Wednesday, June 24, 2009

More on Nick Calathes via Pelton

"Calathes looks like a steal anywhere after the Lottery." -- I'm a huge Kevin Pelton fan, and I know he just reports where the data takes him (an approach I value and appreciate).

But I just don't see Calathes's NBA productivity as he lays it out. And, remember, I'm a huge Florida hoops fan. I would, by nature, usually see their players in the most positive light possible.

(My track record is somewhat spotty: I thought David Lee would be a great pro. I thought Marreese Speights would not. I thought Horford would be great -- Noah and Brewer, too.)

I love these comps, by the way. They certainly have more analytical rigor than the vaguely racist "eyeball" comparison that most fans/media engage in.

-- D.S.

1 comment:

MookieFL said...

As a Gator alum and huge basketball fan, I agree with your assessment of Calathes' NBA prognosis. He's definitely a very skilled player, but he reminds me a lot of Matt Walsh. Walsh was a terrific producer before the conference schedule started, but wilted a bit against the more athletic SEC competition, and left school early only to fizzle after two NBA games (although it's nice to see he's doing well in Greece).

Calathes can seemingly do it all and was an excellent college player, but I'm not convinced that he is athletic enough to be a contributor in the NBA. He's not especially fast, rail-thin, a surprisingly low percentage shooter (unforgivably so at the line), and an atrocious finisher. Every game he missed a couple of pretty easy layups (at least they should have been easy for a 6'6" guy).

I hope I'm wrong, because he seems like a nice kid, and I shudder to think how far the Gator program would've fallen without his contributions.

And I promise I felt this way before he announced he was leaving...