Dickensen v. Edy v. Clingan

Watching the NC game, I couldn't help but wonder how Dickensen would have performed against UCONN or Purdue.

We have footage of Clingan v. Dickensen from KU's win over UCONN in AFH. Nevertheless, at the time, Clingan wasn't 100% and rather than a "battle of the bigs" it seemed that they cancelled each other out. Hunter had 15 points, Clingan had 8. Clingan had 7 boards, Hunter had 9. The game was really decided by KJ's 18 points and Kevin's 21 points vs. UCONN's Newton who had 31. From that time going forward, Hunter was a more fully developed player and really didn't progress that much. Clingan, however, got healthy and established himself as a top center in the D1 and very strong defender (which Hunter is decidedly NOT). If KU played UCONN today, I feel like Clingan would have played much better than Hunter.

Edy is the very best big in college right now. He essentially carried Purdue in the final with 37 points. One must give credit to Clingan's tough defense and strong play against Edy in that game but Edy is really at a different level.

So based on this, and unless Hunter learns to play more physically and play some defense, I think he would have been a distant 3rd compared to the two guys in the final, and had KU somehow made it to the final, either Clingan or Edy would have mopped the floor with him.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to disparage the guy, but I do hope he watched the game and set some goals about where he needs to get with his game. I truly hope he comes back next year, and frankly I don't see the NBA in his immediate future if he leaves. If that's the case, he has about 6 months to really work on his strength training and learning to be more aggressive, because as much as he was billed as a "big dog" he simply isn't compared to his competition.

Great assessment. I will say, at one point I could not stand Withey and then he made a huge turn around and became a blocking machine. I'm hoping something like this happens with Hunter but I don't think it will. I think Withey developed his defensive ability through natural athletic talent. I think Hunter is a FANTASTIC offensive player. He has an amazing shot for a big guy. But his defense is non-existent. He doesn't even really seem to care to play. I'll take him back and actually my hope is that he plays along side Zach and Zach is a defensive beast. I'm sure I'm wrong but hey it's a hope.

No argument with either post. Hunter just has slow feet. His size and touch make him a valuable offensive player, but he is too slow to be a force on defense. I think he does try, but it's really apparent when other teams run a high ball screen, he doesn't have the quickness to defend it well. I forgot which analyst said it, probably during the Gonzaga game, but he said he loved Hunter's offense but he gives away as many points on defense as he scores on offense. Yup.

Thanks guys. So Riverhawk, I agree that slow feet are part of the problem, but do you think that's part of his lack of aggression? Seems to me that he'd rather put up a baby hook or fadeaway rather than attack the rim. Not sure if that's just general athleticism, a strength issue that can be addressed in the gym, or just a mental thing. Maybe all 3?

But I agree on the slow feet. in fact, even when he runs the court, it doesn't look like he's taking full strides.

Yes, good point. Hard to be real aggressive(or at least effectively aggressive) if you can't move very quickly. Clearly, we aren't the only ones who have noticed these things. In every mock NBA draft I have seen, Hunter does not appear, first or second round.

I hope he uses that as fuel to work on these things.