Positives:

# Long, athletic big man
# Excellent motor
# Runs the floor well and attacks the glass
# Great hustle player
# Some good moves around the basket
# Solid mid range shooter

Negatives:

# Needs to add lots of strength
# Gets pushed around in the paint
# Limited production for a 21 year old
# Struggles as a defender

Summary: Apr 20 Update: While Norel has some things you love about him as a player, he has a long ways to go before he’s a NBA prospect. He needs to add strength and have a few productive seasons in Europe first. The reports about him being a first round pick in December look pretty exaggerated right now. However, with a few more years of seasoning, he could be a legit NBA prospect. The team that drafts him will just have to be patient.

On your first question, I am not quite sure if I understand it. But the NFL uses its combine as a major factor in deciding where to take a player (that process is overblown sometimes). For the NBA, teams will look at the combine numbers a lot to see measurements and times in drills. However, teams will also consider a player’s play on the court more than anything. Pre-draft workouts are meant to give GMs and personnel a close up look at a player. Remember, GMs look for basketball players, not necessarily 5 star athletes

Take Steph Curry for an example. Walsh watched him play at Davidson. That was the first step. Then Walsh watched Curry perform next to other PGs at the combine. Size for Curry was probably not as much of an issue because he will play the PG spot in the NBA. Whether he is 6′2 or 6′3 is not really an issue. Then of course Walsh brought in Curry this week to watch him go up against another top prospect in Jrue Holiday. Walsh and D’Antoni have to see a player before taking him (presumably).

But t wrap it up, GMs look at size, quickness, athleticism, and their play on the court to judge not only how good a player is at the moment, but also a player’s potential. There is no pure science in determining who will be successful. Not to my knowledge at least.

Dan, I am not sure if that helps at all. Again, I was not completely sure on what you meant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjBZo9055XA

Jrue Holiday says he didnt play the point in high school, and we know he didnt play it in college, so how does he plan on playing it in the NBA…

I got two questions unrelated to the present topic. However, I was not sure how to get these questions to you otherwise.

#1 — I was wondering if there are any statistics to predict the quality of an NBA draft pick? Like, in the NFL they use a formula that includes completion percentage, career starts, and “something else” to predict the quality of incoming college QBs. Are there similar models for NBA players at each position?

#2 — What do you know about NBA teams’ interest in Henk Norel? I really think he would work well as a PF in the D’Antoni system. Any word that the Knicks might be interested?

Here is some info from draftexpress.com

Henk Norel, 7-0, 7-1 wingspan, 236 pounds
DKV Joventut, Netherlands, 1987

After an extremely impressive showing at last year’s Reebok Eurocamp, Henk Norel took somewhat of a step backwards in this his draft-eligible year, struggling to get back in the same rhythm after an injury plagued season. Norel looked a lot more tentative than we remembered him, not running the floor quite as well or doing as good a job crashing the glass. Hit perimeter jumper wasn’t falling, and he didn’t finish particularly well around the basket. Considering his status as a hustling role-player, he’s obviously not as interesting for teams if he isn’t doing all those things. Nevertheless, Norel still showed sparks of being the same player we saw and really liked early this season and in last year’s Eurocamp, and it’s not out of the question that he regains that same form once he shakes off the rust he accumulated over the past few months. He’s still a tall and very mobile big man with good length and great energy, and he could definitely develop into a solid rotation player over the next few years.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Henk-Norel-1156/

2. I dont want tyreke on the knicks and i want curry or holliday. So anybody who picks before us who us who is gonna take someone other than those two is good with me. Let this trade happen, so BOS can take evans. Let GS take jennings. Let OKC take thabust (as mucha calls him). And let curry slip to us please!!!

3. Even tho i dont want evans on the knicks, i can not lie, the guy has huge potential. And i feel that he would prosper with a good team with strong leaders like the celtics. As tommy dee often says, the situation a player is drafted into is just as important as the players skills, as evidenced by guys like Rondo.

So i hope this happens so we can get curry. But i dont want to see another star blossom on the celtics, our current most hated rival.

And Allen to the Wiz is great for Washington and DUMB for Boston, and since Boston was the one pursuing the trade is quite interesting…the Wiz sound like a guarantee to trade that 5th pick on draft day