Summer League: Jazz vs. Pacers Thursday 1 pm MST
- Thread starter Captain Keefe
- Start date
Julie Greengiant
Well-Known Member
I don't know what your post is saying. Howard was a number 1 overall pick. I don't remember Gasol and Westbrook being project players.
Yeah, Westbrook definitely wasn't a project. I guess you could call every rookie a project in a sense, but Westbrook was ready to come in and play from Day 1.
Also, Howard's shoulders look photoshopped in that picture. He looks like he is wearing shoulder pads.
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
The point is they were all projects drafted in the top three, or four in RW's case. Some top three picks are just locks. Lebron. Iverson. And so on. But many aren't. It's very easy to sit here in hindsight and say it was obvious that Howard was going to be a stud (when it wasn't obvious) or that Westbrook would evolve into a very good point guard and become a better shooter (which we didn't know) or that Gasol's promise in Spain would translate to the NBA. But no one knew. They were all projects. Saying otherwise is simply being intellectually dishonest.
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
Uh, yeah, he was. He was a complete project at the point. He was an A+n athlete who could defend and was great in the open court but dude was very, very raw.
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
Also have to look at who was available. We're not exactly talking about drafting Bowie instead of Jordan.
Players 3-11: Kanter, Tristan Thompson, Valanciunas, Vesely, Byombo, Knight, Walker, Fredette, Klay Thompson. None of the bigs had much impact in 2011. The PG's were all underwhelming. Thompson at #11 might have been the best of the bunch over the last half of the season (due to getting PT after the Ellis trade). But I wouldn't place him much ahead of Burks (if at all), who we got with the very next pick.
Kanter is a project, but so are all the other bigs. Will Valanciunas be better? Perhaps, but he didn't even play in the NBA last year.
Players 3-11: Kanter, Tristan Thompson, Valanciunas, Vesely, Byombo, Knight, Walker, Fredette, Klay Thompson. None of the bigs had much impact in 2011. The PG's were all underwhelming. Thompson at #11 might have been the best of the bunch over the last half of the season (due to getting PT after the Ellis trade). But I wouldn't place him much ahead of Burks (if at all), who we got with the very next pick.
Kanter is a project, but so are all the other bigs. Will Valanciunas be better? Perhaps, but he didn't even play in the NBA last year.
billyshelby
Well-Known Member
I hope we shut Burks down. I also hope we've learned running PnR for Burks is a good idea.
Kanter's been fine and all, but he's mostly making use of the physical advantage. Not a whole lot to see in the skills department, and he's painfully slow to initiate offense on the block.
Pleasantly surprised with Evans since I've actually seen a few rolls and jumpshots. But he's still mostly relying on his athleticism.
Not feeling Murphy. Takes terrible shots. I give Locke credit for starting early on the excuses and rationalizations, but my sense is he sees less than 200 minutes on the floor next year.
Kanter's been fine and all, but he's mostly making use of the physical advantage. Not a whole lot to see in the skills department, and he's painfully slow to initiate offense on the block.
Pleasantly surprised with Evans since I've actually seen a few rolls and jumpshots. But he's still mostly relying on his athleticism.
Not feeling Murphy. Takes terrible shots. I give Locke credit for starting early on the excuses and rationalizations, but my sense is he sees less than 200 minutes on the floor next year.
He scored 15 ppg as a rookie. That is not a project. Yes, he was raw, but he was still a very good basketball player as he was coming into his rookie year. Projects are players who can't really play on a NBA level as presently constituted, but have a lot of potential.
jazzrule
Well-Known Member
Like minds think alike
I remember when Cyrone Torbin gave me a bad time about "hoping" that Burks could play point guard for us, so we could get our best players on the floor at the same time. Looks like the Jazz coaches are "hoping" he can learn the point guard position as well. Well Cy I am still hoping.
I remember when Cyrone Torbin gave me a bad time about "hoping" that Burks could play point guard for us, so we could get our best players on the floor at the same time. Looks like the Jazz coaches are "hoping" he can learn the point guard position as well. Well Cy I am still hoping.
GVC
Well-Known Member
Yep
With his physical/athletic profile and seemingly soft hands and quick feet, he should be able to develop an offensive game similar to Marc Gasol's or Nikola Pekovic's. An efficient 15 points, 10-12 rebounds and solid post D is pretty valuable.
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
This is your defense? Give me a break. The kid was a major project. Yeah, he scored 15 points per game. Because he played 32+ minutes and took a ton of shots to do so, at under 40% shooting for the year. He was athletic as hell. But as far as basketball skills, he was a major work in progress and it showed.