The Ekpe Udoh Quandry

A fantastic breakdown on Ekpe Udoh''s defense and unnoticed value. Brought to you by Warriors World

4 months ago j-spliff415 35 comments 1 recs |

Comments

That Udoh is a good defender, especially in one on one situations. What Udoh really needs to work on is a 15-18 foot base line jump shot like Udonis Haslem. He could be a starter in the league if he did that on a good team. If not he could be a first big off the bench on a good team.

The reason people have such an issue with Udoh over Monroe, is mainly due to age. Monroe has the potential to be supposedly much more than he already is due to him being younger and thus a higher trade value.

by Oracle Junkie on Feb 2, 2012 8:01 AM PST reply actions

the age thing is overblown

he’s still very young

just because he has a year or two on monroe doesnt make him physically incapable of being better

It's lonely being the only Warriors fan at UMass :(

by j-spliff415 on Feb 2, 2012 8:08 AM PST up reply actions

Age is important. The research people have done on this suggests NBA development is not a function of how many years you’ve been in the league, but rather of age. Udoh is almost 3 years older than Monroe – comparing what they are right now misses the point on age entirely, because Monroe has 3 more years of growth left before he’s the same age Udoh is now (and Monroe is in the part of his career that players tend to improve significantly).

Anyways, the main problem I’ve had with Riley’s drafting strategy isn’t about comparing who’s better between Udoh and Monroe. “Who’s better” misses the point. The issue I have with his strategy is I don’t think trying to get the better player every time is the right strategy, because it means you take the lower ceiling, safe player every time and miss out on guys with potential. A team like the Warriors needs to hit on a guy with big potential to go anywhere from here. Safe role players are going to keep us mediocre.

by Missing Barry on Feb 2, 2012 8:41 AM PST up reply actions

Riley whiffed on guys with "potential" too.

Anthony Randolph ring a bell?

by Lacob's Ladder on Feb 2, 2012 9:37 AM PST up reply actions

Late lottery pick

Definitely worth the risk

And I think that was Mullin, might be wrong though

RIP Al Davis
PS3 - agentpoop (dont ask why the name... tell me if your from a blog)
twitter - @nateoak5
"No difference maker in this draft taf. Sorry to be the 1 to break it to you." J-Ridah 1/23/12

by dubzfan on Feb 2, 2012 9:39 AM PST up reply actions

That was mullin not Riley.

But still it is a cardinal sin to ever draft for need in the lotto. That was the poor decision by our idiot GM.

"I thought it was going in," Warriors center Chris Hunter said. "It looked like the invisible man tipped it away at the last second."

"He's chicken curry right now. He'll become beef curry a little later on."
-Keith Smart

by kenntoe on Feb 2, 2012 9:55 AM PST up reply actions

Randolph was a poor decision? Really? I thought it was a very good risk to take. Guys drafted around Randolph:

Bayless
Jason Thompson
Rush
Randolph
Robin Lopez
Speights
Hibbert
McGee
Hickson
Ajinca

Randolph looks like as good a gamble as any to me. Maybe McGee was a better gamble because he was bigger (harder to find!), but I think Randolph had age going for him. Flip a coin.

by Missing Barry on Feb 2, 2012 11:36 AM PST up reply actions

hibbert would have been better in hindsight obviously

but beans looked solid around this time, so its understandable

It's lonely being the only Warriors fan at UMass :(

by j-spliff415 on Feb 2, 2012 11:54 AM PST up reply actions

Agreed

Randolph was an exciting young player with a ton of potential. He is exactly the type of player the Warriors should be taking at that spot in the lottery.

by Pippen on Feb 2, 2012 12:23 PM PST up reply actions

No I wasn't referring to Rudolph. Our idiot GM who took a young Taj Gibson over young Al Jefferson.

"I thought it was going in," Warriors center Chris Hunter said. "It looked like the invisible man tipped it away at the last second."

"He's chicken curry right now. He'll become beef curry a little later on."
-Keith Smart

by kenntoe on Feb 2, 2012 1:21 PM PST up reply actions

And despite how poor of a pick that was

He somehow turned into David lee if you added an expiring contract and a center that didn’t have an offensive game beyond dunks… Yeah I’d say it paid off in the end (though Lee is overpaid yes, but thats not the point).

by Nith on Feb 2, 2012 10:10 AM PST up reply actions

The book hasn’t been closed on Randolph yet. He’s only 22 and still may turn out to be a productive NBA player.

by Pippen on Feb 2, 2012 12:28 PM PST up reply actions

+1

he’s still got plenty of time.
If he is truly willing to learn, and work on his game, I see no reason to write him off already…hell, I’d even put Broken Wing (to a lesser extent) in the same boat

"I am very worried about the Warriors"
-brutusbrutus

by Duby Dub Dubs on Feb 2, 2012 12:37 PM PST up reply actions

No matter what your draft strategy, there’s always the risk of failure in the draft. Not every prospect works out.

by Missing Barry on Feb 2, 2012 11:33 AM PST up reply actions

No his rebounding is why we like Monroe more

And the fact Monroe can score really well

RIP Al Davis
PS3 - agentpoop (dont ask why the name... tell me if your from a blog)
twitter - @nateoak5
"No difference maker in this draft taf. Sorry to be the 1 to break it to you." J-Ridah 1/23/12

by dubzfan on Feb 2, 2012 8:40 AM PST up reply actions

yeah, rebounding

Udoh hasn’t recorded at least five rebounds in back-to-back games this season. He didn’t have consecutive games with at least six rebounds in 58 attempts last season.

from here

"I am very worried about the Warriors"
-brutusbrutus

by Duby Dub Dubs on Feb 2, 2012 10:18 AM PST up reply actions

If Ekpe were big enough to be a true center, or rebounded his position at all, he could be a nice little bench player. As it is, he is just a statistical oddity who helps a bad team stay competitive in games they eventually lose.

Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!

by Supafishal on Feb 2, 2012 9:09 AM PST reply actions

I love me some Udoh! He’s the one player on this team (aside from perhaps Dom) that plays hard and does the little things that help his team win. I love that he can drastically impact his team in a positive way while only scoring 2 points and grabbing 2 rebounds.

by Slightly Hyphy on Feb 2, 2012 9:28 AM PST reply actions

Unlike Udoh, Dom doesn’t have a positive effect on the team while he’s playing. The team is almost always worse off while he’s playing.

by Lacob's Ladder on Feb 2, 2012 9:39 AM PST up reply actions

I disagree

He’s a great rebounder and a good defender on a team that lacks both. He should have more PT then he does now, just don’t put him out there with other guys who can’t score

RIP Al Davis
PS3 - agentpoop (dont ask why the name... tell me if your from a blog)
twitter - @nateoak5
"No difference maker in this draft taf. Sorry to be the 1 to break it to you." J-Ridah 1/23/12

by dubzfan on Feb 2, 2012 9:42 AM PST up reply actions

, just don’t put him out there with other guys who can’t score

or against big guys who post him up or middle size guys who jump into him, or little guys who shoot over him?

Mirror on the wall
Here we are again.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Feb 2, 2012 9:52 AM PST up reply actions

He’s literally worthless on offense. He doesn’t do a single productive thing on that side of the ball. I like his rebounding and defense, too, but it doesn’t surprise me that those don’t make up for his offensive ineptitude.

by Missing Barry on Feb 2, 2012 11:42 AM PST up reply actions

Except that his defensive abilities don’t make up for his complete offensive ineptitude.

The only time it makes sense to play Dom is during end of game situations where you have timeouts between possessions that allow you to sub someone in for him on offense. Subbing him for Lee would make sense in those situations, for example. End of quarter situations to get a stop would also make sense. Otherwise, having him in for extended stretches ends up in us being outscored by our opponent more often than not.

by Lacob's Ladder on Feb 2, 2012 1:21 PM PST up reply actions

Well I think Dom does play a lot of 4 in a small set.

Play him more as a 3 and maybe he would be a statistical positive.

"I thought it was going in," Warriors center Chris Hunter said. "It looked like the invisible man tipped it away at the last second."

"He's chicken curry right now. He'll become beef curry a little later on."
-Keith Smart

by kenntoe on Feb 2, 2012 9:58 AM PST up reply actions

Udoh is a beast on defense. I’ve never seen a power forward get off on him.

by J-RIDAH on Feb 2, 2012 10:07 AM PST reply actions

eww

"I thought it was going in," Warriors center Chris Hunter said. "It looked like the invisible man tipped it away at the last second."

"He's chicken curry right now. He'll become beef curry a little later on."
-Keith Smart

by kenntoe on Feb 2, 2012 11:24 AM PST up reply actions

Hyperbole once again.

Gambino is a mastermind...

by GovernorStephCurry on Feb 2, 2012 6:54 PM PST up reply actions

Hopefully no man gets off on him.

by G-State on Feb 3, 2012 6:43 PM PST up reply actions

unless he's into that

which is totally ok too

"I am very worried about the Warriors"
-brutusbrutus

by Duby Dub Dubs on Feb 6, 2012 10:07 AM PST up reply actions

rec'd btw

this is nice work.
interesting to see the contrast between Udoh and Lee…everyone should read this

"I am very worried about the Warriors"
-brutusbrutus

by Duby Dub Dubs on Feb 2, 2012 10:27 AM PST reply actions

the word is quandary

and it’s revealing that the Strauss article went into detail about only one side of a (supposed) complicated issue that the word ‘quandary’ implies. From the feedback here it looks like the consensus is, the areas where Udoh fails to make positive contributions are so glaring that the matter isn’t really perplexing or problematic. Jackson seems fairly circumspect in his comments about his players to the media, but he hasn’t spared Udoh and the player agreed with the coach about inconsistency and passivity.

Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (a.ayler)

by the.monk on Feb 2, 2012 12:01 PM PST reply actions

ESPN's David Thorpe doesn't even have Epke as a Top 20 Sophomore...

This is an “Insider” article so you may not be able to click through the link all the way, but Ekpe doesn’t even rank in David Thorpe’s Top 20 for Sophomore Rankings. Sad, sad, sad.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/Soph20-120203/nba-ranking-top-20-sophomores

Of course Greg Monroe is ranked #2 behind Blake Griffin. Unfortunate but true that Udoh and Monroe will forever be linked in my eyes. Seems like Monroe does everything better than Ekpe except block shots.

I still think Ekpe needs to bulk up if he is ever going to be able to hold his own and become a lock-down interior defender. He ends up on his ass way too many times during a game – just watch and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Oh how I miss Kwame Brown…

by CS from Los Al on Feb 3, 2012 1:22 PM PST reply actions

I've been really hard on the udoh pick BUT...

Reality is he’s played 78 pro games and had ZERO camp or summer league.

It’s not unrealistic to expect Udoh and Klay to make big strides next season. See Udoh develop the offensive game he has (nothing super impressive, but less of a liability), and Klay to play better.

by tafkasam on Feb 3, 2012 7:51 PM PST reply actions