Cliff Alexander is the next Jason Maxiel???

 I think he will be better than Amare…I see a lot of  Larry Johnson in his game.

 I think he will be better than Amare…I see a lot of  Larry Johnson in his game.

This site compares him to Thomas Robinson. Robinson was great for one year at Kansas. I would bet that Alexander will be great for his one year at Kansas (he is surely one and done). It would surprise me if he was’t a better pro that Robinson or Maxiell. Maxiell has been a reasonably good bench player, but I would be stunned if Alexander ended up as a 5 ppg scorer in the pros.

This site compares him to Thomas Robinson. Robinson was great for one year at Kansas. I would bet that Alexander will be great for his one year at Kansas (he is surely one and done). It would surprise me if he was’t a better pro that Robinson or Maxiell. Maxiell has been a reasonably good bench player, but I would be stunned if Alexander ended up as a 5 ppg scorer in the pros.

He reminds me of a young Kenyon Martin

He reminds me of a young Kenyon Martin

 The guy is slightly undersized with a large wingspan like Jason Maxiell. He will be one of the younger players in next year’s draft if he is one and done so will have a lot of upside. As I’m UK based I haven’t seen a lot of him so will look to see a few Jayhawks games online, so  my assessment is only based on fundamentals. He looks to have a very strong base and is one of those more poweful, slightly smaller big men who can use their bulk to cause issues against taller skinnier bigs.

The K-Mart comparision is interesting but K-Mart was a senior when he was drafted so Cliff would be a few years off that If he could become that type of beast like player, then K-Mart pre injury could be a fair upside for him.

 The guy is slightly undersized with a large wingspan like Jason Maxiell. He will be one of the younger players in next year’s draft if he is one and done so will have a lot of upside. As I’m UK based I haven’t seen a lot of him so will look to see a few Jayhawks games online, so  my assessment is only based on fundamentals. He looks to have a very strong base and is one of those more poweful, slightly smaller big men who can use their bulk to cause issues against taller skinnier bigs.

The K-Mart comparision is interesting but K-Mart was a senior when he was drafted so Cliff would be a few years off that If he could become that type of beast like player, then K-Mart pre injury could be a fair upside for him.

damned if you do, damned if you don’t

You can’t compare every projected lottery pick to an NBA All-Star because, lets face it. Few actually make it to that level. People hate it when prospects they like get compared to rotation guys, like Maxiel, but if Cliff were to be compared to an All-Star like Amare, and he underachieves as a pro….then guys will dig up his scouting reports and blast it like they do for Kwame, Greg Oden and other guys that didn’t pan out.

You can’t please everyone with a scouting report, and I personally prefer more grounded comparisons over those that compare every guy in the lottery to an All-Star and every guy in the 1st round to a career starter.

As for Cliff, I think an adequate comparison would be Tristian Thompson on the high side. He’s certainly a guy more ready to jump to college ball than T-Rob or Maxiel was at his age, but I can see the similarites with those guys as well…..I’d compare him to Tristian Thompson, though.

damned if you do, damned if you don’t

You can’t compare every projected lottery pick to an NBA All-Star because, lets face it. Few actually make it to that level. People hate it when prospects they like get compared to rotation guys, like Maxiel, but if Cliff were to be compared to an All-Star like Amare, and he underachieves as a pro….then guys will dig up his scouting reports and blast it like they do for Kwame, Greg Oden and other guys that didn’t pan out.

You can’t please everyone with a scouting report, and I personally prefer more grounded comparisons over those that compare every guy in the lottery to an All-Star and every guy in the 1st round to a career starter.

As for Cliff, I think an adequate comparison would be Tristian Thompson on the high side. He’s certainly a guy more ready to jump to college ball than T-Rob or Maxiel was at his age, but I can see the similarites with those guys as well…..I’d compare him to Tristian Thompson, though.

J.J. Hickson 2.0.
I see so many similarities. Both 6’9, big bodied and athletic. Hickson averaged 15 and 9 RPG his freshman year in under 30 minutes a game. I see Cliff somewhere around there.

J.J. Hickson 2.0.
I see so many similarities. Both 6’9, big bodied and athletic. Hickson averaged 15 and 9 RPG his freshman year in under 30 minutes a game. I see Cliff somewhere around there.

I haven’t seen him much but first player comes to my mind thinking of a star player is Alonzo Mourning … just inch or two shorter

I haven’t seen him much but first player comes to my mind thinking of a star player is Alonzo Mourning … just inch or two shorter

 Amare was not far better than Larry Johnson, not sure how you figured that. As far as Cliff he isn’t as athletic as Amare was, his arms are very long and he’s aggressive so it seems like he is a super athlete ( a lot like Derrick favors who he is comparable to). Right now his skill set needs work because if he isn’t over powering someone he has trouble scoring (KU practice reports have confirmed this)

 Amare was not far better than Larry Johnson, not sure how you figured that. As far as Cliff he isn’t as athletic as Amare was, his arms are very long and he’s aggressive so it seems like he is a super athlete ( a lot like Derrick favors who he is comparable to). Right now his skill set needs work because if he isn’t over powering someone he has trouble scoring (KU practice reports have confirmed this)

I only got to see him in a handful of high school games which were in his senior year ( I refuse to take much from all star games..the Hoop Summit maybe at the most). The longer that you follow sites like this and others that breakdown prospects games from the ages as early as14 (if not younger) until the day they get their hat on draft night you start to find players you can compare to one player and then there are those that have combined traits…good and bad traits of past players you have seen.

I liked the Maxiell comparison but at the same time he did show bursts of Amare level athleticism on put backs and straight of power jamming through defenders.

Off the top of my head I cant remember exactly who it was against but these were other high profile teams(Look at ESPNs high school slate from last season if you really want to know) but these were also decent sized guys he was going against yet his height which I refuse to be more than 6’9″ at the most didn’t effect him at all.

The main downside I saw was his stamina. It has nothing to do with being lazy either dude hustles his butt off but you can just see his steam start to go before he needs to sit for awhile.

But hopefully this doesn’t sound like im knocking the kid I liked what I’ve seem from him so far (pre-college so far) but 10+ years of following this sight has taught me to not throw expectations or comparisons to already established NBA players at any of these kids until around all-star weekend of their 3rd season at the earliest.

I only got to see him in a handful of high school games which were in his senior year ( I refuse to take much from all star games..the Hoop Summit maybe at the most). The longer that you follow sites like this and others that breakdown prospects games from the ages as early as14 (if not younger) until the day they get their hat on draft night you start to find players you can compare to one player and then there are those that have combined traits…good and bad traits of past players you have seen.

I liked the Maxiell comparison but at the same time he did show bursts of Amare level athleticism on put backs and straight of power jamming through defenders.

Off the top of my head I cant remember exactly who it was against but these were other high profile teams(Look at ESPNs high school slate from last season if you really want to know) but these were also decent sized guys he was going against yet his height which I refuse to be more than 6’9″ at the most didn’t effect him at all.

The main downside I saw was his stamina. It has nothing to do with being lazy either dude hustles his butt off but you can just see his steam start to go before he needs to sit for awhile.

But hopefully this doesn’t sound like im knocking the kid I liked what I’ve seem from him so far (pre-college so far) but 10+ years of following this sight has taught me to not throw expectations or comparisons to already established NBA players at any of these kids until around all-star weekend of their 3rd season at the earliest.

 I never noticed any problems with his stamina. I was at his game against Texas Select summer 2013 and Okafor seemed to be the one struggling to breathe. I was also at his game against Villa Angela St. Joseph and Carlton Bragg sat quite a bit compared to Cliff. I thought Cliff’s biggest problem was securing the ball when in traffic or with smaller defenders around him. His hands need some work, fumbling some dimes with some heat on them.

 I never noticed any problems with his stamina. I was at his game against Texas Select summer 2013 and Okafor seemed to be the one struggling to breathe. I was also at his game against Villa Angela St. Joseph and Carlton Bragg sat quite a bit compared to Cliff. I thought Cliff’s biggest problem was securing the ball when in traffic or with smaller defenders around him. His hands need some work, fumbling some dimes with some heat on them.