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Have CU's struggles post-Spencer increased his draft stock?

jgisland

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I know we're only 4.5 games in since Spencer went down, but it's become fairly clear how important he was and that he covered up a lot of CU's dificiencies. NBA teams draft on a lot of things, but do CU's struggles actually improve his draft stock?
 
I know we're only 4.5 games in since Spencer went down, but it's become fairly clear how important he was and that he covered up a lot of CU's dificiencies. NBA teams draft on a lot of things, but do CU's struggles actually improve his draft stock?
I'll say no. NFL or MLB teams tend to focus on character more than NBA teams, IMO, and would be more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt on intangibles than NBA GM's.
 
I think it does. His character is well established in the basketball community, locally and beyond; and that is certainly important to NBA teams, in that their professional community is a much smaller group than either the NFL or the MLB. But I don't think this is solely about character. I think this is about his actual value to the team. Most of the time, the attention goes to the player who has the most points at the end of the game. Or the player who is the loudest or the most aggressive in his demeanor. Spencer's game reaches so far beyond point totals, etc., that if it wasn't clear to everyone before, it is now. His tangibles are pretty straight forward. He was leading in practically every category at the time of his injury. He could take a game over at will, and did, but not always in ways that people could see. He controlled the floor during the course of the games. He directed the players on the court in the heat of the game to get them to move to where they should be while a play was developing, increasing the chance for a teammate to score. He made things happen, every game, play after play, and playing maximum minutes because that is what was needed. He made the players around him, better. He won games, whether directly or indirectly, he won games. His intangibles are off the chart. He plays an intelligent game. And the fact that Spencer's value to the team has been made acutely clear in his short absence since his injury, will not be lost on GM's looking for a smart, talented player who has high character and approaches the game with a team first mentality. That's a winner on any level.
 
I think it was obvious to anyone who watched CU this year that we struggled on offense woefully without Spencer creating offense and getting to the line. So no.
 
Has anyone been following draft boards to see how they rank Spencer? I can't say that CU struggling have really improved his chances because I doubt GMs are paying attention to CU anymore and the probably don't play what if.
 
Has anyone been following draft boards to see how they rank Spencer? I can't say that CU struggling have really improved his chances because I doubt GMs are paying attention to CU anymore and the probably don't play what if.

the draft boards are all the place, it's really hard to get a good read on it right now.

to the point about GM's not paying attention, I'm sure you're right, but if I'm a GM I go back and look at a few games pre and post spencer and see what specifically he did that made CU go and if that's something my team is missing. It's unfortunate for Spencer that we don't plat the Oregon schools again, because those would be the only teams you'd get a real apple to apples comparison.

For my personal opinion, it may not help him, but it certainly doesn't hurt. If CU went off and raddled off wins over UCLA and AZ I do think that'd possibly hurt his draft stock a bit.
 
To me an ACL tear in the spring semester before the draft doesn't increase draft stock, but I'm not a scout so I can't project how well someone can recover from that. The injury did nothing to hurt his knowledge of the game so he will be valuable but will he be ready to put an NBA team on his back or does this foreshadow a Grant Hill-like career where he is always on a roster because of his seasoning but is never 100% to captain an offense?
 
No. It just speaks about the lack of experienced depth behind him on CU's roster. If I am a GM or scout, my major question regarding Spencer would be can he be the same player he was before the injury, and how soon will that be? If Jaron came in and lit it up, don't think it would negatively impact Spencer's stock, so the opposite would apply here imo
 
How do you guys think Spencer compares to Wilcox from Washington. They are pretty similar in size but I think that Spencer plays the point more.

I am really starting to think Spencer is going to have a hard time in the draft. If he was an outside shooter then a GM would be less worried than a guy who drives to the hoop and makes a lot of his point at the line. He won't be able to show his athleticism isn't gone by the time the combine rolls around.
 
Dinwiddie's a more efficient offensive player as he gets around 1.90 points per shot attempt. Wilcox is about at 1.37. Personally, think Dinwiddie is the better defender between the two of them. On the flip side, don't think Wilcox will ever get accused of not being aggressive enough.

If healthy, Dinwiddie would have more value, but with the injury they probably are pretty similar value wise
 
Dinwiddie's a more efficient offensive player as he gets around 1.90 points per shot attempt. Wilcox is about at 1.37. Personally, think Dinwiddie is the better defender between the two of them. On the flip side, don't think Wilcox will ever get accused of not being aggressive enough.

If healthy, Dinwiddie would have more value, but with the injury they probably are pretty similar value wise

This is pretty much where I'm at on Wilcox/Dinwiddie - I'm kind of surprised Wilcox didn't come out last year, it wasn't like he was going to transform his game or really prove anything more coming back is Sr year. He's an elite shooter with length to get off shots at the next level and a capable defender. Not really sure he could improve his stock much and with the loaded draft class this year even if he didn't improve his stock he likely wouldn't improve his draft position.
 
This is pretty much where I'm at on Wilcox/Dinwiddie - I'm kind of surprised Wilcox didn't come out last year, it wasn't like he was going to transform his game or really prove anything more coming back is Sr year.

I think he wanted to go. Probably also wanted to be a 1st round pick, and the multiple stress fractures and his age probably deterred a lot of teams from doing that. Definitely has a skill that will translate to the next level, but NBA teams are usually wary of taking someone that is going to be 24 during their first NBA season. Not a lot of growth to improve
 
Do you guys see Nick Johnson as an NBA prospect? And if so do you think he goes this year?
 
How do you guys think Spencer compares to Wilcox from Washington. They are pretty similar in size but I think that Spencer plays the point more.

I am really starting to think Spencer is going to have a hard time in the draft. If he was an outside shooter then a GM would be less worried than a guy who drives to the hoop and makes a lot of his point at the line. He won't be able to show his athleticism isn't gone by the time the combine rolls around.


I think an ACL injury is nothing. Almost everyone comes back from that now as good as new. I'd be more concerned with foot problems, back injuries, etc. I think Spencer put it all on tape and he's first round gone.
 
I think an ACL injury is nothing. Almost everyone comes back from that now as good as new. I'd be more concerned with foot problems, back injuries, etc. I think Spencer put it all on tape and he's first round gone.

So it seems like ACL injuries are fairly uncommon in the NBA. This is an interesting study that supports your claim but seeing Gallinari and Rose struggle to come back are very worry some and would change these statistics.

http://m.sph.sagepub.com/content/5/6/562.abstract?etoc

http://m.espn.go.com/general/fantasy/story?storyId=9894625&src=desktop
 
Do you guys see Nick Johnson as an NBA prospect? And if so do you think he goes this year?

I think he is a 4 year player. Too undersized to play SG at the NBA level, and isn't a natural point guard so he's caught in between positions. Just a great college basketball player. Has a better chance declaring in 2015
 
I think he is a 4 year player. Too undersized to play SG at the NBA level, and isn't a natural point guard so he's caught in between positions. Just a great college basketball player. Has a better chance declaring in 2015

Arizona is very lucky. I thought he has a good chance to play in the NBA because he is very athletic and is a great perimeter defender.
 
Do you guys see Nick Johnson as an NBA prospect? And if so do you think he goes this year?

Yes. A great all around player. I doubt he goes after this year, especially since it's a deep draft.
 
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