phillip
Years ago

Pledger future

Alex Pledger is a rare commodity. A legit seven foot tall big man who can play ball hard abd is athletic. Why are overseas teams trying to sign him? What is it that makes steve adams a better talent than pledge?

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phillip  
Years ago

Was meant to be why arent foreign teams trying to sign him. Damn auto correct

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Statsheet Stuffer  
Years ago

He moves like a geriatric compared with Adams

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Mystro  
Years ago

Adams is stronger, faster & more athletic.

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kobe24  
Years ago

Because he isnt as good as your description portrays him. Adams has already proven he is worthy at the 12 pick.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Comparing pledger to adams athletically is stupid...he is a good athlete compared to the likes of schenscher, nevill etc but not compares to adams

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phillip  
Years ago

Good to know others ideas. I personally rate the pledge no.1 centre in the nbl.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Overseas clubs have tried to sign him but he is on a good wicket at the Breakers.

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Mick  
Years ago

The knock on him from an international scouting standpoint would be: because he bobbles entry passes, can't score, isn't very strong or athletic on the international level, and has terrible footwork offensively.

There are obviously things he does well, as he's one of the top big men in this league, but the game is just getting smaller and smaller and bigs who can't shoot need to have a HUGE inside game to warrant a look-in in this day and age at the top level/s.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Spot on Mick.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Not a superstar internationally or some type of NBA prospect...but a very solid player who will likely be a career breaker, nothing to be ashamed of

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Mystro  
Years ago

The pledge hammer is great!
Was only really last season that his injury greatly affected his game, he had been fairly injury free up until then.
He's still young for a Centre and still developing his game so really the best is yet to come.

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The Dream  
Years ago

still not good enough
needs to harden up & stay off the playstation & put in work . always injured , so what hes 7ft - 7ft1?

cant coach height

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Not good enough lol he was arguably the Breakers best player in the first 3rd of last season before he got hurt and its the only injury of his career so far...see matty knight to learn the definition of 'always injured' ..also the year they won the 3rd title he deserved the all nbl 3rd team spot ahead of Crosswhite imo., put up better numbers in less minutes on a team that won twice as many games and won back to back POW awards...not saying he's a world beating dominant force but saying he isnt good enough is straight stupidity

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proud  
Years ago

@ Mystro before anyone critiques his game, is the big fella over his injury yet mate?

I think he has the talent to be the best big man in the league but he hasn't been that yet but I think he will get there.

I hate the breakers as much as any wildcats fan but I enjoy the work of the big fella and think he will destroy many teams throughout the season

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paul  
Years ago

Pledger is outstanding for a 7'1 centre (or any big centre) at hedging and switching pick-and-rolls, which today is one of the most important jobs for a centre.

He is a solid low-post defender, good defensive rebounding, excellent offensive rebounder, good shot-blocker, ok mid-range shooter and decent at executing the high-pick-and-roll offensively, though the Breakers didn't utilise that last season as they did the previous year with less passing talent.

He doesn't have a good offensive low-post game, which is probably why some casual observers think he's useless. I don't see him ever being dominant in that area, few big men are, rather he is a guy you hit on seals or dives.

He needs to improve his touch around the basket, and he needs to be mentally tougher, if he develops a mean streak he will be a real defensive force, which we saw in patches the past two seasons.

Overall, he is a very good defensive presence and offensive rebounder, which makes he a very good centre when fit. Hopefully the toe injury isn't too serious.

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Mystro  
Years ago

"@ Mystro before anyone critiques his game, is the big fella over his injury yet mate?"

spent the last few months recovering from surgery on his ankle hence why he looked so rusty against Korea in game 1.
I don't think his ankle is 100% but good enough to train & play on and very unfortunate that he picked up that toe injury which is going to hamper his preparation for Spain. He just needed some time to ease back into his role and log some minutes on the court.

Totally agree with Pauls comments above.

Any Kiwi's remember when we had to rely on Tony Rampton or Ed Book to guard the paint?
Serviceable players for sure and represented NZ well on the International stage but they have nothing on Alex Pledger.
If NZ had an Alex Pledger back in 02 that WC's team (and a healthy Sean Marks down the stretch) they would have been scary.

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paul  
Years ago

It's easy to forget Pledger took up the game in his mid-late teens, a basketball coach from another school pulled over when he saw Alex walking in the street and told him he should to his own school basketball tryouts which were coming up!

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Mystro  
Years ago

Thank god for that guy. Now if only he could find us a couple of serviceable PG's.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Totally agree with the last few comments regarding his skill set! I dont think he has a bad post game but he is quite mechanical and settles for fade aways to much, footwork is average but definitely better than a few years back where he travelled what seemed like every time he got the ball down there, definitely better stepping over and finishing deep without having to dribble or catching and finishing on the pick and roll and with Jackson coming back will have plenty of chances like that created for him. Breakers fans should be excited about the upcoming season

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Mystro  
Years ago

Absolutely Anon, Cedric Jacksons passing game (especially his accurate lobs) to Abercrombie & Pledger will have the Auckland crowds out of their seats.

After last seasons disappointing results, getting Jackson back is huge. He will def have a huge effect on ticket sales and fan confidence heading into the season.

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