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Utah Jazz Select Ace Bailey, Pick 5

If everything falls in place for this kid he could end up being #1 in a redraft.

I dont think it was a safe pick, as the comments indicate Ace wasnt expecting us to select him and his no-workout pre draft nonsenses definitely made him look riskier than he already was. Lets hope his skills and development catch up to his confidence level at some point.
 
I can take a crack at this. Rutgers team was horrifically constructed. You don't need to look any deeper than Ace being the best big they had on their roster. If that sounded weird, yes, he was their best big when he is 1000% a wing guy. Ace had the highest rebounds per game at 7.2 and the highest blocks per game at 1.3 per game. Often times, Ace would be the tallest guy on the court. This resulted in Rutgers getting completely outrebounded. The team also shot terribly from the 3 outside of Harper and Bailey. This team was leagues worse than even teams like Texas or Oklahoma or South Carolina. There was a game that Ace scored 39 on 21 shots and his team still lost by 10. Even Cooper Flagg wouldn't have been able to do anything with that team.
Paints a good picture. That pretty much answers that.
 
I watched both a lot and yeah, I think so. Tre’s teammates were offensively challenged but I thought they were a tougher defensive team. But both were pretty bad.
Ya I watched a bunch of Texas games that team was missing components it needed but they did have some players with good winning intangibles just all the parts didn’t fit and they were tough defensively
 
I don’t even want to go back to the film on Ace, not much to be learned. All you can do is hope he plays differently. His highlights double as lowlights.
I hope he plays the same on defense and the boards and continues to be great on catch and shoot. Also part of basketball for scorers is taking tough shots - KD takes them, Lebron takes them, Kobe took them - so I hope he continues to make them when he takes them. There are also ways I hope he plays different- such as not shooting as many tough shots, getting more easy shots and making more plays for teammates.

The good news is he’s very young and should be able to improve in many of the ways we hope he plays different.
 
I hope he plays the same on defense and the boards and continues to be great on catch and shoot. Also part of basketball for scorers is taking tough shots - KD takes them, Lebron takes them, Kobe took them - so I hope he continues to make them when he takes them. There are also ways I hope he pays different- such as not shooting as many tough shots, getting more easy shots and making more plays for teammates.

Defense was hit or miss, but he has the tools for sure. Catch and shoot was barely used. I think he will be ok, but his 3FGA is stupidly low for someone who is considered a good shooter. NGL, I haven’t really been encouraged by our development under Hardy, especially on the defensive end. I fear that Ace is a capable defender but it is the last thing he will think about. Hasn’t been a priority for our program so why would it be a focus for him?

As far as hitting tough shots, those guys would all not be great players if all they did was take tough shots. Of course it’s part of basketball, but so is getting good shots. You don’t see an absence of good shots from great players but you do with Ace. Worst shot distribution in the draft and one of the worst I can remember. There’s a reason why he’s so inefficient.

They also happen to be the all time greats so what are we even talking about.
 
Defense was hit or miss, but he has the tools for sure. Catch and shoot was barely used. I think he will be ok, but his 3FGA is stupidly low for someone who is considered a good shooter. NGL, I haven’t really been encouraged by our development under Hardy, especially on the defensive end. I fear that Ace is a capable defender but it is the last thing he will think about. Hasn’t been a priority for our program so why would it be a focus for him?

As far as hitting tough shots, those guys would all not be great players if all they did was take tough shots. Of course it’s part of basketball, but so is getting good shots. You don’t see an absence of good shots from great players but you do with Ace. Worst shot distribution in the draft and one of the worst I can remember. There’s a reason why he’s so inefficient.

They also happen to be the all time greats so what are we even talking about.
Hence the reason I acknowledged one way he needs to play different is to get more easy shots.
 
The talent has to be overwhelming for me to pick someone who was clear he did not want to be here. I would have taken Tre.
For us old farts... the Jazz took Deron Williams over Chris Paul because Deron came in a suit and Chris Paul didnt really want to be here. Bad basketball decision. And at the end of the day, Deron diva'd his way out of Utah anyways.

You pick the BPA everything and that is just what we did.
 
As far as hitting tough shots, those guys would all not be great players if all they did was take tough shots. Of course it’s part of basketball, but so is getting good shots. You don’t see an absence of good shots from great players but you do with Ace. Worst shot distribution in the draft and one of the worst I can remember. There’s a reason why he’s so inefficient.
100% this.

There's a smell of cope in the air. People are desperately talking themselves into Ace by repeating "Great scorers have to take tough shots!". In reality, the only time the greats take really difficult shots is in extreme crunch time, where you may be doubled or even tripled but simply have to put the ball up to have a chance.

Tough jumpers absolutely cannot be a regular part of your diet in the NBA. Ace will learn this because he has to, but it's gonna be painful. He doesn't have the ballhandling to create easier looks for himself and isn't exactly known for moving without the ball either.

There's a guy in his new team who put up an absolute masterpiece of efficiency in his All Star season of 22-23. I don't think Lauri took a single bad shot that year – it was all threes, dunks, mismatches near the basket and free throws. Ace should be heavily studying those games. When he's improved his shot selection and off ball movement, he can start turning himself into more of a ballhandler so he can create for himself too.
 
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