Re: Robert Upshaw = Major Fireworks

by **kdp59** Sun May 17, 2015 4:59 pm

atcross wrote:Maybe I missed it but I haven't seen anywhere what it is Upshaw actually did to get kicked off those teams. Was he smoking weed and not going to class, or a bad attitude, or are we talking about a serious drug habit or criminal behavior?

only rumors out there as you would expect, no school is going to release the reasons publicly .

but you would think that player of his ability's it was more than just smoking a couple blunts. Obviously both schools decided it was best to NOT have him around the rest of the players.

by **Sam** Sun May 17, 2015 5:06 pm

Maybe he just blocked so many shots in practice that he was demoralizing his teammates. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Sam

by **atcross** Sun May 17, 2015 5:49 pm

kdp59 wrote:
atcross wrote:Maybe I missed it but I haven't seen anywhere what it is Upshaw actually did to get kicked off those teams. Was he smoking weed and not going to class, or a bad attitude, or are we talking about a serious drug habit or criminal behavior?

only rumors out there as you would expect, no school is going to release the reasons publicly .

but you would think that player of his ability's it was more than just smoking a couple blunts. Obviously both schools decided it was best to NOT have him around the rest of the players.

I would agree and one might think that, especially in WA. But NCAA drug policy is very strict and penalties are pretty much non-negotiable. Not wanting to have him around the other players is probably one of the few reasons a school can claim as its own. The NCAA is not so subjective. You have to at least go through the motions of going to school and stick to intoxicants that are easily passed out of the blood stream. I'm not saying it wasn't something more serious. Possibly a combination of all of the above. But if I'm looking to draft a kid I'd rather take a chance on a kid who smokes weed, doesn't see the point in pretending to be a student, and didn't think he needed to show up on time for practice because he was that good, than I would on a kid who has a substance abuse problem.

by **cowens/oldschool** Sun May 17, 2015 6:36 pm

kdp59 wrote:Ask Milwaukee how Sanders worked out.

I wouldn't count on Upshaw being our starting center but to each his own.

seems like a lot of excitement because the guy is tall. we all knew that.
Like I said worth the gamble at 28 or 33 but not for me at 16.

Towns, Okafor, Cauley-Stien and Turner I would pick over him every time.

in life you have to deal with the cards your dealt, we won't have a shot at those 4 names you mentioned, every pick is a crapshoot, you think any wing in this draft is a sure thing? Upshaw can give us what we need most at the position we are weakest.

by **Sam** Sun May 17, 2015 8:44 pm

That could be very true, Cow. I never even heard about him until a couple of weeks ago; but a lot of these posts have piqued my interest. He might be more of a project as a person than as a player, but that a couple of months on Brad's couch could potentially fix that.

I don't believe Brad's any great psychologist, but I think he knows that the way to a player's heart is through success. And he has found roles to make guys like Thomas, Turner, Crowder, Zeller, Smart, Jerebko, Olynyk, and even Bass much more successful. (And he has tried with Sully, but the success there has unfortunately been tied to Sully's conditioning.) There's something really cool about watching guys who are presented with a way to achieve and suddenly take to it like a sponge and water.

And sometimes, the lower a guy has gone in his life, the greater the eruption when he realizes what it's like to achieve big time. That could be the case with Upshaw.

Sam

by **rambone** Sun May 17, 2015 8:59 pm

We could have had the 21st pick in this draft as well, but Danny decided to put a protection on the Dallas pick, so that if it wasn't lottery, we wouldn't get it this year.

Having yet another first rounder really would have made the risk on Upshaw easier, and made the risk of passing on him at 16 much less risky, since he would only need to fall another 5 spaces instead of 12 to our pick at 28.

Oh well.

by **Sam** Sun May 17, 2015 9:07 pm

There are so many threads about the draft that it's difficult to know where to post. The currently most active one, I guess. Anyway, this from Hoops Hype today:

Two league sources told CSNNE.com Friday that the Boston Celtics are “very open” to moving up in next month’s NBA draft. And while the sources did not indicate which player Boston was targeting, there are growing signs that they have their sights set on trying to draft Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein. CSNNE.com

by **cowens/oldschool** Sun May 17, 2015 9:55 pm

sam wrote:That could be very true, Cow. I never even heard about him until a couple of weeks ago; but a lot of these posts have piqued my interest. He might be more of a project as a person than as a player, but that a couple of months on Brad's couch could potentially fix that.

I don't believe Brad's any great psychologist, but I think he knows that the way to a player's heart is through success. And he has found roles to make guys like Thomas, Turner, Crowder, Zeller, Smart, Jerebko, Olynyk, and even Bass much more successful. (And he has tried with Sully, but the success there has unfortunately been tied to Sully's conditioning.) There's something really cool about watching guys who are presented with a way to achieve and suddenly take to it like a sponge and water.

And sometimes, the lower a guy has gone in his life, the greater the eruption when he realizes what it's like to achieve big time. That could be the case with Upshaw.

Sam

all good points Sam, as good a coach as Brad is, the player still needs certain attributes that will enable him to succeed and Dannys drafting last few years has been nothing special at best, I think Brad has worked as hard as humanly possible to improve KO and Zeller defensively, but its genetically impossible to turn either one into a serviceable defender. Upshaw seems to have the real goods, length, frame, reach to be a Perk like defender at worst, with hard work and coaching it would be great to see how far he could develop.... hope he is still there at 16.

by **rambone** Sun May 17, 2015 11:05 pm

Upshaw discusses his interview with the Celtics

by **rambone** Sun May 17, 2015 11:55 pm

Upshaw making his way up the draftexpress.com mock draft. From second round a couple weeks ago, to 28 last week, to 25 after the Combine.

by **rambone** Mon May 18, 2015 12:06 am

Look how much the draftexpress mock draft has changed just since late November:

1 Jahlil Okafor C
18 years old, Freshman
6' 11" 272lbs.
Duke
2 Emmanuel Mudiay PG
18 years old, Freshman
6' 5" 200lbs.
Guangdong
3 Karl Towns PF/C
18 years old, Freshman
7' 0" 248lbs.
Kentucky
4 Kelly Oubre SF
18 years old, Freshman
6' 6" 204lbs.
Kansas
5 Cliff Alexander PF/C
18 years old, Freshman
6' 9" 254lbs.
Kansas
6 Mario Hezonja SG
19 years old, Croatia
6' 8" 200lbs.
Barcelona
7 Kristaps Porzingis PF
19 years old, Latvia
7' 0" 220lbs.
Sevilla
8 Justise Winslow SF
18 years old, Freshman
6' 6" 221lbs.
Duke
9 Stanley Johnson SF
18 years old, Freshman
6' 7" 237lbs.
Arizona
10 Willie Cauley-Stein C
21 years old, Junior
7' 0" 244lbs.
Kentucky
11 Sam Dekker SF
20 years old, Junior
6' 9" 229lbs.
Wisconsin
12 Montrezl Harrell PF
20 years old, Junior
6' 8" 230lbs.
Louisville
13 Chris Walker PF
19 years old, Sophomore
6' 9" 205lbs.
Florida
14 Tyus Jones PG
18 years old, Freshman
6' 1" 184lbs.
Duke
15 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson SF
19 years old, Sophomore
6' 6" 212lbs.
Arizona
16 Myles Turner C
18 years old, Freshman
6' 11" 242lbs.
Texas
17 Caris LeVert SG
20 years old, Junior
6' 7" 200lbs.
Michigan
18 Bobby Portis PF
19 years old, Sophomore
6' 10" 235lbs.
Arkansas
19 Dakari Johnson C
19 years old, Sophomore
6' 11" 263lbs.
Kentucky
20 Egemen Guven PF
18 years old, Turkey
6' 9" 210lbs.
Karsiyaka
21 Frank Kaminsky C
21 years old, Senior
7' 0" 234lbs.
Wisconsin
22 Rashad Vaughn SG
18 years old, Freshman
6' 5" 200lbs.
UNLV
23 Amida Brimah C
20 years old, Sophomore
7' 0" 217lbs.
Connecticut
24 Marc Garcia SG
18 years old, Spain
6' 6" 180lbs.
Manresa
25 R.J. Hunter SG
21 years old, Junior
6' 5" 180lbs.
Georgia State

26 Brice Johnson PF
20 years old, Junior
6' 9" 185lbs.
North Carolina
27 Jarell Martin PF
20 years old, Sophomore
6' 7" 242lbs.
LSU
28 Ilimane Diop C
19 years old, Senegal
6' 11" 225lbs.
Vitoria
29 Wayne Selden SG
20 years old, Sophomore
6' 6" 223lbs.
Kansas
30 Andrew Harrison PG/SG
20 years old, Sophomore
6' 5" 207lbs.
Kentucky
31 Norman Powell SG
21 years old, Senior
6' 3" 199lbs.
UCLA
32 Marcus Lee PF
20 years old, Sophomore
6' 10" 199lbs.
Kentucky
33 Aaron Harrison SG
20 years old, Sophomore
6' 5" 210lbs.
Kentucky
34 Delon Wright PG
22 years old, Senior
6' 5" 179lbs.
Utah
35 Mouhammadou Jaiteh C
19 years old, France
6' 11" 249lbs.
Nanterre
36 Theo Pinson SF
19 years old, Freshman
6' 6" 188lbs.
North Carolina
37 Devin Booker SG
18 years old, Freshman
6' 5" 186lbs.
Kentucky
38 Justin Jackson SF
19 years old, Freshman
6' 7" 168lbs.
North Carolina
39 Alex Poythress SF/PF
21 years old, Junior
6' 8" 239lbs.
Kentucky
40 Marcus Paige PG
21 years old, Junior
6' 2" 156lbs.
North Carolina
41 Chris Obekpa PF/C
20 years old, Junior
6' 9" 224lbs.
St. John's
42 Ron Baker SG
21 years old, Junior
6' 4" 222lbs.
Wichita State
43 Trey Lyles PF
19 years old, Freshman
6' 10" 250lbs.
Kentucky
44 Devin Robinson SF
19 years old, Freshman
6' 8" 180lbs.
Florida
45 Kevon Looney PF
18 years old, Freshman
6' 8" 183lbs.
UCLA
46 Domantas Sabonis PF
18 years old, Freshman
6' 9" 200lbs.
Gonzaga
47 Damian Jones PF/C
19 years old, Sophomore
6' 10" 235lbs.
Vanderbilt
48 Shawn Long C
21 years old, Junior
6' 10" 256lbs.
La Lafayette
49 E.C. Matthews SG
19 years old, Sophomore
6' 4" 181lbs.
Rhode Island
50 Terry Rozier PG
20 years old, Sophomore
6' 2" 189lbs.
Louisville

Kevon Looney went from 45 to #12 over the next four weeks. Chris Walker went from top 13 to now late 2nd/undrafted. Cliff Alexander was top 5, now we could probaby get him at 28. Upshaw went from unranked to #25 four weeks later, and perhaps higher in the time in between. Now he's back at #25.

https://web.archive.org/web/20141106210229/http://www.draftexpress.com/rankings/Top-100-Prospects/

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