Official Draft Avery Bradley bandwagon

[Fez Hammersticks]

I love his attitude. He's also Bayless-esque athletic. He's one player I think will be one of the risers during workouts so trading up for him is likely.

Texas freshman Avery Bradley (11), seen here during the McDonald's All-American Game, likes to get after it on the defensive end.
"I want to be a dominant defensive player, like one of the most dominant defensive players in college basketball," said Bradley, a 6-foot-3 guard who played at Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep. "I want to hold the best player on the opposite team [in check] and play hard defense the whole game."

That attitude doesn't surprise anyone who has seen Bradley, a five-star prospect considered the best perimeter defender in the 2009 recruiting class.

"His makeup is all systems go, 100 percent of the time," said Garry Ward, who coached Bradley on the AAU circuit with the Northwest Panthers. "The same way Gary Payton played great defense and Dennis Johnson played great defense, Avery Bradley plays great defense. He doesn't know anything else. He just knows when he's on the floor, he's going to compete offensively and defensively.

"You see a lot of great, athletic players where you wonder as a coach or as a sportswriter or as a fan why that player can do anything he wants offensively, so why can't he do it defensively? Because they don't want to. Avery Bradley wants to. That's the difference. He wants to guard. He wants to compete."

"I don't think you can really become good at defense," said Bradley, the No. 4 overall prospect in the 2009 class. "It's just something that people are born with. I was born with the ability to play good defense."

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[Fez Hammersticks]

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[J_Ray]

The guy is Jerryd Bayless w/o the scoring mentality....

 

[Nikolokolus]

The guy is Jerryd Bayless w/o the scoring mentality....

If that's true that would mean he's actually more like this guy right?

[video=youtube;MihonWEavUA]

 

[RoyToy]

Weaknesses: At 6’3 he is undersized for a SG and he lacks the extreme quickness and skills required to play the lead guard position … He gets tunnel vision and becomes focused strictly on getting his own shot … As a distributor he is subpar, since his decision making and passing skills are limited … A bit of a streaky shooter, as he can go through some woeful shooting stretches, but that won’t discourage him from hoisting them up … Tends to settle for the outside game too much, instead getting in the lane and drawing contact …

Bayless >

 

[Nikolokolus]

Weaknesses: At 6’3 he is undersized for a SG and he lacks the extreme quickness and skills required to play the lead guard position … He gets tunnel vision and becomes focused strictly on getting his own shot … As a distributor he is subpar, since his decision making and passing skills are limited … A bit of a streaky shooter, as he can go through some woeful shooting stretches, but that won’t discourage him from hoisting them up … Tends to settle for the outside game too much, instead getting in the lane and drawing contact …

Bayless >

Don't you mean '= Bayless', except for the fact that Bayless has pretty good quicks and prefers to drive instead of shoot? Sorry, but that reads like a carbon copy of Bayless' draft profile coming into the league.

 

[RoyToy]

No, I mean Bayless >

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Seems to be an interesting project. Draft Express http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Avery-Bradley-5285/ seems to be saying he lacks strength which is of course correctable. They have the same concerns about his playmaking ability but say this about his athleticism: "His wingspan is solid and he is an above average athlete, though, being extremely quick and fluid in the open floor." I know that Russel Westbrook and Darren Collison were drafted mostly on their defensive play but both have turned out to be pretty good scorers. He is projected to go 28th by Draft Express but they also said he could be all over the board; I guess it might depend on his workouts.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Seems to be an interesting project. Draft Express http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Avery-Bradley-5285/ seems to be saying he lacks strength which is of course correctable. They have the same concerns about his playmaking ability but say this about his athleticism: "His wingspan is solid and he is an above average athlete, though, being extremely quick and fluid in the open floor." I know that Russel Westbrook and Darren Collison were drafted mostly on their defensive play but both have turned out to be pretty good scorers. He is projected to go 28th by Draft Express but they also said he could be all over the board; I guess it might depend on his workouts.

Collison was always a pure playmaker and a great shooter, the big knocks on him were size and ability to defend at the next level.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Collison was always a pure playmaker and a great shooter, the big knocks on him were size and ability to defend at the next level.

Well, after doing a little research, it seems you are correct. I see that even though he wasn't called on to score much that he was a very efficient scorer in college.

And there were some doubts as to his ability to defend in the NBA, but he was recognized as a very good defender in college: "Defensively, Collison is very effective, as you would expect considering that he plays for one of the top defensive teams in the nation. He is a pesky, physical defender, who gets right in his man’s grill and denies space extremely well, and also possesses good lateral quickness and a very good wingspan. He puts the effort in, but is also very intelligent in the way he approaches his work on this end of the floor, showing excellent timing and awareness in terms of contesting shots and bothering his opponents, both in man to man and team defense. His lack of size and strength is a bit of a hindrance for the next level, though, and it’s not hard to see how much he’s effected by good solid screens, which he really struggles to fight through.

So, I guess off the top of my head I can't think of anyone besides Westbrook who was known for his defense but proved to be good in other areas also. Maybe you can think of someone?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Well, I just thought of another one; Rajon Rondo was originally known for his defense. (But he was also known as a very good distributor in college.)

 

[J_Ray]

So, I guess off the top of my head I can't think of anyone besides Westbrook who was known for his defense but proved to be good in other areas also. Maybe you can think of someone?

Westbrook has always been good at getting to the rim and has always been an explosive athlete with an ability to get to the rim. Avery Bradley isn't Russell Westbrook, by far.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Chad Ford, via Insider, said that Bradley (and Babbit) has now moved into the lotto.