BaumBoards Prospect Overview, 2/22/2022: Everything is Pro Wrestling
Following the conclusion of the Wisconsin vs. Michigan game on Sunday, Juwan Howard and Greg Gard got into an argument, which escalated into a near brawl between their two teams. During the scuffle, Juwan Howard landed an open-hand strike to Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft.
Twitter was ablaze. Everyone was rushing to fire off their takes about who was at fault, and what the punishments should be from those deemed guilty. Instead, my head went somewhere else.
Prior to starting BaumBoards, I hosted a podcast about professional wrestling (RBR: Weekly Wrestling Talk) for 8 years. I have also been involved with the pro wrestling business in some capacity dating back to 2008, primarily as a commentator for local independent promotions in the Chicagoland area. My most notable achievement was serving as the booker for Freelance Wrestling in Chicago during 2016. For the uninitiated, a “booker” is essentially a “writer.” However, wrestling isn’t scripted down to the letter; the booker collaborates with performers and provides a framework. For example, I would make a match and pick the winner, but the performers would fill in the blanks. I had the privilege of working with wrestlers such as Ruby Soho, Mustafa Ali, Colt Cabana, Hornswoggle, Kikutaro, Candace LaRae, and more. It was an awesome experience, but it completely burned me out, and I stepped away at the end of that year to focus on podcasting. I’ve become involved with Freelance again recently, serving as a commentator for The Academy Project, a series of matches between graduates of their wrestling school.
I say all this to say…the Michigan/Wisconsin kerfuffle is pro wrestling. There’s a phrase in the business, “red equals green,” meaning: when blood is shed, people want to plop down their money. The next Michigan vs. Wisconsin match-up is now going to be appointment viewing! The whole ordeal also got me thinking…what would a pro wrestling show based on this draft class look like? I’m glad you asked, Maxwell. LET’S DO IT!!!!!
The 2022 NBA Draft Professional Wrestling Show
2/22/2022
LIVE from Chapel Hill, North Carolina!
*GRATUITOUS PYRO*
Broadcasters Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale open the show by welcoming everyone watching at home. They run down the card for tonight’s festivities, including the main-event of Hunter Dickinson with Juwan Howard in his corner vs. Johnny Davis with Greg Gard in his corner. They throw it backstage to Gary Parrish.
Parrish is standing alongside Hunter Dickinson, Caleb Houstan, and Juwan Howard. Parrish asks about the the main-event tonight, but Caleb Houstan takes the microphone from him. Houstan asks why he’s not in the match instead of Dickinson despite being ahead of him on draft boards. Howard tells Houstan to trust him, because tonight, he has a plan that will turn the entire world on its head. Howard says that tonight, Johnny Davis and Greg Gard are in for a rude awakening.
We then go to Matt Norlander, who is backstage with Johnny Davis and Greg Gard. Norlander asks about the harsh words from Juwan Howard, and Gard says that Howard can make all the plans he wants. He then debuts his catchphrase, “Man makes plans, and GARD laughs!” Gard says he came prepared with back up, and Brad Davison enters the frame with a steel chair.
International Invitational Scramble Match: Nikola Jovic vs. Ismael Kamagate vs. Gabriele Procida vs. Matteo Spagnolo vs. Hugo Besson vs. Khalifa Diop
When I booked for Freelance, every show would start with a six person scramble match. It’s a fun, exciting way to kick off the show and show off a batch of performers in a way that hides their weaknesses but accentuates their strengths. Since there are six people in one match, you only get a glimpse of each performer. This gives you an introduction to them and leaves you wanting more, the same way that highlight videos of basketball players does. That is how most casual draft fans consume international content; the highlights. So, I felt this would be a fitting homage. At some point, Diop and Kamagate do the classic spot where two big guys try to chokeslam each other at the same time, despite physics making that an impossibility. Spagnolo and Procida stand out due to their exciting styles, but Kamagate gets the win, because you gotta keep your big guys looking strong. He finishes the match with a sitout powerbomb to Hugo Besson.
Senior Showdown: Ochai Agbaji vs. Keon Ellis
It’s a fun battle, and Keon’s high wire athleticism allows him to stay competitive, but ultimately, it’s a decisive win for Ochai Agbaji.
After the match, Ochai Agbaji takes the microphone says that his senior breakout campaign has been considered a surprise, and he has plenty of more surprises up his sleeve.
Big Boy Battle: Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme vs. Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler
The match starts out with Timme and Kessler, but the fans are really wanting to see Holmgren and Smith. We finally get the big dramatic moment where both of them tag in and the crowd erupts. During the finishing stretch, Holmgren gets laid out by a Walker Kessler spinebuster on the apron. Smith and Kessler take out Timme with a Doomsday Device. Smith covers for the 1-2-3, and Chet tries to break up the pin but is a second too late to make the save.
After the match, Holmgren is frustrated and apologizes to Timme, who is distraught.
Four Corners Point Guard Match: TyTy Washington vs. JD Davison vs. Jean Montero vs. Kennedy Chandler
JD Davison does a bunch of really cool stuff before accidentally slipping on the top rope and landing on his crotch. Kennedy Chandler displays his defensive prowess by countering out of several moves, but his lack of size catches up with him despite his best efforts. Montero and Washington go at it in the end, and Washington’s polish proves to be too much as he puts Montero away with a moonsault.
Rivalry Trios Match: Team North Carolina (Caleb Love, Armando Bacot, and Leaky Black) vs. Team Duke (Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin, and Wendell Moore)
As a reminder, this event is in Chapel Hill, so the North Carolina team has homecourt advantage. Prior to the match, the UNC squad does a ceremony to honor Roy Williams, who is watching in the crowd. A “Duke sucks” chant breaks out. Unfortunately, Duke then completely decimates the UNC crew, much to the horror of Coach Williams. Wendell Moore finishes off Leaky Black with a Five Star Frog Splash.
Returners Rumble: Jaden Ivey vs. Bennedict Mathurin
Mathurin tries to ground the high-flying Ivey. In wrestling tradition, wrestlers ALWAYS target the left side of the body. Seriously, the next time you watch wrestling, notice that they rarely, if ever, do moves to someone’s right arm, right leg, etc. The opposite is true in Mexico and the lucha libre tradition, but everywhere else, this holds true. Mathurin breaks with tradition, forcing Ivey to use his left hand! Despite being forced in that direction, Ivey is still too skilled for it to matter, and he gets the W after a Scorpion Death Drop.
Before the main-event, Coach K comes out to the ring. He chastises the fans for their “Duke sucks” chant earlier in the evening and suggests ideas for nicer chants, only to be met with progressively crueler and obscene taunts that are too vulgar for this beautiful family website.
MAIN-EVENT GRUDGE MATCH: Johnny Davis w/ Greg Gard vs. Hunter Dickinson w/ Juwan Howard
Dickinson uses his size advantage to control Davis, but Davis’ supreme skill keeps him in the fight. Down the stretch, Dickinson goes for a big boot to the face, but Davis evades, and Dickinson lays out the referee by mistake! Davis quickly scales to the top rope and comes in with a flying clothesline, but Dickinson throws one of his own, and both men are down! Brad Davison hits the ring with his steel chair! Caleb Houstan runs out, but Juwan Howard holds him back! What is the meaning of this?! Both competitors get to their feet in the ring as Brad Davison cocks back the steel chair…
AND HE CRACKS JOHNNY DAVIS OVER THE HEAD WITH IT! Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas are apoplectic on commentary! Dickinson and Davison exchange a smirk. The referee comes back to life as Dickinson covers. 1…2…3!
After the match, the Michigan men beat down Davis. Greg Gard tries to put a stop to it, but he’s not match for them. Caleb Houstan tries to put a stop to it, as he feels it is unnecessary. Then, two masked men hit the ring and lay out Houstan with a 3-D! They unmask…and it’s…
WENDELL MOORE AND OCAHI AGBAJI!?!?!?
Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme hit the ring with kendo sticks, and the newly formed stable flees. Holmgren checks on his former U19 teammate Johnny Davis, but TIMME CRACKS HOLMGREN WITH THE KENDO STICK! The stable get back into the ring and continue their assault.
Juwan Howard grabs the microphone and says he told us he had a plan…but Gard laughed! Well, who’s laughing now!? Timme says that Chet Holmgren failed to make the save earlier tonight, and he’s sick of the one-and-done freshmen at Gonzaga stealing his spot light every single year. Wendell Moore says the same at Duke, and notes that he was the one who got the pin for his team earlier, but his subtle contributions never get proper recognition. Brad Davison says that everyone has always made him the villain anyway, so now, he’ll be that villain, and he’s done trying to win over the unwashed masses. Finally, Ochai Agbaji says that the nerds on the internet wrote him off, but now, they’ve learned their lesson. Howard dubs this stable, “The Most Fabulous Five.” The show closes with Greg Gard being placed on a table, Juwan Howard climbing a ladder, and then taking out the Wisconsin coach with the damnedest Swanton Bomb you’ve ever seen.
~FIN~
In all seriousness, there is one solution for avoiding these types of coach fights in the future; make the coaches wear a uniform, like baseball managers. Is Juwan Howard really able to stay THAT MAD at Greg Gard if he’s rocking a full Wisconsin jersey, with basketball shorts and a top, no undershirt, and the number “00” on it? And is Greg Gard really going to try to grab Juwan Howard by the shoulder to make sure he gets a handshake if that’s what he’s wearing? I don’t think so.
The Expanding Big Board as of 2/22/2022
1. Jabari Smith Jr.
2. Paolo Banchero
3. Chet Holmgren
4. Jaden Ivey
5. AJ Griffin
6. Shaedon Sharpe
7. Jonathan Davis
8. Bennedict Mathurin
9. Jalen Duren (Previously 11th)
10. Keegan Murray (Previously 13th)
11. Jaden Hardy (Previously 9th)
12. TyTy Washington (Previously 10th)
13. Ochai Agbaji (Previously 12th)
14. Tari Eason (Previously 19th)
15. Jeremy Sochan (Previously 14th)
16. Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Previously 15th)
17. Dyson Daniels
18. E.J. Liddell (Previously Unranked)
19. Kendall Brown (Previously 16th)
20. Nikola Jovic (Previously 18th)
21. Ismael Kamagate (Previously 20th)
The top of this class is killing my brain, man. We got some great Jabari Smith Jr. performances over the last week. Still, Paolo Banchero is cooking as a facilitator. No spacing? No problem.
On top of all of this, Chet Holmgren has been outrageous. His awareness on defense and put-back ability, combined with his red-hot shooting, have him in serious consideration for the top pick. My main concern with him has always been his general fluidity and handle; I think he can put it on the floor, but I didn’t necessarily want him to do it. That’s starting to change. Holmgren is tightening up his leash on the ball, and he’s moving better than ever over the course of the entire possession. He’s moving seamlessly from screens into rolls, and he finished a gorgeous reverse lay-up against Pepperdine that felt like something we haven’t seen him do yet in college. I’m starting to wonder if his high-feel and passing ability could take him from the “extremely high end complimentary star” type that I viewed him as and move him into being a legitimate top option on offense. And even if he can’t be that…with his rim protection and the flexibility he provides as a floor spacer, could he still be THE GUY? It’s entirely possible.
It’s pretty crazy, but Jalen Duren looks like a million bucks when Memphis is playing functional basketball. He’s been awesome as of late, and his defensive engagement has been better, too. When he’s tuned in, he just plays harder. You can see it in his footwork, box outs, and end-to-end speed.
I watched a lot of Iowa this past week, and Keegan Murray has continued to impress me. He always kills the mismatch on offense, I love his second jump, and his jump shot is so much more consistent in terms of ball trajectory than it was last season. People were quick to dismiss his gaudy numbers early in the season, but as I said then, his mechanics wouldn’t change against Big Ten competition, and they haven’t.
TyTy Washington’s injuries are starting to give me pause, despite initially writing them off.
Ochai Agbaji’s improvements have been a joy to watch.
It’s almost impossible to imagine him doing that last season. His assertiveness, handle, and vision have all taken a giant step forward from a year ago.
Tari Eason deserves a lottery look. When he has a functional point guard in Xavier Pinson, he looks even more awesome! It turns out that having another teammate who can see the floor and pass actually helps out quite a bit. The good news for Eason is that there are a lot of guys like that at the NBA level! He’s been shooting the lights out, and the “directional misses” that plagued him earlier in the year have been fewer and farther between in the games I have watched. He’s still struggled with turnovers, but when he’s more of a complimentary player at the next level, I don’t think he’ll have those issues. Players who are 6’8”, can provide some spacing, guard up and down line ups, and are always playing with full effort are incredibly valuable. That’s what Tari Eason is, and it’s getting harder and harder to find players worth taking ahead of him.
Dyson Daniels deserves kudos for his work in the Rising Stars competition; he slid right in and contributed, which is exactly his appeal. His offense is malleable, he’s a talented defender, and he’s always able to find a way to impact the game.
E.J. Liddell, welcome to the expanding Big Board! I wrote a big feature on him earlier this cycle, which you can read here. In short, Liddell is ridiculously powerful. He beasts mismatches. He regularly destroyed Keegan Murray for positioning against Iowa, and Murray is no slouch. His jumper is clearly legit now, and his longball is actually going in at a higher clip since conference play started. I had concerns about his lateral mobility prior to the season, but he put those to bed when he did great work against Paolo Banchero and Johnny Davis. Lastly, my favorite thing about Liddell, and something that flies under the radar, is that his ball-tracking for blocks is at an elite level. Other than Chet Holmgren, I don’t think anyone in this class does a better job of getting blocks based solely on their coordination and ability to react to where the ball is going to be in instantaneous fashion.
QUICK HITS:
-He’s not a sure thing to go pro this year, but Ryan Rollins has been lighting the world on fire for Toledo. The 6’4” guard is averaging 19 points, 6 boards, and 3.6 assists on the year. His 32.8% from three is understated by his shot difficulty. If he doesn’t enter the draft, he’s the player I would like to see transfer up the most; I would love to see him work off the ball more, and see what his defense looks like with less of a burden. As of now, the defense can be disastrous and wildly inattentive, but I feel much of that may be tied to his offensive workload.
-Ben Vander Plas is A DUDE. I think he’s primed for a rise after the season is over. He’s a senior, and Ohio doesn’t make headlines, so he’s flying under the radar at the moment. But at 6’8”, he’s a capable defender with spacing gravity and awesome decision making prowess. He’s automatic when left open, and he has the wherewithal to hit the open man if a defender rotates to help against him. Vander Plas is the perfect low-maintenance player to fill out an NBA roster.
-I’m starting to come around on Harrison Ingram. I was gravely concerned about his foot speed earlier this season, but it’s looking markedly better, almost like he played himself into shape to a degree. His three point percentage has ticked upward in conference play, albeit only by a little. My biggest gripe with Ingram is that he loves to go back-to-the-basket, even from the perimeter, which isn’t going to fly at the NBA level. I like him better facing up as it is, and he’ll need to make snappier decisions in a reduced role. His shooting off the catch and off the dribble have both taken baby steps forward. I wouldn’t mind if he returned to school for another year, but now that his feet look better, I’m not put off by the concept of a team drafting him given his 6’8” size, savvy, and passing ability.
-It was fun to see Houston Mallette have some big moments in Pepperdine’s clash with Gonzaga. The 6’5” freshman is scoring 13 PPG to go along with 3.3 RPG and 1.9 APG to only 1.2 TOV. He’s also hitting nearly 38% of his triples on almost 6 attempts per game. Mallette’s shooting, ball skills, and size make him worth monitoring as a returner in the next draft cycle.
-Speaking of Gonzaga, Andrew Nembhard is up to 35% from three after a slow start, and he’s doing it with a more impressive shot profile than he had last season. He should start to turn up on more boards again as others take note.
-To keep with the WCC theme, I want to give Jalen Williams another tip of the hat. The 6’6” wing can score (17.7 PPG on 51.1/40.0/82.5 splits), but he can also dance with the ball and find open teammates. He’s not a blinding athlete, but he’s smart, and he’s a clever defender to boot. I’m starting to become enamored with him as a second round proposition.
-I want to give immense credit to Kofi Cockburn. He’s grown tremendously as a passer after only posting five total assists last season. Cockburn will move the ball quicker when a double team comes, and he’s seeing cutters in those same predicaments as well. His counting numbers aren’t much, but it’s a significant improvement.
-Max Christie remains the most interesting “on the fence” one-and-done candidate to me. His movement and scoring versatility are sublime. If he returns to school, so be it. I won’t complain about watching him in a bigger role.
-Will Richardson has been hiding in plain sight. The Oregon senior had some buzz prior to the start of the season, but the Ducks stumbled out of the gate, and people stopped paying attention. The 6’5” combo guard is a high-end finisher in the half court, converting 57.7% of his shots at the rim along with 51.5% of his floaters (90th percentile according to Synergy). Richardson also profiles well as a role player, scoring 1.29 Points Per Possession on catch-and-shoot looks, also placing him in the 90th percentile per Synergy in that category. His command of the ball has gotten better and he’s cut half a turnover per game from his stat sheet. Richardson is a versatile guard who can operate with or without the ball, and has been a key contributor to a winning program. Don’t sleep on him.
-Please subscribe for free, as it does wonders in helping my traffic/SEO. I’m also a parent, so if you would like to make a monetary donation, you can send it to my venmo, @MaxwellBaumbach. This will make my wife far less annoyed when I’m holding our baby and watching VCU vs. Richmond on my laptop! That’s not a joke, either, peep the tweet below. I’m also on Twitter, @BaumBoards.