2010 Draft Player Preview: Willie "Don't Call Me Bill" Warren
by Tanner Steidel on Dec 3, 2009 10:15 AM PST
19 comments
So last week TAFKA Mike Bourn put up a draft poll concerning what type of player we at Liberty Ballers felt should warrant a look from the front office come draft time. Well my partner in crime (Silent Destruction still in effect baby - don't call it a comeback we've been here for years!), I see your draft poll and raise you a player preview. The winning position in the poll was center but guess what, it doesn't matter what the poll says! Considering we have 200 some days until the draft there is plenty of time to preview any and every possible player that could head the Sixers way come June. So for the first one I'm gonna switch things up and go with a guy who can be a go-to scorer that this team needs in the future (if only we could get Allen Iverson back!). It is a man who shares the same first name as the most popular player on the Sixers roster, a man with a forehead big enough you could call it a five-head (Shelden Williams begs to differ). It is, of course, that other guy on Blake Griffin's college team; Willie "why must I share a name with Mr. Green" Warren.
Click the jump to learn more about Willie
Willie Warren: Sophomore SG #13 Oklahoma Sooners
Current Projection: nbadraft.net - 13
draftexpress.com - 5
rivals.com (yay yahoo!) - #2 SG in NCAA
Currently projected to be a top 5 pick according to draftexpress.com, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Willie Warren becomes a member of the Sixers this summer. The thing that will attract the front office about Warren is mainly his ability to flat-out score. He's an excellent ball-handler with a knack for getting to the lane and finishing or getting to the stripe. The thing that allows Warren to excel so much in driving to the basket is his ridiculously quick first step. He has shown in his one full season of college ball so far that he has the ability to pass the quickest of guards en route to the hoop all with exquisite body control finishing through traffic. What's that? There's more to his game when he has the ball? You better believe it. Willie has a tremendous hesitation dribble that keeps defenders off balance and can even pull up off the dribble and punish the opposition with a sweet mid-range J.
His three-point shooting ability is above average (hell, with the Sixers he'll look like Ray Allen out there) as he shot 38% from beyond the arc last season, a fair amount coming from NBA type range. This year he's started off slow in the three-point shooting department, but it's only been five games and as John would tell you, small sample size. One thing that irks some about his shooting ability is his odd release and I agree it is a bit funky. If he works on getting his shot off quicker than it currently stands, he could be deadly from outside.
You want athleticism? Willie lives to serve. I'll just let you watch some dunks he put on display so you can see for yourself (Iowa State, Texas Tech, Xavier Henry Meets Willie's Lower Region).
Warren has some court-vision to set up teammates but at times gets into a scorer's mentality where he knows going down the floor that he is the one taking the shot. Here in-lies a dilemma with Mr. Warren. He is listed as 6'4" but is more like 6'3". Being a little undersized to play shooting guard in the NBA, Warren will have to adapt his game to also play the point guard position. He needs to improve his ability to set up teammates (a la drive and kick) as he currently drifts to becoming a black-hole when getting by his defender. But with his ball handling skills and passing ability, developing himself into a player that can occasionally play the point should not be a problem for Willie.
One thing that really makes him fit in with the Sixers is that his defense is suspect. He has the tools to become an adequate if not elite defender (lateral quickness, length, intensity, etc.) but doesn't seem to put as much emphasis on this part of the game as he does offensively. In addition, he doesn't have the size that would be ideal to stick most shooting guards in the league. The most obvious choice would be to have defend the opposing point guard but without the defensive fundamentals he lacks, he will be yet another defensive liability, something the Sixers can not afford to keep taking on (but if Eddie Jordan is still around, who the hell cares about defense anyway?). The potential to develop those skills is there, the issue is whether or not he's willing to work hard to attain them.
So there ya go folks, your first draft preview of the season (o man it's December - so far away). Yes there is more that goes into analyzing Willie Warren's game but hey this is only a little preview. Hopefully we can pump more of these out to throughout the season as the draft is looking like the only thing the Sixers got goin for them right now. It's been prettay, prettay abysmal watching this team so far this year. But hey at least Allen Iverson will take us to the promise land.
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i actually think warren and green are fairly similar in their on court abilities. both are more tweeners on the offensive end, with their main offense being generated on the drive, as opposed to off the ball. neither is an elite shooter, and neither has the tools to be an elite defender.
i like warren a bit, but i’m not too sure that he should be the top target.
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
i'm telling you people, he's too big, and too white to be any good.
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
by variablesdont on Dec 3, 2009 5:04 PM PST up reply actions
does aldrich have that skill level?
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
by variablesdont on Dec 3, 2009 6:09 PM PST up reply actions
His race, religion, hair color, music preference, and favorite food have no bearing on his basketball ability. Stop bringing it up. Racism is not a good time.
by Michael Levin on Dec 3, 2009 6:40 PM PST up reply actions
most of that may be true
but let’s not stop that from having some fun. here’s a list of 7 foot white guys drafted in the top 20 since 2000.
2000:
chris mihm, 7th overall
joel przybilla, 9th overall
2001:
pau gasol, 3rd overall
troy murphy, 14th overall
michael bradley, 17th overall
2002:
Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 5th overall (cut and paste is a wonderful thing.
2003:
darko milicic, 2nd overall
chris kamen, 6th overall
nick collison, 12th overall
Zarko Cabarkapa, 17th overall
2004:
rafael araujo, 8th overall
andris biedrins, 11th overall
2005:
andrew bogut, 1st overall
fran vazquez, 11th overall
2006:
andrea bargnani, 1st overall
patrick o’bryant, 9th overall
Oleksiy Pecherov, 18th overall
2007:
spencer hawes, 10th overall (and thank god for that, since the sixers were all over him at 12)
you can go back further if you’d like, but what’s the best case scenario here? joel przybilla? andrew bogut? chris kamen? this team needs more than that from a first round pick. the odds are just completely against him being an impactful offensive player.
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
by variablesdont on Dec 4, 2009 6:40 AM PST up reply actions
Stop saying this is fun. It isn’t fun, it’s racism and bigotry. Against my better judgment, here is the opposite argument.
2000: Jason Collins, Jamaal Magloire
2001: Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, DeSagana Diop, Steven Hunter, Jason Collins, Brendan Haywood
2002: No one over 7’0
2003: No one over 7’0
2004: Dwight Howard (really only 6’10)
2005: Channing Frye, Ike Diogu, Andrew Bynum
2006: Hilton Armstrong
2007: Greg Oden, Sean Williams
2008: Roy Hibbert, Javale McGee, Alexis Ajinca
2009: Hasheem Thabeet
It’s not an issue of race. People reach for height without skill or basketball IQ and end up looking stupid, just as you are doing here.
I don’t think Aldrich is a lock to be a stud, but you can’t condemn him to be a bust for being white. This is the end of the conversation or you’re gone.
by Michael Levin on Dec 4, 2009 11:18 AM PST up reply actions
i'm just a believer that selling pants has it's uses.
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
by variablesdont on Dec 4, 2009 6:42 AM PST up reply actions
+1 for no more wings (especially wings that cant shoot)
by philiafan14364 on Dec 4, 2009 12:04 PM PST up reply actions
still think aldrich is a good fit
he is like sammy d except smarter and he can catch the basketball without dropping it. but no matter who we draft, we will never be good unless we fire someone whose name rhymes with sheddie schmordan.
To add to your point, Aldrich is much better at playing within himself, so that means no more heaves from just inside the 3 point line from the 7 footer in the Sixers uni.
by philiafan14364 on Dec 4, 2009 12:00 PM PST up reply actions
also, just to get it down:
while my preference is for a great shooting 2 guard, right now, the three guys i like most in this draft are soloman alabi, al-farouq aminu, and devin ebanks. alabi is basically a dalembert clone, but since i like dalembert, i don’t consider that to be a bad thing.
aminu and ebanks are basically insurance against trading speights, young, or iggy, but i don’t think either fits what my impressions are of the sixers needs, since neither spreads the floor in the half court, and neither is really skilled enough to give the sixers a big advantage if they’re gonna play small.
as for PGs, i really like malcolm delaney, but i think that position might be set with ivey, holliday, and lou.
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Alabi is my 2nd choice after Aldrich. They need a defensive anchor, preferably a C who could play next to Speights for the next decade while covering for his issues on D while complimenting him on O. That’s why I want Aldrich, 1st and foremost. If they keep EJ the whole year, they’ll have a shot at him, that’s for sure.
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