Conosticator wrote:

Gunk wrote:

You can't teach nastiness. Sure Trent may put on a bit of a performance and pretend to be "nasty" for MacLean and the scouts, but bottom line he's timid. Put him in a situation that's he's uncomfortable with and he shrinks rather than rising to it. An aggresive 6'8" player intimidates Trent.

I wish Trent the best, and maybe something will spark in Trent so he becomes a much more dominant player, but nastiness can't be taught. It comes from inside, it comes from a hunger to want to prove yourself, to win. Trent grew up his whole life being "the best," so proving himself isn't ingrained in him. He's never had to do it. He's never had to work for it. He's never had to earn respect on the court. He's not like other ball players where they grew up on the streets playing ball, competeing for that one golden ticket to the pros. Such players poured everything they had into ball and no one was going to get in their way.

Trent grew up in the subarbs, the tallest, most athletic kid on his team. Everything was handed to him. Some players realize such, so seek to prove otherwise. Hopefully Trent is doing that now, but I wish he would have started on it two years ago (serving a mission would have helped). Starting his freshman year just reinforced in Trent he was entitled to success.

LOL!!!! :laugh: :laugh: Yup, serving that two year mission would have really helped Trent learn to be nasty... ;)

BTW, where did you serve? Did it help you become nasty or were you already nasty? :) Actually I get your drift but just couldn't resist the mission comment in a post about being nasty...

No, a mission did not help me become nasty, but it did help me learn to keep working hard despite advercity and despite what others may think of me. It definately helped with self-confidence, and that's something Trent could use. It also helped with putting things in perspective, looking at the larger picture rather than just the immediate need or impulse. It helped with focusing and not getting rattled by the situation I'm in.

I think just about anyone who has served a mission will attest to similar lessons learned; lessons that can help anyone succeed in anything they do. Look at Austin Collie. During the season how many times did we hear Trent, coaches or reporters say, "It's a confidence thing. Once Trent gets his confidence back up he'll do better," or something similar.

Not letting others (who you can't control) get to you and rattle you is something Trent could benefit immensly from and I do think a mission would have helped teach him that.

lovelldog wrote:

Gunk wrote:

You can't teach nastiness. Sure Trent may put on a bit of a performance and pretend to be "nasty" for MacLean and the scouts, but bottom line he's timid. Put him in a situation that's he's uncomfortable with and he shrinks rather than rising to it. An aggresive 6'8" player intimidates Trent.

I wish Trent the best, and maybe something will spark in Trent so he becomes a much more dominant player, but nastiness can't be taught. It comes from inside, it comes from a hunger to want to prove yourself, to win. Trent grew up his whole life being "the best," so proving himself isn't ingrained in him. He's never had to do it. He's never had to work for it. He's never had to earn respect on the court. He's not like other ball players where they grew up on the streets playing ball, competeing for that one golden ticket to the pros. Such players poured everything they had into ball and no one was going to get in their way.

Trent grew up in the subarbs, the tallest, most athletic kid on his team. Everything was handed to him. Some players realize such, so seek to prove otherwise. Hopefully Trent is doing that now, but I wish he would have started on it two years ago (serving a mission would have helped). Starting his freshman year just reinforced in Trent he was entitled to success.

I think it is funny that you state how you think Trent grew up as if it were fact. Trent played for a pretty good team in Texas against some pretty darn good competition. He was the tallest player on the team for his senior year only.

I also don't agree that a mission would help him. A mission is good for everyone but not necessarily on the sports side. Unlike the NFL where you have to come in pretty much ready to play, in the NBA most people drafted are heavily drafted based on potential and upside. Add two more years to his age and that is a lot of upside and potential gone.

A few things.

First, you're right I don't know exactly how Trent grew up. But he didn't grow up under the hardest of circumstances. If he didn't make it in basketball odds are he still would have gone and been able to go to college. Ball certainly wasn't his only ticket in life.

Second, ask Austin Collie or most the other BYU football players if serving a mission didn't help them on the sports side of things. I think you'd fine otherwise. Sure, you're two years older, slower and a bit out of sync. Put in some hard work and you'll get right back into top form and have all the mental benefits of serving a mission. Look at Kehl or Poppinga.

Now, I know football and basketball are like apples and oranges. But Kehl, Collie, Poppinga and other athletes like them come back from their missions, work their tails off and get into better condition than they were before their missions and I don't see why a basketball player couldn't do the same thing, say like Travis Hansen. Ask Travis Hansen if serving a mission didn't help him on the sports side.

I think any of us would take Travis on the team over Trent. Trent pales in comparison. Sure with Trent a scout sees some potential (a nice way of saying they are unsure), but if I am a scout, would I rather pick someone that will bring some immediate skills to the table, like Travis did, or someone with the "potential" to bring some skills to the table, like Trent has. I'd pick a player like Travis.

As of right now, there is now way Trent could gaurd players in the NBA. Trent can't even muster up a decent game against Beaker, let alone an aggressive 6'8" BSU or UNLV center, so what makes you think he'll be able to score against NBA players.

I think you are all still failing to grasp why Plaisted is still on the list as a potential (not anywhere near guaranteed) first round pick: he's 6' 11", he can jump, and he is quick. While I agree that his skill set pales in comparison to Travis Hansen (and many other former Cougar greats) that is far from the only consideration and is like comparing apples with hot dogs.

College basketball does not emphasize positions like the NBA does. When you look at some teams, they are really playing GGGGF or GGFFF or other bizarre combinations. The NBA does not do that. With very few exceptions, every team plays GGFFC. The NBA has plenty of good Point Guards, Shooting Guards, and Small Forwards. However, once you clear the 6' 10" barrier and begin looking at tall Power Forwards and Centers, there is an absolute dearth of talent. Simple genetics dictate this fact.

Once you get out of the top 15 centers, who are you left with? Guys like Joel Przybilla, Kendrick Perkins, Robert Swift, Lorenzen Wright, and others. Do you really think that Plaisted can't compete with those players? I certainly think he can.

Also, Trent's Free Throw shooting woes are not as big of a deal as you might think. The guy shot 54% from the line last year. The average NBA big man shoots between 50% and 70%. Trent's in the thick of it.

Even the Power Forward position gets weak after the Top 25 or so. You get guys like Eddie Griffin, Hakim Warrick, and Reggie Evans.

Let's not compare Trent to Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, Amare Stoudemire, Mehmet Okur, etc. Let's compare him with where he could be: a solid backup center or Power Forward.

An interesting stat: of the 440 NBA players who attempted a free throw this season, Trent has a better FT % than exactly 50 of them. Not a stat to be proud of, but at least he's outside the bottom 10% of free throw shooters.

Also, of the 81 centers who shot FTs this year, Trent beat out 20. Once again, not good, but he's outside the bottom 20% here.

timmyboy wrote:

An interesting stat: of the 440 NBA players who attempted a free throw this season, Trent has a better FT % than exactly 50 of them. Not a stat to be proud of, but at least he's outside the bottom 10% of free throw shooters.

Also, of the 81 centers who shot FTs this year, Trent beat out 20. Once again, not good, but he's outside the bottom 20% here.

Hope free throw shooting isn't graded on the curve.

his nastiness is just another word for defense. something that miles will be better at. blocked shots were nice but not giving ground with physical presence is nicer

timmyboy wrote:

I think you are all still failing to grasp why Plaisted is still on the list as a potential (not anywhere near guaranteed) first round pick: he's 6' 11", he can jump, and he is quick. While I agree that his skill set pales in comparison to Travis Hansen (and many other former Cougar greats) that is far from the only consideration and is like comparing apples with hot dogs.

College basketball does not emphasize positions like the NBA does. When you look at some teams, they are really playing GGGGF or GGFFF or other bizarre combinations. The NBA does not do that. With very few exceptions, every team plays GGFFC. The NBA has plenty of good Point Guards, Shooting Guards, and Small Forwards. However, once you clear the 6' 10" barrier and begin looking at tall Power Forwards and Centers, there is an absolute dearth of talent. Simple genetics dictate this fact.

Once you get out of the top 15 centers, who are you left with? Guys like Joel Przybilla, Kendrick Perkins, Robert Swift, Lorenzen Wright, and others. Do you really think that Plaisted can't compete with those players? I certainly think he can.

Also, Trent's Free Throw shooting woes are not as big of a deal as you might think. The guy shot 54% from the line last year. The average NBA big man shoots between 50% and 70%. Trent's in the thick of it.

Even the Power Forward position gets weak after the Top 25 or so. You get guys like Eddie Griffin, Hakim Warrick, and Reggie Evans.

Let's not compare Trent to Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, Amare Stoudemire, Mehmet Okur, etc. Let's compare him with where he could be: a solid backup center or Power Forward.

An interesting stat: of the 440 NBA players who attempted a free throw this season, Trent has a better FT % than exactly 50 of them. Not a stat to be proud of, but at least he's outside the bottom 10% of free throw shooters.

Also, of the 81 centers who shot FTs this year, Trent beat out 20. Once again, not good, but he's outside the bottom 20% here.

Eddie Griffin is dead and has been for sometime - however he didn't have trouble in the nba for lack of talent; in fact he was considered one of the most talented shot blockers in the NBA and could defend positions from the 3 -5.
time.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2985307

Trent is not a shot blocker, or a solid rebounder. His athleticism is nullified by his lack of any signature skills.

And no Trent cannot and will not compete with Guys like Joel Przybilla, Kendrick Perkins, Robert Swift, Lorenzen Wright.
These are all guys that have started at 1 point in their NBA careers.
Kendrick Perkins btw would start on 1/2 of the teams in the NBA; he's a tremendous role player that knows his role with the Big 3.
Robert Swift is probably younger than Trent right now and is 7 feet tall; yet has been considered a flop thus far http://www.nba.com/playerfile/robert_swift/index.html
Lorenzen Wright is a 12 yr pro and weighs 260+ lbs (= he can rebound and has averaged 9 boards in a season)http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lorenzen_wright/career_stats.html
Trent won't spend more than a 1 year in the league max before being bounced.

The worst guys on an NBA roster (Brian Scalabrine, Scot Pollard, etc.) still bring more to the table than Trent.


Less you forget, Haffa was 1000 times a better basketball player than Trent and nobody wanted him after he was exposed in the league. Stop overvaluing a guy because he wore BYU on his chest.

Athleticism doesn't > Basketball ability and IQ and Trent fails there.

And you're also very wrong about position emphasis in the NBA, what determines position more than anything in the NBA is who you can guard. Trent can't guard anyone, not 6'7" small forwards, not 6'9" beefcake power forwards or skill 4s like Dirk Nowitzki or Rasheed Wallace, and certainly not 7 footers 250lbs+