The Gamble of Taurean Prince

[Diesel]

So, I'm getting excited about this season, mainly because we have a good defensive team.   As we look our team up and down and consider everything that we have.   We have rebounding and we have defense.  Part of our summer acquisition was Taureen Prince.  I don't know how much he will play this year but he was indeed a gamble.   I listened to the people who said that we picked him too early.   In doing the research, this was what the scouting report said of him:

Quote

Overall: Taurean Prince has an NBA role and that is a 3 and D player who can guard two positions ... He’s a good spot up shooter, and floor spreader who could play solid defense, and knock down corner 3’s at the next level ... Rangy and athletic, he’s an extremely productive player when he’s in the game, and his energy allows him to make hustle plays on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He’s a limited offensive player despite having a good long range stroke ... Any improvement in handling the ball, creating for himself, and knocking down free throws will help him out on draft night ... 

 

Here's another report:

Quote

Prince has ideal physical tools for the role he's projected to play in the NBA, standing nearly 6'8 with a solid 6'11 ½ wingspan. He has a strong, mature frame that he's not afraid to use, and is a good athlete, being mobile, fluid and highly capable of playing above the rim. 

Prince is a capable outside shooter, hitting a solid 131/348 (38%) attempts for his college career. He does a good job of spacing the floor and has a compact and repeatable stroke that should translate nicely to NBA distances. He also shows some potential as an off the dribble shooter, or even coming off screens, so it's possible he can continue to improve his versatility from the perimeter as his career moves on, as he's already made huge strides in the past few years. 

With that said, Prince is far from a one-dimensional spot-up shooter at this stage. He does a great job handling the ball or finishing in transition, can punish smaller or equally sized players in the post, is intelligent moving off the ball, and will attack defenders off the dribble nicely in a straight-line in closeout situations. 

His versatility is especially evident in the work he does defensively. He is big and strong enough to not get backed down by most power forwards in smaller lineups, but is also quick enough to stay in front of most perimeter players at the same time. He covers ground extremely well, and his long arms, high activity level, competitive spirit and strong instincts make him a playmaker getting in the passing lanes, and coming up with steals, blocks and rebounds. 

While Baylor played quite a bit of zone, which made it challenging at times to get an accurate read on his full potential as a man to man defender, it's easy to project him as being the type of guy you can switch on every ball screen, which is all the rage in basketball these days. 

On the downside, Prince is better playing a more confined and narrowly tailored role, as he demonstrated earlier in his career. Baylor's inconsistent guard play this season led to Prince being forced to shoulder more ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities, which contributed to his 2P% dropping from 53% to 47%, and his 3P% from 40% to 36%. 

Prince is not a great ball-handler or overall shot-creator, as he struggles to get low to the ground and will not execute fancy moves or change gears explosively to get into the paint and create a high percentage shot. His first step is just average, and he is not one to rise up for high-flying dunks in traffic in the half-court. He didn't always seem to realize that this season, though, as he showed a tendency to get somewhat wild at times, settling for tough shots, and turning the ball over at a higher rate than you might hope. 

While unlikely to develop into a star or a go-to guy, every NBA team these days needs at least one player like Taurean Prince on their roster. It's very easy to see to project him into a (highly coveted) tailor-made role in today's NBA, and he looks ready both physically and skill-wise to step in and contribute fairly early on. The fact that he's only 21 means there might be some more potential still left to tap into, particularly when surrounded by better players, where he isn't asked to do as much as he was for Baylor at times this season.

So what we have is a gamble. 

The gamble is will he fit into our system?

Will he be a player that we can rely on this year?

Is it possible for him to defend the likes of Lebron James, Melo,  and Paul George?

How dependent are we on him being good for us being successful?

[thecampster]

 

I'm sticking by my original analysis....In 10 years, he'll be thought of as an underemployed man's Pippen.

Here was the "discussion" following the trade....It just reminds me of the discussion involving Teague vs Prince+Schröder as a starter. See last 45 seconds.

 

[thecampster]

What I think is interesting, is they mentioned how Pippen could start immediately (ie..NBA ready like Prince) but no discussion about how getting Pippen (and Grant later...see Bembry) would = a 3 peat.  They saw Pippen as a good player, even a starter but not a difference maker. Defense first type players never get the respect they deserve. In the first video, they even compare Pippen to a younger Dennis Rodman.  Meaning that if a player is not incredibly dominant offensively at Division 1, the media has no idea what they are dealing with. They just watch Sports Center too.

Edited September 3, 2016 by thecampster

[JTB]

Honestly I think the dude is either going to start or get some heavy minutes for a rookie. I think we will see the high energy and effort right off the back on both ends of the court from Prince and I think bud and staff will notice that from the get go in training camp as well.

I love korver but we can't keep putting Baze on these sfs...especially the highly skilled ones like melo, lebron, George and expect to slow them down or win games. Baze is a great defender but he gives up way too much size and has statistically shown he's an even better defender at his natural position (SG).

We drafted prince for a reason I believe that prince is buds guy & he will get everything possible out of Prince year one and so on.....so eventually prince will start at some point in the season and I know that's a lot for a rookie but I believe bud drafted him because he's NBA ready already...oh and my goodness! Princes wing span is 6'11!...Crazy.

one damn thing is for sure I don't think prince is going to have to adjust much on the defense side if the ball.

THIS IS ONE AGGRESSIVE...HIGH ENERGY....TAKE NO SHIT....DEFENSIVE STARTING LINEUP

Pg- Dennis

Sg- Baze

Sf- Prince

Pf- Sap

C- D8

[Diesel]

4 hours ago, thecampster said:

What I think is interesting, is they mentioned how Pippen could start immediately (ie..NBA ready like Prince) but no discussion about how getting Pippen (and Grant later...see Bembry) would = a 3 peat.  They saw Pippen as a good player, even a starter but not a difference maker. Defense first type players never get the respect they deserve. In the first video, they even compare Pippen to a younger Dennis Rodman.  Meaning that if a player is not incredibly dominant offensively at Division 1, the media has no idea what they are dealing with. They just watch Sports Center too.

Nah.

Pippen was a stud at Central Arkansas... Offensively.   

Quote

"He said, 'Marty, I know you see a lot of big-time players, but you've got to see this Pippen kid nobody knows about,' '' Blake, 83, recalled Thursday from his home in Milton, Ga.

The more unknown the player, the more it intrigued Blake. So in December of Pippen's senior season, Blake ventured to Hattiesburg, Miss., where Central Arkansas played Southern Mississippi, to see for himself.

Before Pippen finished scoring 24 points while playing all five positions that night, Blake had begun figuring out how to add him to the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational Tournament that, in those days, served as a four-day NBA job interview.
 

Quote

Scottie Pippen’s basketball story began in Hamburg, Arkansas where at just over 6 feet tall, he played point guard at Hamburg High School and though he led his team to the playoffs he was not offered any college scholarships.  Pippen walked on at the University of Central Arkansas where coach Don Dyer kept him in the program as a manager as a favor to Pippen’s high school coach, Donald Wayne.  While at Central Arkansas Pippen began to grow, eventually hitting 6’8″ and weighing 205 lbs. He averaged 24 points per game and 10 rebounds during his senior season, but since UCA was in the NAIA his success went largely unnoticed by NBA scouts. Pippen’s career path began turing toward Chicago in 1986 when Arch Jones, an assistant coach at the Central Arkansas, called Marty Blake, an NBA scout who, after seeing Pippen play, invited him to pre-draft camps.  It was at these camps where Pippen’s impressive skills caught the eyes of the Bulls’ Jerry Krause, who was in his second year as head of basketball operations, and the rest of the NBA.

I don't think Taurean has the ball handling or scoring ability of Scottie Pippen.   I think DMC is about his goal.  That's not a bad one if he can reach it soon. 

 

 

2 hours ago, JTB said:

Honestly I think the dude is either going to start or get some heavy minutes for a rookie. I think we will see the high energy and effort right off the back on both ends of the court from Prince and I think bud and staff will notice that from the get go in training camp as well.

I love korver but we can't keep putting Baze on these sfs...especially the highly skilled ones like melo, lebron, George and expect to slow them down or win games. Baze is a great defender but he gives up way too much size and has statistically shown he's an even better defender at his natural position (SG).

We drafted prince for a reason I believe that prince is buds guy & he will get everything possible out of Prince year one and so on.....so eventually prince will start at some point in the season and I know that's a lot for a rookie but I believe bud drafted him because he's NBA ready already...oh and my goodness! Princes wing span is 6'11!...Crazy.

one damn thing is for sure I don't think prince is going to have to adjust much on the defense side if the ball.

THIS IS ONE AGGRESSIVE...HIGH ENERGY....TAKE NO SHIT....DEFENSIVE STARTING LINEUP

Pg- Dennis

Sg- Baze

Sf- Prince

Pf- Sap

C- D8

My fear is that Korver makes himself indespensible on the offensive end. 

It's a good fear but we'll see. 

 

[BigDog90]

8 hours ago, JTB said:

Honestly I think the dude is either going to start or get some heavy minutes for a rookie. I think we will see the high energy and effort right off the back on both ends of the court from Prince and I think bud and staff will notice that from the get go in training camp as well.

I love korver but we can't keep putting Baze on these sfs...especially the highly skilled ones like melo, lebron, George and expect to slow them down or win games. Baze is a great defender but he gives up way too much size and has statistically shown he's an even better defender at his natural position (SG).

We drafted prince for a reason I believe that prince is buds guy & he will get everything possible out of Prince year one and so on.....so eventually prince will start at some point in the season and I know that's a lot for a rookie but I believe bud drafted him because he's NBA ready already...oh and my goodness! Princes wing span is 6'11!...Crazy.

one damn thing is for sure I don't think prince is going to have to adjust much on the defense side if the ball.

THIS IS ONE AGGRESSIVE...HIGH ENERGY....TAKE NO SHIT....DEFENSIVE STARTING LINEUP

Pg- Dennis

Sg- Baze

Sf- Prince

Pf- Sap

C- D8

I doubt he'll play much this year. Bud don't play rookies that much and he still got Thabo.

[Guest]

I think Prince will be hard for Bud to keep off the floor. I think by the time the all star break is over, he will have a shot to start for us. 

 

Honestly, some guys have the IT factor and others don't. He's got IT.  

[Guest]

10 hours ago, BigDog90 said:

I doubt he'll play much this year. Bud don't play rookies that much and he still got Thabo.

I keep seeing this narrative  tossed around, which rookie have we had that really DESERVED to play. Dennis was the backup out of camp his rookie season then he lost his spot to Shelly after he 'knut' punched Boogie (Dhelly came in and played well and didn't relinquish the spot, besides it wasnt like Shelly was old, IIRC he was in his 2nd season)  Pero played as a 'Rookie',, (lol, sorry had to throw that out there). Moose played as a rookie after coming over from Europe midway through the season when we had all those injuries. What have you seen from A. Payne so far in his NBA career to tell you he should have seen minutes on our 60 win Team? (Later traded). Love Edy to death but he was not ready his rookie season to contribute in our 60 win season, we had no rookies last year. Those are our rookies in  3 seasons under Bud.

(I'm sure I missed someone or screwed up the timeline).

Having said that, I think minutes for both our rookies will be dependent on THJr development and the Mike Scott debacle. I think we can all assume that KK starts at the 2, with Baze at the 3 (i know, i know, KK should be coming off the bench). If THJr is unable to snag the backup SG spot, Baze will be playing more SG, with Thabo at the 3, if that happens, Prince sees minutes at the 3.  

Mike Scott (early fall is almost here which brings a resolution to his case and status on the team). He will either be gone, on the team but suspended for a number of games (if he pleads guilty to a lesser charge), or case gets postponed. 

If he's gone, there is a possibility that Prince can see minutes at the 4 in a small ball line up, not ideal but that's how he can get minutes.

Bembry is the most difficult to project. Again this hinges  on THjr and if he takes a leap to secure the backup SG spot. We know Bembry can play PG and run the team, so that's also an option for him to see minutes.   I know most are assuming that Jack will be on the final roster but I'm not so sure. Between his vet min contract and ACL recovery and Moose's unguaranteed deal -  one won't be here. If Jack is gone, Bembry can get minutes at PG depending on how Delaney is running the offense, we know he can shoot. What i like about Bembry at SG is his ability to handle the ball, our SG struggle with that.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I keep seeing this narrative  tossed around, which rookie have we had that really DESERVED to play. Dennis was the backup out of camp his rookie season then he lost his spot to Shelly after he 'knut' punched Boogie (Dhelly came in and played well and didn't relinquish the spot, besides it wasnt like Shelly was old, IIRC he was in his 2nd season)  Pero played as a 'Rookie',, (lol, sorry had to throw that out there). Moose played as a rookie after coming over from Europe midway through the season when we had all those injuries. What have you seen from A. Payne so far in his NBA career to tell you he should have seen minutes on our 60 win Team? (Later traded). Love Edy to death but he was not ready his rookie season to contribute in our 60 win season, we had no rookies last year. Those are our rookies in  3 seasons under Bud.

(I'm sure I missed someone or screwed up the timeline).

Having said that, I think minutes for both our rookies will be dependent on THJr development and the Mike Scott debacle. I think we can all assume that KK starts at the 2, with Baze at the 3 (i know, i know, KK should be coming off the bench). If THJr is unable to snag the backup SG spot, Baze will be playing more SG, with Thabo at the 3, if that happens, Prince sees minutes at the 3.  

Mike Scott (early fall is almost here which brings a resolution to his case and status on the team). He will either be gone, on the team but suspended for a number of games (if he pleads guilty to a lesser charge), or case gets postponed. 

If he's gone, there is a possibility that Prince can see minutes at the 4 in a small ball line up, not ideal but that's how he can get minutes.

Bembry is the most difficult to project. Again this hinges  on THjr and if he takes a leap to secure the backup SG spot. We know Bembry can play PG and run the team, so that's also an option for him to see minutes.   I know most are assuming that Jack will be on the final roster but I'm not so sure. Between his vet min contract and ACL recovery and Moose's unguaranteed deal -  one won't be here. If Jack is gone, Bembry can get minutes at PG depending on how Delaney is running the offense, we know he can shoot. What i like about Bembry at SG is his ability to handle the ball, our SG struggle with that.

Really? I think he will be huge for us and ready to roll on opening night!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Spud2Nique said:

Really? I think he will be huge for us and ready to roll on opening night!

Only if his knee holds up throughout the riggers of training camp.  I can't say with a 100% certainty that he'll make the roster.

Like I said the last spot goes to either him or Moose.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Only if his knee holds up throughout the riggers of training camp.  I can't say with a 100% certainty that he'll make the roster.

Like I said the last spot goes to either him or Moose.

Jack will get it...I'm 110% sure! Lol

[BigDog90]

10 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I keep seeing this narrative  tossed around, which rookie have we had that really DESERVED to play. Dennis was the backup out of camp his rookie season then he lost his spot to Shelly after he 'knut' punched Boogie (Dhelly came in and played well and didn't relinquish the spot, besides it wasnt like Shelly was old, IIRC he was in his 2nd season)  Pero played as a 'Rookie',, (lol, sorry had to throw that out there). Moose played as a rookie after coming over from Europe midway through the season when we had all those injuries. What have you seen from A. Payne so far in his NBA career to tell you he should have seen minutes on our 60 win Team? (Later traded). Love Edy to death but he was not ready his rookie season to contribute in our 60 win season, we had no rookies last year. Those are our rookies in  3 seasons under Bud.

(I'm sure I missed someone or screwed up the timeline).

Having said that, I think minutes for both our rookies will be dependent on THJr development and the Mike Scott debacle. I think we can all assume that KK starts at the 2, with Baze at the 3 (i know, i know, KK should be coming off the bench). If THJr is unable to snag the backup SG spot, Baze will be playing more SG, with Thabo at the 3, if that happens, Prince sees minutes at the 3.  

Mike Scott (early fall is almost here which brings a resolution to his case and status on the team). He will either be gone, on the team but suspended for a number of games (if he pleads guilty to a lesser charge), or case gets postponed. 

If he's gone, there is a possibility that Prince can see minutes at the 4 in a small ball line up, not ideal but that's how he can get minutes.

Bembry is the most difficult to project. Again this hinges  on THjr and if he takes a leap to secure the backup SG spot. We know Bembry can play PG and run the team, so that's also an option for him to see minutes.   I know most are assuming that Jack will be on the final roster but I'm not so sure. Between his vet min contract and ACL recovery and Moose's unguaranteed deal -  one won't be here. If Jack is gone, Bembry can get minutes at PG depending on how Delaney is running the offense, we know he can shoot. What i like about Bembry at SG is his ability to handle the ball, our SG struggle with that.

I'd say Tavares. Hawks don't have a D League team so they aren't running the Hawks' system and when he's not in D League, he's a bench warmer. His contract is up soon and Hawks have to figure out what's their future after Dwight. Hawks lucked up in signing Dwight. 

THJR/Bembry needs to step up. Korver is the Hawks' offense but he turns 36 so who knows how much time he has left. 

Need Dennis/Baze/Prince or Hardaway/Dwight to be the identity of the Hawks to sell to FAs.

 

 

Edited September 5, 2016 by BigDog90

[ViewsFromTheSquawk]

Some say young DMC.... I see Luol Deng... Just me tho

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, ViewsFromTheSquawk said:

Some say young DMC.... I see Luol Deng... Just me tho

His offensive game and handles are already  better than  DMC was when he joined the Hawks -  I think he'll be better.  Luol? mmmm, never  thought of that but I  can see it.

[Guest]

@JayBirdHawk Jack heard what you said...