DJ Augustin - A Rookie Retrospective

[BigSlam]

Great stuff:

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/NBA-Co ... ustin-3096

Part One: Point Guard Skills & Decision Making

Part Two: Scoring Ability

Part Three: Athleticism

Part Four: Defense

Part Five: Intangibles (Leadership & Poise)

[Walt Cronkite]

Required reading, Bassman!

[Dexmor]

They agree he needs to hit the weight room hard. He needs to have a Jameer Nelson type body. It was still very stupid and Larry Brownish passing on Lopez but at least they didn't take anybody else because after Lopez he was the best left.

[fatlever]

we really couldnt have gone wrong at 9. it was lopez, dj or maybe bayless. all would have been good picks for us.

[Dexmor]

Bayless, that's right. Bayless would have been a much better fit for us. He could have played the 2 if we kept Felton and the pg if we traded him.
Lopez would have been the center we need but we went with a pg the position we don't need.
Wow we really did drop the ball on this draft at 9 and 20. The only spot we can draft well at is at #2. I say #2 and not 1 because MJ was the man who drafted Kwame Brown.

Like I said before we need to just trade all of our picks away because if we use them we lose them.
At least DJ is a solid player. It could have been worse. I could only imagine how Knicks fans feel right now.


IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Walt Cronkite]

I guess I should've known better when I saw a thread about a player we drafted that it would inevitably become a draft mistakes rant...

[Dexmor]

Well a spade is a spade right. Maybe when we get a draft right we don't have to worry about these things. Besides before reading weren't you expecting it to say this kid has all the potential to become a star or something along those lines? It says he can be a solid starter. You don't pass on a possible franchise center for a solid starter or a guy like Bayless even.

[Bassman]

Required reading, Bassman!

Indeed, a very good analysis Walt. I think they do a good job SWOT of college and pro (season to date). My concerns with DJ are their concerns, and particularly in his potential to improve in those weaker areas they noted:

SHOOTING - particularly his pull up jumper, and the challenge of his height on finishing, were known issues. While his shooting percentage has to improve, it's hard to see this becoming a strength.

ATHLETICISM - while DJ can get stronger his speed and quickness are average, and his height will always be a challenge.

DEFENSE - they describe DJ as an average on-ball defender, which isn't bad, but isn't a difference maker either.

DJ's weakest areas don't seem to have a big chance for upside improvement. Having said that I believe his strengths in directing a team, BB-IQ, passing, will improve further and ultimately help this team. He will be a good player, and at times a really good player. So is, and will, Mario Chalmers, who I happen to think has a bigger upside potential.

[fatlever]

hey bass... should i just create and sticky a thread called "Bass Vents about the Bobcats Draft"?

[Walt Cronkite]

Dex-how often do teams "get a draft right"? Pretty much 3-5 years after any draft every team can go back and say "AHHH! WE SHOULD'VE TAKEN ______!!!! IDIOTS!"

Dex pt 2- You didn't post here during the McInnis reign of terror. It was horrible, a truly traumatic experience--I'm still seeing a psychiatrist about it. Having two starter caliber pgs is a good thing. Competition breeds excellence.

Bassman and Dex-We have a franchise center. He gets little respect around here, but that position is spoken for. For as much as you guys bitch about Ajinça, he has potential to be an NBA starting caliber PF that perfectly compliments Okafor, a core player that we're committed to. Lopez would give us a backup big better than Mohammed or Diop, but never good enough to surpass Okafor. You guys would be lambasting Felton after every bad night he has and talking about how we should've taken a pg to compete with or replace him since we just leave Brook on the bench and limit his minutes since he doesn't work with our franchise big...

[Dexmor]

Dex-how often do teams "get a draft right"? Pretty much 3-5 years after any draft every team can go back and say "AHHH! WE SHOULD'VE TAKEN ______!!!! IDIOTS!"

Dex pt 2- You didn't post here during the McInnis reign of terror. It was horrible, a truly traumatic experience--I'm still seeing a psychiatrist about it. Having two starter caliber pgs is a good thing. Competition breeds excellence.

Bassman and Dex-We have a franchise center. He gets little respect around here, but that position is spoken for. For as much as you guys bitch about Ajinça, he has potential to be an NBA starting caliber PF that perfectly compliments Okafor, a core player that we're committed to. Lopez would give us a backup big better than Mohammed or Diop, but never good enough to surpass Okafor. You guys would be lambasting Felton after every bad night he has and talking about how we should've taken a pg to compete with or replace him since we just leave Brook on the bench and limit his minutes since he doesn't work with our franchise big...

Every team of course can say the should have picked somebody else. Not every team blows it bigtime 99% of the time. Were talking about a team that has only gotten it right once. 1 time when they have had what 8 first round picks? The only right pick was Mek and when they traded there pick. That's pathetic.

And I don't know know if you knew this or not but Mek is not exactly a pure center. He is 6'10 in shoes, they want him to play PF and were looking for a Center and when you have a guy who can play pf easily and maybe should why not go with twin towers over 2 pg's so nobody knows really what direction there going with.
You really think if Lopez was here he would play backup C? He would play next to Mek. Maybe not right away but the future would be Lopez,Mek,Wallace or if they still made the trade Lopez,Mek,Diaw.

Your defending the FO's move. So you would have taken DJ and Lexi over Lopez and Chalmbers? That's how it sounds.
You think it's better to have to pg's 5'10 and 6 feet then a 7 foot Center and a 6'10 C/PF.
They didn't not get a steal like Manu that nobody saw they even choose Lopez but LB begged for DJ.
The only worse gm then MJ is maybe LB. Larry Brown is a great coach but sucks as a gm and MJ just flat out sucks as a gm.
Do try and make excuses for them is homerism at it's most pathetic.

[Walt Cronkite]

Considering you were on your knees hoping to get a sniff of Felton's jock two nights ago, I find it odd that after a bad night we all of a sudden have only made one correct pick in the first round in eight tries. Also (and I know this was before your time but still), a lot of us felt like Dudley was BPA at pick 22 in his draft.

I don't know if you knew this or not, but have you ever seen Emeka play? I ask this because you seem to think he's a PF for some bizarre reason. Why is that, exactly? His money jumper? His ability to guard rangy players? The go-to post moves? His hi-lo skills? What's even more bizarre though, is that you reference the FO for the reason he should be moved to PF and Lopez would've worked alongside him at the center spot. Hypocritical much, because I'm pretty sure this is the same FO you rip on whenever you get the opportunity.

I'd rather be a homer than someone that regular posters on this board think is a troll...

[thruthefire]

Okafor and Lopez would not have been a long term solution at the 4 and 5. They don't compliment each other nearly enough. Diaw and Okafor at the 4 and 5 is a long term solution. When you factor in Gerald at the 3, we have a better frontcourt than most teams.

With that said, Lopez wouldn't have been a bad pick (as everyone on this board agrees). But neither was Augustin. The only reason at this point I would take Lopez over Augustin is because we just traded for a guy who does half the stuff Lopez does, but for more than twice the money.

Now, I think Augustin and Felton give us a great duo in the backcourt. One that can stay together for the next 3 years, if the Bobcats so choose. Right now, I would take Felton over Augustin. But Augustin will be a big time scorer in this league, I don't know were Lopez will end up.

[thruthefire]

I think people who characterize the FO as bad "drafters" are simply hanging on to the fact that they drafted Adam Morrison at 3. Had we drafted Roy, no one would be complaining about our other picks.