Miles in the NBA

[Kedsy]

I am equal parts excited about Miles' NBA prospects and concerned about the ongoing "big man perception" issue. I know I sort of joked about it earlier in this thread, but as Miles's stock continues to rise, the natural question for high school prospects is going to be, "Why didn't Duke use him more?" When you've got NBA insiders such as Chad Ford casually writing it off as "Duke is a guard-oriented school who rarely called plays for him," that really doesn't look good.

On the other hand, he says GMs look at Miles as a "athletic rebounder and shot blocker off the bench," which is pretty much exactly the role he played at Duke. The way I see it, Duke took the #81 high school recruit in the country and turned him into a guy who everyone is excited about going into the draft. Looks pretty good from that angle.

[CDu]

...although dumping Elton Brand was one of their dumbest moves ever... Tyson Chandler... please...

Don't get me started on Jerry Krause. The man set the organization back a decade. If we hadn't lucked into the #1 pick to get Rose, we'd still be mired in mediocrity.

[CDu]

On the other hand, he says GMs look at Miles as a "athletic rebounder and shot blocker off the bench," which is pretty much exactly the role he played at Duke. The way I see it, Duke took the #81 high school recruit in the country and turned him into a guy who everyone is excited about going into the draft. Looks pretty good from that angle.

Yeah, I think teams need to do a better job of identifying guys for roles in their organization. If you're looking for an athletic big man who is unselfish, smart, team-oriented, and not afraid to rebound and defend for 10-15 mpg, Plumlee is potentially a great option. You'll probably have to live with some bumps and bruises along the way as he learns the ropes. But there's no reason a guy at that size with that athleticism can't fill an energy/effort/defense role. Yet teams seem to be too often trying to find a diamond in the rough in the second round, which is often fools' gold.

[Jim3k]

A rich NBA career is a rich NBA career, whether or not you averaged 15 and ten in college, and success by Miles will help Duke with recruiting. There are plenty of examples of players who blossomed in the NBA after not starring in college. I'll have to think of examples beyond Matt Geiger, Jack Sikma, birdman in Denver.

sagegrouse

Ultimate example: Mark Eaton

[miramar]

Ultimate example: Mark Eaton

There is nothing like the Mark Eaton story for another reason. An assistant coach at a JC saw him when he was the world's tallest auto mechanic at 7'4", with his legs sticking out under a car, and encouraged him to try out. After JC ball, Eaton didn't do much at UCLA, but Wilt Chamberlain visited practice one time and told him that if he concentrated on defense, rebounding, and getting the ball to the guards and he would be fine. (It's a good thing that Wilt didn't tell him to set screens as well or Miles's coach would have said how little he knew about playing center.)

Another example from UCLA is Sven Nater, who never started a game for the Bruins but played 11 years in the ABA and NBA.

[lotusland]

Ultimate example: Mark Eaton

Where is Mark? He should be our big man coach

[sagegrouse]

Ultimate example: Mark Eaton

Thanks for the prompt, Jim. You must have known I had this phrase in my post before I edited it out: "... birdman in Denver, plus some big dude in Utah whose name I can't remember."

sage

[jimsumner]

Marty Nessley, Matt Wenstrom, Geoff Crompton, Kevin Salvadori and Ivano Newbill all cashed NBA checks.

None stuck around very long but all somewhat proved the adage that you can't teach height.

[hq2]

Marty Nessley, Matt Wenstrom, Geoff Crompton, Kevin Salvadori and Ivano Newbill all cashed NBA checks.

None stuck around very long but all somewhat proved the adage that you can't teach height.

Not to mention Chuck Nevitt, who was 7'-5" and couldn't do anything.

[gumbomoop]

Looks like NBA draft combine will be televised live today (Friday 6/8) on ESPNU, 10 am - 2 pm, with replay of part of it Friday eve, also on ESPNU, 7-9 pm.

[budwom]

Not to mention Chuck Nevitt, who was 7'-5" and couldn't do anything.

Chuck could change ceiling light bulbs without a ladder. YOU try that...

[jimsumner]

Not to mention Chuck Nevitt, who was 7'-5" and couldn't do anything.

Nevitt hung around forever. Best 12th man in NBA history.

[Billy Dat]

Marty Nessley, Matt Wenstrom, Geoff Crompton, Kevin Salvadori and Ivano Newbill all cashed NBA checks.

None stuck around very long but all somewhat proved the adage that you can't teach height.

That era has largely come and gone, as fun as it was. It's rare that you see as many novelty 7 foot stiffs as you used to. One of the great happenings of that era was Manute Bol developing a decent 3 point shot.

[BD80]

Not to mention Chuck Nevitt, who was 7'-5" and couldn't do anything.

His freshman year he couldn't dunk a basketball in the lay-up lines. He could dunk if standing beside the hoop, but he couldn't coordinate an effort starting past the free throw line. We may have had some fun at his expense, which only compounded his struggles.

[CDu]

That era has largely come and gone, as fun as it was. It's rare that you see as many novelty 7 foot stiffs as you used to. One of the great happenings of that era was Manute Bol developing a decent 3 point shot.

Yeah, the average big man (both PF and C) is much more skilled away from the basket and offenses are much better at exploiting a lack of skill/athleticism today than they were years ago. As such, the man-mountain is largely a thing of the past. If you can't move well defensively, it's hard to keep you on the court.

[gwlaw99]

Miles Combine Measurements. 6'10.5 without shoes which was the 4th tallest. 7'1 wingspan. 250lbs. Here is a stat I wasn't expecting. 11.4 percent body fat. Second worst at the combine. I imagine his vertical would improve even more if he got that down to 7%.

[CDu]

Miles Combine Measurements. 6'10.5 without shoes which was the 4th tallest. 7'1 wingspan. 250lbs. Here is a stat I wasn't expecting. 11.4 percent body fat. Second worst at the combine. I imagine his vertical would improve even more if he got that down to 7%.

I can't believe he has a higher body fat% than Fab Melo and Sullinger. Not that those other two guys are fat; just that Miles looks in better shape than those two. Weird.

[Edouble]

Miles Combine Measurements. 6'10.5 without shoes which was the 4th tallest. 7'1 wingspan. 250lbs. Here is a stat I wasn't expecting. 11.4 percent body fat. Second worst at the combine. I imagine his vertical would improve even more if he got that down to 7%.

Thanks for the link. Miles' hands are larger here (9.25') than the reports earlier in this thread (8').

[gwlaw99]

I can't believe he has a higher body fat% than Fab Melo and Sullinger. Not that those other two guys are fat; just that Miles looks in better shape than those two. Weird.

The more I think about it, the more I think that must be a misprint. No way Miles has that much body fat. This is a video of a recent workout. At 58 seconds he has his shirt off and looks like he has very little body fat.

[FellowTraveler]

I can't believe he has a higher body fat% than Fab Melo and Sullinger. Not that those other two guys are fat; just that Miles looks in better shape than those two. Weird.

It wouldn't stun me. And it might be skewed a bit by recent training. A lot of guys work on getting in the best possible shape going into the combine & team workouts. It wouldn't surprise me if Miles, knowing he'd impress with his size & leaping ability, focused more on skills -- refining the jumper, etc. Obviously, that's just conjecture, but it's what I'd do if I were him,* and it could result in a situation in which guys like Sullinger had a little more body fat than Plumlee three months ago and a little less now.

* Unless of course I was being advised by someone who actually knew what he was doing that this was a mistake...