jazzy1

I just read insider from the auspcious Chad Ford . He talked about the Euro bigs he saw play in the Big Reebok pre draft camp in Italy.

Fords ramblings which I find skeptical but I do value what he says about what NBA scouts have told him. He says about 25 scouts general consensus was that Pavel is the top Euro prospect. He essentially blew scouts away. Each scout says he's vaulted back to high lottery status. I found that interesting. He says several teams are interested in trading up for Pavel, Dallas, Nuggets and Sac.

Pavel's postives- great strength and aggressiveness, fluid athlete, can really shoot well , can pass really well ( chad ford as he always does rambles on about Pavel's crossover)

Pavel's negatives-got tired really quickly supposedly due to injury that prevented his work-outs ,and lack of playing time, liked to face to much and take players off the dribble,wondered to the perimeter too often.

My take- with no real sure fire players available I say we take Pavel he's my choice. He's measured at 7'5 and 300lbs. He's strong and aggressive. He could play behind Brendan for a while and he'd be a nice player to fit with Kwame. To me the benefits outweigh the risks. If we are to gamble it should be a guy with his size. If he pans out which I think he will we'd have a center to battle Shaq, and Yao plus Kwame and we'd be set with Brendan as a 7ft back-up.

I think there's no way we shouldn't take him. Pavel's agent has put out a handout saying that Pavel is due to get his pituitary situation fixed with surgery and the doctor said it would take 2 weeks to heal. I say we draft him get him the surgery and make him a back-up this season. Only way I'd take him is if they are sure he can play for us this season.

Martyn Andreusikus or however you spell it- He's supposedly not a center much more of a big pf or sf, he was thought to be a center. He's supposedly as agile as DirK Nowitzki and just as good a shooter at 7'2 . I'd stay away from him he had trouble holding postion on the block.

I say take Pavel and call it a draft. Drafting another sg/sf would be stupid and unless we take Livingston as a project I'm just as happy drafting Pavel. Biedrins is projected as our pick by alot of people so with Pavel passing him we should put Pavel in this spot.

In the 2nd rd take Lloreda or Gomes and we'd be set adding 2 really tough players to our team.

havoc

Agree 100%.. been posting the same in the draft forum.
There is no player that is going to be around at #5 that makes as much sense as getting a 7'5 300lb guy with a great attitude (ok, ok maybe Livingston, but I'm fine with him too )

MJG

That'd be fine with me. Outside of his illness and people who know nothing saying "Shawn Bradley II" just because he's tall, pretty much everything I've heard about him is pretty good stuff.

Last year, he came out of nowhere and impressed people enough to call him a top five pick. Over the course of the past year, his stock slips down to late lottery, and once again his recent play has caused people to vault him up to the upper half of the lottery. Ford now believes that he's regained his spot as the top foreigner to be drafted. There's something to be said about him improving his draft status two years in a row like that.

More so than any draft in recent memory, there isn't anything close to a favored pick for us. There's probably literally ten guys we could select and it wouldn't be any kind of surprise or disappointment. Pavel is a bit of a risk for sure, but the potential gain from him might be a bit higher than the other candidates. It'll be another couple of weeks before I think I'll be able to really settle on a group of 2-3 guys to I'd like to see on the Wizards, but honestly at this moment I think Pavel is worth a good look.

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BCH

spur of the moment top 5 assuming Okafor, Howard, Deng are all gone.

1. Biedrins
2. Livingston
3. Igoudala
4. Andriuskevicious
5. Podkolzine

From Chad's article it seems Podkolzine likes to shoot outside way too much.

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jazzy1

I to am warming very seriously to the idea of Livingston. But other than him Pavel makes the most sense. If he's vaulted ahead of Biederins and Andriuskevicious who they say wants to stay in Europe for another year . Shooting outside doesn't bother me much if he defends and rebounds strongly. With his size he could really help us next year.

To me Livingston and Pavel could be the real potential players of this draft and if either is there we should take them.

The problem with guys like Podkolzine is its tough to know if he has the lateral quickness not to get you killed defensively. Does he have quick hands and quick decison making.

What makes Yao so good is that he's a quick decison maker and reacts quickly with his hands and feet. Although he doesn't change ends fast he makes good decisions.

Pavel could be a big stiff who doesn't know the game at all. But if he has the knack he could be a superstar with his great size and strength.

Alot of people doubted Yao but I was convinced after watching him play just 1 NBA game.

I'm gonna be talking to someone who's watched Pavel work-out before and I'll report back later.

Interesting that Biedrins worked out 1st of the prospective draft guys for the Wizards.

BCH

I am pushing potential because I still believe the Wizards can't afford to take just guys that will help right away.

I really would like to see Pavel play. I saw Yao play before the draft, and I knew he was going to be effective, but I can't get Muresan out of my head when I think about Pavel. Granted Muresan was very effective, but he faded so quickly after injuries. I think that has to be taken into account with a guy like Pavel. If he is likely to be snakebit, the Wizards curse will certainly do him in before he ever makes in onto the court in the NBA.

Livingston is a huge question. I am not sure he has ever been man handled. If someone like the Payton of old bodies him up how will he react? That is a huge question for me as well.

I guess if these guys didn't have questions they would be automatic picks.

I have wanted to hate Igoudala, but I never seem to be able to. I just cry thinking about another undersized 3 though.

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CP26

I wouldn't mind taking Pavel either, imagining the line up of
Arenas
Hughes
Stackhouse
Kwame
Pavel

looks really good

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jazzy1

I like Igoudala but if we drafted him or Childress we have to move some of our other 2/3 guys.

I unlike others who analize our team don't believe we're loaded in the backcourt. If loaded means loaded with similar players than okay but loaded with really good players I disagree. Hughes isn't complete he's a slasher who can hit the occasional jumper who tunrs the ball over like its going out of style, Stack is better at slashing but he to turns it over and Hayes can't slash but he's a spot up shooter who posts up but never scores from the post.

If Iguodala is an upgrade from say Hughes and is in the class of a healthy Stack than I say draft him, but if he's less of a talent than Hughes and Hayes than we should stay away.

Then there's the mess thats JJ. Who is also essentially a big backcourt player.

I agree WIZARDS LUCK has to been divided into any prospect we draft. Muresan was a terrible athlete but he had Yao's feel for the game. Pavel is a much better athlete I hear.

Livingston I have no doubt will be a good NBA player but when is the question . Is he worth the wait is the other part of the equation.


Scouting report -from someone I trust that has seen Pavel in work-outs. He's a good athlete changing ends wise he's more Rik Smits than Yao. He's much bigger than Smits was weight wise. Very strong. Very raw still. No low post moves at all. Everything is face the basket jump shooting or slashing if you can believe that. Defensively I hear he'd stay in foul trouble uses hands waay too much for defense and initally won't be strong rebounder because of slow reactions and no instincts for chasing the ball.

I hear he's a project needs coaching ,needs playing time, lack of playing time has hurt his instinct for stuff like postioning. I hear demeanor wise he doesn't back down but this would lead to more fouls. I'm hearing STAMINA is a real problem a REAL problem my source says it isn't all about breaking a bone either and I'm hearing that is being questioned, I'm hearing he could have been having problems with his gland. Everyone seems to believe that he will be okay but there are concerns.

The reason he's been impressive is because of how much better he's gotten in such a short time. Some fear he could be a drill warrior and not much of a player instincts wise.

I hear though he's worth the 5th pick for the Wizards but risks are equal to the rewards.

Not feeling as good about Pavel after hearing about him from a friend. But I'd still take the chance.

MikeDC

The Chad Ford bit is about the best word I've heard on Pavel the Pod Person. Most of the rest hasn't been very favorable. Also in the only video I've seen on him he looked slow and mechanical, but granted that was from last year. He also seems to have had several injury problems. His record in Europe is significantly less than that of a lot of Euros coming over here.

Put all that together and I'm going to have to hear some other reports of very good workouts before I buy in.

It just kinda sucks trying to get a measure of a guy you can't see, but I'd have to be mighty impressed in workouts to take this guy.

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afireinside

the last thing we need is another guard on this team to compete with the already competitive logjam. we need a tall center with potential such as Pavel. if he's as good as the scouts are saying and he can pass, then I say we take him. Haywood can't pass well even if the ball had a homing device on it. maybe he can grow to be like Divac. who knows, maybe he could turn into Yao?

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havoc

I don't think there is any player we could take at #5 that is guaranteed to help right away. Almost every player other than Okafor is an unknown quantity. If no one really knows how good any of these guys will be I'd say it makes sense to pick up one of the two with the biggest upside (Livingston & Pavel IMO).

MJG

Euro Camp Buzz (Pavel, Andriuskevicius)
I like what I hear on Pavel.

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