Cowboy Junky said:
Today's road win was another big night for Naughton. The kid just goes beast mode in the paint and OWNS his space. He's shown an ability to hit big free throws. He gets boards.
I like what I see from a young Jordan Naughton.
I liked Barnes going up strong on Defense tonight too. He got the foul, but it's the foul you have to get and he got it the right way tonight. He played big down low defensively.
I don't think I would describe any of our bigs as "owning" much of anything on the court. I do like Naughton long term over Barnes though. A little bit more "ups" and aggression going to the rim when he catches off the screen and roll action we run. That's a key part of our offense and a big generator of dunks for Nance/Cooke last year. Barnes got stuffed a couple of times tonight against MWC quality bigs and he struggles to catch it.
I also like Naughton's FT stroke and was surprised by his mid range jumper in the first half.
Neither is quite ready, but a year from now we will have a pretty solid rotation at the 5. I think Naughton will be the starter by then though.