Josh McRoberts, a keeper?

[freeman]

Seriously, i've been thinking if Larry would keep McRoberts, and if Obie can use him in his system.
I've seen him play in college (Duke), with his highlight reel plays. I really thought he would be lock in the first round of the draft, considering his athleticism and potential. Well, that is he stayed for another year or so. He entered the league quite prematurely.
But nonetheless, i think McRoberts can be a pretty good keep down the road. I mean, the athleticism is already there, and he's pretty quick for a big man too, a little more polishing on his fundamentals though.
Thoughts, guys?

[Dunthreevy]

Initially I hated the idea of him playing for the Pacers. In the past couple of weeks though, I've come around to it and I guess I'll give him a chance to prove himself before I pass judgement completely. Plus I love the name McBob that I've been seeing on the boards.

[Dcbaseballer52]

Don't we already have a McRoberts thread where we were discussing this exact thing?

[Indy07]

Yeah we have. If you look back at the 05 draft, Colangelo was stated saying he would give McRoberts a huge look at #1 if he came out of high school. He has talent and promise, somebody just needs to discipline him

[CableKC]

Nope...he's not a keeper. After reading this brief commentary about him in the D-League from DraftExpress from a game earlier this year, I am not impressed by him at all:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/NBA-D-League-Showcase,-Day-Four/

The ship continues to sink for the former top ranked player in the 2005 high school class, as after laying an egg in his first game here, he proceeded to have an even worse outing tonight, shooting 2-10 from the field. Josh McRoberts clearly doesn’t want to be here—that much is obvious from his body language, seemingly floating up and down the floor aimlessly “with his thumb up his [rear end]” as one longtime NBA scout put it. He’s coming off the bench behind two undrafted players in Lance Allred and Cory Violette who look destined for Europe—and quite frankly has not made any type of case for himself to be receiving minutes over them.

Offensively, McRoberts does not seem to have a consistent way of creating points for himself. He looked incredibly soft in the post, fading away from contact, being unable or unwilling to use his body to create space, showing very little in the ways of actual post moves, and settling for bad shots. On the perimeter, McRoberts is making things way too difficult on himself, pulling up off the dribble on more than one occasion for mid-range jumpers (air-balling one of his attempts), and even trying to shoot an NBA 3-pointer.

Defensively, McRoberts could not stay in front of any of the D-League players he tried to guard tonight, and did not really put much effort at all into this part of his game--being outhustled for rebounds as well. Opposing players have been going right at him in both games we saw here, and McRoberts really hasn’t responded to the challenge in the least bit.

The sooner McRoberts realizes how far he is right now from being an NBA player, the better off he’ll be. From what we can tell, the Development League is exactly the place he needs to be at the moment. His lofty recruiting rankings from high school will only take him so far at this point, as he looks pretty close to turning into a cautionary tale if he’s not careful.

I would much rather cut him to get our roster down to 14 ( assuming that we get rid of Tinsley somehow ).

[MillerTime101]

By the sounds of it his heart just wasn't in it, maybe he just needs to find the right situation to reach his potential. If there is any situation where he could become a solid role player in the NBA this is it here in Indiana. Plus after the last couple of years I have no problem with Bird brining in a guy for cheap that is a fan favorite.

[Orlock78]

To be honest, despite him being from Carmel (I grew up in Fishers), I didn't know very much about McRoberts, but after doing some reading this guy sounds like a classic case of "ALL HYPE". It doesn't seem like he ever came near what people considered to be his potential; and it only seemed to get worse after his back surgery. Unless he just blows us away leading up to the begining of the season I'd be fine with cutting him unless we can get someone to take him as part of a larger trade.

[joew8302]

Wow, I will take that article as truth, I see no reason why someone would lie about that stuff. McBob has a lot of work to do. I don't think he will catch on in Indiana.

[23artest23]

I thought McRoberts was a sure flop when he entered the draft. I was never that impressed with his game. He had success in College but I was always left with the impression he would never get by with those skills in the NBA. For me, he would be a surefire cut.

[CableKC]

I didn't realize this...but if the Pacers were considering keeping McRoberts....he probably would have had a chance to audition for them in the Summer league. Unless he has an automatic invitation to Training camp....considering that he has had very limited playing time in the NBA and spent time in the DLeague...I would have thought that he would have played in the Summer League to see if he's worth keeping.

[cdash]

If you read O'Brien's comments about the new players, its pretty clear that McRoberts (and his ego) were simply fillers in the deal for Rush and Jack. I would be pretty shocked if he even got more minutes than Maceo Baston this year.

[huskyfan224]

mcroberts doesn't deserve to wear a pacer uni. we need to dump him to the mad ants and get earl calloway. also, if mcroberts came outta dook his freshmen year he would've been a top 10 pick, he waited another year and dropped to mid second round. i think if he waited til his junior year he wouldve been undrafted.