Santa Clara has produced consecutive first-round picks in Brandin Podziemski and Jalen Williams. Can junior guard Adama-Alpha Bal make it three in a row for the WCC program?
Alright first off I’ll apologize for coming off so aggressively, that was genuinely not my intention. Reading it back I can understand how it can be interpreted that way, so that’s on me. I do want to make clear that none of what I said was supposed to come off angry, I think it being in a written form led to some of that, but I also don't want to make any excuses. Got a bit fired up and carried away as I’m sure we all do when it comes to the draft so again that’s on me. I also do think my points still stand though and I’ll touch on that below, and would love to still have some discussion if you’re willing.
Second though, that was literally my first comment on a No Ceilings piece. I’m not sure who you have me confused with and I’m sorry you guys have to deal with a lot of those types of comments but I assure you that those weren’t me. With that said though I’m not sure how the “jealous fanboy” comment is relevant or necessary to include but that’s just me.
As for the defensive lapses, I acknowledge that he’s flat out getting beat out or falling asleep on some of these. Those are inexcusable and need to improve. No arguing there. But contexts matter and as Santa Clara’s #1 offensive option AND probably their best perimeter defender imo, I don’t think it’s fair or realistic to expect to see great defense from him possession in and possession out. But with his physical tools, high IQ/feel, AND flashes of good defense, I think he can be a SOLID defensive option on the wing in the league. And again, I think a lot of the clips you included just weren’t his fault point blank, and I’d be happy to discuss further what I mean.
And lastly I’ll still stand by the heliocentric thing. Again, yes I got fired up lol so my bad, but I still think that that is an absurdly high bar to set for any player and therefore quite unfair.
Again, I apologize and would love to have some genuine discussion. Would appreciate an unblock but I get it if not.
Alright. Again, you obviously have me confused with someone else, which I have already kindly made clear, so I don't know what else to tell you. Sorry you have to deal with that but that's not me.
I apologized for everything and you haven't been receptive to it, so that's that. If you can't handle one person respectfully disagreeing with you in a field that's built on subjectivity, then I struggle to see how you're going to grow in said field. Have a good one.
Next time you go on a Twitter tirade trying to besmirch my character, make sure you add the entire context of your three replies as well. Especially the one where you even apologized for being too aggressive.
I also didn’t delete any comments, someone on our team did. I’m not in charge here of what does or doesn’t get deleted. I truly appreciate your feedback and you taking the time to read. Genuinely wish you the best of luck, probably an interaction we both can learn from. Take it easy.
I'm a big fan of Bal and like that he's getting recognition, but man I disagree with a good portion of this article.
I'm not saying he's a defensive stopper by any means, or that he'll be a super impactful defender at the next level. But I do think you're hyper critical of his defense. I get it, playing elite defense at the NBA level is extremely difficult and therefore should be evaluated under a microscope. But nearly half the defensive clips are blatantly illegal screens, not his responsibility, or both. He shouldn't be penalized so harshly when he gets slightly beat but still funnels the defense into help. He shouldn't be penalized when he switches off the ball and his original man scores. And yet that's what a lot of this article does.
There are some shaky clips in there for sure. Some he falls asleep on, some he gets flat out beat, etc. But he also shows flashes of him moving his feet and utilizing his size/length well on that end and I think he has promise there, particularly as he'll be taking on a smaller offensive role in the league.
As a side note in line with this, Synergy play categorization is extremely flawed and there shouldn't be much stock put into the PPS data, especially under the "play types" category. They're super loose with what gets sorted into which category, thus making it incredibly noisy.
Furthermore, why is him not projecting to be a heliocentric engine a knock?? Is there ANYONE in this class who projects to be a heliocentric engine? Have we had any players who were projected to be heliocentric engines drafted in the last 5 years? The answer to these questions is no, so why is that being held against Adama Bal? If he was in any projected to be such, he would be going top 5. I love the guy but don't see him as more than a 2nd option probably ***at best***. Even if you "hate yourself for using that word" it's an absurd standard that absolutely no player should be held to.
6'7 ball handlers with 64% TS and his combination of size, length, craft, and feel don't grow on trees. Don't overthink this one.
And respectfully, I think you’re being hypercritical of my evaluation, because you yourself are higher on Bal than I am. It’s OK if you disagree with my analysis, but it doesn’t make you right either. That’s what’s great about this process, only time will tell.
I’m also never going to sit with you or anyone else and go clip by clip and address what you personally didn’t like about them, or change my word choice because you were bothered by one word. Thanks again for your feedback, best of luck to you.
Alright first off I’ll apologize for coming off so aggressively, that was genuinely not my intention. Reading it back I can understand how it can be interpreted that way, so that’s on me. I do want to make clear that none of what I said was supposed to come off angry, I think it being in a written form led to some of that, but I also don't want to make any excuses. Got a bit fired up and carried away as I’m sure we all do when it comes to the draft so again that’s on me. I also do think my points still stand though and I’ll touch on that below, and would love to still have some discussion if you’re willing.
Second though, that was literally my first comment on a No Ceilings piece. I’m not sure who you have me confused with and I’m sorry you guys have to deal with a lot of those types of comments but I assure you that those weren’t me. With that said though I’m not sure how the “jealous fanboy” comment is relevant or necessary to include but that’s just me.
As for the defensive lapses, I acknowledge that he’s flat out getting beat out or falling asleep on some of these. Those are inexcusable and need to improve. No arguing there. But contexts matter and as Santa Clara’s #1 offensive option AND probably their best perimeter defender imo, I don’t think it’s fair or realistic to expect to see great defense from him possession in and possession out. But with his physical tools, high IQ/feel, AND flashes of good defense, I think he can be a SOLID defensive option on the wing in the league. And again, I think a lot of the clips you included just weren’t his fault point blank, and I’d be happy to discuss further what I mean.
And lastly I’ll still stand by the heliocentric thing. Again, yes I got fired up lol so my bad, but I still think that that is an absurdly high bar to set for any player and therefore quite unfair.
Again, I apologize and would love to have some genuine discussion. Would appreciate an unblock but I get it if not.
Alright. Again, you obviously have me confused with someone else, which I have already kindly made clear, so I don't know what else to tell you. Sorry you have to deal with that but that's not me.
I apologized for everything and you haven't been receptive to it, so that's that. If you can't handle one person respectfully disagreeing with you in a field that's built on subjectivity, then I struggle to see how you're going to grow in said field. Have a good one.
Next time you go on a Twitter tirade trying to besmirch my character, make sure you add the entire context of your three replies as well. Especially the one where you even apologized for being too aggressive.
I also didn’t delete any comments, someone on our team did. I’m not in charge here of what does or doesn’t get deleted. I truly appreciate your feedback and you taking the time to read. Genuinely wish you the best of luck, probably an interaction we both can learn from. Take it easy.
I'm a big fan of Bal and like that he's getting recognition, but man I disagree with a good portion of this article.
I'm not saying he's a defensive stopper by any means, or that he'll be a super impactful defender at the next level. But I do think you're hyper critical of his defense. I get it, playing elite defense at the NBA level is extremely difficult and therefore should be evaluated under a microscope. But nearly half the defensive clips are blatantly illegal screens, not his responsibility, or both. He shouldn't be penalized so harshly when he gets slightly beat but still funnels the defense into help. He shouldn't be penalized when he switches off the ball and his original man scores. And yet that's what a lot of this article does.
There are some shaky clips in there for sure. Some he falls asleep on, some he gets flat out beat, etc. But he also shows flashes of him moving his feet and utilizing his size/length well on that end and I think he has promise there, particularly as he'll be taking on a smaller offensive role in the league.
As a side note in line with this, Synergy play categorization is extremely flawed and there shouldn't be much stock put into the PPS data, especially under the "play types" category. They're super loose with what gets sorted into which category, thus making it incredibly noisy.
Furthermore, why is him not projecting to be a heliocentric engine a knock?? Is there ANYONE in this class who projects to be a heliocentric engine? Have we had any players who were projected to be heliocentric engines drafted in the last 5 years? The answer to these questions is no, so why is that being held against Adama Bal? If he was in any projected to be such, he would be going top 5. I love the guy but don't see him as more than a 2nd option probably ***at best***. Even if you "hate yourself for using that word" it's an absurd standard that absolutely no player should be held to.
6'7 ball handlers with 64% TS and his combination of size, length, craft, and feel don't grow on trees. Don't overthink this one.
And respectfully, I think you’re being hypercritical of my evaluation, because you yourself are higher on Bal than I am. It’s OK if you disagree with my analysis, but it doesn’t make you right either. That’s what’s great about this process, only time will tell.
I’m also never going to sit with you or anyone else and go clip by clip and address what you personally didn’t like about them, or change my word choice because you were bothered by one word. Thanks again for your feedback, best of luck to you.