Chad Ford "C's like Luke Babbit (Nevada) a lot"

[Chris]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

And Babbitt is in another league offensively.  Babbitt is an exceptional shooter, and James is still a bit raw on that side.  The question with Babbitt was whether he was a good enough athlete.  He certainly made it clear that he is. 

You should have happy though, because at this point I see no way the Babbitt drops to 19.  He will likely be moving up towards the top 10.

[PosImpos]

I guess he had pretty good athletic numbers (vertical etc) at the combine.

[Actionjakson]

http://www.nbadraft.net/nba-draft-combine-shooting-drill-results

Babbit was one of 3 nba prospects to shoot over 75% from NBA threes at the combine (he shot 76%). Very good sign. He can def play the wing offensively.

On a side note, Willy Warren also shot very well and i would like to try to move up in the second round (or late first) to get him. I think he will be a great guard in the league. He isnt a pure point guard (but we dont need that with Rondo running the show). Maybe we could buy one of Memphis', Minny's, NJ's, or washington's late round picks.

[wiley]

You Babbit lovers are getting under my skin.....such that I'm now ready to accept him as a memeber of the Boston Celtics....Good job Babbit sellers and good job Babbit!

I'd still take my favorite pick 19-type player, Damion James, over Babbit, but I've lost my Babbit aversion......the combine measurments and his interview (the loss of the Korver cut helped too) tell me he's got the demeanor and body to get it done......

The reason I'd still go with James is that I'm worried about the Celtics defense and rebounding, and not so much about their scoring ability......but I won't begrudge a pick of Babbit if he's still there at 19.

In my personal Celtics draft we're getting 5 new players (nearly ashamed to admit such a dream, but this is the year to rebuild imo...while still making another run with our big stars)
So, since my 5 players includes Larry Sanders and another defender or two, Babbit can be substituted for Damion James without me having a meltdown.....

But my ultimate 5 would still include Damion James over Babbit.

[jr_3421]

You Babbit lovers are getting under my skin.....such that I'm now ready to accept him as a memeber of the Boston Celtics....Good job Babbit sellers and good job Babbit!

LOL I was just thinking the same thing. I had convinced myself that this guy was Adam Morrison 2.0 but after looking at some highlights I'm starting to believe. Kid is an offensive weapon. Seems to have good footwork which usually translates to good positional defense (Paul Pierce) so I'm not worried about him defensively as much as most people are. But it is important to pair him with a defensive-minded SG when he is on the floor to take some of the load off him.

I never thought I'd say this but I'm actually hoping he drops to us now!

[snively]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

I'm torn here: I'm a big James booster, but if Babbit's his equal athletically, than his 50-40-90 stats as a soph shine a lot brighter, tarnished as they are by the WAC.  Still gotta love James' potential as a rebounder, energy defender, transition player and spot up shooter.

Both fit big needs off the bench: the shooting back-up 3 in Babbit's and the athletic 4 in James' case.

Draft Babbit (or Henry or George or Hayward) and sign Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson with the MLE, or draft James and sign Mike Miller with MLE; I like either scenario.

[nickagneta]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

I'm torn here: I'm a big James booster, but if Babbit's his equal athletically, than his 50-40-90 stats as a soph shine a lot brighter, tarnished as they are by the WAC.  Still gotta love James' potential as a rebounder, energy defender, transition player and spot up shooter.

Both fit big needs off the bench: the shooting back-up 3 in Babbit's and the athletic 4 in James' case.

Draft Babbit (or Henry or George or Hayward) and sign Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson with the MLE, or draft James and sign Mike Miller with MLE; I like either scenario.

I see James as a Gerald Wallace/James Posey type 3/4 hybrid and I think with the right coaching staff, he will be a future All-Star.

[wiley]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

I'm torn here: I'm a big James booster, but if Babbit's his equal athletically, than his 50-40-90 stats as a soph shine a lot brighter, tarnished as they are by the WAC.  Still gotta love James' potential as a rebounder, energy defender, transition player and spot up shooter.

Both fit big needs off the bench: the shooting back-up 3 in Babbit's and the athletic 4 in James' case.

Draft Babbit (or Henry or George or Hayward) and sign Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson with the MLE, or draft James and sign Mike Miller with MLE; I like either scenario.

I think it's clear Babbit, despite great athleticism, will not be the quickest player.....so that's the gamble....but he should do fine and could end up an all-star one day...
I like going all out for defense and combining Damion James with Rondo, a bit better.......

You make good points about who plays next to these guys:
A Babbit sandwich with Ty Thomas and Tony Allen sounds darned good.......as does a Mike Miller sandwich with TA and Damion James.....though James would be great as a Pierce sub as well (ha ha "sub" I'm on a roll....oh god, "roll"

Anyway, I wouldn't mind two picks.  We could have a Babbit sandwich with TA and Damion James........or a Babbit sandwich with Larry Sanders and TA.....

[wiley]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

I'm torn here: I'm a big James booster, but if Babbit's his equal athletically, than his 50-40-90 stats as a soph shine a lot brighter, tarnished as they are by the WAC.  Still gotta love James' potential as a rebounder, energy defender, transition player and spot up shooter.

Both fit big needs off the bench: the shooting back-up 3 in Babbit's and the athletic 4 in James' case.

Draft Babbit (or Henry or George or Hayward) and sign Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson with the MLE, or draft James and sign Mike Miller with MLE; I like either scenario.

I see James as a Gerald Wallace/James Posey type 3/4 hybrid and I think with the right coaching staff, he will be a future All-Star.

Curious how far below D. James you put Pondexter!!!  Does Pondexter have a chance to equal James?

[nickagneta]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

I'm torn here: I'm a big James booster, but if Babbit's his equal athletically, than his 50-40-90 stats as a soph shine a lot brighter, tarnished as they are by the WAC.  Still gotta love James' potential as a rebounder, energy defender, transition player and spot up shooter.

Both fit big needs off the bench: the shooting back-up 3 in Babbit's and the athletic 4 in James' case.

Draft Babbit (or Henry or George or Hayward) and sign Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson with the MLE, or draft James and sign Mike Miller with MLE; I like either scenario.

I see James as a Gerald Wallace/James Posey type 3/4 hybrid and I think with the right coaching staff, he will be a future All-Star.

Curious how far below D. James you put Pondexter!!!  Does Pondexter have a chance to equal James?

I love them both. Pondexter probably has a better chance to be an all around player but there's something about James' rebounding abilities that intrigues the heck out of me. I would take either over Babbitt or Hayward. But I already have told how wrong I am about those two enough. At this point we just have to wait to see who will be right and who will be wrong.

[RedVision]

hey i have a general quesiton maybe some of you can help me with. In terms of the agility tests of the NBA combine why are the vert #'s so low? Im big football fan and coach and i see as an eyeball test the avg vert in the NBA combine looks like 26 inches or so. Do they test different then the NFL combine or something, BC a lot of the football players carry more weight and even the big guys around 270 lbs have verts around 35 inches...or is it just NFL players are just that much stronger and have more lower body muscle? Thanks


http://www.nbadraft.net/nba-draft-combine-athleticism-test-results

[PosImpos]

I still like Larry Sanders the most, followed by Paul George

[snively]

According to Chad Ford "Big winner of combine scores? Luke Babbitt. 37.5 inch max vert. 3.19 second sprint. 10.98 lane agility. He's a good athlete."

Damion James had almost identical numbers to Babbitt. Given James is a better rebounder and defender and played against better competition, I would take him.

I'm torn here: I'm a big James booster, but if Babbit's his equal athletically, than his 50-40-90 stats as a soph shine a lot brighter, tarnished as they are by the WAC.  Still gotta love James' potential as a rebounder, energy defender, transition player and spot up shooter.

Both fit big needs off the bench: the shooting back-up 3 in Babbit's and the athletic 4 in James' case.

Draft Babbit (or Henry or George or Hayward) and sign Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson with the MLE, or draft James and sign Mike Miller with MLE; I like either scenario.

I see James as a Gerald Wallace/James Posey type 3/4 hybrid and I think with the right coaching staff, he will be a future All-Star.

I'm not sure if he's got the athleticism to spring from the Posey/Horry championship role player ceiling to the Shawn Marion/Gerald Wallace elite utility player ceiling.

[jr_3421]

hey i have a general quesiton maybe some of you can help me with. In terms of the agility tests of the NBA combine why are the vert #'s so low? Im big football fan and coach and i see as an eyeball test the avg vert in the NBA combine looks like 26 inches or so. Do they test different then the NFL combine or something, BC a lot of the football players carry more weight and even the big guys around 270 lbs have verts around 35 inches...or is it just NFL players are just that much stronger and have more lower body muscle? Thanks


http://www.nbadraft.net/nba-draft-combine-athleticism-test-results

I think some of it has to do with the smaller sample size. The NFL has 10x as many players.

[cyclorider]

Luke Babbitt is a superb athlete with outstanding quickness and leaping ability at 6-8 3/4, 218 lbs.

A natural SF, he has the skills and athleticism to play three positions:  SF, SG and even some PF.   He's also the best shooter in the draft by far.

Babbitt recorded the best vertical leap of any forward in this year's draft.  Max vertical 37.5 inches which is extremely impressive.

Luke Babbitt is far superior to Gordon Hayward in all aspects of the game: shooting, ball handling, driving, passing, 3-point, transition, post up, 1/2 court, creates own shot, creates for teammates, bball IQ etc.  Babbitt also has the far superior physical dimensions and athleticism.

CLASS
Hayward: sophmore  
Babbitt: sophmore

PPG
Hayward: 15.5
Babbitt: 21.9

RPG
Hayward: 8.2
Babbitt: 8.9

APG
Hayward: 1.7
Babbitt: 2.1

FG%
Hayward: 46.4%
Babbitt: 50.0%

FT%
Hayward: 82.9%
Babbitt: 91.7%

3FG%
Hayward: 29.4%
Babbitt: 41.6%

HEIGHT
Hayward: 6-6 3/4 without shoes, 6-8 with shoes
Babbitt: 6-7 1/2 without shoes, 6-8 3/4 with shoes

WEIGHT
Hayward: 211 lbs.
Babbitt: 218 lbs.  

WINGSPAN
Hayward: 6-7 3/4
Babbitt: 6-11 1/4

VERTICAL LEAP
Hayward: 34.5 inches
Babbitt: 37.5 inches

BENCH PRESS (strength)
Hayward: 10 reps
Babbitt: 15 reps

AGILITY (lower score is more agile)
Hayward: 11.73
Babbitt: 10.98


There is no question which player is better.
It's Babbitt.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0_PCqoB0aI