In a bit of single game overreacting I'd like to call some attention to two players...first...for those of you who were not committed Pewch Rev. readers back during the NBA Draft (can you believe we have been blogging to no one for this long?), here is some things I wrote:
Knicks - Jordan Hill - Pewch. Pewch. Pewch. He stinks. Literally outperformed by 6-6 Dejaun Blair in every category and that was while playing in the soft Pac-10 where Jeff Pendergraph was an absolute monster. Just an outright terrible pick. And I love how everyone says "Has only played 7 years" like it's a good thing...that's so ridiculous. I'll take the guy who had a ball in his hand out the womb before the guy who just put down the power ranger action figures and picked up a basketball a few years ago.
Game 1, Dejuan Blair: 22 minutes, 7-10, 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 4 PF.
Jordan Hill: 1 minutes and 45 seconds.
DEJUAN BLAIR IS ROCKING IT FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER TEAM AND JORDAN HILL CAN'T EVEN CRACK THE KNICKS SAD ROTATION IN GAME 1? COME ON WALSH, YOU'RE KILLING ME HERE.
The other guy who was ultra-productive in college but fell like a ton of bricks on draft night was Ty Lawson. A guy I personally thought was the most dynamic player in college basketball (with many disagreeing UNC fans).
Game 1, 26 minutes, 7-13, 17 points, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 4 rebounds. Lawson ran the second unit which essentially won the game for the Nuggets over the Jazz (check the +/- numbers).
Why is it so hard for NBA GM's to get it through their heads that guys who produce in college are the best bets to produce in the NBA? Sure there are exceptions both ways, but why gamble on a guy like Jordan Hill just because he's taller than Blair? Why pick all sorts of players with the upshot of being 6th or 7th men - I'm talking about you James Johnson..when a player as explosive and productive as Ty Lawson is available?
By the way, Steph Curry had a nice first game starting for the Warriors and hitting 7/12 shots with 7 assists to 2 turnovers while falling to one of my favorite sleeper teams - the Houston Rockets.
***edit in - After re-reading the Jordan Hill note, I still can't help but think of how stupid the whole "He just started playing a few years ago" noted as a positive is. Think about that. In no other area of life would anyone say this. You don't go checking around for surgeons and check a guy's credentials, well on one hand we have a guy who has been performing them for twenty years without incident... the other option is this guy who shakes the scalpel around like he just drank two pots of morning howler coffee, but hey, he's only been doing this for a few years, he's got huge upside! I'll take him!
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Im still reading the blog! Whats your take on my boy Durant and his Oklahoma City team? Are they still too young?
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of people are picking them to improve a lot. I still think they're a year away from really competing. Jeff Green hasn't flashed as much as they hoped he would coming out of G'Town, though he played well in game 1. They beat Sac-Town, but that Sacremento team is one of the least talented NBA rosters I have ever seen. They aren't going to get to twenty wins and are basically a lock to have the fewest wins in the NBA. The rookie Harden didn't play much, but went 2-2 including a 3 and a pair of boards. Most promising was Westbrook's remarkably good effort tallying 13 assists against 2 turnovers. 7 boards and 14 points on 7/12 and we might finally be seeing these young guys move forward. You know Durant is going to fill it up.
ReplyDeleteAgain, problem is you can't tell anything until they play a real team. They have some nice pieces but I'd probably guess they win about 32-35 games.
I'm off to the OTB to kick the crap out of Aqueduct today, in the slop but I have found some mudders, sons and daughters of mudders and just flat out winners. Bankroll day.
I remember all those stories about DeJuan Blair not having ACLs in his knees. I always thought that was strange. But I have to agree that I think their collegiate track records show the wide talent gap between Blair and Hill. But seriously, no ligaments in his knees? Did I read that on the Onion?
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