Jack Cooley -- Sure-thing Rebounder

[PhoSita]

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jack-Cooley-18104/stats/

Standing at 6-9, with a strong, sturdy frame, Cooley's intrigue as a prospect starts with his work on the boards, as he's taken his rebounding prowess to another level this season, hauling down a phenomenal 15.3 rebounds per-40, which ranks him amongst the 20 best college basketball rebounders in our database's history, which goes back to the 2001-2002 season.

Cooley utilizes his size and strength to fight hard for position around the basket, and he embraces contact and pursues the ball with great intensity, enabling him to get rebounds out of his area, despite a lack of overwhelming quickness or explosiveness.

While 6-9 centers with limited athleticism aren't highly coveted by NBA teams, he is a tough, physical presence around the basket who plays with a great motor and has proven to be one of the best rebounders in Big East history, which should be enough to earn him plenty of looks through the pre-draft process and beyond.

I'd love to see the Celtics acquire a second rounder somehow to select this guy.  Or, if he goes undrafted (he's undrafted in most mock drafts), try to sign him and give him a shot in training camp.

At best he sounds like he could play a Reggie Evans / Lou Amundson type role.  Best case scenario would be Nick Collison.  But guys who hustle and know how to clean the glass are always valuable at the next level.  Any team in the league could use a Nick Collison on their team.

I'm quite sure he'd immediately be more useful than Fab.

[CelticConcourse]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

[PhoSita]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

Actually, there are.

There are no sure-thing All-Stars, or even any sure-thing rotation players.

But there are players who you can say with near 100% certainty will be able to do a particular thing at an NBA level. 

Kenneth Faried was somebody like that.  Jack Cooley is another.

Cooley is much less likely to ever be an NBA player because unlike Faried he's not super athletic.  But some of the best talent evaluators around agree he'll be able to grab rebounds at the next level, if nothing else.  I think Cooley is probably more like Jon Leuer -- another undersized center type who was known to be able to grab boards but not necessarily much else.

In any case, this is exactly the sort of player you acquire a second round pick to select.  Cheap way to pick up a role player.

I think Cooley is the example of a guy who could be for rebounding what Greg Stiemsma was for shot-blocking.  Though Cooley was a much more successful / productive college player than Stiemer.

[jr_3421]

I prefer Jackie Carmichael if Danny is going to somehow get a 2nd round pick. Just a tough guy that will do the dirty work. We need those.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M96Dt5swZq8

[kozlodoev]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

Actually, there are.

There are no sure-thing All-Stars, or even any sure-thing rotation players.

But there are players who you can say with near 100% certainty will be able to do a particular thing at an NBA level.

Yeah, many others were billed that, including our own Luke Harangody and Brandon Hunter -- and we all know how that worked out.

[sofutomygaha]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

Actually, there are.

There are no sure-thing All-Stars, or even any sure-thing rotation players.

But there are players who you can say with near 100% certainty will be able to do a particular thing at an NBA level.

Yeah, many others were billed that, including our own Luke Harangody and Brandon Hunter -- and we all know how that worked out.

Man, he even looks like Harangody.

FWIW, Harangody may be the best player in the D-league. It's a mystery to me why he can't get a promotion to someone's bench. He hits threes, gets rebounds, draws fouls, and hustles like crazy.

[sofutomygaha]

This argument would be a lot more compelling if more of these top 20 all-time rebounding guys had had NBA careers. From first glance, I think more than half of college's all-time more prolific rebounders went to Europe or washed out =/


By the way... if we want the best college rebounder ever, can't we lure John Bryant home from Germany? He's stomping everyone over there and he's still only 25!!!!

[kozlodoev]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

Actually, there are.

There are no sure-thing All-Stars, or even any sure-thing rotation players.

But there are players who you can say with near 100% certainty will be able to do a particular thing at an NBA level.

Yeah, many others were billed that, including our own Luke Harangody and Brandon Hunter -- and we all know how that worked out.

Man, he even looks like Harangody.

FWIW, Harangody may be the best player in the D-league. It's a mystery to me why he can't get a promotion to someone's bench. He hits threes, gets rebounds, draws fouls, and hustles like crazy.

He got extended looks in three NBA seasons (70 games total), and it doesn't look like he can do any of these things with consistency when facing real competition. Well, except maybe hustle like crazy

Also, he didn't look like he's built to play NBA-level defense. Below average athleticism, below average height for the position, below average defensive awareness.

[LooseCannon]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

Actually, there are.

There are no sure-thing All-Stars, or even any sure-thing rotation players.

But there are players who you can say with near 100% certainty will be able to do a particular thing at an NBA level.

Yeah, many others were billed that, including our own Luke Harangody and Brandon Hunter -- and we all know how that worked out.

Man, he even looks like Harangody.

FWIW, Harangody may be the best player in the D-league. It's a mystery to me why he can't get a promotion to someone's bench. He hits threes, gets rebounds, draws fouls, and hustles like crazy.

Defensive considerations, I presume. 

I suspect a strong rebounder who is a poor defender and an offensive zero, such as Reggie Evans, would be a bad fit for the Celtics.  Cooley being a fit for the Celtics would probably depend on him either being good at rotating to defend against perimeter bigs or on being able to contribute on offense in addition to rebounding.

[snively]

There. Are. No. Sure. Things. In. The. Draft.

Actually, there are.

There are no sure-thing All-Stars, or even any sure-thing rotation players.

But there are players who you can say with near 100% certainty will be able to do a particular thing at an NBA level.

Yeah, many others were billed that, including our own Luke Harangody and Brandon Hunter -- and we all know how that worked out.

Harangody was a solid rebounder in college who trended down to average in his senior year when he tried to showcase the perimeter game that he tried to carry over into the pros.  He was a below average but not terrible rebounder in the pros.

Brandon Hunter was a similar caliber of college rebounder who played as a banger (not a perimeter player) in the pros where he was an above average rebounder. 

Rebounding does tend to translate pretty well as long as the role translates too.  I'd imagine if you played Cooley as an undersized 5 in the pros, he could vacuum the glass pretty well.

The problem is you usually need to be able to do more than just rebound to really help your team, especially playing the 5.  Guys that are huge offensive and defensive liabilities like Reggie Evans need to be incredibly dominant on the glass just to make positive contributions.

[Galeto]

Brandon Hunter might have only played a few games in the NBA but he was a prolific per-minute rebounder.  He rebounded at a rate his college stats foretold.  On a pure rebounding basis, Cooley should be able to fit a need.  Whether he can do other things well enough to get him playing time or even on a roster I don't know about.

One thing that Cooley has going for him that guys like Harangody, Hunter and someone Richard Hendrix, who was another very prolific rebounder out of Mississippi State who only got a brief run in the NBA before embarking on a long career overseas, didn't is solid height for his position.  At 6'8 barefeet and 6'9.5 in shoes with a solid wingspan of 7'1.5, he's not undersized like those guys were. 

Even if he can't do anything else, I'm so sick of the poor rebounding the past four seasons that I wouldn't mind if he's their second round pick.

[Celtics4ever]

Name the last good Notre Dame player in the league?

weakness

    He struggles with stamina
    He does not have good counter post moves
    Not a good outside shooter
    below average athlete

http://nbadrafttiers.com/draft-analysis-jack-cooley/

Cooley's effectiveness as a post scorer likely wouldn't all translate against the bigger, longer, more athletic players that he'd face at the NBA level, which is why we noted in the preseason that being able to consistently knock down catch-and-shoot mid-range jump shots would likely be a big boost to his stock and give him more value on the offensive end.

On the defensive end, not much has changed from what we noted in the preseason. Cooley is tough and physical and willing to battle for position on the interior, but he doesn't possess great size, length or athleticism to defend one-on-one in the post against the types of interior big men he'd likely face at the NBA level. He also lacks the lateral quickness to defend face-up big men further away from the basket, which is something he'd see much more of at the NBA level, particular if he's asked to defend power forwards.

While 6-9 centers with limited athleticism aren't highly coveted by NBA teams, he is a tough, physical presence around the basket who plays with a great motor and has proven to be one of the best rebounders in Big East history, which should be enough to earn him plenty of looks through the pre-draft process and beyond.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jack-Cooley-18104/

Sure sounds worth a second rounder but lack of athleticism is scary.  We already had Harangody, folks, and he didn't stick.

One thing that Cooley has going for him that guys like Harangody, Hunter and someone Richard Hendrix, who was another very prolific rebounder out of Mississippi State who only got a brief run in the NBA before embarking on a long career overseas, didn't is solid height for his position.  At 6'8 barefeet and 6'9.5 in shoes with a solid wingspan of 7'1.5, he's not undersized like those guys were. 

At the next level, everyone will be tall and almost everyone strong and athletic.   This guys strengths will be possessed by nearly everyone he plays against which leaves his "heart" and lack of ability to separate him.   I think he has "heart" and hustle and all those intangibles.   But many a man has went down trying as hard as they could only to fail.

I agree, no sure thing in the draft.  I could see him having a Brian Cardinal type career as a solid reserve.   I don't see as Kevin Love.

[PhoSita]

You'll note, everyone, that I never suggested we use a first rounder on the guy.

Just saying that getting a late 2nd round pick, or picking him up for summer league / training camp, would be a good idea, considering how desperately this team needs somebody who can rebound (aside from Sullinger).

I think teams too seldom target players who project as specialists at the next level.  Always trying to get somebody who can do a lot of things well.  Some of the most useful players in the league only do one thing, but they do it better than almost anybody.


I don't see the Harangody comparison everybody wants to make seeing as Harangody is 6'7''.  If Harangody were 2-3 inches taller I'm sure he could have found a spot on somebody's roster.

[kozlodoev]

I understand that. I'm just saying that we won't solve our problems with someone who may or may not be able to stick around in the NBA.

[PhoSita]

I understand that. I'm just saying that we won't solve our problems with someone who may or may not be able to stick around in the NBA.

Solve all our problems?  Absolutely not.  But part of rebuilding is finding cheap role players who can fill your needs.  Giving a chance to guys like Cooley can help do that.

Anyways, it doesn't have to be Cooley.  I just noticed on DraftExpress that he was mentioned as a sure-thing rebounder.  If not him, I'd like the Celtics to target players like that.  Obviously not with first round picks, but if it's possible to acquire second round picks for cheap, go for it.

Guys who are pretty much a sure-thing as shooters or as wing defenders are nice to pick up too -- I really liked John Jenkins and Jeff Taylor in last year's draft for that reason.