The Trey Burke - Chris Paul Comparison

[machu46]

Haven't you guys been watching Mike Conley in the playoffs? Thats Trey Burke's future except he may even be slightly better.

Conley is a better athlete than Burke. Burke needs screens in college to get anywhere. When Conley was in college he was breaking down teams without any help all night long.

I don't understand a statement like this.

Conley was not an All-American in college.
He scored way less than Burke.
He even assisted less despite getting to play with Greg Oden.

None of this means that Burke has to be as good of an athlete as Conley, and obviously Conley got drafted high, but if Conley had been "breaking down teams without any help ALL NIGHT LONG", don't you think that would have translated into a bit more celebrated college year?

You're also talking about sophomore Burke compared to freshman Conley. And one simple reason for Burke having bigger stats as a sophomore is that the ball was in his hands more.

[ManualRam]

I don't know I just get worried about Acie Law syndrome with Burke, where a guy starts to get a winner/ big shot maker based reputation while having some pretty obvious limitations.

burke is more than just a big shot maker. he has legit PG skills. law's point skills were middling at best.

[BaunceyChillups]

acie law's senior stats aren't even as good as burke's sophomore stats

[reapaman]

Haven't you guys been watching Mike Conley in the playoffs? Thats Trey Burke's future except he may even be slightly better.

Conley is a better athlete than Burke. Burke needs screens in college to get anywhere. When Conley was in college he was breaking down teams without any help all night long.

I'm talking about their similar playing style. If I went just based off of what you said then I could make the assumption Conley plays like allen iverson and Burke like Kendall Marshall which both are untrue and very overexagerrated. Your never gonna find a perfect comparison and they have some different attributes but from the core on how they play, they are similar and likely will give you similar results if the situation is equal.

[KillMonger]

Think I read something recently that said Burke jumps higher and is faster than Paul, at least Paul's combine numbers that is so I guess there's that

Sent from my expensive a$$ phone

[Doctor MJ]

Conley is a better athlete than Burke. Burke needs screens in college to get anywhere. When Conley was in college he was breaking down teams without any help all night long.

I don't understand a statement like this.

Conley was not an All-American in college.
He scored way less than Burke.
He even assisted less despite getting to play with Greg Oden.

None of this means that Burke has to be as good of an athlete as Conley, and obviously Conley got drafted high, but if Conley had been "breaking down teams without any help ALL NIGHT LONG", don't you think that would have translated into a bit more celebrated college year?

You're also talking about sophomore Burke compared to freshman Conley. And one simple reason for Burke having bigger stats as a sophomore is that the ball was in his hands more.

Focus on the point of my objection though. I didn't object because he said Conley was a better athlete, I objected because he made a statement like "breaking down teams without any help ALL NIGHT LONG". Obviously if, as you point out, you're not being granted primacy, then you're not breaking down the opposite over and over again even if you would have been capable of doing so.

Maybe me fixating on wording like this seems unfair in some way, but people use words like this to try to give themselves credibility when they give their opinion. The implication is that whatever Burke was doing in college, Conley was far more dominant, and those championing Burke right now have short memories. Given though that the statement is clearly wrong from the start, and the credibility gap thus runs in the opposite direction, to me it warrants spotlighting.

[rsavaj]

If the Suns fall to 6 in the lottery, and Noel, McLemore, Porter, Bennet and Oladipo are all gone, do you guys think it would make sense for Phoenix to pick Burke? Maybe move Dragic to the 2(he's always been more of a combo/Manu-esque player to me) and pair him up with Burke in the backcourt? I know they already have Marshall but until Marshall learns how to do something other than pass like a wizard, his ceiling is being a competent backup PG, which is fine, I guess.

[StickAndMove]

I highly doubt Trey Burke will be as good as Chris Paul. He's a tier or two beneath CP3. His athleticism is more like post-op Chris Paul. He doesn't attack the basket as much as he should (too quick to pull up), and he's unimpressive on defense. He's pretty good at driving left, but poor at finishing with the left hand; to the point that he would usually use his right when going left. He may have problems adjusting to the physicality of the NBA game.

Conversely, I think he's the best PG prospect in this year's draft and I prefer him as a long-term prospect to any taken in the 2012 draft, as well. I was particularly impressed with his rate of progression, ability to run the offense efficiently, and how he was able to step his game up in clutch situations throughout the tournament. Furthermore, the deeper NBA 3-point line will be to his advantage.

Finally, I think Burke's stats are even more telling because the Big Ten was as good as it got in the NCAA last year, especially defensively. He got a lot of good experience working against a variety of strong defenses. He has a nice ability to read the defense, and showed quick progress in that area. His AST/TO ratio improved almost every time he played a team for the second or third time this year (with the exception of Penn St). I got the sense that he would've preferred to distribute even more than he did, but recognized that his team needed him to be the go-to guy.

[SHAQisalegend]

I've had the privilege of watching Trey Burke all season at Crisler Center and I can attest that his vision and other intangibles that separate Chris Paul from the pack are there. He sees the floor like a true floor general and will be a great starting point guard someday. However, I don't think he'll reach the type of superstardom that CP3 is at.