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Enrique Freeman


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14 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Was he even the best player on his high school team? 

 

Yes.

 

15 hours ago, GP1 said:

Another year?

 

At best, he is a below average player at a below average program in an OK conference. There are hundreds of players who could produce what he did at USC. There were guys on Akron's roster who could have produced what he did at USC. 

 

The NBA is the elite of the elite. He Enrique Freeman has a better shot at the NBA and I'm not sure about how great his shot is. 

 

Context is really important here. He was a true freshman who missed five months after collapsing on the floor back in July. Once he did return, he was on a strict minutes restriction for the first 8-9 games.  I'm guessing there was some mental trauma mixed in there that he had to deal with, too.

 

Going back to school and playing his sophomore season without missed time and without any restrictions would be the best thing for him. He absolutely has NBA potential, but will take some good development first. He may even need to go three years in college because of how his freshmen year unfolded. The worst thing for him would be to go pro now because while the potential is absolutely there, he's certainly not ready for the league. 

 

(P.S. No. there weren't any true freshmen at Akron this year who could've cracked USC's rotation)

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12 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Yes.

 

 

Context is really important here. He was a true freshman who missed five months after collapsing on the floor back in July. Once he did return, he was on a strict minutes restriction for the first 8-9 games.  I'm guessing there was some mental trauma mixed in there that he had to deal with, too.

 

Going back to school and playing his sophomore season without missed time and without any restrictions would be the best thing for him. He absolutely has NBA potential, but will take some good development first. He may even need to go three years in college because of how his freshmen year unfolded. The worst thing for him would be to go pro now because while the potential is absolutely there, he's certainly not ready for the league. 

 

(P.S. No. there weren't any true freshmen at Akron this year who could've cracked USC's rotation)

 

I wouldn't waste your time arguing. Per kenpom, USC was the 85th ranked team. There are over 350+ D1 basketball programs. That's far from below average. In fact, they would have steamrolled the MAC this season. It seems people have an odd hatred for Bronny.

 

Every year you see players "declare" for the draft without hiring an agent that way they can be evaluated by NBA scouts. They then return to college for another year. Even mediocre MAC players that had no chance of getting drafted have done that in the past. That's almost certainly going to be the case here with Bronny. 

 

There are only 60 players drafted per year. Of those 15-20 are international players. That means only 40-45 collegiate players get drafted per year. Of those maybe 10 will have an NBA career longer than 5 seasons. Odds are slim for any of these guys unless you're a generational talent at the very top of the draft board.

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3 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

It seems people have an odd hatred for Bronny.

I don't dislike him at all. Just noting he isn't an NBA player. I watched the Cavs yesterday. It was a savagely aggressive game between a bunch of freakishly good players. B James doesn't fit that description. 

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6 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Yes.

 

Going back to school and playing his sophomore season without missed time and without any restrictions would be the best thing for him. He absolutely has NBA potential, but will take some good development first. He may even need to go three years in college because of how his freshmen year unfolded. The worst thing for him would be to go pro now because while the potential is absolutely there, he's certainly not ready for the league. 

 

No he wasn't the best player on his high school team. This LA Times article talks about how he wasn't consistently dominant and took a backseat to other players on his team. It also talks about people questioning the legitimacy of his high recruiting rating and McDonald's All American selection. 

 

Your entire post, especially the part in bold, is quite the 180 and contradiction to your previous posts.

 

"Widely considered a lottery pick going into his freshman year."

 

Talk about hyperbole. He was only considered a potential lottery pick by morons like ESPN who have a vested interested in making sure Bronny is a story unlike MJ's son who quietly played for UCF and never went pro. 

 

"NBA GMs want to see Bronny."

 

If he's "certainly not ready for the league," then no they don't. NBA GMs aren't putting their jobs on the line - without behind the scenes incentive - and wasting evaluation opportunities on guys that aren't even the slightest bit NBA ready. There are a number of players on the G League combine list that are more NBA ready than Bronny by quite a bit. Unfortunately for them, they don't have a nepotism card up their sleeve.

 

Bronny is a very talented basketball player and I don't have ill-will towards him. Based on talent & performance alone, none of us would even be talking about Bronny. The only reason he's a conversation piece is his dad making sure the spotlight is intensely focused on his son. 

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
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Didn't Enrique Freeman "declare" for the draft last year to get looked at with the intention of returning to Akron? Dozens of players do this exact same thing every year. We wouldn't even be talking about him doing this if his dad wasn't who he is. Declaring, even when you're not NBA ready, isn't out of the ordinary.

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1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

No he wasn't the best player on his high school team. This LA Times article talks about how he wasn't consistently dominant and took a backseat to other players on his team. It also talks about people questioning the legitimacy of his high recruiting rating and McDonald's All American selection. 

 


He took a backseat to other players as an underclassman, one of which is now in the NBA.

 

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

"Widely considered a lottery pick going into his freshman year."

 

Talk about hyperbole. He was only considered a potential lottery pick by morons like ESPN who have a vested interested in making sure Bronny is a story unlike MJ's son who quietly played for UCF and never went pro. 

 

Look at any mock draft after his senior season of HS but before his on-court collapse and you'll see him listed as a potential lottery pick.

 

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

"NBA GMs want to see Bronny."

 

If he's "certainly not ready for the league," then no they don't. NBA GMs aren't putting their jobs on the line - without behind the scenes incentive - and wasting evaluation opportunities on guys that aren't even the slightest bit NBA ready. There are a number of players on the G League combine list that are more NBA ready than Bronny by quite a bit. Unfortunately for them, they don't have a nepotism card up their sleeve.

 

Sure seems.like they do by their votes. It's been pointed out already, but their wanting to see him doesn't mean they're going to draft him this year. Good NBA teams do draft prep years in advance. They've been following he and other highly regarded young players for awhile. They seemingly want to see him up close, evaluate his game, project what kind of pro they think he can be. 

 

The irony of you sharing that link is this quote from the writer - "Bronny James is great, in his own way. And for many, that will never be enough."

 

Ain't that the truth.

 

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Commentators speaking vary highly of Enrique during the game saying he can be a great bench role player in the NBA, continuing on about his story... on top of an interview of the coach of his combine team saying he is the one that has stuck out the most to him.

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I doubted Enrique would ever play meaningful minutes when he walked on even though, IIRC, @NWAkron thought he looked very good in some Akron-Canton summer rec league highlight video. 🤭  I was wrong. He was right.

 

Now I'm doubting Enrique in The League.  I'm just not confident his game will translate well to the modern NBA. If he could have played in the 80's-90's he'd fit right in.  Now... I don't know. Anymore at 6'7" he'd better be able to handle the ball better than most 90's guards & launch from further downtown than anything the 90's would've imagined as being a good shot.

 

Idk. I hope I'm wrong again! 🤞🤞🤞

 

He's the best Zip I've ever seen.

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40 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

I doubted Enrique would ever play meaningful minutes when he walked on even though, IIRC, @NWAkron thought he looked very good in some Akron-Canton summer rec league highlight video. 🤭  I was wrong. He was right.

 

Now I'm doubting Enrique in The League.  I'm just not confident his game will translate well to the modern NBA. If he could have played in the 80's-90's he'd fit right in.  Now... I don't know. Anymore at 6'7" he'd better be able to handle the ball better than most 90's guards & launch from further downtown than anything the 90's would've imagined as being a good shot.

 

Idk. I hope I'm wrong again! 🤞🤞🤞

 

He's the best Zip I've ever seen.

Watching the 2 g league camp games, he definitely looks like he's trying to translate his game more into nba form... I feel he dribbled the ball around a lot more and shot some more 3s... he definitely was around the arc more than in the paint even though he still was able to work his way in there. Overall I think he is trying to get his game changed around to fit a little better so we'll see!

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1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

With a jump shot and actual offensive game in general. 

Varejao had some double digit years, that wasn't a knock on Freeman. Though Enrique does have a much better jumper 

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3 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

I doubted Enrique would ever play meaningful minutes when he walked on even though, IIRC, @NWAkron thought he looked very good in some Akron-Canton summer rec league highlight video. 🤭  I was wrong. He was right.

 

Now I'm doubting Enrique in The League.  I'm just not confident his game will translate well to the modern NBA. If he could have played in the 80's-90's he'd fit right in.  Now... I don't know. Anymore at 6'7" he'd better be able to handle the ball better than most 90's guards & launch from further downtown than anything the 90's would've imagined as being a good shot.

 

Idk. I hope I'm wrong again! 🤞🤞🤞

 

He's the best Zip I've ever seen.

 

The Cavs tried to build with bigs who can rebound and finish around the rim. It works fine in the regular season, but come playoffs they will never make it past the second round. When the other team is draining 3's, you can't compete. 

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3 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

I doubted Enrique would ever play meaningful minutes when he walked on even though, IIRC, @NWAkron thought he looked very good in some Akron-Canton summer rec league highlight video. 🤭  I was wrong. He was right.

 

Now I'm doubting Enrique in The League.  I'm just not confident his game will translate well to the modern NBA. If he could have played in the 80's-90's he'd fit right in.  Now... I don't know. Anymore at 6'7" he'd better be able to handle the ball better than most 90's guards & launch from further downtown than anything the 90's would've imagined as being a good shot.

 

Idk. I hope I'm wrong again! 🤞🤞🤞

 

He's the best Zip I've ever seen.

That was my thought up until he developed a perimeter shot this season. Now I feel he's more adapted to this position less style of basketball teams are employing these days.

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7 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Awesome for Enrique. How many guys get invited to the combine? Might give us an idea of his draft chances.
 

cant imagine many who aren’t there get drafted.

78 players participate. 

 

Edit: Odds are high of him at least making a summer league roster. It's still very much an uphill battle to secure a roster spot even if he does get drafted. Over coming the odds stacked against him obviously wouldn't be anything new to Freeman though.

Edited by kreed5120
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