Devan Downey (Free agent rookie????)

dejaman · Post #1 » by **dejaman** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:00 am

This guy has huge cajones and absolutely owned John Wall. Please spare us the size issue because size cost us Ty Lawson in last years draft and Chris Paul in 04.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhbObiRpvk&feature=related[/youtube]

HoopsGuru25 · Post #2 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:02 am

How did size cost us Ty Lawson?

dejaman · Post #3 » by **dejaman** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:07 am

The knock on Ty Lawson was his size and outside shooting and several teams including the Hawks passed on him. He also shot 41% 3pt.....

azuresou1 · Post #4 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:10 am

18. Ty Lawson
19. Jeff Teague

What?

dejaman · Post #5 » by **dejaman** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:14 am

Huh?
Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn, Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague

I though this thread was about Devan Downey?

azuresou1 · Post #6 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:16 am

Senior PG who averaged 3.5 assists and had a .51 TS%. The highlight mix wasn't bad, but everyone can have a good highlight mix. I'll take the stats available on his production instead.

Training camp invite? Sure, why not? Actually signing him? Not so sure on that one.

dejaman · Post #7 » by **dejaman** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:22 am

I guess you don't watch much SEC basketball. He averaged 22ppg because SC just wasn't very good offensively and relied heavily on his scoring ability. I think he is worth an invite to camp. The Hawks can use guys with heart that perform in big games.

parson · Post #8 » by **parson** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:27 am

HoopsGuru25 wrote:How did size cost us Ty Lawson?

Forget it, he's on a roll.

Don't you remember? We turned down Lawson right after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor...

parson · Post #9 » by **parson** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:29 am

As a Gamecock fan, let me tell y'all, Devan Downey is a great basketball player: faaaaast, quicker than a hiccup, a fine shooter, can get his own shot, is a really good teammate, plays fantastic defense...

.... and is no taller than 5'9" and skinny.

azuresou1 · Post #10 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:39 am

Can he be a Nate or Muggsy?

parson · Post #11 » by **parson** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:57 am

azuresou1 wrote:Can he be a Nate or Muggsy?

He's not a sky walker like Nate Robinson but he's better in all other ways. Muggsy Bogues was a more mature player; Downey plays too fast sometimes but, on the other hand, Muggsy was never the guy who you could trust to get open and take the last-minute shot -- Downey cannot be stopped from getting open.

The kid is a fine player. The only problem is that he's very frail. I don't know how he'd survive an entire season. He'd be as good as Ty Lawson - and maybe better - in small doses, however.

I just read the nbadraft.net profile of him. You can trust most of it, except for this one really poor evaluation, a mistake the writer probably made by looking at his #s instead of his actual play: he wrote, "Does not like pressure and double-teams too much." That is absolute tripe. In reality, the Gamecocks never passed against pressure defenses but rather, they gave the ball to Downey and got out of his way. The guy is unstoppable on the open court. He's just too fast and quick.

azuresou1 · Post #12 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:25 am

Better than Nate? I'm a little dubious, Nate is torching the Lakers in a Finals game as we speak.

Anyways, let's hope he gets a training camp invite and we'll see.

parson · Post #13 » by **parson** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:34 am

Well, I AM a Gamecock fan, so I may be a teensy bit prejudiced.

But, again, please hear the qualifier: Downey is frail. I've been to the games; I've stood beside him and, let me tell you, the guy is not well-built.

But he does have major heart.

azuresou1 · Post #14 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:46 am

I'm not worried about frame. Allen Iverson was 5'11 at best, but he still had a HoF career. Obviously, my expectations are significantly lower, but I think a quick scoring guard off the bench could be invaluable.

parson · Post #15 » by **parson** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:49 am

Oh, you'd love the kid as long as you don't play him too many minutes.

He would also really push Teague.

azuresou1 · Post #16 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:08 am

I'm actually not worried about Teague. In his interview he seemed to have the right attitude, and I think he has the talent and drive to be an above-average starter in the league.

One thing that concerns me is that he had more TOs than assists his senior year. What's the deal?

HoopsGuru25 · Post #17 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:21 am

If you're going to draft someone 5'9...let it be someone that has a true shooting percentage higher than 51%.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zHBQ354L8U&feature=related[/youtube]

td00 · Post #18 » by **td00** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 2:57 pm

As a UK fan, I agree, UK never really had an answer for him. Did he do the same to the rest of the league? Early on, he was USC. It appears like Parson said, he may have worn down as the season progressed.
But if you want someone who likes the ball in his hands at game's end, you gotta see if there is interest.
We need a spark off the bench to create a tempo for what we are doing. Downey would be on my list, even as a 2nd rounder.
Has anyone heard about his workouts so far?

And HG25 has a valid point. I would like to see these 2 go head-2-head in pre-draft workouts.