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It's no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers selection of Nikola Vucevic at number 16 in the 2011 NBA Draft was extremely unpopular amongst Sixers fans. Vucevic's Verne Troyeresque ceiling paired with his astonishing lack of athleticism had Sixers fans fuming. The pick wasn't sexy at all, which is what every fan is looking for, on draft night especially – a shiny, new, "sexy" toy to play with.
Fans come in all shapes and sizes, but whether you're a twelve year-old eternal rainbows and butterflies optimist, a cranky, middle-aged realist/pessimist or somewhere in between, every fan gets off when their team acquires a, for lack of a better word, "sexy", player. Sexy meaning, jumps high, runs fast, dunks hard, breaks ankles, or all of the above.
Emphatically emphasized by this factoid presented on draft night "Of players drafted in the top 30 over the last 11 years, only one had a worse vertical than Nikola Vucevic. His name was Pavel Podkolzine. Pavel Podkolzine was 7'5", 303 pounds," Vucevic was the anti-Kate Upton of 2011 selections when it came to sexy.
However; as history proves time and time again, "sexy" players without substance rarely stick. Darko Milicic, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Rodney Carney, Julian Wright, Michael Beasley, Terrance Williams, the list goes on of "sexy" players fans salivated over who turned out to be busts.
Will this stop any of us from drooling over the next Gerald Green and/or exploding into a venom-spewing, CAPS LOCK-hammering, Twitter-jail'd ball of irrational hate the next time our favorite team drafts an underwhelming big man who can barely clear an ant on the playground? Absolutely not. Fans will always be infatuated with "sexy" on draft night.
Eight months later, it turns out Vucevic was a halfway decent pick for the Sixers. Although his ultimate ceiling may have increased from "Verne Troyer" to "Verne Troyer in 3-inch heels", he's still very much what we thought he'd be – a solid, yet unspectacular big man coming off the bench for a good team.
Is there anything wrong with drafting such a player with the 16th pick in a weak draft? Absolutely not. All things considered, the Sixers did very well selecting Vucevic at 16.
(Click here for a comparison of Vooch to five other big men (Enes Kanter, Tristan Thompson, Bismack Biyombo, Markieff Morris and Kenneth Faried) selected in the 2011 draft. Despite being drafted after four of the five big men compared, Vooch currently ranks second in PER and true shooting percentage and first in turnover percentage and win shares.)
Vooch may not possess the ceilings of Enes Kanter or Tristan Thompson, the raw physical tools of Bismack Biyombo, or the general awesome-ness of Kenneth Faried, but he's playing 16+ meaningful minutes per game on the fifth best team in the NBA, and producing on par with the highly-touted big man of his class.
Although on-court awareness and old school post moves don't leave most Sixers fans needing to be hosed down like a Kenneth Faried dunk would, Vooch has proven that he boasts some actual basketball skills, which believe it or not, has more staying power in the NBA than "sexy".
Also, no one drafted in the past ten years plays the keytar, nor finds Todd MacCulloch basketball cards moonlighting as a janitor on the Night Shift, as well as Nikola Vucevic.
0 recs | 35 comments
I was one of the biggest haters
And after watching him play more I was 100% wrong. Turned out to be a great draft for us
Mr.electric10 - February 14, 2012
I usually tend to prefer solid players over sexy players. Did not know the Voose well before the draft, but (knowing how good it’s that basketball school) I thought I could have been good to try with a big man of Slavic origins. I think it is stil early to make a final judgment, the guy stil needs to improve in a lot of aspects, but I like what I am seeing so far, especially in terms of bb maturity.
apfan - February 14, 2012
The guy I really wanted was Thompson but he was gone at 4
KJ Brophy - February 14, 2012
A bit of a small sample size for Faried. He’s played in only eight games at a total of 95 minutes. Vuce has played in 20 games at 326 minutes.
jefu - February 14, 2012
By the way...
…even though it’s not game night, I still made chicken soup, so the Sixers will win :)
dweebowitz - February 14, 2012
I’m very impressed with Vucevic. I admittingly didn’t like the pick but he’s way better than I thought he was going to be.
jrb5094 - February 14, 2012
he doesnt really seem un-athletic to me.. he has good footwork and some quickness…
juggadore - February 15, 2012
Lin just hit a game-winner. Crowd is going Lin-sane. Knicks are on a 6-game win streak. I wonder if the Knicks play better without Melo…anyone have thoughts about what might happen with this team? Will they threaten the sixers down the line?
jefu - February 14, 2012
Hopefully we don’t go in a scoring strike, even though i can see the Sixers doing that.
secondroundpick - February 14, 2012
I guess not scoring a 100 in a game for 3 weeks is a scoring strike.
secondroundpick - February 14, 2012
well, its a point guard… but i wouldnt worry too much, they are winning close games against bad teams
XxActionJacksonxX - February 14, 2012
and well, you know, point guards seem to destroy us
XxActionJacksonxX - February 14, 2012
Amare should see his numbers improve with a PG that can play the pick and role.
Ben16 - February 14, 2012
We’ll need to improve our Pick and Roll D, but I’m betting Collins is already on it.
J.P.Melle - February 14, 2012
ugh
Djax10 - February 14, 2012
He really is the Tebow of the NBA. Lin was pretty bad for 3 quarters last night then had a very good 4th quarter.
yosoysean - February 15, 2012
8 turnovers lolol
Djax10 - February 15, 2012
Yeah he was 7/17 at one point, then the raptors remembered they cant defend and he kept getting to the line. The guy has glaring holes in his game and he can be contained by the better defenses of the league.
jefu - February 15, 2012 via mobile
I thought Vucevic will be a “soft” European center who will stand around the perimeter and not be a factor at all in the paint. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. Meanwhile this Lin kid is putting his team on his back
secondroundpick - February 14, 2012
It was nice of Jose Calderon
To play so far off Jeremy Lin, and basically give him an uncontested three pointer with .5 seconds on the clock. That’s why the Raptors are terrible. I think Lin’s going to be a good player, but I don’t see him keeping this up, especially once Carmelo returns.
Fatalotti - February 14, 2012
Considering Lin is 4 for 23 from 3 in his short career I don’t think playing off of him was that bad of an idea.
yosoysean - February 15, 2012
Don’t analyze Linsanity.
Points
NY
human interest
Basketball is low down the list. It is a great story though. Those poor Harvard grads always have to overcome despite overwhelming discrimination.
tk76 - February 15, 2012
There was .5 seconds on the clock
Unless Lin can make it from the 3 point line to the rim and get off a shot in less than a second, no reason to give him an uncontested three pointer. Also, it’s just like in baseball: not everyone is a homerun hitter, but that doesn’t mean you throw fastballs right down the middle of the plate to them. He’s a professional basketball player, and you didn’t even challenge him. Bad defense, in my opinion.
Fatalotti - February 15, 2012
There was over 3 seconds left on the clock when he he got to the top of the key and they only needed a point to take the lead. Lin’s offensive game is based off of his ability to drive to the basket and he has shown no ability to hit a 3-point shot. Playing off so that he can’t easily drive to the basket is not bad defense.
yosoysean - February 15, 2012
I agree that you don't want to give him an easy drive
But Calderon was almost 4 feet off him when he rose up for the shot. There are ways to not give up an easy drive and still not give someone a completely uncontested three point attempt from the top of the key. That’s all I’m saying.
Kudos to Lin for nailing it, though. If he can control his turnover issues, he could be a fantastic player for the Knicks. As a Sixers fan, I sure hope not.
Fatalotti - February 15, 2012
I’m not comparing them in terms of overall talent level, because obviously Vuce is not in his league, but people complained for years that Tim Duncan was wasn’t sexy enough, and all he did was win three championships and establish himself as one of the best big men ever during a first-ballot HoF career. Moses Malone couldn’t jump over a credit card, and was nevertheless one of the dominant centers of his era because of his excellent footwork, positioning, and anticipation. Kevin McHale wasn’t a spectacular athlete, and Kevin Love isn’t. Length, leaping ability, and other “sexy” traits are incredibly overrated factors in evaluating basketball players – particularly big men, but guards as well as we’re seeing now with Jeremy Lin’s emergence. Smarts and skill are tremendously underrated and those are Vuce’s strengths.
Xeynon - February 14, 2012
I just wish with all his smarts and skills he could figure out how to get to the foul line.
J.P.Melle - February 15, 2012
Most of this post is fine, except the incorrect statement that Sixer fans were “fuming” at the pick. This should have been given the added words of “Sixer fans on blogs” were “fuming.” There’s a difference.
Nearly all my Sixer fans friends that I grew up with were very happy with the pick. All of them watch the Sixers regularly, none of them read Sixer blogs.
There’s a sense of smugness here among most commenters that people here are so much smarter than the “dumb, casual” fan, but it’s not the case. And the idea that this blog is an accurate representation of Sixer fans is off-base.
This blog and its commenters have good qualities and not-so-good qualities. I generally enjoy reading the stuff here. But you shouldn’t assume all Sixer fans think the way bloggers and their followers do.
splinter27 - February 14, 2012
Sounds like someone ate a big bowl of grouchy-o’s.
jefu - February 15, 2012 via mobile
just tellin it like it is. It sure seemed from the article that the writer thinks all Sixer fans thought the pick was terrible, when in fact the writer was going on the comments in this blog and other blogs only.
splinter27 - February 15, 2012
Generalization is never 100% accurate…hence its called a generalization. Fuming may give off the wrong vibe but most people I talked or listened to after we made the pick basically felt “meh” about it. All the signs pointed to a Spencer Hawes 2.0. While I typically take the radio with a grain of salt (acknowledging that they cater to casual fans and sometimes don’t understand game nuances but listen to it regardless), most on there agreed with that sentiment.
soman319 - February 15, 2012
I was not down on Vuce as a player. I was a bit down on the notion that management seems to value non-athletic, skill bigs as opposed to going out and getting a big who can be a pick and roll threat, finish at the rim and protect the basket (based on them trading away Sam and acquiring Hawes and Vuce.) But that does not mean Vuce was a bad pick or that he can’t develop into a good pro- but the Sixers still have to fill that need for an athletic big- especially since Brand won’t be starting forever.
tk76 - February 15, 2012
I didn’t worry about the pick, the Sixers have a good organization that way and most of their players outperform those picked ahead of them. I had no expectations, you know how it is, everyone fawns over a big man that can lead them to a title. I decided to just wait and see.
Now I see Nicola as a very sound big man with great potential. The injury to Hawes has allowed us to see him get more PT and he does a great job out there as reflected by his PER. For the 16th pick in the draft you get a serviceable big man, that is excellent!
RickoT - February 15, 2012
Rec’d for the new-found self awareness :)
tk76 - February 15, 2012
I was pretty optimistic about the pick…I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did. After I saw a USC highlight reel of him, I was sold on him. USC always has a knack for turning out decent NBA players ever since Jrue left UCLA and they fell off the map. Plus he’s European…their big men are usually more skilled than the Americans. That and the absurdly low body fat percentage made me like him.
YBT - February 15, 2012
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