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Trey Burke is getting rave reviews for his play in college this year, but there's something that seems weird to me. His status as a prospect is typically outside of the lottery, indicative of someone who just doesn't have the ability to translate their POY-level college impact to the pros, while at the same time drawing comparisons to the Rolls Royce of current NBA point guards in Chris Paul.

A couple articles along these lines:

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... chris-paul
http://www.sbnation.com/2012/12/28/3805 ... draft-2012

What are your thoughts on Burke and the apparent discrepancy?

Well comparisons are in the eye of the beholder - it's easy to find the similarities to Paul in Burke's game, but just as easy, if not easier to make a DJ Augustin comparison. I tend to think with comparisons that once they start getting used as evidence for why a player will succeed (ie. there's a combo guard who gets called Jason Terry and a 6'8 SF who gets called Shawn Marion, almost every year), that can lead to some mistakes, as it's usually not the style of play that makes someone succeed but how good they are at it

I've followed him and been a big supporter of his all year. I don't think many nba teams look at draft boards and I do not believe they would take many players over Burke Several of the draft boards have MCW over him cause he started with the sexy 11 apg now that it has cooled off to 9 they should start to notice the 4 turnovers aa game compared to burkes sub 2. As well as the fact that Burke has higher usage and shoots at a way higher clip

The Chris Paul comparison is tough, if I had to compare him to someone right now it would be Damian Lillard , and from what I've heard of burkes work ethic and seen in his improvements ( low hs recruit - big ten fresh of year with zeller - my pick player of the year ) I think he can surpass Lillard and I doubt gms miss that potential

i think people are just too fixated on his size and not on his ability or impact.
i also think people need to be awed by some physical characteristic or aspect of athleticism. although he is very fast in the open court, he's not blindingly quick in the halfcourt, rather relying on change of speed and direction as well as ball screens.

there are some resemblances b/t he and cp3s game, but the difference in quickness is enough to put cp3 in a whole other tier.

Burke has NBA talent, but he's still a shoot first pg. Michigan has three great shooters in Stauskas, Robinson, and Hardaway. Those three shot 17-27 from the floor in the last Illinois game. Burke took 19 shots (7-19) while Stauskas had the next highest total with 10. Burke should be averging more than 5 assists a game with the shooters he has. That's one reason why I like MCW over Burke.

Johnlac1 wrote:Burke has NBA talent, but he's still a shoot first pg. Michigan has three great shooters in Stauskas, Robinson, and Hardaway. Those three shot 17-27 from the floor in the last Illinois game. Burke took 19 shots (7-19) while Stauskas had the next highest total with 10. Burke should be averging more than 5 assists a game with the shooters he has. That's one reason why I like MCW over Burke.

you keep repeating that he's shoot first and you're wrong every single time.
he's neither shoot first nor pass first.

and he is averaging more than 5 assists a game. he's averaging 7 with the highest A/T ratio and pure point rating in america among legit nba prospects. if he keeps up his pace he'll be the first PG in the B1G to avg 18/7 since magic johnson.

Kemba

I don't think Burke is nearly as good as CP3. CP3 has a crazy passing ability, while Burke is undersized and doesn't have near the ability as CP3 does. He could be a steal if he falls out of the lottery though. If I was him, I would stay in school after this year, just to help his draft stock.

Burke is certainly an efficient player and I'm sure he'll find himself a decent spot in the league. But his playmaking skills are nowhere near Chris Paul's. They're good, but CP3 is a master at that. Also defensively, I don't think Burke will make the impact Paul does in the NBA on that end.

Burke is a great offensive player. He does take too many long 2's at times (on Pick and Rolls), but that can be coached out of his game, and he's shown incredible improvement and willingness to learn, which is why he's gone from being a 3 star prospect not recruited by his local big team (OSU) to a top 5 player in college basketball.

Michigan's offensive is incredible. Easily the best in the country, and he runs the show. That matters for a PG. Give me a primary ballhandler whose team puts up great offensive numbers over one who puts up great individual numbers but whose team's offense isn't as efficient.

I don't think he's quite the athlete (1 less steal per game) or shooter (FT, Midrange or 3pt shooter) Chris Paul was entering the league, but he's improved massively over the last 2 years and I see no reason that should stop anytime soon.

I think the better comparison is someone like Kyle Lowry or Mike Conley, who are good at most offensive things without being dominant. Except I think Burke takes care of the ball even better and is a little more comfortable as a scorer than those guys were in college. And he lacks their gifts defensively. Day 1 in the NBA he'll be starter quality on offense and bad on D. The question for him will be can he get to average on D without being extremely quick (his strength is underrated) and can he cut out the little bit of poor shot selection.

But bottom line: http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player ... trey-burke
He's put up more points on better shooting from the line, 3pt land and inside the arc while racking up more assists on less turnovers. He made a massive leap unheralded HS junior to a great HS point guard, then he was a very good Freshman PG and as a sophomore might be the best player in the country. I don't think he's Chris Paul, but I do think he'd start, right now, Sacramento, Detroit, Utah, Dallas or Miami. His advanced stats (130 ortg) are so high I definitely see a team like that trading up to get into the low teens and snag him.

Obviously he's not going to be Chris Paul but what is stopping him from being a top 7-8 pick and a potential top 10 PG in the NBA?

Burke struck me as more of a Terrell Brandon than a Chris Paul

crazybranman360 wrote:Obviously he's not going to be Chris Paul but what is stopping him from being a top 7-8 pick and a potential top 10 PG in the NBA?

Exactly. And he's not small; he's short. If height was all that matters for size, we wouldn't have been watching Ray Rice in the Super Bowl. I don't think size is going to be a limiting factor for him in the NBA - any more than it is for Chris Paul. Nice post by Ell Curry.

Ruzious wrote:

crazybranman360 wrote:Obviously he's not going to be Chris Paul but what is stopping him from being a top 7-8 pick and a potential top 10 PG in the NBA?

Exactly. And he's not small; he's short. If height was all that matters for size, we wouldn't have been watching Ray Rice in the Super Bowl. I don't think size is going to be a limiting factor for him in the NBA - any more than it is for Chris Paul. Nice post by Ell Curry.

What does football have to do with basketball? Weird comparison

http://shutupandjam.net/draft-rankings/

This guy has Burke rated #2 for projected career NBA +/- (He said career RAPM on APBRmetrics)

23-7 wrote:

Ruzious wrote:

crazybranman360 wrote:Obviously he's not going to be Chris Paul but what is stopping him from being a top 7-8 pick and a potential top 10 PG in the NBA?

Exactly. And he's not small; he's short. If height was all that matters for size, we wouldn't have been watching Ray Rice in the Super Bowl. I don't think size is going to be a limiting factor for him in the NBA - any more than it is for Chris Paul. Nice post by Ell Curry.

What does football have to do about basketball? Weird comparison

Wow.

burke is really skilled but he does everything on slightly lower level than chris paul..to be compared to paul. hes also not jet quick nor explosive for a smaller guard..which i think is the reason hes not as highly regarded rather than his lack of size.

Just like ray rice, lol

Burke is getting locked down tonight by Craft. It has been a clinic by him defensively.

jman3134 wrote:Burke is getting locked down tonight by Craft. It has been a clinic by him defensively.

Trey Burke went 6-12 and 4-7 from three. He also had 8 assist and 2 steals compared with 2 turnovers. Bothered may have been better word choice than "locked down".