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Rivers hit the big shot last night...he is pretty good, but how good?

Would you like the Jazz to draft him? We will probably have 1 pick between 8-14.

We need a guard......I would pick him at 12-14.

Of course, I would pick Lamb or Beal first.

Is Rivers worth the 14th pick???

Yes..He fits in really well but I have a feeling is dropping draft value starts going up again and he gets picked in top 5.

He's not good and no one has him projected to go in the lottery. Getting hot in one TV game doesn't make someone good. He's a terrible terrible decision maker and Corbin wouldn't play him just like how he's not playing Burks.

He has terrible shot selection (and great talent). I'd rather go with someone like Beal/Lamb/Marshall/Craft than Rivers. In fact, I'd be pretty upset if we drafted him.

babyjax13 wrote:He has terrible shot selection (and great talent). I'd rather go with someone like Beal/Lamb/Marshall/Craft than Rivers. In fact, I'd be pretty upset if we drafted him.

Ditto.

Some guys have rough transitions to the college game and are better suited for the NBA style of basketball. Rivers seems like one of those guys. Grew up around NBA guys, taught the NBA game by his dad, won't be surprised if he ends up a much better NBA guy than college guy.

Bat wrote:Some guys have rough transitions to the college game and are better suited for the NBA style of basketball. Rivers seems like one of those guys. Grew up around NBA guys, taught the NBA game by his dad, won't be surprised if he ends up a much better NBA guy than college guy.

I don't see anything about Rivers' game that is more suited to the NBA than college. College is all about gunner guards.

I think he's a Ben Gordon clone, which is a great pick up after 8.

Not in this draft.

If you get Ben Gordon past the number 8 in any draft you did amazingly well. The guy is a career 17/3/3 on 43/40/86 percentages.

Don't confuse a terrible contract with him being a bad player because he isn't. He just isn't living up to his money.

Gordon got 26 MPG on a 30 win team last year and might be one of the worst players on a bottom 4 team in the league this year. He contributes absolutely nothing other than streaky shooting and is just a bench player and not that great of one. I would rather have a player like Lamb who can exist in an offense or a player like Henson who could be Camby-esque than a gunner like Rivers who probably won't ever start on a good team because his shot selection and defense and rebounding and passing are too terrible.

I'm not saying he's at the top of my draft board, I'm just saying I think he'll be a better player in the league than most people think after his first 20 college games. If he declares, I think he will end up a top 10 pick though, especially if Duke has any run in them during March.

I am convinced Rivers could be a scoring PG on offense. But has anyone seen him defend quick PG's?

Can he do it?

qman wrote:I am convinced Rivers could be a scoring PG on offense. But has anyone seen him defend quick PG's?

Can he do it?

He's never averaged more than two assists per game in either college or high school. He has no PG tendencies.

Yes, he's an undersized SG with a nice handle. I wouldn't even call him a combo guard, really. He's a pure 2.

And I don't like him. He thinks he's better than he really is, and those guys are always frustrating to have on your team. I would much rather grab Henson, Beal, Young or Lamb over him.

You guys are really underestimating rivers. Hes got phenomenal scoring instincts, ability to draw fouls, and an absurd first step. He's incredibly dynamic off the dribble, he has far more in common with a guy like monta Ellis or wade. He's also improved game by game all year, and will be one of the best players in the country by march.

Don't be foolish and talk about taking guys like craft, or Marshall over him, that's just silly. Craft can't score and Marshall can't operate in the halfcourt. And that's not even getting into the bad defense, awful shooting and lack of offensive aggression.

Rivers has a lot of potential, but wretched shot selection. He makes really poor decisions on the court....sure, he might turn into the next Iverson/Ellis type player, but he could also be Tyrone Lue.

That's a ridiculous claim. Rivers has so much more talent than Lue did. Rivers was the most gifted HS scorer I've seen since durant. You're also overblowing his bad shot selection. He struggled with forcing shots on the drive and kick to start the season, but has improved significantly since then. Also factor in that he's duke's only option to create off the bounce late in the clock or in ISO situations and it explains some of his bad decisions at times.

I think you're really over thinking in your analysis of rivers and focusing too much o his weaknesses rather than looking at things he's going to be really good at.

He's really hard to get a straight read on but I would for sure take a look at him around the 14-20 range if he's still on the board. It really depends on who else is left when you're on the clock; if it's Kendall Marshall vs Austin Rivers, I would probably take the chance on Rivers over KM but if someone like Lamb, Beal, Miller, Jones, etc. is still there then I would take them.

mattg wrote:That's a ridiculous claim. Rivers has so much more talent than Lue did. Rivers was the most gifted HS scorer I've seen since durant. You're also overblowing his bad shot selection. He struggled with forcing shots on the drive and kick to start the season, but has improved significantly since then. Also factor in that he's duke's only option to create off the bounce late in the clock or in ISO situations and it explains some of his bad decisions at times.

I think you're really over thinking in your analysis of rivers and focusing too much o his weaknesses rather than looking at things he's going to be really good at.

Well, Lue was more of a pure point guard.....

What I see is Monta Ellis lite, but I'm not sure I want that on my team. He's a great penetrator and a good shooter, but his play raises a lot of red flags that I'm not sure I would be able to get past. If he is available between 13-20 I'd be willing to take a chance on him, otherwise I'd rather see who else is out there.