Trey Burke

[Dirtgrain]

I think some of you don't realize how inflated Burke's stats are due to playing inferior competition. Against ranked opponents + the tourney, Burke shot 39.5% from the field.

In theory, wouldn't this generally hold true for every player we are considering?

No his dropoff is considerable.

Compared to what? Whom?

[ComboGuardCity]

Compared to what? Whom?

Shabazz shot 44.2% on the season. He shot 45.2% against ranked opponents.

Burke Shot 46.3% on the year. He shot 39.5% against ranked opponents.

Mclemore shot 49.5% on the season. He shot 44.6% against ranked opponents.

[joeposh]

Compared to what? Whom?

Shabazz shot 44.2% on the season. He shot 45.2% against ranked opponents.

Burke Shot 46.3% on the year. He shot 39.5% against ranked opponents.

Mclemore shot 49.5% on the season. He shot 44.6% against ranked opponents.

Which isn't really a fair comparison given their respective strength of schedule. According to KenPom:

Michigan -- #4
UCLA -- #25
Kansas -- #46

Highest ranked opponent UCLA faced all season was Arizona (when they were #6). KU opponents ranked #71 in defense.

Not saying that Burke is a better shooter than either (nor should he be given that scoring is a cornerstone of their respective games), but your stat pull offers a pretty incomplete picture.

[ComboGuardCity]

Compared to what? Whom?

Shabazz shot 44.2% on the season. He shot 45.2% against ranked opponents.

Burke Shot 46.3% on the year. He shot 39.5% against ranked opponents.

Mclemore shot 49.5% on the season. He shot 44.6% against ranked opponents.

Which isn't really a fair comparison given their respective strength of schedule. According to KenPom:

Michigan -- #4
UCLA -- #25
Kansas -- #46

Highest ranked opponent UCLA faced all season was Arizona (when they were #6). KU opponents ranked #71 in defense.

Not saying that Burke is a better shooter than either (nor should he be given that scoring is a cornerstone of their respective games), but your stat pull offers a pretty incomplete picture.

How does their SOS make it any less valid? The sample sizes could be on the smaller end, but its still concrete. Even without comparing Burke to anybody else, 39.5% is awful in college. Ranked teams are generally more athletic AND more fundamentally sound than the rest. And now imagine only the most elite athletes from these ranked teams make it to the pros. It doesn't bode well for Burke.

[joseph mamah]

Compared to what? Whom?

Shabazz shot 44.2% on the season. He shot 45.2% against ranked opponents.

Burke Shot 46.3% on the year. He shot 39.5% against ranked opponents.

Mclemore shot 49.5% on the season. He shot 44.6% against ranked opponents.

im not really a "draft Burke" guy, but I will say in his defense that 4 or 5 of those games against ranked opponents were against Indiana and Ohio State, being defended by Oladipo (a lot of the time) and Craft who were arguably the best perimeter defender and best defensive PG in college basketball last year.

[Han Solo]

Quickness without technique is utterly useless though.

Brandon is actually learning to use his quickness, he just can't finish worth a damn.

I like it when he dunks. Even if he misses, he usually gets a foul called. When he lays it or floats it, he never goes to the free throw line. Keep working on those hops Knight. He got up much better this year than his rookie year. Arnie is doing well with him. About another inch and he''ll throw it down regularly. He dunked a few times this year over a much taller player.

[Brapman]

I'm not a fan of the Pistons drafting Burke, but I do think the guy is potentially a very good outside shooter in the NBA. He'll struggle finishing in the paint - which is what happened in his college career.

However, I do have a question that cannot be answered until we see him at the next level: Can he be a high efficiency shooter, if he's not his team's primary offensive option? If he's not taking 15 shots per game, will he ever get into a rhythm? Burke's not the kind of player any team ought to want to try dominating on offense like Kyrie, Rose or Westbrook. If you're asking him to do that, your team is in big trouble.

[Unclecreepy]

I don't think the shooting % of Burke is that much worse considering he's a point guard.
He's going to be distributing the ball a lot.
He has a lot of assists for his position.
He's has a a good burst of speed.
If he was a shooting guard, I would be more worried about his shooting %.
I bet those other 2 guys have a ton more dunks on the season also.
Take those away and I wonder what the % is.
Burke is maybe 6'0,
I see McLemore 6'5 doing some awesome dunks.
Shabazz is 6'6 and I didn't see him play hardly.
I just heard he's not going to pass the ball much.
I'm not even for drafting Burke either.

[ComboGuardCity]

I don't think the shooting % of Burke is that much worse considering he's a point guard.
He's going to be distributing the ball a lot.
He has a lot of assists for his position.
He's has a a good burst of speed.
If he was a shooting guard, I would be more worried about his shooting %.
I bet those other 2 guys have a ton more dunks on the season also.
Take those away and I wonder what the % is.
Burke is maybe 6'0,
I see McLemore 6'5 doing some awesome dunks.
Shabazz is 6'6 and I didn't see him play hardly.
I just heard he's not going to pass the ball much.
I'm not even for drafting Burke either.

If we're not drafting Burke to at least a competent scorer, something he hasn't done when playing higher level opponents, we might as well re-sign Calderon and trade the pick for assets.

[ChipButty]

If we're not drafting Burke to at least a competent scorer, something he hasn't done when playing higher level opponents, we might as well re-sign Calderon and trade the pick for assets.

Re-sign Calderon? C'mon man. The lack of realistic free agent options at PG and the fact that we may have no pick in next years draft are huge reasons why we should be looking at the PG position in this draft.

Why not compare Burke's stats to to other PG's? Look at the tournament stats for Knight. I think he shot 33% and had 22 assists to go with 17 turnovers. Didn't stop us drafting him or you suggesting we run with him as a starting PG next year.

Burke led the youngest team in the tournament to the finals and maintained a 2-1 assist/turnover ratio. Obviously there are concerns (like scoring efficiency) but the potential is there and unless we can find a better option in FA, Burke would be a wise choice on draft day.

[rmfc]

Some people would rather have Calderon than Burke?

Just wow!

[OneBadMutha]

I don't have any interest in Calderon due to his lack of ability to defend. Same reason I don't want Burke....and Calderon is going to be a better offensive player for the next couple years. You need to be able to defend at the 1 to be consistent defensively in this league because there's so many 1's who can break your defense down. Burke's offense at the NBA level will not make up for his defensive shortcomings. There's a very high bust factor with him because I can't pinpoint even one thing I think he's going to do above average at in the NBA. At least with Knight we can say he can defend and shoot above average for the position.

[MrBigShot]

Burke and Calderon aren't comparable as defenders. Calderon is like an old man out there trying to defend other PGs.

I'm not sure what you define as above average, but Knight's 40% shooting and 37% from threes(good for 21st among PGs) isn't above average.

[ImHeisenberg]

If you (not anyone specific, whomever is reading this, so, you!) aren't high on Burke, what about CJ McCollum?

Prior to his season ending foot injury (that he's healed from), he was absolutely killing it. He's personally destroyed Duke a few times, and was shooting 50%+ from the three point line prior to injury and dropping 30+ point games.

He has ideal size for a PG too. I think his stock slid a lot due to his injury.

[kurtis48239]

The things burke will be able to do from day 1 and be better than knight at is
passing
pnr
Now knight will be better at defense and they will probably be even in scoring,but burke is a WAY better ball handler so he wont turn it over near as much and alot of people think burke isnt very athletic,which I think is being blown out of porportion.

[OneBadMutha]

Burke and Calderon aren't comparable as defenders. Calderon is like an old man out there trying to defend other PGs.

I'm not sure what you define as above average, but Knight's 40% shooting and 37% from threes(good for 21st among PGs) isn't above average.

Knights shooting percentage isn't necessarily indicative of his shooting ability. A lot of his shots were forced and out of rhythm due to trying to be more of a pass first point guard when there wasn't very good options to pass to most of the year.

Start Burke with Singler, Tay, Maxiell and Monroe (who was missing a lot of bunnies the first half of the year), tell him to try to be a pass first point guard and shoot only when he's exhausted options and the shot clock is running out. Put any young point in the position and their numbers will be deflated. .

[Stones48223]

With the emergence of Ty Lawson and Nate, I truly think Burke will transition well in the Nba.

[joeposh]

With the emergence of Ty Lawson and Nate, I truly think Burke will transition well in the Nba.

I love Trey, but the big difference between him and those two is speed. They can blow by a defender and get into the paint, he doesn't have that same burst.