Terrible loss by OS. They were leading in the first half by almost 10 points. It was a big game for Sullinger. Some notes
1. In the first half he was really good. Crashing the boards, making excellent outlet passes from the post, getting to the line and showing that he is a lotto worthy pick
2. As the game wore on, the Kansas centre (who is close to 7 feet with generous length), really neutralized Sullinger. Sullinger was missing shots left and right. Though Sullinger did an effective job against him on the defensive end.
3. Thomas Robinson (#5 pick) was on and off matched up against him and really took it to him on both ends of the court. Clearly had more explosiveness than Sullinger could handle. Though Sullinger had a tremendous block on him with about 3 minutes left
4. Not sure if its Sullingers conditioning or back issue, but after the first half, he was just trucking up and down the court instead of running. On the other hand Robinson seemed to increase his intensity and was running faster
5. I've re watched also Sullinger vs Cincinnati (with no big name front court player). He really killed that team. He had like 22 points, 12 rebounds and when he was not on the court, OS didn't look the same.
6. Watching a few big games vs just highlights , i can understand now , why people are big on the kid and was once considered a top 5 pick. Clears alot of space with his wide body, has long arms to grab rebounds and help score tip ins, has an array of crafty ways to score, rarely made dumb mistakes on the court, can feel out double teams and passed the ball well. The two bad is (clearly easy to identify after Kansas game) is that he has to include more mid range jumpers in his game instead of either banging in a shot from the post or shooting long range shots. I mean he is an excellent FT shooter. 2nd as everyone already knows, his conditioning has to get better. Even though he may permanently have a small back issue, at least with optimal conditioning, it will bother him less. All in all , this was a very promising pick. A value pick. His lack of dominance vs Kansas and conditioning issues could actually be a blessing in disguise
I will also re watch some Syracuse games soon and post an analysis of Melo and Joseph.
Lastly still a little bummed of not drafting Royce White i got myself a hold of Kentucky vs Iowa State game. Even though White was impressive at some parts of the game, unlike Sullinger he still has ways to go. Even though Sullinger was trucking up and down the court, he never stopped moving. White on the other hand, just plain at times looked lazy out there on both ends of the court. Especially on defence, he was late on the rotation on numerous occasions. When his team mates got beat off the dribble and he had a chance to help out, he almost never did. Not sure if its the coaches problem but bottom line is White should of been more willing to play harder. Not stating i would of not been happy if we drafted him, but Sullinger for now looks like he will have more influence/impact.
Same goes vs Terrence Jones. They should nickname him "ghost". He did nothing important for Kentucky outside of scoring a few pretty points. Totally nothing like Davis , MKG, Teague and Lamb. Glad he didn't fall to us and i'm not sure what Mchale and Rockets org was thinking.