Official Cole Aldrich Scouting Report (Update 1)

Cole Aldrich:

A big man who has a nice combination of size, athleticism and skill; think your standard volunteer clinic organizer, consistently making unselfish plays at the expense of his own stats.

6'11"
Very nice frame, has plenty of room for mass
Strong but very mobile, including laterally
Fairly athletic
Soft hands
Sees court very well

Strengths:

I have to be honest, when I first saw him play, I thought he was too unselfish, never aggressive enough to survive in the NBA.  I should thank Gabe, as he made the point that Aldrich, like Jokim Noah (and Ben Wallace for that matter), is a player that doesn't appear to appear to be nearly as impressive as he is. Being a big fan of Big Ben's and Noah's respective games, I decided to pay some more attention to the little things he does.

Aldrich is the key to Kansas' entire game.  He is everywhere on the defensive end.  As I pointed out earlier, he has some very agile feet, and is able to alter shots all across the floor.  He averages around 5 blocks per 40 minutes, something that should translate to the NBA, as he is a very intelligent player.  He doesn't just rely on athleticism, but rather knowing the opponents tendencies and timing the shot just right.  I wouldn't compare him to Body just yet, but he definitely has a lot of potential as a defensive cornerstone. 

Speaking of his IQ, if that is even the right word, he is also a very low turnover player for how many touches he gets.  The Jayhawks love to dump the ball down low to him and have him either work for a shot, or pass out of the double team.  And he does do a very good job of passing as he sees the floor very well, and understands where all his teammates are.  In fact just today as he backing his way to the basket, two other defenders came to the alter his shots.  With a quick spin, he did his best Steve Nash impersonation by slingshotting a pass around all three for a layup. 

His footwork is also quite good, which combined with his IQ and agility, helps him get very close to the rim.  From there he employs either a turn-around jumpshot or right hook. This jumpshot is almost an exact replica to Sheed's, as he holds the ball high above his head to make it unblockable.  I have seen him occasionally use a left hook, but he is very right hand dominant - which isn't necessarily a bad thing as it is very consistent.

I personally don't like his shooting mechanics, but hell, if it aint broke, don't fix it.  He shoots a very respectable 70% from the line and is very consistent within 10 feet.  If he can work on a quicker release, he has potential for a pull-up 15 footer off the dribble, as he's got the speed to keep other bigs on their heels and a soft enough touch.  

To close this off, his fundamentals are quite good.  He's always in good stance, and that's what allows him to be such a force on defense.  I like the fact that his athleticism compliments his skill, and not the other way around.  This means, baring injury, with his aggressiveness he should have a long successful career in the NBA.

Weaknesses:

He is missing a tooth.  

No, really, it makes him look like a complete hick.

But that aside, I really couldn't find any major flaws in his game.  And believe me, being a Cousins' slappy I tried very hard.  My biggest complaint still lies with his inability to truly stand out. 

Jokes aside, if it wasn't for either that tooth or the number on his back, I would have had great difficulty spotting him on the court.  You can tell, he's working very hard for positioning on every possession, but he just lacks the brute strength to get deep in the post consistently.  He partially makes up for this with nice footwork, but I feel that he could be easily averaging 15 and 10 if he forced the issue more often.

I suppose part of the reason for his decline in numbers this year is foul trouble.  But his fundamentals are very good, so if anything this is due to being overaggressive on the defensive end, and I'll take that any day over someone that has to be thrown onto the other teams' worst player to keep him on the court...

*cough* LeBron *cough*

Imminent Thoughts:

It was much easier to say stuff about Cousins, because he just stands out so much more than Aldrich does.  But, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

As I pointed out before, he is an extremely unselfish player with very few real flaws.  I like to compare him to Vincent Persichetti's Pageant, as his pieces are all about constantly moving the melody to different instruments, such that none overpower the others.  At the very least, he'll be Joakim Noah with a better offensive game.  He should help just about any team that drafts him by constantly moving the ball to get high percentage shots and altering a lot of shots on the defensive end.  In other words, this is a guy the Pistons could sorely use.

Now the question that really comes to mind, if we're using such a high draft pick, can he be a franchise cornerstone?

As of now:

The short answer is no.

I like him a lot as a mobile defensive PF with a nice post game, akin to what Sheed was back in the finals years.  Don't get me wrong, he will be a very good player. If you look at OKC, Nenad Kristic is a mediocre player, but he has definitely anchored their defense and can provide some post offense here and there.  I see Aldrich being a better version of him, but not a star.

His jumper isn't consistent beyond 12 feet and he isn't able to use strength to get deep into the post just yet.  In other words, he isn't a guy you can just dump the ball to and expect a score; and that's why I don't see him as being a franchise center.

With that being said, I love him as a safety pick.  His ceiling may not be at the sky, but his floor also happens to be higher than most people's peaks.  And lets not forget Ben Wallace will be his strength and conditioning mentor. 

Should the Pistons be picking around 10, this is our guy.

Update (2/13/2010):

Since writing this report, I have been nothing but impressed by Aldrich.  Even on nights that his shots aren't falling, he still commits wholeheartedly to defense, and that's what I call a winner. 

I have yet to see him hurt his team in any way.  Cousins has his explosive temper, Davis seems to forget what the ball looks like (and didn't even play against NC State, talk about an embarrassing benching) and Favors is very raw.  Aldrich on the other hand, is always altering (and blocking) shots, providing leadership on both ends (Kansas loves to run their offense through him) and scoring with great efficiency.

Let me put it any other way:  Kansas has never lost when he has a bad game.

That says to me that he knows when to stop forcing the issue, something that Ben Gordon doesn't seem to understand.

And the one loss Kansas has?  He went 3-5 with 18 rebounds ( 10 offensive), so you can't fault him there either.  And that was against a very talented Tennessee frontline that completely got Cousins off his game.

I still don't think he's a franchise player to build around, but he can be a very large, not to mention well priced, role player in a championship caliber team. 

As it stands now, I would take Aldrich over any other bigman than Cousins.

*Thanks for all the compliments guys, don't hesitate to ask questions or provide suggestions*