College players thread/ Draft Related thread

[invno1]

I hope the Timberwolves stay clear of Thabeet, The Pro game is played much faster than college, I would take Curry in a heartbeat despite all the doubts scouts have. I also like Harden. I really think Foyes window is soon closing and that will help the Timberwolves and the Roy vs Foye thing, Timberwolves gotta get past that.

[big3_8_19_21]

1. Thabeet's athleticism is much more impressive for his size/position than Curry's for his size/position and yet you use a faster paced pro game as your reasoning for wanting Curry?
2. I think everybody has pretty much accepted that Roy is way better than Foye.

[invno1]

This is all just my opinion

Thabeet just dosent get it from what Ive seen...He will be a good rebounder after he ajusts. Just seems soft and been in school for how long?

Curry is not a twig.
.

[ChazzleDazzle]

I'm probably going to get killed for this, and admittedly, I've mostly seen him play in the Pac-10 and NCAA Tourneys, but the guy Harden reminds me of the most is...

...JR Rider.

I can't count the number of times he touched the ball, refused to give it up, drove into a double team and turned it over.

If y'all have seen him a lot more and think I'm way off, I'll trust you. But he scares me.

I'm a heady & crafty plymaker , you stupid putz!!!

Good point. And well argued. I stand corrected. Unless you count the last 6-7 games...

[tim_]

Wow, other Wolves fans interested in the draft, how odd lol.


I've been doing a lot of studying of potential prospects, and Rubio and Harden seem to be my favorite options as of right now. They both have star written all over them, and for different reasons. Harden reminds me of Mayo in certain ways. Both are cold blooded killers offensively, and can really come through to close a game. Plus, he's a very good defender, does not get burned by any means. He knows how to distribute the ball, and not get caught up in his own shot, he's a team player. And then Rubio, oh man. Watching game videos of him (which are different from the highlights) make me wonder how good we can be if this kid's game evolves at the next level. He really knows how to play the game of basketball, plain and simple. If he does end up declaring, and Harden is gone, Rubio must be taken. Al-Farouq Aminu interests me as well, but I haven't researched him at all yet, so I'm not too sure on him. Some people would say that Thabeet is a must-have because of his defense, which we badly need, but I don't want to have to deal with 3 bigs in Al, Love and Thabeet that all deserve to start. One will want to go.

Now, we have quite a few other picks as well. If we do end up not taking a point guard with our first overall selection, players like Jeff Teague (although it's not likley he will be there) and Ty Lawson would definitely interest me. My only concern with Teague is that he is not the natural point guard that guys like Rubio and Jennings (who I would like if certain guys were already off the board) are, but he can definitely score the ball. Lawson has amazing strength and can get to the hoop. He knows how to distribute the ball and play like a point guard too. He would be a nice addition to a squad who badly needs a new starting point guard.

With our last pick in the first round, Boston's pick, I say we look for a big man who can play defense, sort of a poor-man's Thabeet. I haven't looked too deep in this draft yet, but someone like Jerome Jordan from Tulsa would definitely fit the criteria.

[big3_8_19_21]

This is all just my opinion

Thabeet just dosent get it from what Ive seen...He will be a good rebounder after he ajusts. Just seems soft and been in school for how long?

Curry is not a twig.
.

Fair enough. However, Thabeet has improved drastically each year in school and there's no reason to think he won't continue to improve at an impressive rate. Also, I don't know that I would call Thabeet a twig. He's no Shaq/D12, but 7'3" and 265 lb is no twig. Granted, he gets outmuscled too much, and needs to use better leverage and maybe bulk up some more, but he's no Corey Brewer twig. Curry is no bulkier for his position than Thabeet is for his if we are just arguing twiggy-ness.

[wolves_fan_82au]

Mills taking it to curry
both had great games

Mills
9-22
1-10 from 3
23 points
10 assists - im sure its a career high(doesnt surprise me at all given hes a big game player)
1 turnover - 10 assists 1 turnover i like that
1 steal
1 block

Curry
11-27
4-10 from 3 - not bad
9 rebounds - impressive
5 assists - thought he would of got more
2 steals
6 turonvers - pathetic

pretty even game for both guys and im thinking we should pick one up with the miami pick
even if we do get rubio(he will need a backup telfair to me doesnt cut it)

i dunno why though on peoples draft theres such a huge gap between curry and mills though esp since mills has played well against guys like paul,Kidd aand williams

[Worm Guts]

I'm probably going to get killed for this, and admittedly, I've mostly seen him play in the Pac-10 and NCAA Tourneys, but the guy Harden reminds me of the most is...

...JR Rider.

I can't count the number of times he touched the ball, refused to give it up, drove into a double team and turned it over.

If y'all have seen him a lot more and think I'm way off, I'll trust you. But he scares me.

That's the opposite of what I saw in the PAC-10 championship. He spent the first half not shooting and setting up other players. He forced a little bit at the end of the game, but he is their best player and should be taking the big shots.
I didn't watch the Syracuse game, but from the boxscore it looks like he was too passive, not too aggressive. He only took 10 shots, 5 of them three pointers, and he only had 2 turnovers.

[Devilzsidewalk]

re: Harden, there's not many players that can put up quality numbers against that kind of defensive attention. When you're a one man team, good teams are going to stifle you and you can either throw up bricks or pass the ball and try to get an open shot.

Same as Indiana down the stretch last year, Indiana was bounced from the Big 10 tournament and the first round of the NCAAs because teams just forced Eric Gordon to either give it up or take heavily contested shots, difference is Gordon doesn't pass so he just kept throwing up bricks. One good high lottery guard and a decent 1st round bubble bigman just like AZ state. Gordon looks pretty solid now though and so would Harden if he gets to play with Al Jefferson, Foye, Love and the gang. If MN can get Harden, they should count their blessings.

[Winter Wonder]

Thabeet just dosent get it from what Ive seen...He will be a good rebounder after he ajusts. Just seems soft and been in school for how long?

.

Just to point out here, Thabeet hasn't been playing basketball very long. Has it been about five years? Not saying that your wrong about what he gets/understands or not, but he hasn't been playing/learning the game for the same time period as your normal college player.

That being said, he has grown by massive leaps and bounds; seems to have the work ethic to continue to improve; and, given more time and good teachers, could continue to vastly improve his game and understanding. Again, he adds a different dimension to this team, something that I don't believe the Wolves have ever truly had, an intimidating paint presence on the defensive end.

[invno1]

Yeah, I am mistaken often. Just what Ive seen I dont like and he very well could surprise down the road. Timberwolves need a player that can bring it, not just vanilla play. Also Griffin might be a lil vanilla as well or over-rated but OKC would be the very best fit for him and yall are right If Timberwolves could get Westbrook and thier pick Timberwolves would have the explosive playmaker, but Green and pick I think could be done easily.

[Worm Guts]

As bad as Thabeet often looks, he's always impacting the game. Opposing guards are afraid to go inside.

[Jonathan Watters]

Now, we have quite a few other picks as well. If we do end up not taking a point guard with our first overall selection, players like Jeff Teague (although it's not likley he will be there) and Ty Lawson would definitely interest me. My only concern with Teague is that he is not the natural point guard that guys like Rubio and Jennings (who I would like if certain guys were already off the board) are, but he can definitely score the ball. Lawson has amazing strength and can get to the hoop. He knows how to distribute the ball and play like a point guard too. He would be a

Honestly, everybody ought to be praying for Teague to come out and then fall to us. He's got a chance to be a big time NBA player, people will fall in love again next season if he does go back to school. It is hard to draft the guy in the top 10 given how he finished his season, but I think anywhere outside of there he's an absolute steal.

[jpatrick]

Interesting stuff in Ford's last article. I know some people think he just throws stuff out there but I enjoy reading his stuff.

Some highlights: at least one scout thinks Griffin is better than either Rose or Beasley; Alridch may be a safer pick than Thabeet and may wind up in the top 10; Evan Turner is good; Derozan and Maynor may go lottery; Harden's struggles could lead scouts to question whether teams have figured him out because he's not a great athlete; and Teague may need another year in school and his draft stock is behind his two Wake teammates.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=TourneyWatch-090323

[Krapinsky]

Now, we have quite a few other picks as well. If we do end up not taking a point guard with our first overall selection, players like Jeff Teague (although it's not likley he will be there) and Ty Lawson would definitely interest me. My only concern with Teague is that he is not the natural point guard that guys like Rubio and Jennings (who I would like if certain guys were already off the board) are, but he can definitely score the ball. Lawson has amazing strength and can get to the hoop. He knows how to distribute the ball and play like a point guard too. He would be a

Honestly, everybody ought to be praying for Teague to come out and then fall to us. He's got a chance to be a big time NBA player, people will fall in love again next season if he does go back to school. It is hard to draft the guy in the top 10 given how he finished his season, but I think anywhere outside of there he's an absolute steal.

When you say "fall to us" it's unclear to me if you are advocating taking Teague with our pick or the Miami pick. The latest prognostications from the Net seem to suggest that the Miami pick is more realistic. To me, Teague just seems like an upgrade to Foye. Starting him would still mean we would have to find a larger PG or a SG who can handle the main ball handling duties.

What do you think Teague's ceiling is as a player? Jason Terry?

[Jonathan Watters]

If he's there at one of the later picks, Teague is a no-brainer. He has Gilbert Arenas-type upside. Truly elite athlete. A risky pick in the mid-lottery, but way more explosive than Foye. The type of player who only gets better in the more wide open style of the NBA...

[Jonathan Watters]

I've been crunching some numbers on the players whose seasons have ended...and there is a name that really sticks out to me - Jeff Pendergraph of Arizona St.

The guy has always passed the look test for an NBA 4-man, and his numbers are off the charts good this year. No his raw averages don't look good, but his efficiency is downright absurd.

Given the fact that he has the basic attributes required to play at an effective level in the NBA, players as efficient as Jeff Pendergraph almost never bust.

My guess is that he's a 10 year player and a part time starter for at least a portion of his career...

And right now he's projected as a 2nd rounder. Hmm...

[deeney0]

DX has some pretty good things to say about Henderson in their blog today
http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonath ... -Mill-3146

[Krapinsky]

I was on the Henderson bandwagon last week, but seeing him play, he looks shorter than 6'5" - closer to Mayo height.

[invno1]

Deeney...There are some realistic reviews there, looks like they are really digging in for info.