Just a little fun topic before the season starts. Would you rather give Jujuan Johnson’s athletic ability to Haas or give E’twaun’s jumper to Eastern? My head explodes just thinking how good both would be.
Would you rather?
- Thread starter takedownboiler
- Start date
It's still a guard oriented game. Guards are the difference-makers in the tourney.
I'm going with giving Jujaun's ability to Haas. for a couple of reasons.
Nojel may not "currently" have the greatest shot in the world, but he knows how to score and he knows how to distribute the ball to somebody who can. and our team is "currently" loaded with 3 point shooters. We don't need 15 3 point shooters on our team.
on the other hand, Haas is great offensively, but needs work as a rim protector and defender. if you could combine JJ's defensive skills with Haas' offense, you'd have a monster in the paint that could alter the game plan of any opponent while also adding a dimension to this team we currently lack.
Kareem was a hall of famer. Nobody ever questioned his offense, but his defense was often overlooked. He changed the outcomes of games by his defense.
if given the ball, Haas could easily score 20-25 points a game, going 7 for 12 from the floor, and 6 for 8 on the FT line. but if he could jump, block shots, throw outlet passes, grab rebounds off the glass, grab alley oops for monster jams, this current team would be unstoppable.
I look at Bill Walton's UCLA team. yes, they had a lot of other talent besides Bill Walton. But their success revolved around him. in the middle and made them unstoppable. I then look at the IU teams with Kent Benson. Benson was a great college center. but their success didn't revolve around him. And I remember Joe Barry Carroll. Joe Barry wasn't a tremendous defender, but he altered a lot of shot selection just by his presence.
I'm not sure how Haas' season is going to play out. but if you could combine his offense with JJ's defense and athleticism, you'd see a dream player and a dream season. Imagine a Purdue team with a monster athletic Haas in the middle combined with 4 deadly perimeter shooters in PJ, Edwards, Edwards and Dakota firing away.
I don't claim to be a basketball expert, but there are certain things even I can see.
Nojel may not "currently" have the greatest shot in the world, but he knows how to score and he knows how to distribute the ball to somebody who can. and our team is "currently" loaded with 3 point shooters. We don't need 15 3 point shooters on our team.
on the other hand, Haas is great offensively, but needs work as a rim protector and defender. if you could combine JJ's defensive skills with Haas' offense, you'd have a monster in the paint that could alter the game plan of any opponent while also adding a dimension to this team we currently lack.
Kareem was a hall of famer. Nobody ever questioned his offense, but his defense was often overlooked. He changed the outcomes of games by his defense.
if given the ball, Haas could easily score 20-25 points a game, going 7 for 12 from the floor, and 6 for 8 on the FT line. but if he could jump, block shots, throw outlet passes, grab rebounds off the glass, grab alley oops for monster jams, this current team would be unstoppable.
I look at Bill Walton's UCLA team. yes, they had a lot of other talent besides Bill Walton. But their success revolved around him. in the middle and made them unstoppable. I then look at the IU teams with Kent Benson. Benson was a great college center. but their success didn't revolve around him. And I remember Joe Barry Carroll. Joe Barry wasn't a tremendous defender, but he altered a lot of shot selection just by his presence.
I'm not sure how Haas' season is going to play out. but if you could combine his offense with JJ's defense and athleticism, you'd see a dream player and a dream season. Imagine a Purdue team with a monster athletic Haas in the middle combined with 4 deadly perimeter shooters in PJ, Edwards, Edwards and Dakota firing away.
I don't claim to be a basketball expert, but there are certain things even I can see.
Make Haas as athletic as JJ and you have Shaq in his prime. Make NE a better shooter and you probably have an All Conference 2nd teamer. One is a unicorn, the other can be found on several top 25 teams.
A more athletic Shaq? Yes, please.
Also, Eastern could develop an improved shot, so that is much less of a fantasy than Godzilla with hops.
JJ to Haas no question. Like people have said, that would be a more athletic Shaq. That's a once in a NBA kind of event. And it's something that Haas can't just work on to achieve. You have it or you don't. Eastern can work on his shot... sure, some of shooting is a God-given ability, but a lot of it is practice and hard work.
What do u mean sir about Nojel. So many of you all concerned about his shot no he is constantly working on It to get better and furthermore he can do a whole lot more on the court than shoot shots. He can also pass to the great shooters that is on this team. He will b just fine shooting the ball as season goes on.
I'm taking an objective look at what I've seen from Nojel in both Taipei and the first two scrimmages. Without a doubt, Nojel brings a lot of positives to the court with his ball-handling, driving ability, rebounding, defense, etc., but if you were to pick a relative weakness at this point, it would be his outside shot.
Everyone has relative weaknesses in their game, and it's not a slight to Nojel to point those out. Biggie was one of the best players in Purdue history last season, but he did have trouble guarding smaller 4s & had some careless turnovers (especially during his freshman year). He worked his tail off, and improved those aspects of his game. My favorite quote from him is "get better or get bitter", and he chose the former.
Nojel has the tools to be an excellent player at Purdue and after, but the fantasy was to instill E'twaun Moore's (one of the best scorers & shooters in Purdue history) into Nojel's game. If he comes anywhere near as prolific a shooter as Moore, he'll have a good chance his jersey hanging from the rafters in Mackey. I hope he does!
Smooge was much better than a second team all conference player. You’re not just making him a better shooter. You’re making Eastern one of the best shooters in Purdue history. He’s a 6’6 point guard. You give him 3’Twaun jumper he’d be unstoppable. He would be better version of Ben Simmons.
Moore was a career 38% shooter. Having Moore's jumper would make Eastern a better shooter than Simmons, but he wouldn't be better than Simmons in any other area. Simmons is one of the best basketball players to come through high school since Lebron.
Two things:
1) Nojel looked better shooting the ball this evening. Not only did the ball go in, but his form seemed more fluid than what I had observed in the scrimmages/Taipei. It's good to see hard work paying off.
2) Judging from the enthusiasm I saw coming from the family seating, it's obvious Nojel comes from a loving family. Here's to a great season moving forward!
you know...I thought the same thing on his shooting...not a hint of lacking confidence...which comes from success rather than talk. When he hit the 3pt jumper (I'm up and behind the Purdue bench) it not only looked good from my angle, but I loved the way it went through the net. That told me about his arch, being dead center and the back spin. This was perhaps Nojel's best game to date. What I also noticed and maybe it is being a freshman (because I assume he was a main scorer in high school) is that Nojel creates space for his pass many times. Many times a player gets the ball and just considers scoring, but he would get the ball in relatively close and back pedal to create space so he could then pass it to another after he unclogged the D. It appears at this stage he is much more passer than scorer which is good for Purdue. but may also be natural for him?
Nojel's dunk also got his teammates pretty excited.
Heck, C-Boogie's "greeting" maybe even had Coach Brohm excited.
Don't get him too excited! Carsen would be one hell of tail-back, but I'm glad he chose the hardwood.
If you would give Haas the athletic ability of Johnson. He would be the best player in college maybe the best player College ever seen. Then he'd go on to the NBA and probably be the best player in the NBA. He would dominate like Shaquille O'Neal.
So the question, in a nutshell, is if I would give a Senior some extra awesome talents or a Freshman some different awesome talents? Easy. I give Eastern extras. I hopefuly have a chance to keep Eastern for the next four years so I will get to see the resultant skills for a lot longer. If I give Haas super abilities he is gone next year with or without the NBA draft.
You give Haas the athletic ability of Johnson who in college would be able to stop him. I would like our chances to win it all this year.
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