[00:00:00] Dustin: all right, everybody. Welcome to the 266th edition of the holy Blackboard podcast. I am Dustin here in rip city and I got my man
[00:00:18] Sage: say cheer in Beaverton, Oregon. Ready to talk about this very interesting process.
[00:00:25] Dustin: It is the second edition of our future Friday series. And it was a really exciting to watch too.
[00:00:36] Think about this as this is really my first initiation into who Paolo Benchero is I’ve I’ve heard the name. I knew he went to duke. I knew he’s supposed to be a top three prospect, possibly even going number one overall, but. Really watched him at all. So I came into this game with really no preconceived notions, no real bias, [00:01:00] as much as I can try to put aside and just kind of watched what with fresh eyes to see, uh, what, what all the hype was about, how I felt about him as a prospect.
[00:01:10] And it’s even more exciting to think about going later on in the year and into the spring and look at a game. From February and March and see how he’s progressed. And then look at the notes. What I took today. Compared to what I see him progressing and evolving into. So with that said, this is a future Friday episode of holy Blackboard.
[00:01:35] We are discussing Paolo band Cero. He is a six, ten, two hundred and fifty pounds forward from duke university. He is from the Pacific Northwest Seattle Washington to be exact 19 years old, born November 12th, 2002. Five-star by rivals the number two player nationally, uh, chose duke over the likes of Kentucky, North Carolina and Gonzaga.[00:02:00]
[00:02:00] As of this recording, duke is currently 12 and two. They are ranked number eight in both the coaches poll and the AP poll. And. The game that we are discussing right now is the first game of the season. It was a coaches versus cancer tip off Madison square garden. It was the second half of a double header duke versus Kentucky two blue blood programs.
[00:02:24] There was a lot of NBA star power in that, in that building, there was a lot of electricity and it was from November 10th. 2021. Before we get into that game, Sage just want to discuss, or just want to list off Paolo’s stats so far through the 11th. So through yesterday of January, 2022, currently Paolo is averaging 17.3 points.
[00:02:51] 7.5 boards, 2.3 assists. He shooting the ball 49.4% from the field 34.1 from [00:03:00] 3 77 and a half percent from the line is playing 29.4 minutes and has a P E R of 26.2 with all that said Sage let’s get into this game. Duke Kentucky, arguably the top prospect in the jury. What initially jumped out at you when you watched this game,
[00:03:21] Sage: I’m in the ball skills have to be number one.
[00:03:23] I mean that a player that’s six, 10 that can do hang dribbles and like different types of dribble moves to generate space. And the gravity that, that shown when the guys that tall and the dribbles that. We are focusing on them. So the gravity of which he would, he could do with the dribble, with the ball skills set up a lot of good passes from him.
[00:03:46] The fact that you’re big has that type of play-making versatility is really, really impressive from a 19 year old guy. And I mean, Palo really started like before. His thing was solid [00:04:00] defense, solid offense. But now that he has this dribble and this the play-making and the gravity, I mean, his game changed from just solid Paulo to, he can do some dribble combos and be the secondary creator on your offense.
[00:04:17] So I, I th I think the play-making was the thing that’s stood out to me the most. What about for you? Yeah.
[00:04:23] Dustin: Um, just to also add onto your point. In this game, 22 points in 31 minutes. Uh, seven of 11 from the field of three from downtown seven boards, two steals, one turnover, and just two files also got to the line nine times converting eight of those.
[00:04:42] He can
[00:04:42] Sage: go to the line real, like he drew fouls, like at a really ridiculous rate for a big man. That game, there were a couple
[00:04:49] Dustin: of things that jumped out at me. And one of them was what you mentioned was the ability to put the ball on the floor from. 15 to 20 feet out and look effective [00:05:00] and look, uh, confident in his moves.
[00:05:02] He has an MBA. Go-to move right now. You could put him in the league and he is going to score and be effective. Uh, guys that big, who are able to be comfortable on the perimeter with the ball in their hands, facing up a true dribble, a true triple. You know, dribble pass shoot from that wing, going to be very difficult to stop.
[00:05:22] There’s not going to be many defenders that are going to stop him from getting to this spot and you have to respect his quickness. So you can’t play too tight on him, but you can’t play too far off of him because he has a very, very smooth jumper from, from that range. So that’s, that’s obviously one of the first things that jumped out at me was the ability to put the ball on the floor at six, 10, and look like a guard and doing.
[00:05:47] On something that was a little bit more concerning for me was I thought he was very nonchalant in the body language and the effort early on. And that carried on throughout the game for me.
[00:05:58] Sage: Uh, [00:06:00] are we talking defense or offense
[00:06:01] Dustin: in general? Um, it just looked like an after he scored, like you got the emotion from him, but there was times where he was just kind of cocky.
[00:06:10] He was like floating around out there. And I was like, this is MSG. This is the opener, ESPN duke, Kentucky. Like I maybe that’s just his persona. You know, Tim Duncan was, was the similar, similar in mannerisms, but. I wanted to see a little bit more. And I noticed that that kind of translated over into his rebounding and the lack of that, that was the major red flag for me was that his board work.
[00:06:43] And I know he got seven. He’s going to walk into seven boards at six, 10, and the way he moves. But I caught him with his hands down a lot ball watch. Uh,
[00:06:53] Sage: not
[00:06:54] Dustin: awful. You can get, not trying to put a body on anybody. Like he was not boxing out at all. Didn’t [00:07:00] maybe once put, put in attempt to go out and get a rebound.
[00:07:04] So that’s concerning for me that. I didn’t see that right off the bat. And I don’t know if that’s something that can be taught. Um, what my personal theory is, he was the best player on the court. Everyone knew it. He’s probably been the best player on the court ever since he put, put, put on, uh, basketball shorts and basketball shoes.
[00:07:26] Like, so he, maybe he’s just like, you know, I’m just going to play it pretty cool. And we’ve seen that from prospects of like, they know they’re the best and they’re, they probably don’t feel challenged. Right. And they kind of take it a little bit easy. So that would be my major concern would, and also what jumped out on the page was like how wonderful he looked on the offense.
[00:07:48] The rebounding scares me, especially from a big, because when, when we looked at Jabari Smith, for example, last week, Th we were like, you could put anybody around you, Mari Smith, and [00:08:00] you’re going to build a winner. I think you have to put a specific type of big and other wing next to Paolo to make up for his deficiencies on the glass, because.
[00:08:12] At that position, you need somebody who’s going to go in there and fight and get those boards because what also was a beautiful thing is how well he handled the ball in the open court. I want a guy who’s going to go grab that board and then push the tempo. I mean, that would really take him from role-player starter to elite.
[00:08:29] Like that’s a massive jump. If he’s able to dominate the glass and then initiate the break with his guard skills. So there is a lot of room for improvement. There is a lot to love, but there’s, there are some warning signs for me.
[00:08:42] Sage: So my biggest question when I was watching, is, is he a good fit with Damian Lillard?
[00:08:48] Like if we’re doing the compete for Dame thing, Does his usage remind you of like what we’re dealing with with use of, and [00:09:00] CJ, where Palo needs to have the ball in his hands to be that gravity on the court. Like they’re not going to help off of Paolo. If the ball isn’t office hand in his hands, how would that work with two players that need the ball in their hands so much in Damian Lillard and Paolo?
[00:09:21] Dustin: Offensively. I’m not concerned. I think wherever Paolo goes, he’s going to be the one or two options as he should be. So he should be getting the lion’s share of the usage. And I do think he has a lot, I’m put this on my notes. He has a lot of pick and pop potential. We didn’t really see it. And on the one time he got it, he, the ball stuck.
[00:09:38] Like he really wants to do that. Carmelo Anthony jab, jab, and then I’ll make my move. So he needs to be more decisive in terms of the pick and pop, but catching. Off of, uh, you know, pick and pick and pop. It’s not a tough skill for someone of his caliber to Excel at. So I’m not, I’m not too concerned that I didn’t see a lot of it in this game.
[00:09:59] So I think you [00:10:00] can get him into the offense without him just dominating the basketball. But you’re absolutely right. He is more of an isolation score than somebody who’s going to work with.
[00:10:10] Sage: Jugara Smith fits with naming really well. Yeah. I don’t know if the fit with Damian. And this, this version of Damian Lillard, what Paolo could be, would be a good fit in terms of like working as a cohesive unit.
[00:10:24] I think it would be a lot of your turn, my turn type of. Sets with, with, uh, like who has the ball and what, what happens and you know what Damien Lola does off ball. And it’s rather, uh, well, he’s had the ball for, in his hands for the last like 20 years. So he doesn’t know what it’s like to work off cuts, trying to get open to shoot.
[00:10:45] So
[00:10:46] Dustin: the biggest concern in terms of fit would be on the defensive end, because if you’re talking about building around Damian Lillard, and this is why I’ve been so. I’ve been a big proponent of, of tanking and getting a topic and going [00:11:00] after Jabari Smith is when you have Dame as your best player, and you’re paying him as your best player, you have to build a team around him that makes up for his deficiencies and weak.
[00:11:11] A big deficiency is on the defensive end. You need players who are going to sort of disguise his, his deficiencies on that end of the floor. And I don’t think Paolo at this stage in his career. It’s going to be able to do that right away. Now he does move well. Laterally. I knew, I noted that. Like he’s not stiff out there.
[00:11:28] He has the potential. It’s going to be all about him tapping into himself, but also the right coaching staff that challenges him to be a good defender and a good rebounder because
[00:11:40] Sage: I felt like his on ball was fine. That’s all that was off, off ball was just awful. Like
[00:11:46] Dustin: there was a lot of bad communication on the entire duke team and.
[00:11:52] Yeah, I’m willing to chalk that up to the first game jitters and not really knowing your team that well, I mean, we, we know teams like duke and Kentucky and [00:12:00] Gonzaga and Carolina, they just flood one and dones in there. So it’s a new crop of players, every single season. There’s not much continuity or chemistry, so you’re right.
[00:12:09] I’m willing to chalk that up to just being the first game. But he did look a little lost. Uh,
[00:12:16] Sage: it looked like he just did not care. Like, you know, Jabari, for example, he’s like in good health position all the time. I think the only time that. I thought that, uh, Paula was in good position was like when the rebound was absolutely coming off the rim, his direction, he would put himself in a good position.
[00:12:38] He wouldn’t, I don’t think he ever tried to get a rebound outside of his general area, but when it was going in his general area, I was like, oh, that’s good anticipation skills. At least I don’t think he’s going to be an amazing above the rim athlete. Like he had one good dunk, but it was. I’ve seen that a million times.
[00:12:57] It wasn’t that special. So if he, [00:13:00] if he gets that anticipation skills up, so he can just first jump, get rebounds. I mean, like Randolph couldn’t jump that high, but Zebo got boards. If he could just get that anticipation. And
[00:13:15] Dustin: that’s tough though.
[00:13:17] Sage: That’s the Tufts I’m using the night, the exception to the rule.
[00:13:22] Dustin: Well, absolutely. And we’ve talked about this, I think since the, the beginning of time on holy Blackboard, rebounding translates from college to the pros. So if he was a solid rebounder and I saw those anticipation skills, I would be floored with, with band Cero. Uh, my big question and what I noticed. Right now he’s playing for coach K.
[00:13:43] He’s still 19 years old. This is coach K’s last year. I don’t think he’s going to cause any sort of issues, but when he gets to the league and we see players get that contract and maybe they’d been hyped up and they there, they hear the media chatter about how great they are. [00:14:00] We’ve seen this from, from players from time to.
[00:14:04] Is he going to be able to stay engaged on defense? If he’s not getting the amount of touches that he wants or offensively,
[00:14:10] Sage: you know, that’s tough to project because I don’t know. Well, what’s going on in his head. If we’re winning it doesn’t if the team meets on is winning. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue, but maybe if they just suck, he goes to a rebuilding team and they just suck and he doesn’t get the, the, the touches because they’re trying to get Anthony assignments to get all the reps and can get as the point.
[00:14:40] Then maybe, but I, you know, that’s, uh, that’s difficult to project because shit, I’ve only seen him in duke and then at a really good high school in Seattle. So it’s not like I’ve seen him in a losing situation. So. There’s always that chance, but I, I don’t, I can’t [00:15:00] say yes or no. Yeah. And it,
[00:15:01] Dustin: wasn’t more of an indictment on who he is as a person.
[00:15:06] It was okay. I’ve noticed this already nonchalant body language. I’ve really only seen him get fired up after making baskets. Like, is that going to evolve into what we’ve seen? Some, some players like. To your examples, Zach Randolph on the blazers, like when he wasn’t getting the ball, it’s like, what else is he doing?
[00:15:25] Right. So that’s, that’s another thing it’s like, we’ve seen this with CJ McCollum, for example, if he’s not scoring the basketball, what else can Benchero do? So that’s, I think when you’re looking at adventure as a practice, The floor is really high. The ceiling may not be what you want from a top two, top three draft pick.
[00:15:48] Yeah.
[00:15:48] Sage: So also you mentioned CJ. I don’t think there’s a chance to know that CJ’s use of Dame and Paolo can be on the court together. There’s just only one basketball and they’re all [00:16:00] really high usage
[00:16:01] Dustin: players. Like if, if Portland gets banned chair, you need to. Defensive players around him, players who don’t need the ball to score a lot of catch and shoot a lot of three and D uh, you need someone who’s going to feed him the basketball.
[00:16:15] Like ideally you get a young Chris Paul, and they are going to find him and make him a priority because he can be a number one scoring option in the league. Like the, the talent is just oozing out of this player. But if you’re talking about. All star or pretty all, all MBA. That’s where the leaps need to come on the glass and on the off-ball defense, because those are what the, when you look at the, the great power forwards, whether it’s, you know, Dirk or cagey or Barkley, or, you know, Duncan, they’re all two way players and.
[00:16:54] Then you start to pull the curtain back and you look at all, even use Carmelo Anthony, as [00:17:00] an example, he’s going to be a first ballot hall of Famer. Absolutely. But that’s because he was a first ballot hall of Famer score, but he was a tough player to build around. And his team’s really never once. So if, if you want to build success around band chair, you need someone that’s going to feed him the ball in his spots and make him as effective and efficient as possible because.
[00:17:21] I look, I kept looking up at the score and I was like, okay, he’s got all these points. He’s only taken a few shots. Like he is so effective. And he wasn’t, there’s only a couple of times where I watched him. I was like, okay, you’re doing too much out there, but
[00:17:33] Sage: Allie, you pass to, uh,
[00:17:36] Dustin: he, he drew the charge when he was trying to do too many dribble moves.
[00:17:39] So like, that was a really good sign for me that he wasn’t. Being ineffective. He wasn’t trying to do too much. The ball does have a tendency.
[00:17:49] Sage: It sticks.
[00:17:52] Dustin: So there, when he’s 19 years old, there, there’s going to be, you know, areas of growth and [00:18:00] things that he does really well. I think day one, he’s going to be a capable score in this league.
[00:18:07] And as the game continues to modernize and spaces out, and there is this preferential treatment for the offensive player. It’s not a pad starting block to have a 6, 10, 250 pound guy who can draw files, like crazy can score in a variety of ways. And basically what I think he has over Jabari Smith right now is he has a go-to move.
[00:18:32] Like you can give them, we can dump him the ball and say, get us a bucket. You need to, you know, either a stop, the bleeding, or we need a, we need the game winning basket, like quite the. Paolo Ben sheriff has that at an elite level like this, from what I saw, like, I can’t remember the last prospect that I, that I was like so confident in being an offensive force, just like, you know, he’s going to be great.
[00:18:57] I know some people have like maybe compared him to [00:19:00] Michael Beasley. Uh, I didn’t see. Beasley was a little bit smaller, but when I watched Beasley at Kansas state and it was a big reason why I didn’t think he would succeed in the league, he was getting all of his statistics, just basically punishing smaller defenders in.
[00:19:16] Volleyball. You’re not going to be able to do that in a leak bench. Her was facing up putting MBA and moves on college players. Meaning that’s just the only differential as he was going up against the collegiate defender, rather than the weak defender we can, defenders are going to have a hard time stopping a six, 10 guy.
[00:19:33] 20 feet away from the basket because it’s tough to defend. He can go by you. He has a great spin move. He’s not a dominant athlete, as you mentioned, he’s quick
[00:19:43] Sage: enough. Yeah, he’ll pump. If you like put Rudy, go bare on him, he’s going by them every single time. You mentioned the team construction, and then you mentioned a young Chris Paul being the point guard.
[00:19:54] You know what. The center that I think he, he needs to have around them. And this is [00:20:00] going to be a very big, uh, you know, trailer. Yep. Yeah. We’re just creating those seven Hornets with Paula
[00:20:08] Dustin: oh seven horns had a great chance at winning the NBA championship. They were up to O on, on the first, uh, the eventual champion, uh, San Antonio spur or no, oh 7 0 8 Hornets were, that was the Boston Celtics that want to get your Lakers Celtics.
[00:20:25] But the Hornets that year were amazing. They had all, they had pages and pages, the type of small forward you need.
[00:20:34] Sage: Exactly. I mean, if you, if, if, if a team drafts Paulo, you got to look at the Hornets. I think 75th percentile is David West that has dribble moves and moves his feet. Well, like you see the mid range jumper, you see the nonchalant defense.
[00:20:49] That’s David. So, uh, are we just going to go into our
[00:20:53] Dustin: comps? Yeah. Let’s let’s start. What do you think is Flores Blake
[00:20:58] Sage: Griffin on the [00:21:00] pistons? Because you, you see Blake Griffin has ball skills. I don’t know if it says like shockingly good as, as Paulo, just because damn he can move. But the, the, the. Uh, okay.
[00:21:16] He can play make for others. He’s more interested in shooting than he is driving. So Blake Griffin on the Detroit pistons would be the, uh, the, the 25th percentile Paulo for
[00:21:29] Dustin: me. So with a player and it may not be exactly like Paolo, but in terms of, he’s just going to get you a bucket and he’s about the same.
[00:21:39] He doesn’t do much else. Rudy gay. I mean, I think he’s at least Rudy
[00:21:42] Sage: gay coming in. You’re going to be as inefficient as prime. Rudy gay though.
[00:21:47] Dustin: If he’s 25th percentile, probably. I mean, I could see that happening where he’s, he’s taking too many shots, but more, more in terms of that’s all you’re going to get is a bucket.
[00:21:58] You’re not going to get anything else. [00:22:00] Exactly. What is your 75th, what’s your like middle of the road
[00:22:07] Sage: that can move his feet. And don’t worry about weird comps. You’re going to see some really weird comps for me for Chet, but, uh,
[00:22:15] Dustin: okay. So David West, I could see a souped up David West. So there were two players that really kind of came to my mind first in terms of his ability to put the ball on the floor and just.
[00:22:30] Be a go-to score on the block, Julius Randall, uh, he he’s quick, like Julius Julius loves that ball and he loves just kind of holding onto it a bit. And also, uh, Tom chambers, he’s not as athletic as chambers was. So for all of our younger listeners, chambers was a monster for those early 90 sons with Kevin Johnson, Tom chambers, in terms of his production, uh, Tom chambers is more athletic.
[00:22:56] But chambers was great on the perimeter shooting. The [00:23:00] basketball chambers was also a type of player who wouldn’t rebound for you and really want to touch us like he needed his touches to really stay engaged. So Tom chambers made a multiple all-star teams. That’s what I kind of see for Paolo as his middle middleware.
[00:23:15] I think he’s going to make multiple all-star teams like. Yeah.
[00:23:19] Sage: Yeah. The David West amount of voltage. So I, I, I think, I think Paula just has, when you watch Julius, he has one move that he uses to get to the paint. Paulo has like eight, um, maybe this is just body type. His top Chris Webber. Cause he, both of them have really good ball skills.
[00:23:43] Both of them have gravity. They
[00:23:45] Dustin: both is this your 99%?
[00:23:48] Sage: Yeah. I mean the similar body types, similar games, both. I mean, Chris Webber absolutely could blame on people, but like there is definitely some similarities [00:24:00] between Chris Webber and Paulo, just on the passing and the ball skills. Like. If Chris Weber played now, he would be doing that.
[00:24:09] The type of like hang dribble, step back, pointer type shit that Paulo does
[00:24:14] Dustin: so well. I do need to see more from the play-making from band Cero. He goes, Chris Weber, especially during this level was awesome. Those 2000 early two thousands were like upper, upper echelon distributors, especially with their back to the basket leading fast breaks.
[00:24:31] Uh, so yeah, I think that would be the 99. That’s a really good comp. My 99th percentile is just basically, I don’t know if he’s ever going to be a good rebounder or a good Playmaker. I think he’s a six, 10 version of mellow. He’s going to give you a million buckets and that’s it. He’ll probably be a first ballot hall of Famer and it’ll be tough to build around him a winner around him, but that’s, I think you’re looking at a slightly taller version of [00:25:00] Carmella.
[00:25:00] Who’s just.
[00:25:02] Sage: The jabs,
[00:25:04] Dustin: it looks like Carmelo out there. I don’t know if, whether it was Madison square garden or us watching mellow in a blazer uniform that the previous two seasons, but I mean, Melo is going to be a first ballot hall of Famer that that’s not a bad 99 percentile at all. I’m not trying to, uh, downplay a brand Cero.
[00:25:23] Uh, and hopefully when we watch more of him, we see the things that could, I think, evolve into a different comparison to where it’s like, okay, maybe he’s not that elite of a score. But he’s better at those things that we thought he wasn’t as good at. So he can become a more well-rounded prospect. I mean,
[00:25:44] Sage: with how many NBA players that duke blue devils have, we have to watch a bunch of Paolo bunch arrow with that being said, Were there any other players in that game that caught your eye at all?[00:26:00]
[00:26:00] I
[00:26:00] Dustin: would say, well, there was the big man from Kentucky,
[00:26:04] Sage: Oscar. She
[00:26:05] Dustin: went, who fostered, who had 17 points and 20 boards. I was texting with you. I think if 1997 were, uh, if we, if we were in the 1997 draft, he’s probably going lottery. Uh, I don’t know if he’s going to be able to do that in, in today’s day and age, but.
[00:26:24] I think if you’re looking for a prospect to kind of mold into, you know, we talked about whether it was LoudDoor or Marcus smart, just like a bowling ball of a guard. It, it had to be, uh, Trevor keels from duke who had 25 points, uh, 10 of 18 shooting. He’s just a man child right now. And I remember I texted you and I said, I’m always concerned about players in college who are just so much more physically gifted in terms of their strength and their body.
[00:26:54] Because you go to the league there’s guys that look like that just on the bench and you’re not going [00:27:00] to be able just to bully through. So, you know, can he become more of a knockdown shooter? Can you become the perimeter defender that dork Hanks has had on, uh, because that strength is going to be an asset.
[00:27:10] But when I think of that, I’m like, oh man, I remember I remember Stanley Johnson getting the five star hype out of Arizona and the McDonald’s all American because he was just so much, he wasn’t NBA body against younger dudes. But when you got to the league, he had no skill. I think Kiehl’s has more skill, but I, again, I’m going to be interested to watch him and see how he’s able to, to grow because, you know, I, I do like your Marcus smart, competent there’s, you know, he’s not a bad player to roll the dice on in, in the later half of the first round.
[00:27:39] Oh, absolutely.
[00:27:40] Sage: Yeah. I mean, I saw a lot of defensive brilliance from him where he would blow up screens and just be that, be that defender. Teams need, when you’ve got Anthony Edwards, you got lamella ball, you got all of these amazing card players. You need somebody [00:28:00] that’s dedicated to stopping them. And you saw that Trevor Kiehl’s was about that window Moore.
[00:28:05] He, he, uh, he looked like a player the last two years. It was really. Uninspiring ball from Wendell, but I mean, with knowledge that we have on, uh, January 12th, I know that he’s kept up this level of production. He’s looking good. Um, I wrote in my notes. Uh, AIG Griffin. He did. He only played 10 minutes, but he moved really well for a guy recovering from those injuries.
[00:28:32] AIG Griffin is the son of Adrian Griffin, who is, was an NBA player and a current coach on the Toronto Raptors. The duke blue devils are being really, really careful with him because he is, he could be a lottery pick. So they’re just like putting them in for 10 minutes here. 10 minutes there later in the year, he plays like 26.
[00:28:55] But to see someone who has basketball IQ in college is [00:29:00] pretty impressive. Cause. The, the offenses that team’s runners really unimaginative. Like we’re going to talk about Gonzaga and chat and it’s like, one of the worst systems built for Chet. Adrian actually moved the defense with his movement. So I know he’s hurt or it was hurt in that particular game, but it was good to see a wing.
[00:29:23] He has all the things that you look for. Hi, a value wink just to see the movement abilities. And some of those rebounding was really nice, but duke has a lot of really interesting players like that. The center had a really dominating block in the, uh, on a, uh, Kentucky, uh, cut Mark Williams, Mark Williams.
[00:29:44] Yeah. Ty Washington really didn’t appear on the screen for me that, uh, that game. And I know he’s going to be a first round point guard. It just wasn’t that.
[00:29:54] Dustin: There was this first game too. Yeah. And he just finished a 17 assessed performance [00:30:00] last week with Kentucky. So
[00:30:01] Sage: Kentucky, I feel like the recruiting class, they got burnt so bad with the BJ Boston class that they’re just like, you know what, let’s just get some veteran Tran transfers and try and be competent.
[00:30:14] And that’s not working either. Unless you think Oscar, she was going to make it to the league, which he’s fun. But I don’t know if he’s actually. A NBA player.
[00:30:28] Dustin: Anything else? Any closing thoughts on band chair before we wrap this one up Sage,
[00:30:33] Sage: I think Paulo is a. I think he is a legitimately, a top three talents. There’s stuff that we obviously want him to do, but he is going to be a legitimately good NBA player. I don’t think, I mean, obviously where he’s being placed is obviously going to help.
[00:30:53] Cause I thought Ben, Macklemore’s going to be a great player. Then he went to the Kings. So shit happens. But I feel [00:31:00] like he has a very high floor of being a good basketball player.
[00:31:06] Dustin: Where’s he at on your big board?
[00:31:09] Sage: Third. Okay. Jabari is one Chet’s too, because of the defense. And then Paulo’s three. And then, uh, so for next week we will be watching the chat game Gonzaga versus UCLA.
[00:31:24] And this is a, this is like the, the game where he just. Dominates. So I’m very excited to see what check can do. Cause uh, you know, there, there he’s one of those prospects that people have some very heavy feelings about. So I’m excited to watch and see what Chad does. Yeah. I think
[00:31:45] Dustin: he’s got the highest, he’s the highest risk, highest upside probably of anybody in the lottery. [00:31:50] Sage: Oh yeah, absolutely. He can be unstoppable if he hits everything, but we will talk about that in a future episode. Thank you so [00:32:00] much for listening.
Holy Backboard 