Tag Archives: Shabazz Napier

WHO’S ROSTER WOULD BE BETTER, THE CAVS OR THE HEAT?

LET’S PUT LEBRON JAMES ON BOTH TEAMS AND THEN COMPARE THE CURRENT ROSTERS.  WHO GIVES THE KING A BETTER CHANCE FOR MORE RINGS NEXT YEAR AND BEYOND?

Cavaliers                                                                             Heat

 

Kyrie Irving –6’3–193-22 (20.8p-6.1a-3.6r)       PG      Mario Chalmers –6’2–190-28 (9.8p-4.9a-2.9R)

 

Andrew Wiggins –6’8-200-19 (17.1p-1.5a-5.9r)    SG      Dwyane Wade –6’4–220–32 (19p-4.7a-4.5r)

 

LeBron James –6’8-250-29 (27.1p-6.9r-6.4a)         SF      LeBron James -6’8-250-29 (27.1p-6.9r-6.4a)

 

Tristan Thompson -6’9-238-23 (11.7p-9.2r-1a)   PF   Josh McRoberts – 6’10-240-27 (8.5p-4.8r-4.3a)

 

Anderson Varejao – 6’11-267-31 (8.4p-9.7r-2.2a)  C    Chris Bosh – 6’11-235-30 (16.2p-6.6r-1.1a)

LeBron Powder Toss Photo

Cavs Bench – Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett, Tyler Zeller, Brendan Haywood, Sergey Karasev, Matthew Dellavedova, Jarrett Jack, Joe Harris and Carrick Felix.

 

 

 

 

LeBron Disgusted Photo 6-14-14

 

Heat Bench – Norris Cole, Shabazz Napier, Greg Oden, Udonis Haslem, Ray Allen, Chris Anderson, Michael Beasley, Danny Granger and James Jones.

HAS PAT RILEY DONE ENOUGH TO THE HEAT ROSTER TO IMPRESS LEBRON?

Time is winding down for LeBron James to decide on whether to stay in Miami or sign with Cleveland or someone else in free agency. Here are the moves that Heat president Pat Riley has made so far to bolster his roster and try to impress LeBron, as well as Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, in hopes of keeping Miami’s “Big 3” together for a few more years. Is this enough? Will there be other additions? The clock is ticking on Riley to do more, and on LeBron to make yet another decision.

LeBron and Dwyane Wade on the bench

 

In the NBA Draft the Heat traded for the point guard who led U-Conn to the National Championship, Shabazz Napier. Supposedly, Napier was LeBron James favorite player in the draft. Is he good enough to surplant Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole as the starting point guard for Miami? Or is that still a few years away for Napier?

 

 

Shabazz Napier- PG-6’1-180-22–U-Conn stats (18p-6r-5a) (40% – 3FG)

 

In NBA Free Agency so far, Riley has received verbal commitments from free agents Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger after losing out on the likes of Kyle Lowery and Marcin Gortat while getting non-committals from Pau Gasol or Luol Deng. Here’s a look at what McRoberts and Granger did this past season in the NBA. How much of an upgrade are they over who the Heat had on the bench or in the starting lineup last year?

 

Josh McRoberts- PF-6’10-240-27 –Hornets (8.5p–4.8r-4.3a) (36%-3FG)

 

Danny Granger- SF-6’9-228-31–Pacers/Clippers (8.2p-3.2r-1apg) (34%-3FG)

 

The first day players can officially sign their contracts is Thursday, July 10, 2014. Dan Gilbert and the Cavs, along with Pat Riley and the Heat, are hoping to know before Thursday what decision LeBron has made so it leaves time for either team to go after other free agents if LeBron tells them no.

KENNY RODA 2014 NBA MOCK DRAFT 3.0 – (updated 6-26-14)

1st ROUND

1 Cleveland – JABARI PAKER – Small Forward – Duke – 6’9 – 241                                                                                                            

Joel Embiid was the pick in my first mock draft, then he needed foot surgery.  Andrew Wiggins was my choice in Mock Draft 2.0. Now, if the Cavs  decide to keep the pick and not trade it, as there is some intel out there that they could make a deal. But if they don’t, and  after going back and listening to G.M. David Griffin’s comments from May 13th as well as with the hiring of David Blatt as head coach and LeBron James opting out early to be a free agent, I have changed my mind again and went with Parker as the Cavs pick. I personally have always wanted and still want Wiggins. However with LBJ as a free agent, Griff as an offensive G.M., the Cavs may feel the need to win right away and Parker gives you that best chance because his body is far more developed than Wiggins at this point and he’s more polished and potent offensively right now than Wiggins. He has an extremely high basketball IQ and Parker is also more of a catch and shoot guy than Wiggins, and with two ball-dominate guards in Kyrie and Dion, Parker looks to be the better fit. So by the slimmest of margins, and even though I think Wiggins has more upside in a few years, I’ll say the Cavs take Parker. The good thing here is, with either player, the Cavs are going to be a better team and fill a major need. Not bad for a team who before the lottery was scheduled to pick 9th!

2  Milwaukee – ANDREW WIGGINS – Small Forward – Kansas – 6’8 – 200

3  Philadelphia – DANTE EXUM – Point Guard – Australia – 6’6 – 195

4  Orlando – NOAH VONLEH – Power Forward – Indiana – 6’10 – 245

5  Utah – AARON GORDON – Power Forward – Arizona – 6’9 – 225

6  Boston – JOEL EMBIID – Center – Kansas – 7’1 – 260

7  LA Lakers – JULIUS RANDLE – Power Forward – Kentucky – 6’9 -240

8  Sacramento – MARCUS SMART – Point Guard – Oklahoma St. – 6’4 – 220

9  Charlotte – DOUG McDERMOTT – Small Forward – Creighton – 6’8 – 220

10 Philadelphia – NIK STAUSKAS – Shooting Guard – Michigan – 6’6 – 205

11 Denver – JAMES YOUNG – Shooting Guard – Kentucky – 6’6 – 215

12 Orlando – ELFRID PAYTON – Point Guard – Louisiana Lafayette – 6’4 – 185

13 Minnesota – GARY HARRIS – Shooting Guard – Michigan St. – 6’4 – 210

14 Phoenix – RODNEY HOOD – Small Forward – Duke – 6’8 – 210

15 Atlanta – ZACH LaVINE – Shooting Guard – UCLA – 6’5 – 181

16 Chicago – SHABAZZ NAPIER – Point Guard – U-CONN – 6’1 – 175

17 Boston – P.J. HAIRSTON – Shooting Guard – UNC/ NBA D-League – 6’4 – 228

18 Phoenix – DARIO SARIC – Small Forward – Croatia – 6’10 -235

19 Chicago – CLEANTHONY EARLY – Power Forward – Wichita St. – 6’7 – 210

20 Toronto – ADREIAN PAYNE – Power Forward – Michigan St. – 6’10 – 240

21 Oklahoma City – KYLE ANDERSON – Small Forward – UCLA – 6’9 – 230

22 Memphis – T.J. WARREN – Small Forward – North Carolina St. – 6’8 – 220

23 Utah – TYLER ENNIS – Point Guard – Syracuse – 6’2 – 181

24 Charlotte – GLEN ROBINSON III – Small Forward – Michigan – 6’7 – 212

25 Houston –  CLINT CAPELA – Power Forward – Switzerland – 6’10 – 210

26 Miami –   JORDAN CLARKSON – Point Guard – Missouri – 6’5  – 186

27 Phoenix –  K.J. McDANIELS – Small Forward – Clemson – 6’6 – 200

28 LA Clippers – JERAMI GRANT – Small Forward – Syracuse – 6’8 – 215

29 Oklahoma City –  JARNELL STOKES – Power Forward – Tennessee – 6’8 – 260

30 San Antonio – JUSUF NURKIC – Center – Bosnia – 6’11 – 280

 

2nd ROUND

33 Cleveland – WALTER TAVAREZ – Center  – Spain – 7’3 – 265

After taking Parker with the first pick to provide offense from day one, the Cavs need to add defense to David Blatt’s team. So they take a 22-year old true center who is all about defense at this point in his career from what I’ve read and seen on youtube. He’ll give the Cavaliers a low post defender who will protect the rim and rebound. He’s very raw offensively, but the Cavs won’t care and need some depth at center with Anderson Varejao in the final year of his contract. Also in play here could be Russian center Artem Klimenko.  A  7’1 – 228 center with a 7’4 wing span and a 9’4 standing reach. I’ve got to believe that David Blatt knows of him and may have some say in taking Klimenko.

RODA RATINGS – SHOOTING EFFCIENCY FOR TOP COLLEGE PLAYERS

When NBA General Managers put a file together on a player they are thinking about selecting in the NBA Draft, they’re looking for any numbers and information that may help them get an edge over their fellow G.M.’s. With that in mind, one of the things I look at, and they may look at is, how efficient is a player when he shoots the ball from the field, from 3-point range and the free throw line.

So I take the different shooting categories and add their percentages together to create an overall shooting efficiency number. Below are two lists. The first is field goal percentage, plus 3-point percentage, plus free throw percentage. The second list is field goal percentage plus free throw percentage.

 

Field Goal Percentage + 3-Point Field Goal Percentage + Free Throw Percentage

1   Doug McDermott       53%FG + 45%(3FG) + 86%FT     =    184

2   Nik Stauskas              47%FG + 44%(3FG) + 82%FT     =     173

3   Noah Vonleh             52%FG + 48%(3FG) + 72%FT     =      172

4   Adreian Payne          50%FG + 42%(3FG) + 79%FT     =     171

Cleanthony Early      49%FG + 38%(3FG) + 84%FT     =     171

Shabazz Napier         43%FG + 41%(3FG) + 87%FT     =      171

7   Kyle Anderson          48%FG + 48%(3FG) + 74%FT     =      170

8   Rodney Hood           46%FG  + 42%(3FG) + 81%FT     =      169

9   DeAndre Daniels      47%FG + 42%(3FG) + 79%FT     =      168

10 Jordan Adams           46%FG + 36%(3FG) + 84%FT     =     166

11 Gary Harris                43%FG + 35%(3FG) + 81%FT     =     159

12 Jabari Parker             47%FG + 36%(3FG) + 75%FT     =     158

13 Glen Robinson III     49%FG + 31%(3FG) + 76%FT     =     156

14 Andrew Wiggins        45%FG + 34%(3FG) + 76%FT     =     155

15 Tyler Ennis                41%FG + 35%(3FG) + 77%FT     =     153

16 Joel Embiid               63%FG + 20%(3FG) + 69%FT     =     152

17 Zach Lavine              44%FG + 38%(3FG) + 69%FT     =     151

18 James Young            41%FG + 35%(3FG) + 71%FT     =     147

19 Marcus Smart          42%Fg + 30%(3FG) + 73%FT      =     145

20 Julius Randle            50%FG + 17%(3FG) + 71%FT     =     138

 

 FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE + FREE THROW PERCENTAGE

1   Doug McDermott       53%FG + 86%FT     =    139

2   Cleanthony Early      49%FG + 84%FT     =     133

3   Joel Embiid                63%FG + 69%FT     =     132

4   Shabazz Napier         43%FG + 87%FT     =     130

Jordan Adams           46%FG + 84%FT     =     130

6   Nik Stauskas              47%FG + 82%FT     =     129

Adreian Payne          50%FG + 79%FT     =      129

8   Rodney Hood            46%FG + 81%Ft     =       127

9   DeAndre Daniels      47%FG + 79%FT     =      126

10 Glen Robinson III     49%FG + 76%FT     =    125

4 PLAYERS WHO HELPED THEIR NBA DRAFT STOCK IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Shabazz Napier          PG – 6’0 – 170 – 22 years old – U-Conn

Nobody helped his stock more than Napier. All the senior guard did in the six tournament games on the way to leading the Huskies to a National Championship was average 21.7pts – 5.5reb – 4.5ast – 2.5st while shooting 46% from the field, 46.5% from 3-point country and went 31-33 from the free throw line for 94%. Oh yeah he also scored 22pts in the title clinching game against a bunch of future NBA players from Kentucky.

 

James Young              SF –  6’7 – 200 – 18 years old – Kentucky

While Julius Randle got most of the pub all season long and Aaron Harrison hit some big shots for the Wildcats late in games, Young also rose to the occasion in the tourney, saving his best for the last two games when he scored 17 points against Wisconsin in the Final Four and 20 points in the title game loss to U-Conn. He is now on everybody’s radar after those performances and the fact that he averaged 14ppg for his freshman year with the Cats.

 

Cleanthony Early       SF –  6’8 – 215 – 22 years old – Wichita St.

While Wichita St. came up short in their ultimate goal, it wasn’t due to the lack of effort from Early. The senior finished his college career scoring 31 points and grabbing 7 rebounds in the Shockers only loss of the season to Kentucky. In the other tournament game he scored 23 points and pulled down 7 boards. In those two games he made 21 of 32 shots from the field for 66% while also draining 7 of 14 three’s. For the season the small forward averaged 16pts and 6reb.

 

Kyle Anderson            PF – 6’9 –  235 – 20 years old – UCLA

His tournament numbers won’t overwhelm you (11.3pts-7.6reb-5.3ast), but his versatility at his size should. You can call him a point forward if you like after averaging (14.6pts – 8.8reb – 6.5ast) for the year. He registered one triple/double during his sophomore season and 16 double/doubles and missed out on two more triple/doubles by one assist and two rebounds.

*Napier and Early are seniors so they will be in the draft. Young and Anderson are underclassmen and as of April 8, 2014 they had not made their decision as to whether they will stay in school, or leave early for the NBA Draft.

PODCAST – NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

Kentucky vs U-Conn Preview

PODCAST – RODA REPORT – FINAL FOUR PREVIEW and PREDICTIONS

Florida vs U-Conn and Kentucky vs Wisconsin – Who Wins and Why!