Clayton University's Titans still have a place in the draft

The draft can be a cruel and unpredictable place. One day they will say you are a potential top five draft pick, and then a few months later, they will say you are an overvalued guy because you artificially inflated your BPM during non league schedules and said you need to go back to school (play for another year). But this is the way this world operates! We constantly acquire new data and then evaluate it. Some players have risen; Some people have fallen (while others have never stood up). For lower grade students, the draft market is particularly unstable because young players are often considered to have higher upward potential. When a new student becomes popular, the whole world will notice. However, when a person becomes indifferent, they may become a tricky suggestion during the draft.
However, for older players, another cruelty is left for them: they are not shiny new toys on the shelves, they are known, outdated products that hover in the range of 21-45 and are only analyzed to a limited extent. This is reasonable - we are familiar with them and it's annoying to repeat the same conversation over and over again on their topics. That being said, I have always sympathized with the senior students who fall within this range: they cannot make significant changes, their best performance will only receive a "Hmm, pretty good" evaluation, that's all. They are harder to catch our attention.
But this does not mean that players within this range cannot become excellent NBA players. In fact, many older rookies can play in the league for a period of time. Ryan Kalkbrenner is what I call a typical representative. He is a tall man who "dunks+blocks", which is already an outstanding template. But considering that he has been a very outstanding but not entirely awe inspiring player for five years, he has entered an unsettling 'veteran purgatory' state - causing people to exclaim 'Oh, is he still playing college basketball?' when they hear his name. But the reason why they can stay here is usually for a reason, because they are often more likely to achieve positive game results than their peers who are more 'theoretically how'. Today, we will give Ryan Kalkbrenner the evaluation he deserves. We will delve into his strengths, areas for improvement, and what this means for his NBA future.
1. Attack
This is a cruel summary: many times, when NBA teams look at the bench, they just want a big guy who can do dirty work. On the offensive end, this usually means covering, passing, and efficient finishing. Ryan Kalkbrenner can excel in completing all of these tasks.

Let's start from the end, because this is Kalkbrenner's biggest offensive advantage. He is one of the most efficient closers in college basketball. His dunks this year are ahead of the entire D1. Kalkbrenner is an excellent pick and roll player, with a huge physique that allows him to set up good cover and help his teammates gain a positional advantage before rushing towards the basket. Kalkbrenner can also receive the ball well. However, what was truly remarkable in these matches was his coordination. He has excellent touch and impressive body control, even if the pass deviates slightly from the target, he can catch it and then twist his body to blow the ball into the basket. Although Kalkbrenner is better at dunking than anyone in the college basketball world, he also has many ways when he has to shake his wrist to complete a near basket attack. Kalkbrenner can use either hand to complete the finish near the basket. His huge figure (7 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 270 pounds) and solid interior skills help him score points even when facing a lot of physical confrontations in the penalty area. Therefore, Kalkbrenner is a very outstanding terminator. His near basket shooting percentage is 75.1%, which outshines all the "big guys". He scored more than 98% of the league's points in conversion attacks, led 90% of the league's players in backcourt singles and cut ins, led 86% of the league's players in layups, and led 83% of the league's players in pick and roll attacks. If you want a traditional tall person to score, you can bet that Ryan Kalkbrenner is ready.
Many times, I think it's important to take a broader perspective when looking at problems. This does not mean 'don't overthink' or 'spare no effort to catch up on details' (to be honest, I didn't quite understand this paragraph, so I posted the original text: Oftentimes, I think it’s important to zoom out. That’s not to say, “don’t overthink it” or, “avoid nuance at all costs.”）。 But the main offensive requirement for most substitute tall players is to effectively complete the attack near the basket. And Ryan Kalkbrenner has already proven himself in this regard, which makes him truly valuable as a rookie. The next offensive question is: How can he provide additional value to the team on this basis? I have two main questions in mind.

Firstly, Kalkbrenner's shooting. In the past two years, he has started shooting three-point shots - in these dozens of games, he has made a total of 99 out of 33 three-point shots, performing very well (last season, he made 54 out of 16 three-point shots with a shooting percentage of 29.6%, while in this season's 28 games, his shooting percentage has increased to 37.5% from 45 out of 17). Essentially, this is not his preferred shooting style, as many of his attempts were forced by the opponent's defensive lineup and had no choice but to do so. But it makes sense for him to make an unnatural three-point shot - why should you make a three-point shot when you are within the three-point line and killing all four? From the perspective of 'winning the game', this idea is correct. Fortunately, we still see some signs that Kalkbrenner can shift his approach. He is able to perform a good pick and roll cut and occasionally pass the ball, unlike many college centers who often showcase the classic "big man slow layup" and blindly throw three pointers. I'm not saying Kalkbrenner will become Brook Lopez, but in fact, as long as there is space, he can make three pointers, which gives him the opportunity to add extra content to the game.
In my opinion, another bigger highlight of Kalkbrenner is his organizational offense. For a tall player, his 10.3% assist rate and 9.2% error rate are both impressive. However, considering his age and experience, I do feel that just doing these things is not enough. We need to consider stability. At its best, Kalkbrenner can execute simple passes very well. Sometimes he is able to punish opponents with his pincers, occasionally he can throw dazzling short passes, and his gaze towards teammates in empty spaces is astonishing. At other times, he may find himself completely trapped and unable to pass the ball, or the passing force is too weak or too strong, causing his teammates to miss the ball. If Kalkbrenner can further strengthen his strength and enhance stability, he can transform himself into a giant who can both terminate and occasionally serve as the core of the organization.

2. Defense
Ryan Kalkbrenner performs well in defense. According to data provided by the Synergy website, Clayton leads 96% of schools nationwide in limiting opponents' under basket shooting percentage, with Kalkbrenner contributing greatly. Firstly, his height and standing position make him a formidable guardian of the Great Demon King. He always appears in the right position, and the angle of his stance prevents the attacking team from obtaining comfortable attacking opportunities in the interior. When teams choose to challenge Kalkbrenner under the basket, they usually don't have good results.
Kalkbrenner's block rate this year is 7.7%, which is a high achievement even for a tall player. However, what makes Kalkbrenner even more unique is that he blocks almost without committing any fouls. He only commits an average of 2.2 fouls per 100 rounds (1.3 fouls per game per season)! This is a negligible level of foul play, and his technique in controlling fouls is excellent. When Kalkbrenner sends out a block, he can maintain the entire person's verticality very well, just like a volleyball player trying to avoid their forearm falling above the basket. At the same time, his hand eye coordination and shooting speed are crucial - he often jumps towards the ball quickly like a big cat and shatters it as soon as it leaves the opponent's hand. This reaction time, combined with his height, also helps him send out blocks far from the basket. Hot pot at medium distance or beyond the three-point line is no longer difficult for him. In the offensive section, I talked about how the main responsibility of many NBA tall players is to complete off basket attacks. So, in terms of defense, the main responsibility of many NBA tall players is to stand firm and protect the basket in field battles. Kalkbrenner also did a great job. This gives him a rock solid defensive advantage.
However, let's take another look at what Kalkbrenner can do to provide additional value. Perhaps his versatility as a pick and roll defender needs to be improved, right? Sometimes he may be a bit mechanical and clumsy on the field. In addition, he lacks absolute strength, which may cause some power monsters in the NBA to knock him down, or a challenger to successfully pass through his chest and hit the basket. If only he were more agile and stronger; There is no doubt about it, especially in terms of strength, which is the aspect he needs to work hard on. This may even cause him to have problems with defensive rebounds: although his 18.6% defensive rebound rate is the highest in his career, it is still a poor performance overall for a potential rookie who aims for the NBA, especially for a giant who does not plan to frequently change defense. He doesn't always succeed in grabbing rebounds. Sometimes he gets stuck, but his lack of strength leads to his failure in the basket wrestling. When he does stand firm, sometimes he is not willing to pounce on the ball like a dog holding a frisbee, but instead lowers his hand to let others steal the rebound. He needs to put in greater effort, perseverance, and attention to details in this regard.

Ryan Kalkbrenner is in a tricky situation: older rookies find it difficult to cause a sensation. However, optimistically speaking, he is also in a rather enviable position. When NBA teams (in the second round) look for tall players to fill their lineups, they want players who can do simple things well. They want players who can effectively complete and protect the basket, and Ryan Kalkbrenner is such a person. For this reason alone, he feels like a very safe option to stay in the alliance for the long term. Given this, you cannot place him at the bottom of the draft list. The next question is whether Kalkbrenner can become a truly decisive factor on the field. If he can demonstrate composure as the core of the organization, continue to occasionally make three-point shots, and strengthen his defensive rebounds, then this result is very likely. Ryan Kalkbrenner may not be the most attractive rookie on paper, but he excels in the most important aspects. There is a reason why he is still on the draft list, as he has a path to become a player who can contribute to the game in the coming years.