Bouknight Headed TO NBA
- Thread starter TripleDribbleMan
- Start date
I wish we had two NORMAL years with a talent like him.....I hope it was enough for us to keep getting those like him. Of course, WANT him to kill it in the NBA.
Looks like he's been working on that part, I'm glad he did, he certainly need it as we all mentioned during the season.
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" The 6-foot-5 Bouknight is projected as high as No. 6 to the Oklahoma City Thunder or No. 7 to the Golden State Warriors, and could be the highest drafted player out of UConn since Andre Drummond went No. 9 to the the Detroit Pistons in 2012......“A guy that maybe helped himself more than anybody else in the [NBA Combine] was Bouknight,” said one NBA Director of Scouting. “He had one of the most impressive shooting performances I’ve ever seen. He was bombing threes, I mean it was insane....Said another NBA executive who attended the workout: “Bouknight shot the heck out of the ball. He has good size and athleticism. He could go in the Top 6.” "
“It’s a big deal,” Hurley, the Jersey City native who played at St. Anthony High School and Seton Hall, said Monday by phone. “It’s probably the coolest thing that I’ve been a part of as a head coach " ......being part of James’ life and his development and a guy that from the day that he stepped foot on campus just blossomed and grew and developed so much, so James is a really, really important guy in the history of UConn basketball because if you’ve got NBA talent, he’s kind of made it cool to go and play at UConn again”
“It’s a big deal,” Hurley, the Jersey City native who played at St. Anthony High School and Seton Hall, said Monday by phone. “It’s probably the coolest thing that I’ve been a part of as a head coach " ......being part of James’ life and his development and a guy that from the day that he stepped foot on campus just blossomed and grew and developed so much, so James is a really, really important guy in the history of UConn basketball because if you’ve got NBA talent, he’s kind of made it cool to go and play at UConn again”
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If you are wondering about possible landing spots for the Bouk Show, here is the NBA Draft order. A lot of people saw Detroit as a good fit- until they got the 1st pick. I think Orlando at 5 is a possibility, Orlando at 8 is more likely, and now that New Orleans traded Bledsoe, New Orlean at 10. Those all seem like possible landing spots. If he slips, San Antonio at 12. I am assuming he will not fall that far but we will see. Let us never forget what happened to the poor late Cliff Robinson in 1989, after he was one of a select group of invitees to the Madison Square Garden draft room.
2. Houston
3. Cleveland
4. Toronto
5. Orlando
6. Oklahoma City
7. Golden State (from Minnesota)
8. Orlando (from Chicago)
9. Sacramento
10. New Orleans
11. Charlotte
12. San Antonio
13. Indiana
14. Golden State
15. Washington
16. Oklahoma City (from Boston)
17. Memphis
18. Oklahoma City (from Miami via the LA Clippers, Philadelphia, and Phoenix)
19. New York
20. Atlanta
21. New York (from Dallas)
22. Los Angeles Lakers
23. Houston (from Portland)
24. Houston (from Milwaukee)
25. LA Clippers
26. Denver
27. Brooklyn
28. Philadelphia
29. Phoenix
30. Utah
2021 FIRST ROUND
1. Detroit2. Houston
3. Cleveland
4. Toronto
5. Orlando
6. Oklahoma City
7. Golden State (from Minnesota)
8. Orlando (from Chicago)
9. Sacramento
10. New Orleans
11. Charlotte
12. San Antonio
13. Indiana
14. Golden State
15. Washington
16. Oklahoma City (from Boston)
17. Memphis
18. Oklahoma City (from Miami via the LA Clippers, Philadelphia, and Phoenix)
19. New York
20. Atlanta
21. New York (from Dallas)
22. Los Angeles Lakers
23. Houston (from Portland)
24. Houston (from Milwaukee)
25. LA Clippers
26. Denver
27. Brooklyn
28. Philadelphia
29. Phoenix
30. Utah
He's getting some traction and mocks in the last few days that say OKC....but time will tell
JI covers alot with DH in this story besides James....a 2022 player coming in a year early, the SEC situation and CR + NIL payouts and recruits
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I had thought that OKC really liked Dort in that position. In 2020 NBA Playoffs, Dort looked excellent and he is only 22 years old. Unlike Bouk, Dort is a major talent defensively. However, maybe they do not like how his offense has progressed since then. He picked his scoring average up to 14 ppg, but on a very inefficient 38% FGs. His 3 point percentage went up to around average or slightly below, from suckitude, however. Dort might ultimately be a 3 and D guy off the bench, although mainly D and not the 3........
These 2 are updated the last few days. Had even seen some Toronto talk and another from James talkin' about playin' for GS.... but here's what the mocks said....and like I said soon enough
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Today's James big day, but in the meantime.....FR year.....WHAT !.....get up there young fella !!!
LOL Katz has Bouknight going exactly where I do- #8 to Orlando. He is reading this board and copying my posts.
No he doesn't----
6. Oklahoma City: James Bouknight, UConn
Bouknight proved he’s a bucket-getter at UConn. He also showed his toughness when he came back during the season from elbow surgery. The Thunder need a big-time scorer. Bouknight can deliver on any given night. He’s got a chip on his shoulder from being undervalued. He won’t be on draft night.
8. Orlando: Moses Moody, Arkansas
I clicked on your link which contained a mock draft that I thought was Katz's. I went back and the link actually contains Jason McIntyre's mock draft and he has Bouknight going to Orlando at 8. So it's actually Jason who has been reading my posts. But Katz, Jason and I all agree Orlando will use one of its picks to obtain the Bouk Show.
The Pistons will take Cade Cunningham number 1. No surprise there.
The Pistons will take Cade Cunningham number 1. No surprise there.
Hopefully the slight drop humbles and motivates him.
For our brand, I hope he turns into Dwayne Wade. But I’m not going to hold my breath. He comes across a little soft and entitled and I’m not sure he’ll even be in the league in 5 years.
obviously I hope I’m wrong.
For our brand, I hope he turns into Dwayne Wade. But I’m not going to hold my breath. He comes across a little soft and entitled and I’m not sure he’ll even be in the league in 5 years.
obviously I hope I’m wrong.
Canolee,
I have the same reservations on Bouknight. He looked physically smaller/frail compared to the guys I saw at the Draft, and I fear his game might not project as well as some think at the NBA level. In the NCAA tournament his handle looked very sloppy to me and he could be a high TO guy in the NBA that scares people with live ball TOs, which in the NBA are deadly. If your crossover starts getting picked with regularity and the outside jumper isn't regular enough to keep the aggressive on ball NBA defenders off of you, it suddenly gets harder to score. The best part of his game is his imagination on scoring especially around the hoop, but if you can't get there that does not even come into play.
I have the same reservations on Bouknight. He looked physically smaller/frail compared to the guys I saw at the Draft, and I fear his game might not project as well as some think at the NBA level. In the NCAA tournament his handle looked very sloppy to me and he could be a high TO guy in the NBA that scares people with live ball TOs, which in the NBA are deadly. If your crossover starts getting picked with regularity and the outside jumper isn't regular enough to keep the aggressive on ball NBA defenders off of you, it suddenly gets harder to score. The best part of his game is his imagination on scoring especially around the hoop, but if you can't get there that does not even come into play.
The summer games or many of them seem to be getting televised now on ESPN. I have not seen the Bouk Show in Vegas yet, but did see the much anticipated matchup last night between #1 pick Cade Cunningham and #2 pick Jalen Green, who both played like main man players for their Pistons and Rockets summer teams. These guys both look like they will be very good NBA players. However the kid who really impressed me was Alperen "Alpie" Sengen, the MVP of the Turkish League who now plays for the Rockets. Sengen is one of the more athletic young European bigs I have seen come into the NBA. He was an absolutely menacing presence on D, at one point blocking one of Cunningham's soaring layups off the backboard after Cunningham beat his defender off the dribble, caused TOs with traps and threw down a one armed alley oop dunk. He finished with 21 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks and looked like the best player on the Court after Cunningham and Green. Also playing well was Luka Garza, the College player of the year who slipped to 2nd round/52 pick by Detroit, but may have been a good pick at that spot. Jury is out on his athleticism and defense, but he looked like he can make tough shots.
23 points and 8 assists tonight to lead the Hornets. The Bouk Show is playing well in Vegas:
Bouk again led Hornets in scoring last night with 14 points in 1 point loss to Raptors, but this time had a team leading 6 TOs to go with 5 assists:
Also see Jalen Adams getting some PT for Toronto, but not a good night vs James & Co., had better games vs. Golden St. (10pts) and 9/8/3 vs. Houston BOX SCORE
Jalen is with the right team which has the Point Guards Help Wanted sign out with Kyle Lowry signed with Miami. Freddy Van Vleet is entrenched as their starter, but he has defensive issues (lit up by Marcus Smart on 3s in 2020 playoffs) so they are probably looking for a bigger more defense minded point guard to compliment him. The Raptors also got rid of Norman Powell, who is a very good player but more of a scorer and his role needs to be replaced.
Regarding Bouknight, to me, his biggest possible weakness at the NBA level are his handle and TOs. I thought he had a lot of bad TOs at the end of last season and his handle looked sloppy and not as tight as it needed to be. Turnovers are a fast way to the bench for any NBA player because live ball TOs are punished at the NBA level much, much more harshly and cannot be tolerated. Bouk needs to clean up the TOs and hopefully he will since he did have 0 the prior game and has shown he can be careful.
Regarding Bouknight, to me, his biggest possible weakness at the NBA level are his handle and TOs. I thought he had a lot of bad TOs at the end of last season and his handle looked sloppy and not as tight as it needed to be. Turnovers are a fast way to the bench for any NBA player because live ball TOs are punished at the NBA level much, much more harshly and cannot be tolerated. Bouk needs to clean up the TOs and hopefully he will since he did have 0 the prior game and has shown he can be careful.
Bouk did not play in Charlotte's blowout loss to the Bulls last night (is he hurt?) but showing well again was Luka Garza for Detroit (21 points and 15 rebounds) and our old Seton Hall foe Sandro Mamukelashvili of the Bucks, who had 20 points and 7 boards. Both of these guys got picked late 2nd round- Garza at #52 overall and Mamu at #54. When I saw Garza play he had lost some weight from the college season and looked like he was in good shape. My one concern with him is that he needs to, but did, make some really difficult shots fading away from his defender, because he lacks the athleticism to create space to get off his shots. But he was running the court fairly well, and coaches sometimes like guys who show signs of overcoming athletic shortcomings with scrappy play and hustle. Garza has those attributes.
Mamu making the Bucks and having rotation minutes would not surprise me because he is both huge and skilled. The Bucks won the championship last year not only because they had a big 3 core of very good players in Holiday, Giannis and Middleton, but because of their frontcourt size and rebounding. Mamu certainly adds to that and gives them a huge guy who can play the 4 behind Giannis. Small ball was crushed in the NBA playoffs last year. We are back to liking big guys again.
Mamu making the Bucks and having rotation minutes would not surprise me because he is both huge and skilled. The Bucks won the championship last year not only because they had a big 3 core of very good players in Holiday, Giannis and Middleton, but because of their frontcourt size and rebounding. Mamu certainly adds to that and gives them a huge guy who can play the 4 behind Giannis. Small ball was crushed in the NBA playoffs last year. We are back to liking big guys again.
Led the Hornets tonight with 12, although Charlotte was stung by a 68 point loss to Dallas at home:
68 point home losses are not really what you want, even in preseason
68 point home losses are not really what you want, even in preseason
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Not a very good start for Bouknight. In 3 games, he has played 2 minutes, and has not scored, for a team that is now 3-0 and getting great play from their starting guards. What Bouk's PT tells me is the Hornets coaches do not like his D, his bursts of TOs or both. Poor D and turnovers gets you a seat watching in the NBA.
My biggest issue with Bouk, is I don't think he truly knows who to compete yet or has that edge you need as a pro. We saw some of that vs. Maryland in how they took him out of the game in the NCAA's. I've said it a few times on this board that I thought Gaffney competed better than James and just about everyone in that loss. Which was just recently confirmed by Hurley in Post #10
“We know that (Jalen's) a good player and a very valuable player and he is going to play a big role. How big of a role will be determined in the next couple of weeks. He’s one of a couple of guys competing to potentially start on the perimeter. He brings an invaluable ability to really create off the dribble. He was one of the few guys who really played well in the Maryland [NCAA Tournament] game.”