Crowded here, crowded: Danny Abdia's competitors at the top of Draft 2020 - Walla! sport

2020-08-20T12:05:19.612Z

The chin who played three games a full season, the quarterback who traveled to Australia and hopes to be better than his brother, the guard who dreams of being the next James Harden and the Frenchman who has been playing for three years as a professional. Meet the eight players who will compete with the Israeli for the first places in the NBA draft

sport
NBA

Danny Abdia's Race to the Top

Crowded here, crowded: Danny Abdia's competitors at the top of the 2020 draft

Tags

Danny Abdia
Lamello Bull

Eran Soroka

Thursday, August 20, 2020, 2:45 p.m.

Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share in general
Share in general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email

0 comments

Danny Abdia announces his registration for the draft (courtesy of Maccabi Tel Aviv)

First of all, it must be said fairly: a rare combination of circumstances, which we talked about yesterday, among other things, causes Danny Abdia to reach the 2020 draft in an ideal position, perhaps the best of all the players who are expected to be selected at the top. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have been selected in the lottery another year, for example, but by 2020 it looks like all the stars have worked out for him. Or, in fact, maybe "did not get along" is the right definition.

In a regular season, scouts, analysts and talent evaluators have quite a few ways to test player performance. Most of all, they are waiting to see them in decisive moments, facing pressure - with tens of thousands of people standing in the stands and a degree or last chance to prove themselves. This season, the biggest event that college players have - the NCAA tournament, as well as the regional tournaments before it - has been canceled following the Corona plague, leaving a lot of question marks open. Some of these players have gone to summer tournaments like The Basketball Tournament, but the majority will reach the draft when they are after seven months or more without a competitive game. On the other hand, those months in isolation also allowed these players more time to improve weaknesses and develop the body. Other senior players in this draft did not even go through the colleges.

Another framework in which players can be evaluated is the "Combine", the large measurement event in which various data related to strength, athleticism, agility and physical dimensions are examined. The event, traditionally held in Chicago with most of the top candidates, will take place this time, according to an ESPN report in recent days, only in September, and in virtual format - in several halls across the U.S., after Corona tests, with teams watching video and being able to interview players. Reportedly, they will prefer to give up the pleasure this time.

But in the end, the tradition is stronger than anything. Tonight will be the lottery where the election order will be drawn, the night of October 16 will come and a draft, virtual or real, will be held. Players will be elected, excited, interviewed. One of them will be Danny, but he should not be first or second, according to top US sites - six of which (ESPN, CBS, NBC, The Athletic, NBADraft and Bleach Report) were selected for a weighted ranking, In which Abdia is rated an average of 5.8. That's fine, there's nothing to panic about. Come and meet Abdia's friends for the 2020 cycle, or at least their seniors.

Climber Pre-Lottery Predictor: Danny Abdia Third in Bleach Report Mock Draft

To the full article

An ideal starting position. Abdia (Photo: Danny Maron)

Anthony Edwards, Average Rating 1.3: Next Big Guard?

If you had to create in a computer game the ideal guard for the ideal NBA guard, you would probably go for something like 1.96 meters tall, 2.13 meters hand-held, 102 kilos and the power of a football player, tremendous jumping, ability to strive for touch and survive, explosiveness and even step-back. Anthony Edwards of the University of Georgia is molded into this mold, and if you look for his highlights videos, you will see something between James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, Bradley Bill or Victor Oladipo. By the way, he was even a football player.

But highlights videos, as such, contain only highlights. They will not show off their 29 percent to three, they will not praise the assist ratio for the very bad losses to Guard (almost 1: 1 in his only year in Georgia) or the defensive indifference that sometimes causes him to get lost on the field, even at critical moments. And they will not be told that despite his impressive physical tools, he is too prone to virtuosic shots from outside at the expense of penetrating the basket. And despite all this, the potential is probably too great to fall out of the top-2.

Lamelo Bull, Average Rating 2.2: The Successful Brother?

The best real estate appraisers in the Orlando area, armed with masks, are still trying to gauge the damage Lonzo Ball caused to the basket rings in the halls of the ESPN complex: after all, 30.5% of the field in the seven bubble games are not a number seen every day. And here after this horror show, and given that Angelo Ball is stuck in the Development League, Amlo arrives to save the family honor. On the other hand, a brief look at Lamello's shooting percentage in the Australian league's Ilwara Hawks uniform - 37.5% from the field, 25% across the arc - as well as the bizarre shot mechanics, makes the scouts sweat a little.

On the face of it, this is a magician with superstar charisma. Juggle with the ball, height coordinator (2.01) where in Houston let you play chin. Great instincts, calling a move or two forward, quarterback dedication, crooked eye, behind the back, crooked back, between the legs, legs behind the back, deceptions, kidnappings, gear changer without signal, just tremendous talent. Even Father Lowar has already realized that making a circus out of anything only harms his children and moves a bit aside. Only the lack of stable shooting, and especially the fact that he is as thin as an ear toothpick - 82 kilos - raises questions about the future.

Obi Topin, Average Rating 3.8: Ripe Rustic

22.5-year-olds usually do not get selected high in the draft. A lot of decisions are made based on raw potential and an understanding that players take several years to develop until they reach a peak towards the age of 25. The case of Obadiah Topin is unusual, but proves that sometimes it is worth the wait. Brooklyn-born Topin was not one of the boys to be closely escorted by YouTubers as early as high school, and by the time he finished 11th grade at 1.93 he had not much to offer. He grew about 13 inches in one year, and was still not academically good enough to reach college. Finally, he came to Dayton, a medium-sized university, where he had to sit out for a year for academic reasons.

When he finally hit the NCAA, he broke the freshman points record in the history of the Flyers with more than 14 points per game, drafted, trained for several teams , Uploaded photos to Instagram, was from Basot, tried to get accepted to Combine in Chicago, got negative, realized he had more to improve and decided to stay in college. As much as it was the right decision. Dayton gave a record season and Topin, Power Forward with more than 20 points and 7.5 Rave per evening, a host of powerful dunks and even 39% beyond the arc, preyed on and garnered player of the year titles (but a big question mark remains in defense). Whoever takes him knows what she gets, and in his case, it's a player's beauty.

James Weissman, average rating 4.3: Member from another dimension

With a height of 2.16 meters and a 2.28 meter arm, the chin built for Talpiot is probably the biggest animal in the 2020 draft. And it is precisely against this background that it is not clear why, in a strange move, Weissman decided after only three games in the University of Memphis uniform. 12 games due to forbidden contact with Penny Hardaway, the university coach - interrupting his college career and concentrating on NBA preparations. Maybe he felt his stock was at its peak and from there you could just get down. Factually it has indeed dropped since, and in some drafts he is also out of the top-5, which was once inconceivable for such players, in this role and size.

Weissman not only enjoys excellent physical dimensions, which allow him to pick up balls within a mile radius of the basket and also block such. He is also agile and fast, very smart as a person and as a player, and even has a soft hand from half distance, which gives him a relatively diverse offensive repertoire. On the other hand, some claim that he compromises too much on half-distance shots, looks for ostentatious blocks and suffers from basic defensive actions, and that in general, who is building a team around the chin today?

Comparisons range from Joel Ambide to David Robinson, but Paul Pierce made a fuss when he added Anthony Davis and Kevin Garnett to the cauldron, declaring in February: "A general manager who skips it, will have to find a new job very quickly."

Hiberton Tires, Average Rating 5.8: Pain When You Fall From Heaven?

"Good coordinators come to you from heaven, you just have to find them," Iowa State coach Steve Fromm said of the Tyrant Liberton. And what impressed Tirez, and made him become a relatively anonymous coordinator who is expected to be selected in the first half of the lottery, is that he managed to flourish personally even in a situation from hell. With the height (1.96) and Edwards' hand gesture and Bull Family style game wisdom, the Liberton looks like the versatile guards fit for today's NBA: can be studded in three backline positions, defense and offense, scoring and delivering thoroughly.

Liberton is not a particularly brilliant player, he just plays the right basketball, quiet, smart and efficient, especially in passing attacks. Surrounded by a weak Iowa State roster he still managed to score 6.5 assists per game, and with the defenses focused on him he still scored his 15 points for the evening in 50% healthy from the field, 41% for three and 82% from the penalty spot. On the other hand, the man went up a notch in the wind with the 79 pounds he went out with in the college league, not really an elaborate scorer in the moments he should be, and his jump shot, despite the efficiency, is very strange and could make him trouble in the NBA.

Onyka Okongwo, average rating 6.3: block coming

Every gang like this has the guy who likes to ruin for others, so Onyeka Ocongw is this type in the 2020 draft. - Accompany you to the ring and throw you the ball to Kibinimt with a contemptuous look, jump to block you as a defensive aid, and even go out to the arc of the three to interfere. In today's NBA it's a great asset, and Okongwa will be able to immediately contribute to any team he chooses.

In 1999 his mother Kate, a nurse by profession, emigrated from Nigeria to the United States, and two years later he was born. His older brother, Namadi, started playing basketball before him at Chino Hills High School and was then killed in a skateboarding accident. Onyke wears the number 21 in his memory and has joined Chino to one of the most famous high school groups in the country, alongside the Bull family's soap opera. In the NCAA he remained a CAL, in Southern California, and already in his first game broke a USC record with 8 blocks. Only the offense is less elaborate - rolls well to the ring, hits well from the penalty spot, ineffective out of color. Something between Clint Capella and Montreux Earl.

Isaac Okuro, Average Rating 8.0: The Defender app

If Okongwa is the best defensive player in color in the 2020 class, Okuro is probably the toughest defensive player in the rest of the field. With a 1.98-foot height and a 2.08-foot-tall winger, Auburn University winger is able to maintain four positions thanks to a strong, muscular, athletic and agile body - start keeping a coordinator, make a switch and post a "welcome" to a forward who tries to get in the basket and bumps into a rock. Okuro also knows how to finish well in the ring area, enjoys making contact and squeezing offenses and serves as a "Glow Guy" who can contribute to any team.

However, Okuro - also the son of parents from Nigeria - does not work according to the guidebook for players who want to play the role of "3 and D" and in the meantime gives up the part of the threes. In his only season at Auburn he has scored less than a three-pointer per game in less than 30 percent for three, and his penalty percentage last season, 67, is also relatively low for a player in away positions. The offensive part must be improved and polished, so that it is equally effective on both sides of the court.

Killian Hayes, average rating 8.3: Beautiful teenager

The second senior European player in the draft may not have played in the Euroleague, but he has been a professional for three years, excelled in the FIBA youth tournaments and studied at a prestigious sports academy in Paris. Killian Hayes was born in Florida but grew up in France. At the age of 19, he left home and went to play for Ratiopharm, but from the German league, where he scored more than 12 points and 6 assists per game in the EuroCup and a little less in the local league, which is also a process that helped him mature and adapt to the real world.

Hayes, also a 1.96-height coordinator, uses left-handed baskets and lightning dedication, is skilled and sophisticated and even loves shooting backwards. He has a beauty of game vision and the long hands allow him to find players at original angles and positions. Indeed, sometimes his dedication is too original, as evidenced by more than 3 losses on average per EuroCup game, and he too will have to condense in order to survive the physicality in the major leagues.

Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share in general
Share in general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email