A bit more on AG

From a Doug Haller compilation article today on, among others, Aaron Gordon:

Chad Ford: If you're looking for a player to make that transition to small forward, I don't think there was a lot that he showed there about his ability to be a small forward as far as shooting the basketball. He's not a very good shooter. His 3-point percentage was impressive, but it was a very small sample size. When you look at him defensively and athletically, he reminds me a little of a young Andrei Kirilenko. This is a guy that has a nose for the ball, gets around things, makes plays. Kirilenko was never a guy who's going to drop 25 points on you on any given night, but he could play the 3 and the 4 and just do a lot of different things. So if you love a basketball player, I think Aaron Gordon's more than athletic. I think he's a basketball player.

Fraschilla: Here's the good news: He'll be the youngest player in the draft and maybe one of the three best athletes. And by the way, he's an unbelievable kid from a great family. High character. But here's the questions I have about him: 42 percent from the foul line. Coaches never really talk about this, but he's basically going to be an invisible turnover, so he's got to improve that. Two: I watched a lot of tape of him and Frank Kaminsky and Nigel Hayes from Wisconsin, Mike Moser (from Oregon) and Josh Scott from Colorado, they all posted him up and backed him down, and he had trouble guarding some perimeter guys, too. I think when we see a great athlete and we don't have anything offensively to hang our hat on we say automatically: 'Great defender.' I love his energy, but the coach that drafts him -- he's going in the top eight -- has got to figure out the best way to play him. The Kirilenko comparison is outstanding because you don't have to run any plays for this kid. Just let him get up and down the floor, rebound the backside and use his athleticism.

Jay Williams: He's a great weak-side defender. He's very good at making reads, coming over from the weak side and blocking shots. Usually, some of the players he was able to block their shots when he was on the ball were smaller. He'll see bigger players on the next level. But I love the kid's tenacity. He does play with a ferocity that I think can be utilized heavily on an NBA team. People have compared him to Blake Griffin -- I don't think he has the polished moves Blake Griffin had in college. We got a chance to sit court-side and watch him play at Colorado, and every time he caught the ball on the block everybody kind of cringed because you didn't know what kind of move he was going to do. He didn't have a good touch. But I think these are all things that if you have the patience as a GM, he has the raw athletic ability and the mindset to be very successful.

Question: everyone seems quite down on Gordon's shooting so what's there to lose -- since expectations are low -- if he partakes in the shooting skills drills at the combine? Also, BDA must have connected him with a shooting mentor since the end of the Big Dance so at least theoretically some improvement has taken place.

*** Just found a bit more, via Jay King:

Former Arizona star Aaron Gordon will have a unique situation next season: his sister Elise, set to graduate from Harvard this month, will act as his manager and plans to live with him at least throughout his rookie year. “She majored in business management and minored in law,” he said. “It’s perfect.” 

Not that Elise will have a choice in where her brother lands, but it sounds like she does not love Boston. “She had some interesting comments about Boston,” her brother said. “She’s been there for four years, maybe she needs a change of scenery. But it’s really OK for me. Whatever.”

“I like Boston a lot. I really do,” Aaron Gordon added. “It’s a traditional program. It has a lot of good players on it. It might just be missing a few things but they could be right back in there in a few years.” Notably, the poor-shooting Gordon said he tweaked his jumper so that every shot is released on the way up now. He explained that his midrange, three-point shots and free throws “are all connected again – or, not again, for once.”

“I have blisters all over my fingers just from shooting so much,” he said. 

But he’s aware that teams don’t necessarily see him as a scorer. They see him as a basketball player capable of defending multiple positions, initiating some offense from the forward spot, and using his athleticism to contribute positive offensive plays. When asked about the prospect of guarding small forwards, specifically LeBron James, Gordon’s eyes lit up. 

“Oh, man, I can’t wait. That’s extremely exciting,” he said. He wasn’t calling himself a LeBron stopper or anything crazy like that, but he obviously takes pride in his defense. “That’s the one thing I’m for sure I can do, is guard.” 

Teams agree.