What is with the obsession with WCS ?

[clover]

DraftExpress is projecting WCS to go #4 in the draft, so presumably a number of scouts and such are pretty high on him.

[Fafnir]

Brandan Wright can't do half of what WCS is being projected for defensively in the NBA. With WCS its all projection, Wright has given us years of minutes to show he can't.

I do worry that WCS won't transition to being an undersized center, those types have a high learning curve.

WCS has some unique skills but what about ability to  handle the traditional responsibilities? Like don' t get killed by Dwight Howard. Don't let him constantly get good position .

Howard, Valencianas, Aldridge, Ibaka etc.

You don't draft a guy in the lotto who can only come in for special situations

Post defense is far less important than all the other attributes a center has.

Besides plenty of 240 or so centers have success in this league, just takes a different skill set and approach.

[Eddie20]

Chad Ford recently had this to say

Cauley-Stein had a five-game stretch (against Texas, Eastern Kentucky, Columbia, North Carolina and UCLA) where he looked like the best player on the floor for Kentucky. He came back down to earth a bit against a physical and athletic Louisville team, which proved to scouts that he still has lot of developing to do. But as long as he continues to show more toughness and consistency, he's a lock for a top-10 pick. His ability to guard four or five positions on the floor is truly unique.

[Casperian]

I'm not a fan.

[BleedGreen1989]

http://upsidemotor.com/2015/01/05/willie-cauley-stein-scouting-report-january-2015/

The combination of his physical profile and athleticism makes him a huge asset in rim protection. Cauley-Stein is very aggressive rotating off the weak-side and can elevate off the ground in a pinch. He ranked sixth in the country in blocks last season and his numbers are only down in this one because his front-court teammate Karl Towns, Jr. is a capable shot blocker himself. That has given John Calipari the flexibility of having Cauley-Stein defend away from the basket more.

Cauley-Stein is very comfortable moving in space and had already exhibited the ability to guard smaller players on switches, possessing the lateral quickness to keep pace on drives and the closing speed to effectively contest shots on the perimeter. But Calipari has stretched Cauley-Stein some more this season, having him guard Jonathan Holmes for most of the game against Texas and be the man on the top of the full-court press he broke out for a few possessions against Louisville.

He plays with really active hands, often trying to strip opposing big men when they catch the ball in the high post or on the perimeter, and uses his length and quickness to deflect or jump in front of a number of passes around his general area. Cauley-Stein is currently averaging 2.1 steals per 40 minutes and his per-game average ranks fifth among all SEC players.

Well-detailed, recent scouting report.

Also touches on some of his weaknesses such as physical strength and toughness.

[footey]

I think the hope is he would project to DeAndre Jordan role, which would be totally fine with me.

[Tr1boy]

Brandan Wright can't do half of what WCS is being projected for defensively in the NBA. With WCS its all projection, Wright has given us years of minutes to show he can't.

I do worry that WCS won't transition to being an undersized center, those types have a high learning curve.

WCS has some unique skills but what about ability to  handle the traditional responsibilities? Like don' t get killed by Dwight Howard. Don't let him constantly get good position .

Howard, Valencianas, Aldridge, Ibaka etc.

You don't draft a guy in the lotto who can only come in for special situations

Post defense is far less important than all the other attributes a center has.

Besides plenty of 240 or so centers have success in this league, just takes a different skill set and approach.

Like who? Ryan Hollins?  Tyler Zeller before he put on weight ??

Dwight Howard will score 40 on WCS.   Thin rail centers  don't really exist in the NBA for a reason

[bostonsportsforlife]

I'm a huge WCS guy so I'll try to give the obsession a voice
1. Great shotblocking
2. Pick and Roll defense: He is a fluid enough athlete to guard 3 of the 5 positions. He has the potential to switch onto guards in the pick and roll and smother them. Considering we have no bigs that can even stop dribble penetration on the pick and roll switch, this would help us.
3. Rolling Hard to the Rim:His ability to roll hard to the rim and catch lobs (he has very good hands), means that help defenders need to play in the paint to bump him before he rolls otherwise he's got an easy alley oop. This will improve the quality of shots for his teammates. Similarly skilled big men like Chandler and Jordan lead their teams in offensive rating and it's because having an athletic rim running center frees up shots for others.
4. Potential: he is tall and fast. There are rumors that he has a decent jumper that he hasn't been able to show off at Kentucky. You can not teach size or athleticism, which means that players with both have huge upside, WCS has both (he was fluid enough of an athlete to be an all state receiver in HS, how many centers do you know with the quickness to do that?)
5. Need: Everything WCS does well is a weakness for the Celtics
6. Culture: In extending Bradley, drafting Smart and (to a much lesser extent) trading for Crowder, Ainge has added young players who are very good defenders. Adding WCS gives the C's another player who is a defense first guy to grow with.

It's hard to say.  Would prime Kendrick Perkins or Omar Asik project to be a top-10 pick?  I think that's the caliber of player than WCS projects to be.

I think comparing the athleticism of Perkins or Asik to Cauley-Stein is not accurate. While WCS isn't guaranteed to produce like either of those two, if you are comparing him to others you have to go with more fluid defensive centers like Chandler or DeAndre.

To me the best comparison is DeAndre Jordan with a serviceable free throw shot and maybe even a servicable jump shot. I think a player like that is absolutely worthy of a top 10 pick.

One scout said Cauley-Stein is appealing because defending the pick-and-roll is critical in that league and he can do it in a number of ways. He can also legitimately lock down a small forward, power forward or center at the next level, the scout said. He has defended point guards at times in college.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2014/12/16/kentuckys-willie-cauley-stein-nba-draft-stock-quickly-rising/20505973/

Nailed it, WCS may not have as high upside as others in the draft, but he's less risky of a prospect and fills many needs for us. I'd be thrilled if we got him in the 5-8 range.

[kozlodoev]

He's 7 feet tall, he can walk and chew gum, and he may be available. What's not to obsess about?

[jonaslopes]

He's 7 feet tall, he can walk and chew gum, and he may be available. What's not to obsess about?

So is Fab Melo.

[rondohondo]

I'm a huge WCS guy so I'll try to give the obsession a voice
1. Great shotblocking
2. Pick and Roll defense: He is a fluid enough athlete to guard 3 of the 5 positions. He has the potential to switch onto guards in the pick and roll and smother them. Considering we have no bigs that can even stop dribble penetration on the pick and roll switch, this would help us.
3. Rolling Hard to the Rim:His ability to roll hard to the rim and catch lobs (he has very good hands), means that help defenders need to play in the paint to bump him before he rolls otherwise he's got an easy alley oop. This will improve the quality of shots for his teammates. Similarly skilled big men like Chandler and Jordan lead their teams in offensive rating and it's because having an athletic rim running center frees up shots for others.
4. Potential: he is tall and fast. There are rumors that he has a decent jumper that he hasn't been able to show off at Kentucky. You can not teach size or athleticism, which means that players with both have huge upside, WCS has both (he was fluid enough of an athlete to be an all state receiver in HS, how many centers do you know with the quickness to do that?)
5. Need: Everything WCS does well is a weakness for the Celtics
6. Culture: In extending Bradley, drafting Smart and (to a much lesser extent) trading for Crowder, Ainge has added young players who are very good defenders. Adding WCS gives the C's another player who is a defense first guy to grow with.

It's hard to say.  Would prime Kendrick Perkins or Omar Asik project to be a top-10 pick?  I think that's the caliber of player than WCS projects to be.

I think comparing the athleticism of Perkins or Asik to Cauley-Stein is not accurate. While WCS isn't guaranteed to produce like either of those two, if you are comparing him to others you have to go with more fluid defensive centers like Chandler or DeAndre.

To me the best comparison is DeAndre Jordan with a serviceable free throw shot and maybe even a servicable jump shot. I think a player like that is absolutely worthy of a top 10 pick.

One scout said Cauley-Stein is appealing because defending the pick-and-roll is critical in that league and he can do it in a number of ways. He can also legitimately lock down a small forward, power forward or center at the next level, the scout said. He has defended point guards at times in college.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2014/12/16/kentuckys-willie-cauley-stein-nba-draft-stock-quickly-rising/20505973/

Nailed it, WCS may not have as high upside as others in the draft, but he's less risky of a prospect and fills many needs for us. I'd be thrilled if we got him in the 5-8 range.

We are in year 2 of a rebuild, and just traded away all out vets. Why exactly do we go for filling a need instead of drafting the guy who has high upside?

I wouldn't mind picking him if we moved up into the late lottery with other picks and he is still there, but no way would I take him in the top 5-8 picks.

[Casperian]

http://upsidemotor.com/2015/01/05/willie-cauley-stein-scouting-report-january-2015/

...

Well-detailed, recent scouting report.

Also touches on some of his weaknesses such as physical strength and toughness.

To summarize, his strengths are:

- his physical "profile" for rim protection
- he rotates well
- he has active hands

Translation: He's big, pretty fast for a big guy, and hustles.

That's fine for the first round, but in the top ten, I want a guy with, you know, skill.

[Eddie20]

Chandler (at 19)

Height w/ shoes 7' 0.5"
Weight 224
Wingspan 7-3
Reach 9-2
No step vert 31.0
Max vert 33.5


Cauley-Stein

Height w/shoes 7' 0.25"
Weigh 244
Wingspan 7-2
Reach 9-2
No step vert 31.0
Max vert 37.0

[BleedGreen1989]

I wouldn't mind picking him if we moved up into the late lottery with other picks and he is still there, but no way would I take him in the top 5-8 picks.

I like WCS a lot, but this is my opinion as well.

[CFAN38]

http://upsidemotor.com/2015/01/05/willie-cauley-stein-scouting-report-january-2015/

...

Well-detailed, recent scouting report.

Also touches on some of his weaknesses such as physical strength and toughness.

To summarize, his strengths are:

- his physical "profile" for rim protection
- he rotates well
- he has active hands

Translation: He's big, pretty fast for a big guy, and hustles.

That's fine for the first round, but in the top ten, I'd like a guy with, you know, skill.

Being able to defend is a skill. He can do things defensively that very few true 7fters can. I'm not sure there are and 7fters in the league currently who move as well and he does. With a year of development he will be able to anchor a teams defense. This is harder to find then a 20pt a game scorer.