Raequan Battle

[Colter_Nuanez]

Yup.

I was pretty blunt about calling this out when he transferred…. Just an absolutely stupid move. And several posters argued against it.

I think you could make a very strong argument that he would be in the nba right now (drafted) had he stayed with the cats. Oh and for the people that say he “couldn’t turn down that money”……. Ha, I will be curious to see what Dillon jones makes next year.

Such a horrible decision that he made, which might have ultimately cost him millions.

Hindsight is 20/20. But you can’t really fault a kid with taking an offer to play college basketball for over $200,000 for one year. Also gets to compete in one the best basketball conferences in the country. I think calling it “stupid” is pretty harsh. And he will still get a chance for professional basketball in the US - possibly in the G league for now, but he will get his chance.

He made closer to two times $200,000 to go to West Virginia. As one source told me, his entire family has never had that much money, combined. How does a kid from a tiny reservation say no to a college basketball hall of famer who's offering $325,000 to transfer?

Raise your hand if, at 23 years old after growing up rural or on a reservation, Bob Huggins comes to your door and offers you more than a quarter million, and you say you would say no. If you think you would say no, man...

[Colter_Nuanez]

It's a blast to do, but hardly anyone is good at projecting how good a college player will be in the pros in any sport. There are those that are relatively good compared to others, but even they aren't what I would consider great. Only about 20% of players picked in the 2nd round are still active after 5-10 years. Lottery picks are at 75% and non-lottery 1st round picks around 40%.

There are about 450 players on NBA rosters. About 60 players are drafted each year and the average career in the NBA is about 4.5 years.

Guessing where someone will be drafted has a better success rate than guessing how good they will be.

It's really hard to project who's going to be good and how good once they get to the pros, especially in the NBA. It's not all that hard to predict who is going to the pros, particularly the NBA. The short, blunt answer is basically no one. The NBA is the hardest professional league in America to break into. The only thing harder than playing in the NBA is being an NFL kicker just because the spots are so limited year to year.

In the NBA, it's as simple as this: you have to have an elite NBA body or elite NBA athleticism or you have to have an elite NBA skill. And by elite, I mean you have to be one of the 300 best people at that basketball skill in the world. Did you know the average height for an NBA player is 6-foot-7.5? The average NBA player is 6-8, 210-220 pounds

I love Raequan Battle as much as any player I've ever watched in the Big Sky Conference. If you missed this story, you should read it:

FOR HIS PEOPLE: Battle is lone Native American man playing in Big Dance
https://skylinesportsmt.com/for-his-peo ... big-dance/

That said, I am zero percent surprised Battle is a fringe NBA player at best. He does not have an NBA body because he is so slight. He is almost an NBA athlete, but remember...NBA athletes are among the greatest pure athletes on earth. And as mentioned above, he has no elite NBA skill. His elite basketball skill is as a scorer. He is nowhere near the top 300 scorers in the world. He was not even in the top 25 scorers in college basketball last season.

If he was 6-6, 210 instead of 6-4, 195, and he could play defense like an NBA wing....and/or he was a knockdown 3-point shooter, he would be an NBA player. He's a phenomenal athlete and a gifted scorer. But neither of those skills is Top 300 in the world.

PS when you apply this analytical formula to Dillon Jones, it's a big of a mystery to me how he was drafted in the first round. He does have two borderline elite skills - he is arguably a good to great NBA caliber rebounder...and he is for sure elite as a 6-foot-5, 245-pound point guard because, well, he's the only one. But he nowhere close to plays defense at an NBA level and he can't shoot. He will be a fascinating case study.

Here's an interesting statistic I found while researching to help edit this Houghton story (https://skylinesportsmt.com/last-of-a-d ... ba-chance/): there are exactly 100 players in the NBA who weigh more than 240 pounds....and a total of six of them are shorter than 6-foot-9. Dillon Jones joins Admiral Scofield, PJ Tucker and Ish Wainwright as the only players who are 6-foot-5, 245 pounds in the entire NBA. The ultimate outlier of this is Zion Williamson, who is 6-foot-6 and listed at 296 pounds

The good news for DJones is he was drafted by an organization that is obsessed with development, loves unorthodox players and has a brilliant coach who will find a way to use Jones. If he can maximize his chances, he has a shot.

[kennethnoisewater]

Yup.

I was pretty blunt about calling this out when he transferred…. Just an absolutely stupid move. And several posters argued against it.

I think you could make a very strong argument that he would be in the nba right now (drafted) had he stayed with the cats. Oh and for the people that say he “couldn’t turn down that money”……. Ha, I will be curious to see what Dillon jones makes next year.

Such a horrible decision that he made, which might have ultimately cost him millions.

Hindsight is 20/20. But you can’t really fault a kid with taking an offer to play college basketball for over $200,000 for one year. Also gets to compete in one the best basketball conferences in the country. I think calling it “stupid” is pretty harsh. And he will still get a chance for professional basketball in the US - possibly in the G league for now, but he will get his chance.

He made closer to two times $200,000 to go to West Virginia. As one source told me, his entire family has never had that much money, combined. How does a kid from a tiny reservation say no to a college basketball hall of famer who's offering $325,000 to transfer?

Raise your hand if, at 23 years old after growing up rural or on a reservation, Bob Huggins comes to your door and offers you more than a quarter million, and you say you would say no. If you think you would say no, man...

I think the Huggins part of it is something a lot of people are forgetting. I know everybody has opinions about him, but I think if he played for Huggins, it changes his whole last year. Regardless, it's a lot of money to turn down. There are no sure things in sports for anybody. He could've torn his ACL in Bozeman and lost it all. We can all argue and one side might be right, but to say it's a stupid move for him to do one thing or the other is just something nobody can know.

[Hawks86]

Raequan's summer league TV schedule.

https://wvsportsnow.com/nba-summer-leag ... an-battle/

[PapaG]

Game 1

12pts on 4-7 (4-6 3pt) in 14 minutes

https://www.nba.com/game/cha-vs-sas-132 ... /box-score

Game 2

9 pts on 4-8 shooting (1-5 3pt) in 13 minutes.

https://www.nba.com/game/chn-vs-cha-132 ... /box-score

[kmax]

[CatAttack22]

It's a blast to do, but hardly anyone is good at projecting how good a college player will be in the pros in any sport. There are those that are relatively good compared to others, but even they aren't what I would consider great. Only about 20% of players picked in the 2nd round are still active after 5-10 years. Lottery picks are at 75% and non-lottery 1st round picks around 40%.

There are about 450 players on NBA rosters. About 60 players are drafted each year and the average career in the NBA is about 4.5 years.

Guessing where someone will be drafted has a better success rate than guessing how good they will be.

It's really hard to project who's going to be good and how good once they get to the pros, especially in the NBA. It's not all that hard to predict who is going to the pros, particularly the NBA. The short, blunt answer is basically no one. The NBA is the hardest professional league in America to break into. The only thing harder than playing in the NBA is being an NFL kicker just because the spots are so limited year to year.

In the NBA, it's as simple as this: you have to have an elite NBA body or elite NBA athleticism or you have to have an elite NBA skill. And by elite, I mean you have to be one of the 300 best people at that basketball skill in the world. Did you know the average height for an NBA player is 6-foot-7.5? The average NBA player is 6-8, 210-220 pounds

I love Raequan Battle as much as any player I've ever watched in the Big Sky Conference. If you missed this story, you should read it:

FOR HIS PEOPLE: Battle is lone Native American man playing in Big Dance
https://skylinesportsmt.com/for-his-peo ... big-dance/

That said, I am zero percent surprised Battle is a fringe NBA player at best. He does not have an NBA body because he is so slight. He is almost an NBA athlete, but remember...NBA athletes are among the greatest pure athletes on earth. And as mentioned above, he has no elite NBA skill. His elite basketball skill is as a scorer. He is nowhere near the top 300 scorers in the world. He was not even in the top 25 scorers in college basketball last season.

If he was 6-6, 210 instead of 6-4, 195, and he could play defense like an NBA wing....and/or he was a knockdown 3-point shooter, he would be an NBA player. He's a phenomenal athlete and a gifted scorer. But neither of those skills is Top 300 in the world.

PS when you apply this analytical formula to Dillon Jones, it's a big of a mystery to me how he was drafted in the first round. He does have two borderline elite skills - he is arguably a good to great NBA caliber rebounder...and he is for sure elite as a 6-foot-5, 245-pound point guard because, well, he's the only one. But he nowhere close to plays defense at an NBA level and he can't shoot. He will be a fascinating case study.

Here's an interesting statistic I found while researching to help edit this Houghton story (https://skylinesportsmt.com/last-of-a-d ... ba-chance/): there are exactly 100 players in the NBA who weigh more than 240 pounds....and a total of six of them are shorter than 6-foot-9. Dillon Jones joins Admiral Scofield, PJ Tucker and Ish Wainwright as the only players who are 6-foot-5, 245 pounds in the entire NBA. The ultimate outlier of this is Zion Williamson, who is 6-foot-6 and listed at 296 pounds

The good news for DJones is he was drafted by an organization that is obsessed with development, loves unorthodox players and has a brilliant coach who will find a way to use Jones. If he can maximize his chances, he has a shot.

Great post Colter. It's no mystery that NBA teams are looking for size at all positions on the court. Defense is the biggest factor in developing rosters (yes, NBA teams play really good defense with complex concepts). I get frustrated when people who don't watch games say these teams don't play good defense. It is extremely difficult to defend when these players can all score at an insane level. Having large wings/bigs who can switch on pick and rolls and stay with people on the wings while being big enough to handle contact are a huge asset on NBA rosters. The Celtics this year were a great example of the size being a huge factor in their defensive success. On the contrary, a team like the Hawks are in a tough situation with Trey Young because he has to guard someone. He is essentially untradeable right now with his defensive liability, but Isiah Hartenstein was one of the biggest offseason signees because he's athletic enough and big enough to be on the court at all times.

In the draft, the top 100 recruits out of high school are always getting chances at the NBA because of the same reasons you said. Typically, these guys were already really skilled, or they are the size and athleticism with NBA potential. It is relatively easy to project who will make it to the NBA.

Dillon Jones is similar size to Jalen Williams, so maybe the Thunder see him in a similar role to him; a playmaker PG/Pick and Roll player that could have the ball late in games and get his own bucket or make the right play. He would be an anomaly if he made it though.

[BelgradeBobcat]

It's a blast to do, but hardly anyone is good at projecting how good a college player will be in the pros in any sport. There are those that are relatively good compared to others, but even they aren't what I would consider great. Only about 20% of players picked in the 2nd round are still active after 5-10 years. Lottery picks are at 75% and non-lottery 1st round picks around 40%.

There are about 450 players on NBA rosters. About 60 players are drafted each year and the average career in the NBA is about 4.5 years.

Guessing where someone will be drafted has a better success rate than guessing how good they will be.

It's really hard to project who's going to be good and how good once they get to the pros, especially in the NBA. It's not all that hard to predict who is going to the pros, particularly the NBA. The short, blunt answer is basically no one. The NBA is the hardest professional league in America to break into. The only thing harder than playing in the NBA is being an NFL kicker just because the spots are so limited year to year.

In the NBA, it's as simple as this: you have to have an elite NBA body or elite NBA athleticism or you have to have an elite NBA skill. And by elite, I mean you have to be one of the 300 best people at that basketball skill in the world. Did you know the average height for an NBA player is 6-foot-7.5? The average NBA player is 6-8, 210-220 pounds

I love Raequan Battle as much as any player I've ever watched in the Big Sky Conference. If you missed this story, you should read it:

FOR HIS PEOPLE: Battle is lone Native American man playing in Big Dance
https://skylinesportsmt.com/for-his-peo ... big-dance/

That said, I am zero percent surprised Battle is a fringe NBA player at best. He does not have an NBA body because he is so slight. He is almost an NBA athlete, but remember...NBA athletes are among the greatest pure athletes on earth. And as mentioned above, he has no elite NBA skill. His elite basketball skill is as a scorer. He is nowhere near the top 300 scorers in the world. He was not even in the top 25 scorers in college basketball last season.

If he was 6-6, 210 instead of 6-4, 195, and he could play defense like an NBA wing....and/or he was a knockdown 3-point shooter, he would be an NBA player. He's a phenomenal athlete and a gifted scorer. But neither of those skills is Top 300 in the world.

PS when you apply this analytical formula to Dillon Jones, it's a big of a mystery to me how he was drafted in the first round. He does have two borderline elite skills - he is arguably a good to great NBA caliber rebounder...and he is for sure elite as a 6-foot-5, 245-pound point guard because, well, he's the only one. But he nowhere close to plays defense at an NBA level and he can't shoot. He will be a fascinating case study.

Here's an interesting statistic I found while researching to help edit this Houghton story (https://skylinesportsmt.com/last-of-a-d ... ba-chance/): there are exactly 100 players in the NBA who weigh more than 240 pounds....and a total of six of them are shorter than 6-foot-9. Dillon Jones joins Admiral Scofield, PJ Tucker and Ish Wainwright as the only players who are 6-foot-5, 245 pounds in the entire NBA. The ultimate outlier of this is Zion Williamson, who is 6-foot-6 and listed at 296 pounds

The good news for DJones is he was drafted by an organization that is obsessed with development, loves unorthodox players and has a brilliant coach who will find a way to use Jones. If he can maximize his chances, he has a shot.

I've only been to a few NBA games, but the thing I noticed, besides the incredible size of most of the players, is that in warmups they never fricken miss! It's almost like watching that scene in Pleasantville where the basketball team makes all their shots. If Raequan is to make it his accuracy will have to improve a lot. Fortunately, he literally has one job now-play basketball.

[RobertCats]

It's a blast to do, but hardly anyone is good at projecting how good a college player will be in the pros in any sport. There are those that are relatively good compared to others, but even they aren't what I would consider great. Only about 20% of players picked in the 2nd round are still active after 5-10 years. Lottery picks are at 75% and non-lottery 1st round picks around 40%.

There are about 450 players on NBA rosters. About 60 players are drafted each year and the average career in the NBA is about 4.5 years.

Guessing where someone will be drafted has a better success rate than guessing how good they will be.

It's really hard to project who's going to be good and how good once they get to the pros, especially in the NBA. It's not all that hard to predict who is going to the pros, particularly the NBA. The short, blunt answer is basically no one. The NBA is the hardest professional league in America to break into. The only thing harder than playing in the NBA is being an NFL kicker just because the spots are so limited year to year.

In the NBA, it's as simple as this: you have to have an elite NBA body or elite NBA athleticism or you have to have an elite NBA skill. And by elite, I mean you have to be one of the 300 best people at that basketball skill in the world. Did you know the average height for an NBA player is 6-foot-7.5? The average NBA player is 6-8, 210-220 pounds

I love Raequan Battle as much as any player I've ever watched in the Big Sky Conference. If you missed this story, you should read it:

FOR HIS PEOPLE: Battle is lone Native American man playing in Big Dance
https://skylinesportsmt.com/for-his-peo ... big-dance/

That said, I am zero percent surprised Battle is a fringe NBA player at best. He does not have an NBA body because he is so slight. He is almost an NBA athlete, but remember...NBA athletes are among the greatest pure athletes on earth. And as mentioned above, he has no elite NBA skill. His elite basketball skill is as a scorer. He is nowhere near the top 300 scorers in the world. He was not even in the top 25 scorers in college basketball last season.

If he was 6-6, 210 instead of 6-4, 195, and he could play defense like an NBA wing....and/or he was a knockdown 3-point shooter, he would be an NBA player. He's a phenomenal athlete and a gifted scorer. But neither of those skills is Top 300 in the world.

PS when you apply this analytical formula to Dillon Jones, it's a big of a mystery to me how he was drafted in the first round. He does have two borderline elite skills - he is arguably a good to great NBA caliber rebounder...and he is for sure elite as a 6-foot-5, 245-pound point guard because, well, he's the only one. But he nowhere close to plays defense at an NBA level and he can't shoot. He will be a fascinating case study.

Here's an interesting statistic I found while researching to help edit this Houghton story (https://skylinesportsmt.com/last-of-a-d ... ba-chance/): there are exactly 100 players in the NBA who weigh more than 240 pounds....and a total of six of them are shorter than 6-foot-9. Dillon Jones joins Admiral Scofield, PJ Tucker and Ish Wainwright as the only players who are 6-foot-5, 245 pounds in the entire NBA. The ultimate outlier of this is Zion Williamson, who is 6-foot-6 and listed at 296 pounds

The good news for DJones is he was drafted by an organization that is obsessed with development, loves unorthodox players and has a brilliant coach who will find a way to use Jones. If he can maximize his chances, he has a shot.

Great post Colter. It's no mystery that NBA teams are looking for size at all positions on the court. Defense is the biggest factor in developing rosters (yes, NBA teams play really good defense with complex concepts). I get frustrated when people who don't watch games say these teams don't play good defense. It is extremely difficult to defend when these players can all score at an insane level. Having large wings/bigs who can switch on pick and rolls and stay with people on the wings while being big enough to handle contact are a huge asset on NBA rosters. The Celtics this year were a great example of the size being a huge factor in their defensive success. On the contrary, a team like the Hawks are in a tough situation with Trey Young because he has to guard someone. He is essentially untradeable right now with his defensive liability, but Isiah Hartenstein was one of the biggest offseason signees because he's athletic enough and big enough to be on the court at all times.

In the draft, the top 100 recruits out of high school are always getting chances at the NBA because of the same reasons you said. Typically, these guys were already really skilled, or they are the size and athleticism with NBA potential. It is relatively easy to project who will make it to the NBA.

Dillon Jones is similar size to Jalen Williams, so maybe the Thunder see him in a similar role to him; a playmaker PG/Pick and Roll player that could have the ball late in games and get his own bucket or make the right play. He would be an anomaly if he made it though.

Dillon played well in his first summer league game, but went absolutely nuts in his second! 21 (7-8, 3-3 from three) 7 reb, 4 ast +20

[Colter_Nuanez]

It's a blast to do, but hardly anyone is good at projecting how good a college player will be in the pros in any sport. There are those that are relatively good compared to others, but even they aren't what I would consider great. Only about 20% of players picked in the 2nd round are still active after 5-10 years. Lottery picks are at 75% and non-lottery 1st round picks around 40%.

There are about 450 players on NBA rosters. About 60 players are drafted each year and the average career in the NBA is about 4.5 years.

Guessing where someone will be drafted has a better success rate than guessing how good they will be.

It's really hard to project who's going to be good and how good once they get to the pros, especially in the NBA. It's not all that hard to predict who is going to the pros, particularly the NBA. The short, blunt answer is basically no one. The NBA is the hardest professional league in America to break into. The only thing harder than playing in the NBA is being an NFL kicker just because the spots are so limited year to year.

In the NBA, it's as simple as this: you have to have an elite NBA body or elite NBA athleticism or you have to have an elite NBA skill. And by elite, I mean you have to be one of the 300 best people at that basketball skill in the world. Did you know the average height for an NBA player is 6-foot-7.5? The average NBA player is 6-8, 210-220 pounds

I love Raequan Battle as much as any player I've ever watched in the Big Sky Conference. If you missed this story, you should read it:

FOR HIS PEOPLE: Battle is lone Native American man playing in Big Dance
https://skylinesportsmt.com/for-his-peo ... big-dance/

That said, I am zero percent surprised Battle is a fringe NBA player at best. He does not have an NBA body because he is so slight. He is almost an NBA athlete, but remember...NBA athletes are among the greatest pure athletes on earth. And as mentioned above, he has no elite NBA skill. His elite basketball skill is as a scorer. He is nowhere near the top 300 scorers in the world. He was not even in the top 25 scorers in college basketball last season.

If he was 6-6, 210 instead of 6-4, 195, and he could play defense like an NBA wing....and/or he was a knockdown 3-point shooter, he would be an NBA player. He's a phenomenal athlete and a gifted scorer. But neither of those skills is Top 300 in the world.

PS when you apply this analytical formula to Dillon Jones, it's a big of a mystery to me how he was drafted in the first round. He does have two borderline elite skills - he is arguably a good to great NBA caliber rebounder...and he is for sure elite as a 6-foot-5, 245-pound point guard because, well, he's the only one. But he nowhere close to plays defense at an NBA level and he can't shoot. He will be a fascinating case study.

Here's an interesting statistic I found while researching to help edit this Houghton story (https://skylinesportsmt.com/last-of-a-d ... ba-chance/): there are exactly 100 players in the NBA who weigh more than 240 pounds....and a total of six of them are shorter than 6-foot-9. Dillon Jones joins Admiral Scofield, PJ Tucker and Ish Wainwright as the only players who are 6-foot-5, 245 pounds in the entire NBA. The ultimate outlier of this is Zion Williamson, who is 6-foot-6 and listed at 296 pounds

The good news for DJones is he was drafted by an organization that is obsessed with development, loves unorthodox players and has a brilliant coach who will find a way to use Jones. If he can maximize his chances, he has a shot.

I've only been to a few NBA games, but the thing I noticed, besides the incredible size of most of the players, is that in warmups they never fricken miss! It's almost like watching that scene in Pleasantville where the basketball team makes all their shots. If Raequan is to make it his accuracy will have to improve a lot. Fortunately, he literally has one job now-play basketball.

The second NBA game I ever went to was in 2006. We went to Clippers at Blazers. I was so geeked (first game without my parents ever, I was 19 or 20) that I demanded to my buddies that we show up 3 hours early.

I'll never forget it. Sam Cassell, who is a fine NBA player with three rings and an all-star appearance, but no means a Hall of Famer or anything, was there doing a shooting work out. I've never seen anything like it. He shot for 60 minutes straight. He missed two shots...TWO! It was totally, utterly mesmerizing.

I'll also never forget this Sports Illustrated article about Peja Stojakovic:

"Still, conversations about Stojakovic inevitably begin with tales of his marksmanship. During a summer workout last year, Sacramento assistant coach John Wetzel watched Stojakovic make 87 of 100 three-point shots, moving to a different spot after each cycle of 10, never stopping for a breather, eyes on the basket, release high, concentration fine-tuned. "Even with nobody guarding you," says Wetzel, "making 87 out of 100 threes should
be against the law."

"For Stojakovic that day wasn't particularly memorable. He's uncomfortable bragging about his shooting but
allows that he has converted as many as 40 straight three-pointers during arm-wearying postpractice drills in which he requires himself to make 100 twos, 100 threes and 50 foul shots before showering. Carril actually worries that Stojakovic is overtaxing his shoulder with all that practice shooting."

https://vault.si.com/vault/2004/01/19/t ... larry-bird

[AFCAT]

As first reported in the football board

.
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/08/hor ... -deal.html

[AFCAT]

[mslacat]

Bummer

[GrizgradCatFan]

Hopefully he has a good agent and he can head overseas. I think he could do well or I am sure they will give him another opportunity for the G league again. I will be curious to see where he ends up. I hope it works out for him as he has a great story!