Draft Idea: Kenneth Faried
Faried is a 6'8"-230 lb power forward with the potential to be the next Ben Wallace. Farried is a beast on the boards and has the attitude to be a shut down defender. Kenneth doesn't care about shots, he doesn't care about touches, all he cares about is getting rebounds and blocks... but if you give him the opportunity he'll produce some highlight reel dunks.
Kenneth is coming off of his senior season at Morehead State. In 35 games Faried averaged 17 points, 14.5 boards, 2.3 blocks, and 1.9 steals a game. Faried also broke Tim Duncan's record to become the NCAA's Modern Era All-Time Rebound leader with 1,607. He is a 2x Ohio Valley Conference Player of The Year, and the 2010 OVC Defensive Player of The Year.
In 2011 Morehead made the NCAA Tournament for the 2nd time in Kenneth's career, the 13th Seed Eagles would upset Rick Pitino's #4 Seed Louisville Cardinals on a last second three pointer. Faried and The Eagles would lose the next game to Richmond, but they still made their noise in the tournament. Faried finished his career at Morehead with 82 Double Doubles and career AVG's of 17 points and 14 rebounds a game on 63.7% shooting. Only 2 players in the past 15 years can say they posted averages like that... and both of those guys were drafted #1 overall (Tim Duncan, Blake Griffin).
Yesterday at the NBA's Draft Combine Faried had a chance to talk with the media. Here's some highlights.
On where he see's himself going in the draft:
"Personally I don't see myself anywhere right now. I see myself just being a great player and just going out and putting my all in, and hopefully falling somewhere in the 1st round. But if i don't then i'm gonna still play hard and try to make a team."
On what teams like and don't like about his game:
"Well a lot of teams say that my offensive skill can be a concern but i'm working at it and they accept me for that. They say i can play a great role in just being on a team bringing hustle in practice and on the floor you're gonna want to play me. Either way it doesn't really matter to me."
On his motto of "If you score you've got to rebound the ball.":
"Yea, that's exactly what i believe and a lot of teams need a rebounder. A lot of players aren't going to make every shot so i'm gonna just go get it and score. That's the way my numbers are gonna speak, that way."
On what his single game scoring high will be in NBA:
"I really don't know, i can't tell you that one. But i plan on my rebounding high to be a 30+ rebounding game."
On contending for defensive player of the year down the road:
"Yes that's a great goal of mine. I fully expect to make one year and become the defensive player of the year but if i don't then i'm going to keep pushing myself until i become that."
On Ben Wallace and his confidence to be a great player without being big scorer:
"Yes, i have great confidence in that. Ben Wallace stuck here in the league because he was able to block shots, rebound, and be a great defensive presence and he started for the Pistons and won a championship and made All-Star Games. I fully expect that i could be able to do that, but it's going to take time and progress, and i'm just going to keep getting better every day."
On having another level:
"My motor is high, i don't know how it really get's so high I think the competition and the people around me. A group of guys like this I see how hard their going and I want to push myself even harder to stand out more than them. So me going that extra mile doesn't really faze me."
