Hollinger: Up and Coming Players to Watch

MUpacersSIC · Post #1 » by **MUpacersSIC** » Tue Mar 8, 2011 6:32 pm

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/ ... iem-110308

Up and coming players to watch. Both George and Hansbrough made the list.

"Tyler Hansbrough, Pacers
Hansbrough did virtually nothing the first two months and briefly fell out of the Pacers' rotation entirely, but lately his play has been more encouraging.

One thing new Indiana coach Frank Vogel did was give Hansbrough a consistent role, playing him about half the game off the bench at power forward. That strategy has allowed Hansbrough to play more freely on offense, and he's averaging nearly a point every two minutes on the season and proving adept at drawing fouls. But to be a long-term starter, he needs to raise his shooting percentage from 43.0 percent."

"Paul George, Pacers
If there is one reason to watch the Pacers this year, it's this guy. While the Griffin-Wall-Cousins rookie trio still hogs all the attention, it's become increasingly clear that George was flat-out stolen at No. 10 by Indiana. A long, silky finisher who looks as if he could easily ramp up to the go-to scorer role, George is shooting 56.7 percent on 2-pointers.

His main shortcoming has been that he has taken a ton of 3-pointers and struggles to make them. That talent should develop in time, as his shooting stroke looks solid, and if it does the 20-year-old will be nigh unguardable."

paulgeorge24 · Post #2 » by **paulgeorge24** » Tue Mar 8, 2011 7:30 pm

It sure took the experts a long time to finally figure out how good George is.

*shakes heads at experts*

Starkiller · Post #3 » by **Starkiller** » Tue Mar 8, 2011 8:20 pm

Since the comparison is made so often, can anyone pull up or find an old scouting report of T-Mac in his rookie year and see how similar they are to Paul's?

Draft Master J · Post #4 » by **Draft Master J** » Tue Mar 8, 2011 10:33 pm

Trac McGrady Pre-Draft Profile - USA Today

USA Today wrote:Profile: High school player who first put himself on the map at last summer's ABCD camp, where he was named top player after not being listed among the top 300 national high school players. ... Has the skills to play point guard, shooting guard and small forward and has been compared to Penny Hardaway and Scottie Pippen. ... Must improve strength and needs to learn more nuances to the game, like moving without the ball and playing better defense. ... Is expected to be the fourth high school player taken in the first round in the last three years, joining Kevin Garnett (1995), Kobe Bryant (1996) and Jermaine O'Neal (1996). ... Recently signed a six-year, $12 million sneaker contract with adidas.

Onward Christian Soldier - S.I. Vault (lengthy Sports Illustrated article from February '97)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk-ac0W7VJY[/youtube]

The big difference between the two as prospects is that a young McGrady had the passing and ball-handling skills to be compared to Scottie Pippen, whereas George is still weak in those areas, especially the latter. Their physical attributes (size and athleticism) seem to be remarkably similar, and George is a better scorer than a rookie McGrady, albeit with two years of NCAA experience under his belt.

Indy2thaWindy · Post #5 » by **Indy2thaWindy** » Tue Mar 8, 2011 11:25 pm

I thought PG's perimeter development was behind because up until last year he had been a center his entire life. Would make sense, and if true, then he's came a long way in a short time.

jcodbf2 · Post #6 » by **jcodbf2** » Tue Mar 8, 2011 11:49 pm

Whats going to help Hansbrough is that he will finally have an offseason to actually work on his game instead of trying not to do anything to upset his PCS / Vertigo that he had last season up until the beginning of this year.

He has improved from last year anyway but I hope with all that extra time he can make even bigger strides.

For PG its only a matter of time until his game comes together.

paulgeorge24 · Post #7 » by **paulgeorge24** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 1:10 am

jcodbf2 wrote:Whats going to help Hansbrough is that he will finally have an offseason to actually work on his game instead of trying not to do anything to upset his PCS / Vertigo that he had last season up until the beginning of this year.

He has improved from last year anyway but I hope with all that extra time he can make even bigger strides.

For PG its only a matter of time until his game comes together.

Ehh I dont see Tyler adding too much. Dude is already 25. What we see now is what we're going to get probably.

jcodbf2 · Post #8 » by **jcodbf2** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 3:00 am

paulgeorge24 wrote:Ehh I dont see Tyler adding too much. Dude is already 25. What we see now is what we're going to get probably.

I guess you didnt see him play last season.

You dont think he can learn to use his left hand around the basket? Get more consistency with his jumper? Increase his range? Develop 'some' court vision?

There is plenty of room for him to improve. What he is doing now is with basic basketball fundamentals.

paulgeorge24 · Post #9 » by **paulgeorge24** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 3:13 am

jcodbf2 wrote:
paulgeorge24 wrote:Ehh I dont see Tyler adding too much. Dude is already 25. What we see now is what we're going to get probably.

I guess you didnt see him play last season.

You dont think he can learn to use his left hand around the basket? Get more consistency with his jumper? Increase his range? Develop 'some' court vision?

There is plenty of room for him to improve. What he is doing now is with basic basketball fundamentals.

Plenty of room to improve does not necessarily mean that he will develop those. Last season was a lost season because of sporadic playing time and his injury. What I said still stands. The dude is 25, I would love him to develop some more, but dont bank on it getting much better than this. :cry:

Also, next season when we pick up a real starting 4 man, he probably wont be seeing close to 30 minutes like he has this year. Just saying

jcodbf2 · Post #10 » by **jcodbf2** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 4:19 am

lol.. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about or even saw him play last year. That much is clear.

And Age has little to do with improving or adding to ones game. Thats like all those people who said he couldnt add anything in college but he did and he has already improved a great deal and thats with the loss of his first offseason where real improvement happens.

You would definitely fit in with the dolts at PD. Especially that moron that goes by pacer4ever or something like that. As ignorant as they come.

paulgeorge24 · Post #11 » by **paulgeorge24** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 4:42 am

jcodbf2 wrote:lol.. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about or even saw him play last year. That much is clear.

And Age has little to do with improving or adding to ones game. Thats like all those people who said he couldnt add anything in college but he did and he has already improved a great deal and thats with the loss of his first offseason where real improvement happens.

You would definitely fit in with the dolts at PD. Especially that moron that goes by pacer4ever or something like that. As ignorant as they come.

Has Tyler done anything different compared to what he did in college? NO. He is scoring the same way he did in college, by outworking and outhustling people. Age has nothing to do with development? I'm sure you know that 4 year players are commonly taken for their ability to play right away despite not having much room to realistically improve. But still, let's compare PG and Tyler. PG is raw with alot of different skills that he needs to develop. (Example: His shooting from distance, good stroke, just needs to develop the NBA range) In Tyler's case, he doesnt have those same TYPES of skills to build upon. He came out of college having developed all of the facets of his game that he is going to have for his career most likely. Theoretically, he could get stronger and attempt to develop the things you mentioned, but I merely said chances are that he is a finished product and you're just praying that he turns into something he's not. (Decent midrange shot, decent inside skills, great aggressive attitude) Sorry to rain on your parade.

I'll add that it sounds like you spend too much time on PD and watching Tyler Hansbrough highlight videos on YouTube. I've watched the Pacers closely for years so your sense of clarity must be blurred. Also, once again, you aren't much for reading posts are you? Read before you hit submit please.

Post #12 » by **Miller4ever** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 8:32 am

Neither of you guys are stupid.

What's stupid is the old:

"You are stupid"

"You should read my post, stupid"

"No, I read your post and obviously, you are the stupid one"

Valid points, both of you, just have respect and agree to disagree, or threads have to get locked and people may get warned.

Boneman2 · Post #13 » by **Boneman2** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 5:31 pm

Tyler Hansbrough has played the equivalent of one rookie season. He may not have the potential to become a double-double machine, but that does not mean his growth is over. Everytime he faces a new opponent he is learning the finer art of being productive in this league. He will never be too old to learn the pro game. Dale Davis and Rik Smits played an entire career before they made the all-star team. Early in their careers if you would've called either one an all-star, you would've been humiliated. They obviously didn't prescribe to the theory that they were over-the-hill, at 25 years old. Besides, all I want from Tyler is 24 hard-fought bench minutes, he is great at that.

Paul George is too busy watching a lot of other jokers run the second unit into the ground. There needs to be order on the court. He should be option 1b off the bench, behind 1a (Tyler), instead we have a cluster-#$^& of wannabees jacking up any and all contested shots.

Post #14 » by **Miller4ever** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 6:32 pm

You're just talking about Price.

8305 · Post #15 » by **8305** » Wed Mar 9, 2011 11:17 pm

Its silly to say Tyler isn't going to get any better. He's a dedicated, hard working guy. That in and of itself means he'll get better. Now, that doesn't mean he has all star level upside like Paul George but I expect him to be a good player in this league. A guy who starts and is productive.

Think of it this way. Lets say Tyler develops a little more range on his shot, gets a little craftier when it comes to defense, rebounding and finishing around the basket. All pretty doable within the next year or so. If he does that you've got Paul Milsap. A name that gets thrown around pretty liberally when we talk about trading Granger.

I'm way more optomistic that we have our answer at power forward than I am about having things solved at point guard.

Boneman2 · Post #16 » by **Boneman2** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:47 am

Miller4ever wrote:You're just talking about Price.

AJ bothers me the most.... others are DJones, Darren Collison, and now McRoberts too. Even Roy and Tyler bother me if they are cold and continue to shoot. I guess my problem is the lack of structure in our offense, it seems pretty disheveled. The impression I get is that any player in our rotation of ten can do anything they want. In reality only Granger should have that freedom

Post #17 » by **Miller4ever** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:46 am

I honestly don't mind Dahntay Jones. He's shooting over 50% this season. So many of those are his rock-solid midrange jumper. When he decides to take his man off the dribble and pull up for that, I'm alright.

tonman · Post #18 » by **tonman** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:12 am

you say pg has great form and yet you fail to mention the "great form" in regards to th's free throw shooting.

i love how people say indy needs to get that start 4 when the starting 1, 2, 3, and 5 aren't playing any better. i guess they pass the "look" test.

paulgeorge24 · Post #19 » by **paulgeorge24** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 3:33 am

Both myself and the people I have talked to agree that Tyler's form seems a bit mechanical albeit very effective but its not nearly as fluid as PG's and obviously just because it works doesnt make it pretty 8-)

(I'm not sure why you brought that up because the way Tyler plays, a fluid shooting stroke is not going to drastically change his game). The reason I brought up the stroke is because it shows that PG has the potential to further develop his range because of his stroke. I never was talking badly about Tyler's shot in the first place. You missed my point there I guess.

And they say we need a starting 4 because the other 3 (im not going to include PG yet) have all but proven that they can be key starters on a quality team ("all but" because we are not a quality team YET). I still maintain that Tyler is probably a 6th man for us when we pick up a real starting 4 like a David West. He's played well yes, but look at the Collison, George, Granger, and Hibbert. They all have potential to be among the top 10-15 at their position. Keyword: potential. Though i have been underwhelmed by Collison, you shouldnt be so quick to harp on him because look at the offense we're running, its not an offense that allows him to distribute to guys for assists, especially at this current time. We all know George will get there and when Granger and Hibbert are on their gamem they are very tough to handle. Maybe you see something that I dont, but Tyler doesnt have that same potential. I liken him to an Al Harrington/Jeff Foster combination (Some nice offense off the bench with good hustle and tough play, but not quite able to be a 30+ mpg guy on a good team) I'll admit I'm not a huge Tyler fan, but I try to keep an open mind despite what some people might think.

TL;DR Tyler doesnt have the same potential that the other 4 guys have. Bird views those other 4 guys as the starters when he can get a guy like David West to fill the 4 spot with Tyler being the 6th man off the bench.

sorry for the long post haha. I would try to condense further, but then I might get taken out of context by some people :oops: