Draft's Likely Pg Prospects

[Guest Walter]

http://hawks.realgm.com/articles/542/20060..._to_the_bottom/

It's a much weaker class than last year. We'd be lucky to find a legitimate NBA starter in this bunch.

Don't see any mention of Brewer or Diaz, both not likely Pgs.

w

[pathway23]

Wrong link.

[Diesel]

I don't think Rondo or Gibson will be coming out this year. I also think that if he keeps falling we can get Mardy Collins in the 2nd. That means that Jordan Farmar might be the best thing in the draft..

Like I have said before... Weak draft.

[Lascar78]

that's what people say every year at this time of year. That's what people were saying about last year's draft a year ago.

[KB21]

Easily.

He doesn't shoot the ball as well as Paul, but he's longer, more athletic, and a much, much, much, much better defender than Chris Paul will ever be.

Rondo will be a shorter version of Gary Payton with his athleticism and defensive ability, and his long arms make up for his 6'1" frame. The guy will have a wingspan of at least 6'10" when he tests out at the combine.

[AHF]

I am perhaps the biggest Rondo fan on this board but I would not say he will easily be better than Paul in the NBA. He won't make the impact of Paul his first year in the league for sure. As of now, I'd say Paul is the better prospect (he is only 1 year older than Rondo). Rondo is held back by the lack of balance and scoring talent on the UK roster, though. We'll see what Morris does to this team in his return.

[Diesel]

As I watched my favorite College team get their asses handed to them Saturday, I realized that Rondo is not near the same class as Paul.

Honestly, Paul didn't have a lot to work with at Wake and he does have a lot to work with NOW, but the one thing that he does better than a lot of other PGs you see now is that he makes those people playing with him BETTER.

So you can throw defense out the door and you can throw length out of the door. What you have is a guy who makes people play to their highest level.

Rondo had UK looking like My sandlot team out there. Everybody just standing around, nobody expecting a pass. Paul does more than create for himself, he creates for everybody else. And I'm not talking about drive and dish.. A drive and dish PG is not going to be as good as Paul has been in the pros...

[pathway23]

Quote:

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Honestly, Paul didn't have a lot to work with at Wake and he does have a lot to work with NOW, but the one thing that he does better than a lot of other PGs you see now is that he makes those people playing with him BETTER.

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That is the most laughable thing I've read on this board today. You forgot about Justin Gray, Eric Williams Michael Drum, Trent Strickland? Wake Forest has some of the top recruiting classes in the country and that Wake Forest team last year was loaded.

[Diesel]

How many of those guys will make a pro team??

Who's going to take a 6'1 Shooting guard?

or

A 6'7 280 lb Center?

Oh, I watched Wake. Watch em now..

Didn't you see how Duke blew the doors off of them last night??

What happened previously?

Quote:

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WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Chris Paul just

graduated from his freshman season.

Paul scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lift

15th-ranked Wake Forest to a 90-84 Atlantic Coast Conference

victory over No. 3 Duke.

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[tmac13]

You keep topping yourself...What happened to you?..You used to be one of the most intelligent posters here, now are so consumed for your love of all things BK you can't see the truth..Rondo won't EVER be as good as Paul..He cannot shoot a lick, and he is NOT a great passer..He may be a little better defensive player but even that is not a given..Paul may be an allstar this year, I don't think Rondo has the talent to be an allstar..

[AHF]

Rondo set the Oak Hill record for assists and his coach said he was a better distributor than Rod Strickland and every other NBA PG who played there. He is a very good passer but his shooting is a significant limitation.

[tmac13]

Maybe at Oak Hill, but not so far at Kentucky..He looks lost at times on the offensive end, I don't see a huge improvement over Ivy..

[AHF]

Quote:

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Maybe at Oak Hill, but not so far at Kentucky..He looks lost at times on the offensive end, I don't see a huge improvement over Ivy..

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Who is he supposed to pass the ball to? The problem is that the team is not moving off the ball this season and there is no post presence.

How do you expect a PG to do amazing things when he can't shoot a long jumper, no one is cutting and there is no one effective in the post? All he can really do is pass the ball around the perimeter or try to force a drive and dish when players are sagging off of him into the lane and people aren't cutting for him when he drives.

[tmac13]

So, you want to draft him based on highschool?..Good pointguards like Paul, Kidd, or Nash make average guys look better..Rondo doesn't seem to have the ability to elevate his teammates..That is a must on a young team like the Hawks..I watched him several times last year and a few times this season, I don't see anything special about him other than good defense..He is not remotely as good as Paul or Deron were last year.

[pathway23]

Wake doesn't have as much talent this year, because they lost some pretty good seniors in Danulus and Levy and still were ranked 23 in the country playing Duke before that game...they were in this game 15 minutes left in the 2nd half where Duke made a run...Duke still has everybody returned from last year they are better this year...maybe if they had Chris Paul they win this one, doesn't seem they have as good PG play now...but still they have talent left over or they wouldn't have been ranked 23 headed into that game..Duke is undefeated btw. I'll admit to you this last years wake team didn't have as much talent as north carolina (who did?) but they had as much as Duke. Duke looks fantastic so far this year. Reddick has taken his game to another level..

[Diesel]

Danielus and Levy play for what pro team again??

Plus, Wake picked up Stanley and Hale. Both guys should be better than the two that are gone. Especially Stanley.. He's supposed to be the second coming of Josh Howard.

[Buzzard]

Quote:

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Rondo had UK looking like My sandlot team out there. Everybody just standing around, nobody expecting a pass. Paul does more than create for himself, he creates for everybody else. And I'm not talking about drive and dish.. A drive and dish PG is not going to be as good as Paul has been in the pros...

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I agree totally. Rondo could not tie Paul's shoe's on the offensive end....Also agree that this is a very weak draft, at least as far as PG's go.

Think we will finally come out with a big this year, probably LaMarcus Aldridge or Andrea Bargnani. Maybe Josh McRoberts, Shelden Williams or Tiago Splitter if they make some good noise as the season goes along or in Tiago's instance have great combines.

This is definetely the year of a big, I just have a good feeling about it. Maybe a PG later down in the draft. I don't see us taking Gay like we took Williams last year. After Bogut was gone none of the other bigs made a lot of noise except May...Its really a pretty deep draft for centers and pfs...

[Diesel]

I don't believe that McRoberts or Aldridge is coming out either. Aldridge is playing well, but he probably will take the time to get his back 100%. Unless he pulls an Okafor and make people forget about the back (and we see Okafor isn't helping him), then I think he might spend one more year improving his stock.

[KB21]

Justin Gray and Erik Williams have a much better chance of making the NBA than anyone Rajon Rondo has played with at Kentucky has of making the NBA.

The next best player on Kentucky's team is Ramel Bradley, and he's not an NBA prospect. It's also very tough to create other people when those other people are doing nothing but standing around watching Rondo with the ball. Rondo got frustrated with one of his teammates over this in the past game, and they almost had to be separated. Their problems are not caused by Rondo and can't be fixed by Rondo. Their problems are deeper than that. The fact that Rondo is the highest quality recruit that Tubby has signed in a long time shows how far the overall talent level has dropped at Kentucky. He certainly can't recruit like Rick Pitino did.

Yet, Rajon Rondo is still avering 14.6 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, 5.1 assists per game, shoots 52% from the floor, and has a 1.47 PPS.

[KB21]

Just sit and watch then.

Rajon Rondo has athletic skills and physical attributes that Chris Paul will never have. He's a much longer player. Chris Paul's lack of height and his complete inability to defend is what will keep him from becoming a superstar in the NBA. His career will pretty much follow the same path that Kenny Anderson's and Damon Stoudamire's careers followed. Stoudamire had a great rookie season as well, but when you look at his career, he's been nothing more than an average point guard.

Rajon Rondo has amazing quickness and speed from one end of the floor to the other that is unmatched. He's the best on the ball defender I've seen at the college level since Gary Payton played at Oregon State in the late 80s to early 90s. He doesn't get steals because he plays the passing lanes. He gets steals because he is so damn quick that he picks your pocket.

Steve Smith, the head coach at oak Hill Academy, has coached a lot of NBA players during his time there. If he says that Rajon Rondo is the best point guard he's ever had, then that is saying something. Steve Smith coached Rod Strickland, who was one of the best point guards in the league during his prime.

Rajon's only weakness is his perimeter jumper at this point. That's the same weakness that Gary Payton came into the league with. People tend to forget that Payton was about a 26% shooter when it came to three point shots during his first couple of years. The only difference between Rondo and Payton is that Payton is 6'4" while Rondo is 6'1". I'm not worried about Rondo's lack of height though, because his super long arms make up for it. His rebounding numbers show that he plays bigger than he is.