Trevor Booker

[go'stags]

Oh, and my footage of the game last night was very grainy, but I believe he forced Love to miss a layup last night with his shot challenge. That was a combination of his strength making a player uncomfortable and his wingspan.

[sfam]

Booker's two consecutive dunks in last it's game occurred right in front of me (OK, like 30 feet in front of me). He turned a dead crowd into a rowdy, standing crowd who in turn gave the Wizards an extra spark. Was awesome to see - definitely my highlight of the season so far.

[Silvie Lysandra]

Here's an absolute upside possibility for Booker - Gerald Wallace.

Wallace came into the NBA as an undersized but athletic tweener who was long, but didn't have SF skills. He eventually learned those skills and became a very productive starter for the Cats.

[nate33]

Here's an absolute upside possibility for Booker - Gerald Wallace.

Wallace came into the NBA as an undersized but athletic tweener who was long, but didn't have SF skills. He eventually learned those skills and became a very productive starter for the Cats.

Or Josh Smith.

[MF23]

That's definitely impressive

I mentioned earlier in this thread that Booker is a player and I'm glad he's finally getting an opportunity.

He did something a few weeks ago that made Dwight Howard jump off the bench. When you make the other team do that your doing something good.

[Wizards2Lottery]

He seems to be growing out of his shell. I wasn't impressed with his play at all in summer league or early in the season. For a supposed energy guy, he looked extremely timid on the court.

I wonder just how good if he can be if he develops a respectable perimeter shot.

[Halcyon]

He seems to be growing out of his shell. I wasn't impressed with his play at all in summer league or early in the season. For a supposed energy guy, he looked extremely timid on the court.

I wonder just how good if he can be if he develops a respectable perimeter shot.

It wasn't so much of a shell, it was more like he was being utilized in a way he never was in his life, as a perimeter player. I think he even said so himself, that he had to learn how to be in different spots on the floor, asked to do different things. He's now more comfortable and is showing what he had shown all throughout his college career.

I also believe his jumper will improve to be a respectable 15-18 ft jumper. That's usually something that improves as the years go by.

[Ruzious]

I think the comparisons are going way overboard. Booker is a great straigh-ahead athlete, but I don't see the side to side quickness and fluidity that you see in the talented athletic forwards in the NBA - like a Josh Smith or Matrix and Gerald Wallace in their primes. If you watched the NY football Giants last season - he has the Brandon Jacobs straight ahead speed, but he doesn't have the Ahmad Bradshaw shiftiness.

[tontoz]

Here's an absolute upside possibility for Booker - Gerald Wallace.

Wallace came into the NBA as an undersized but athletic tweener who was long, but didn't have SF skills. He eventually learned those skills and became a very productive starter for the Cats.

Or Josh Smith.

Smith is a good comparison. The only athletic advantage that Smith has over Booker is hops. Booker jumps well but Smith is on another level. But Smith doesn't have Booker's quickness or strength. Smith struggled when he was starting at the 3 because 3s would routinely blow past him.

Smith jumper has been horrible for years. This is the first year that his EFG% on jumpers has been over 40%. Last year it was 28%, unbelievably bad.

One thing Booker needs to learn is how to score in the post. Smith worked with Hakeem one summer and has become a decent player in the post. Booker doesn't look comfortable playing with his back to the basket. He might be better off just facing guys up and driving.

[fugop]

I have a huge man crush on this guys at the moment, but want to temper expectations. The worst case scenario is pretty bad: Renaldo Balkman.

http://bkref.com/tiny/UojSM

Balkman's first season was promising, and strikingly statistically similar to Booker. He's since done nothing.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Balkman never looked like the athlete Booker is. I've been really impressed with Booker's strength and speed.

[tontoz]

Balkman is an inch shorter than Booker and weighed 30 pounds less at the combine.

[fugop]

So Balkman was too small? His wingspan was wider and standing reach comparable (an inch shorter, iirc). Balkman was definitely lighter, though, at least his first year, and wasn't as effective maintaining interior position.

Nonetheless, their first years are remarkably statistically similar, and their measurements are closer than anyone else mentioned to date.

[go'stags]

I also have a huge man crush on him right now.

However, even with my fondess for him I don't see him being able to guard SFs consistently, nor ever being skilled enough to play it offensively. Ruz, i don't know if you were commenting on his quicks in regards to SFs or just overall, but he would be probably the quickest PF laterally in the league IMO-Def in the top 5. It's fine if we just disagree here.

[hands11]

Stronger than G Wallace and way better a dude to have on your team.

Regarding points, Wallace was a slow developing player.
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/i ... ld-wallace

First we have to see if he can develop an outside shot. Then we can compare.

But I like what he does so far.

They are just starting to give him real opportunities. He should do well. Then teams will adjust. Then the season will get near ending.

But what he won't do is back down to anyone or stop fighting. He has a motor like Love. Love was kind of wowed by his effort and leaps. Said he got off on the 10th floor and Spice got off to the 12th.

Nice.

Booker is looking more and more like a great pick. Just what we needed. To bad he didn't get to bang with James Singleton. That would have been and assume vet to rookie pairing.

[Ruzious]

I also have a huge man crush on him right now.

However, even with my fondess for him I don't see him being able to guard SFs consistently, nor ever being skilled enough to play it offensively. Ruz, i don't know if you were commenting on his quicks in regards to SFs or just overall, but he would be probably the quickest PF laterally in the league IMO-Def in the top 5. It's fine if we just disagree here.

This is how I'd word it - he's got very good defensive reactions, but as far as offensive basketball movement - he doesn't move laterally. He's strictly north/south. There's no wiggle in his game.

He's also very left-handed. Teams will adjust to that.

[miller31time]

In his prime, I see Booker as a good role player. A player who can be a starter on a bad team but a 7th or 8th man on a really good team.

[hands11]

I also have a huge man crush on him right now.

However, even with my fondess for him I don't see him being able to guard SFs consistently, nor ever being skilled enough to play it offensively. Ruz, i don't know if you were commenting on his quicks in regards to SFs or just overall, but he would be probably the quickest PF laterally in the league IMO-Def in the top 5. It's fine if we just disagree here.

This is how I'd word it - he's got very good defensive reactions, but as far as offensive basketball movement - he doesn't move laterally. He's strictly north/south. There's no wiggle in his game.

He's also very left-handed. Teams will adjust to that.

His left handedness seem to be an advantage. Most teams are not used to that.

And with his leaps, he has he left hand on their shooting arm which seem to be an advantage. Mean while, how many player are going to be able to adjust to his left hand on the fly when 95% plus of the NBA are right handed. Would be a nice stat to know.

[Ruzious]

I also have a huge man crush on him right now.

However, even with my fondess for him I don't see him being able to guard SFs consistently, nor ever being skilled enough to play it offensively. Ruz, i don't know if you were commenting on his quicks in regards to SFs or just overall, but he would be probably the quickest PF laterally in the league IMO-Def in the top 5. It's fine if we just disagree here.

This is how I'd word it - he's got very good defensive reactions, but as far as offensive basketball movement - he doesn't move laterally. He's strictly north/south. There's no wiggle in his game.

He's also very left-handed. Teams will adjust to that.

His left handedness seem to be an advantage. Most teams are not used to that.

And with his leaps, he has he left hand on their shooting arm which seem to be an advantage. Mean while, how many player are going to be able to adjust to his left hand on the fly when 95% plus of the NBA are right handed. Would be a nice stat to know.

That's sorta what I'm saying. It's an advantage now - because most NBA players have hardly played against him. The more minutes he plays, the more opposing players will adjust to that - and that's no longer going to be the advantage that it is now.

[miller31time]

That's sorta what I'm saying. It's an advantage now - because most NBA players have hardly played against him. The more minutes he plays, the more opposing players will adjust to that - and that's no longer going to be the advantage that it is now.

Not just players adjusting but coaches adjusting. Right now, they probably don't focus much on gameplanning against Trevor Booker but if he keeps stringing together some good games and solidifies himself as a consistent role player for this team, opposing scouts and coaches will quickly see what to take away from him.