is Josh Howard worthy of 21st pick?

[Guest]

Is he really any good?James Posey clone?Cuttino Mobley

clone??

[Traceman]

#21 in the mock draft because the players I liked were already gone. That being said, I think he will be more ready to contribute than many of the younger guys that I liked better. I think he will be a lot like Shane Battier with more handle and athleticism but without the J.

[Diesel]

I think Howard is good if we want a SF. I don't think he has the speed, Shot, or ball handling of a SG. Because of that, I label him as late first, early Second.

I watched him and this year he did shine, but I think that's because his team was built around him.

The question that comes to mind is how good is his rival Josh Powell?

[jezmund]

I agree that he might not have the most refined skills in the shooting and ball-handling departments but when it comes to rebounding, defense, and finishing on the break, he is solid. Taking him at #21 would depend on who's already taken but at #37, if he's still available there is no reason not to give him a shot. I would be extremely pleased if we could come out of this draft with Diaw and Howard.

JT/Dickau

Diaw/?vet?

Robinson/Howard

SAR/Hendu

Ratliff/Nazr

That's a good start although I still think we need to make a move.

[Blunt91]

I don't know much about Howard but I did read his profile on nbadraft.net. Basically they state he is a solid player, he doesn't do anything real great but he is solid. These statements make me think of Alan Henderson. I know he and Henderson don't play the same position(actually I think Hendu played SF in College) but the term solid & polished player were terms analyst were using to describe Hendu and we took with the 16th pick in the 95 draft. I am like Traceman in that I am not sold on Diaw. I don't trust a 6'9 pointguard who isn't use to the speed of the american game and has withdrawn his name out of the draft the past 2years or so and isn't a good shooter. If Hayes, Barbosa, Gaines and Pavlivic(sp) aren't available I would choose Howard.

[KB21]

Alan Henderson played power forward for Bobby Knight at Indiana, and depending on what your definition of great is, Henderson was a great college player.

When the Hawks drafted him, Henderson was coming off a year where he averaged 23 ppg, 10 rpg, and 2+ bpg while shooting a high percentage from the floor. He was a very well rounded player who was fundamentally sound and well schooled in the lost art of playing defense.

The problem with projecting Henderson to the pro level was his lack of size. At the time, he was 6-9, 230 lbs, and some considered moving him to small forward.

A guy who is very similar this year to what Alan was in college is David West.

A player I would compare more to Josh Howard is Desmond Mason. A guy who is a great athlete who does a lot of things well but not one thing great. He'll come in, defend, get you 10-12 points a game , and generally be a solid all around player for you right off the bat. Like Mason though, he may be a guy who is not quite skillful enough to be a starter as a shooting guard, but a little on the short side to be a starter as a small forward.

[Traceman]

I can see the Mason comparison although I don't think Howard is quite that athletic. On the other hand, I think Howard is a better ballhandler and passer than Mason based on his 1000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 200 steals, 100 blocks and 100 three point field goals in his career at Wake. I HOPE he can play starter's minutes at SG (I would think he would be a better SG than Ira) but if he can't, he'll definitely be able to play the role that Mason played for Seattle as a spark off the bench.

[Traceman]

At the combine, his time in the sprint was 3.09 seconds while Wade's time was 3.08. They had the 2 best times of the higher rated players and both were faster in the sprint than quick players like TJ Ford, Luke Ridnour, etc.

Howard also had an excellent time in the lane drill. He finished 22nd out of the 70+ players who were tested in Chicago in all around athleticism (Wade was 14th). He would have finished much higher if he had done better on the bench press. He only did 4 reps to Wade's 11 but his vertical leap was 36.5" to Wade's 35.0".

[Guest]

My hunch and from reading alittle I think he'd be the

guy to pick unless we are looking at a Euro shooter.

[Guest]

though unrelated, I think the one thing about Ford, of whom I have quite a few reservations, is his speed "with the ball." I think it's the same sort of thing Kidd has...though Ford is flat out faster. Their handles allow them to move at almost full non-ball speed, which makes them much tougher to defend than most pg's.

[Diesel]

Speed with and without the basketball are two different things. IN basketball, sprint speed is not as important as lateral movement speed. I have watched a lot of ACC games, Howard is not that fast. I think Wade is much faster on the court.

[Traceman]

doesn't mean that Howard is slow. I think he is faster than Battier and probably close to as fast/athletic as Q Richardson.

[Diesel]

I wouldn't put him in Richardson's class just yet. Maybe he's like Glover a little faster.

I'm just saying based on lateral speed and ability to hit the three, he's more of a Sf to me.