's even worse.

I feel like it's their way of controlling the game even more and make bogus calls on the regular. Some of the calls in this preseason were just mind boggling.
 
Monster game for 18-year-old Deividas Sirvydis in what was effectively his Eurocup debut (played a total of 5 minutes last year). 17 points on 6/7 shooting, 4 dimes, and just 1 turnover. His track record consists mostly of games at the very low competition level of the Lithuanian second-tier and junior leagues, so I'm taking this with a grain of salt for now...but it's worth noting that TheStepien highlighted him as a possible sleeper a few weeks ago (https://www.thestepien.com/2018/09/22/international-sleeper-deividas-sirvydis/). Keep an eye on him for sure.
 
I'm not convinced this org will tank after the deadline where Hill and Korver are likely moved even if the Cavs suffer significant player injuries in the first half of the season. I don't think retaining the pick is a priority at all.
I do think they will find a way to pick up a draft asset through dumping Hills contract with the 1 mil guarantee being so low for 19-20 and maybe even get back a longer contract player that is useful in the process.
So given the 19 draft doesn't look that good aside from a few high level wings in the high lottery I would be hoping for a couple of high 2nds that are non guaranteed as opposed to a late first given the talent level between 20-35 won't be much different.
Picking up a proven college player and a project at that point would be reasonable. I'm looking at Paschal Chukwu and Eric Paschall in that range if noone better falls.
 
Cavs need to get a good SF and move Cedi to the SG position so he could be matched up against SGs and not SFs. Why? because SGs rank terrible defensively in this league where's SFs starters are mostly elite.

I think Cedi has a big advantage in terms of size, strength and just matches better all-around against SGs and I don't quite see it against starter SFs.

I feel like offensively Cedi's biggest chance to become a complete all-around player is at the SG spot. He will have the size to post up, shoot over and attack his matchup aggresively off the dribble. You put a bigger and more explosive SF against him and it just takes some parts of his game.

Cedi will go against Kawhi Leonard tonight, and this will continue to be a trend -- not to this degree -- that I would prefer to avoid in order to maximize the team's and Cedi's ceiling.

I really really believe we need an elite SF and this draft is perfect to patch that hole. How can you give the opportunity up? This league is all about having multiple great threats on the wings(if Cedi becomes one).
 
Goga dominant as expected so far in Adriatic League play...leading his team in points, rebounds, and blocks as they've won their first three games by an average of 13 points. He's also notched 8 assists so far, which is an encouraging sign. Shame he wouldn't really fit at all on the Cavs.
 
Cavs need to get a good SF and move Cedi to the SG position so he could be matched up against SGs and not SFs. Why? because SGs rank terrible defensively in this league where's SFs starters are mostly elite.

I think Cedi has a big advantage in terms of size, strength and just matches better all-around against SGs and I don't quite see it against starter SFs.

I feel like offensively Cedi's biggest chance to become a complete all-around player is at the SG spot. He will have the size to post up, shoot over and attack his matchup aggresively off the dribble. You put a bigger and more explosive SF against him and it just takes some parts of his game.

Cedi will go against Kawhi Leonard tonight, and this will continue to be a trend -- not to this degree -- that I would prefer to avoid in order to maximize the team's and Cedi's ceiling.

I really really believe we need an elite SF and this draft is perfect to patch that hole. How can you give the opportunity up? This league is all about having multiple great threats on the wings(if Cedi becomes one).

Yeah but we need a SF better than him for that to make sense.
 
Yeah but we need a SF better than him for that to make sense.

We need someone with potential and someone who has dominant physical tools as well.

This draft is full of SFs with great potential and impressive physical tools. We need to keep the pick IMHO and think about moving Cedi to the 2. Now it really doesn't matter because Hood and Cedi are interchangeable and Hood can be guarded by 2's and 3's.
 
We need someone with potential and someone who has dominant physical tools as well.

This draft is full of SFs with great potential and impressive physical tools. We need to keep the pick IMHO and think about moving Cedi to the 2. Now it really doesn't matter because Hood and Cedi are interchangeable and Hood can be guarded by 2's and 3's.

My guess is Hood will be gone next year, so yeah I agree.
 
Cavs need to get a good SF and move Cedi to the SG position so he could be matched up against SGs and not SFs. Why? because SGs rank terrible defensively in this league where's SFs starters are mostly elite.

I think Cedi has a big advantage in terms of size, strength and just matches better all-around against SGs and I don't quite see it against starter SFs.

I feel like offensively Cedi's biggest chance to become a complete all-around player is at the SG spot. He will have the size to post up, shoot over and attack his matchup aggresively off the dribble. You put a bigger and more explosive SF against him and it just takes some parts of his game.

Cedi will go against Kawhi Leonard tonight, and this will continue to be a trend -- not to this degree -- that I would prefer to avoid in order to maximize the team's and Cedi's ceiling.

I really really believe we need an elite SF and this draft is perfect to patch that hole. How can you give the opportunity up? This league is all about having multiple great threats on the wings(if Cedi becomes one).

I think Toronto plans on using Kawhi at the 4 which I doubt will last but that appears to be their plan.
As far as Osman goes his passing ability from the point forward position and his defensive intensity require us to use him at the 3 at least as a defender for now.
I don't think his shooting or dribbling is good enough yet to be in a guard role.
Ideally it would be nice to get upgrades , but I'm not confident at all this draft will be the one unless we go full tank mode.
 
We need someone with potential and someone who has dominant physical tools as well.

This draft is full of SFs with great potential and impressive physical tools. We need to keep the pick IMHO and think about moving Cedi to the 2. Now it really doesn't matter because Hood and Cedi are interchangeable and Hood can be guarded by 2's and 3's.

It is? I see Little and Barrett, but who else? I'm worried they'll go top-3 (along with Zion) and be off the board when we pick...
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top