For a team looking for a well-developed offensive game at center, Brook Lopez is the 2008 Draft’s best option.
Rashard Lewis: Proving His Worth When It Counts Most
All year long people criticized Rashard Lewis because of the contract Orlando gave him last summer, but he has paid dividends for the Magic this postseason.
Auditing The Pacers 2007-08 Season
Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger had nice seasons, but they appear to be in that limbo between being good and being bad enough to get help in the lottery.
Goodbye B.K.
Billy Knight will be remembered more for his blunders than his successes.
Clearly, with Stephon Marbury on his way out, Jamal Crawford’s shoot-first mentality, and factoring in Isiah Thomas' inability to acquire one during last week's trade deadline, the pressing need for this team is a pass-first, defensive-minded point guard.
This year's draft class contains plenty of point guard prospects to choose from, some who pass well, some who can score, and one who just may be a franchise type.
There are guys less-talented, but well-suited for several needs: a ball-hawking, on-the-ball defender, and the ability to get the team from transition into a half court offense. Which direction Knick management goes, of course, is anyone’s guess.
Derrick Rose
I consider Rose, shoot first, but rarely is “bad” shot first. Sure he gets crazy sometimes, but I believe that can be easily harnessed. He has similar strength of a young Marbury, meaning he can get into tight spaces and create with speed and strength, as well as take a hit and finish, especially in transition. Having to play in Memphis’ high-powered, get-others-touches-offense, means Rose can handle egos with success, without taking away from his innate ability to make plays for himself. In essence, Rose has that Jason Kidd/ Chris Paul/ Deron Williams trait of dominating the ball without other players resenting it.
Skinny: Not convinced of Rose’s shooting range, in fact right now he’s a slightly above average shooter from the arc, but teams aren’t drafting a shooter, they’re drafting a playmaker that will learn to make perimeter shots. Decision-making could improve, but Memphis offense thrives on dribble penetration which often leads to turnovers. At the end of games, Rose is as sure-handed with the ball as anyone in the nation. It will be interesting to watch Rose’s maturity during the tournament- a ton of pressure for a freshman to lead a team to a perfect season.
Projection: Top 3 pick
Video Analysis: The second and third highlights of this clip versus Gonzaga show you all you need to know. Rose’s ability to get in the lane, take the hit and finish is vintage Marbury. But his ability to recognize help after a sick cross over and kick to a wide open teammate shows his unselfishness. Oh and the follow up dunk is pretty impressive too.
Jerryd Bayless
In a word: WOW. The next great guard to come out of Arizona, Bayless is the complete package: great skills combined with size and supreme athleticism. Honestly, I’m just trying to figure out where he fits in. Having been spurned in the lottery by another Wildcat, Channing Frye, do the Knicks go after Bayless, a gifted scoring guard, or head in another direction. The kid may be just too good to pass up, should he be sitting there when the Knicks pick. But with the team’s reliance on Jamal Crawford, will Bayless be able to compliment Crawford- or is it vice versa? Consider Bayless averages 21 points per game on 13 shot attempts and 8 free throw attempts and is shooting 45% from behind the arc and 84% from the strip. That is the equation for scoring consistency in the NBA. Like Rose, Bayless is a strong 6’3 and can take a pounding and make teams pay from the line. Defensively, Bayless gets caught looking for steals but has the athleticism to recover fundamental flaws. On the ball defense needs improvement.
Skinny: Bayless has tried to improve on his point guard skills, but over the last several games has focused on scoring, collecting three straight 30+ efforts including a 39-point game against Arizona State. Arizona’s record in those 3 games? 1-2, the second loss was a heartbreaker to Stanford. The other question I have about Bayless is his relationship with fellow NBA-bound talent Chase Buddinger. How on earth can a team with two, high first-round picks be 16-9 and just 6-6 in the PAC-10? It makes me wonder about his leadership qualities.
Video Analysis: Physically, Bayless may be the most NBA-ready. He’s strong and has a very pure, simple shooting stroke. Can he be taught the necessary point guard mentality?
Darren Collison
I’m not sure if it’s possible to be underrated and to play for UCLA, so consider Collison somewhat overlooked. Simply put, he is Greg Anthony reincarnated. If you want the 2.0 version, he’s a Rajon Rondo-type. Now, I understand for those younger Knick fans the Anthony comment might be taken as a slight, but it isn’t. Anthony was a lock down defender in college who had suspect shooting range. But he was an efficient, reliable and stable performer for those early 90’s Knick teams, who thought defense first and foremost. Collison’s length, despite being only 6’0, will serve him well in the NBA, and he doesn’t have the tools to be an explosive scorer, he does have the athleticism and quickness to get to the basket and create off the dribble and pester the ball off the bench on defense.
Skinny: Perfect fit for a playoff team that needs a defensive spark plug off the bench to challenge an incumbent, but would desperately help the Knicks as an on-ball defender, should they manage to trade down.
Projection: Late Lottery-mid first round
Video Analysis: Not much video, but if you watch Collison enough, his lateral quickness, foot speed and active hands are a nightmare for opposing college point guards.
D.J. Augustin
Despite a recent shooting slump, I consider Augustin a steal for any team looking for a point guard in this year’s draft, especially if he falls the the mid-end of the 1st round, as projected. Paired with Kevin Durant last season, Augustin’s best games were often overshadowed, but now that Durant is in the Pacific Northwest, Augustin is in charge of managing an offense where he has been asked to do much more his second season. And he hasn’t disappointed Longhorn fans. How did Augustin respond to two poor shooting performances in a rematch against Texas A&M following an 80-63 drubbing back in January? With 27 points and 9 assists in a game that was over before it started. Augustin doesn’t have Rose’s explosive athleticism, but he doesn’t make the same mistakes with the ball. He’s a sure-handed pass-first guard, who has the strength to get in the lane at the NBA level. His 2-1 assist/turnover ratio is very solid, considering he’s registering 19 ppg assists and 6 assists, and has reached double figure assists three times. Defensively, Augustin is an on-ball pest, not at Collison’s level, but ranked higher than Rose.
Skinny: Think a bigger Jameer Nelson. Augustin’s size still may be a question, but of all the candidates, Augustin plays with an incredible amount of heart, an intangible that, when it’s all said and done, may allow him to be the best of the 2008 group.
