Once projected as the number one overall pick in the NBA, and once named the number one recruit in the nation when joining Kentucky, Nerlens Noel found himself overlooked on draft night and fell all the way to the sixth pick in the draft. This drop was not due to his play in college however as he was having an excellent season at Kentucky and was even on pace to have more blocks on the season than Anthony Davis, the big man he followed at UK.
Noel was not playing poorly and he may have looked even better in the SEC tournament and NCAA tourney but his season in college was cut short in Gainesville when the Big Blue Nation stood still and Nerlens went down for the season with a torn ACL. Fast forward from that night and here Nerlens stand in Philadelphia as the future big man for the Sixers. Nerlens has yet to make his NBA debut but he could make an impact as soon as he suits up for the Sixers. When he does finally take his first steps on an NBA court in a Sixers uniform, what can fans expect of the 20 year old? Other than his glorious flattop of course.
Defense. Lots of it.
Noel entered college as the best shot blocking prospect since Greg Oden, and he did not disappoint. Noel regularly put up more than five blocks per game, even racking up eleven blocked shots in his best game against Ole Miss. His presence at the back end of a defense can not be over stated and his ability to rotate over in help defense at the rim is the best I’ve ever seen. All those remarkable gifts and his most incredible might be his mutant jumping ability. Noel has the quickest second jump since Bill Russell and may have the most fast twitch muscle fiber than anyone in the NBA right now. Not only does he have a memorable vertical leap, his timing brings all of his natural defensive gifts together into a shot blocking cheat code.
Lobs on Lobs on Lobs
Watching Nerlens at Kentucky, us fans developed a phrase called “the auto lob”. The play was run similarly to the year before with Anthony Davis, but continued with the arrival of Noel. Basically if a guard was able to get penetration into the lane and Nerlens was in the post or rolling to the basket, the guard just throws it up for Nerlens to go get. And it worked just about every. single. time. Noel racked up lots of memorable lobs and just dunks in general in his half season in Lexington and destroyed a few people in the process. In maybe his most memorable play of the sort, Noel actually jumped OVER an Auburn player to finish strong on a lob. Simply filthy. There is a reason after all that they call him “The Fresh Prince of Big Air”.
Hustle.
On that fateful night in Gainesville when Noel blew out his knee, he went down on a hustle play. He was hustling back on defense after a lazy pass from a teammate and just about got the chase down block before landing awkwardly. It was only fitting that was his last play in college as it was one of many of the same type of plays as UK fans saw out of him. Tip-ins, offensive rebounds, diving out of bounds, running down opponents in a fast break, count on seeing all of them from his very first game. While his shot and post moves may take a little while to catch to the NBA game, his motor will be there from the opening tip. While he was known for blocks, he also led his UK team in steals in the games he played because he was never lazy on D. He was always disrupting passing lanes and any big man that tried to lazily pound the ball in the paint would have his cookies stolen by Nerlens on a regular basis.
The guy does all the little things you want out of a defensive minded player and there will never be any question about his drive or passion for the game of basketball. Don’t be fooled by the smile and laid back demeanor off the court, he is as passionate a competitor as you will see, it didn’t take the Big Blue Nation very long to fall in love with Nerlens on and off the court and I expect the same from the fans in Philly. You guys got a good one.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
