College players thread/ Draft Related thread

[Krapinsky]

Derozan is also a good rebounder and has a better midrange game than any of the players you mentioned. Someday he's going to be dangerous out of the triple threat.

Agreed. All the Gerald Green comparisons are silly. DeRozan plays within the game and within his limitations, he doesn't think he IS the game. I'm serious when I say he's got Paul Pierce potential.

there must be another Paul Pierce who sucks at shooting I don't know about

Pierce wasn't a very good shooter after his first year at Kansas either.

[Devilzsidewalk]

but .304 is still a long way away from .167

Pierce is also a really good defender, I just think it's too much of a leap of faith to think Derozan can improve that much. Not that it's impossible, just improbable.

[Worm Guts]

You can't extrapolate Paul Pierce type shooting. You can assume Derozan gets better from 3 point range, but not to that level. Of course, Derozan is about 2 steps up as an athlete from Pierce.

[big3_8_19_21]

He can still fall short of being Paul Pierce and still be a very nice player. I didn't see much of Pierce in his younger days, but how did his athleticism at the same age compare to DeRozan's? Not that it is the be all and end all, but it's definitely something to consider.

*edit* I guess WormGuts answered my question

[PeeDee]

I'm no shooting coach or anything, but aren't DeRozan's shooting mechanics something that are already in place? I bet if the Wolves drafted Evans, they'd try to retool his jumper the way they did to Brewer's.

[horaceworthy]

He seems beyond project to me, what does he do at an NBA player besides being athletic?

From watching DeRozan early in the year, I can absolutely see where you're coming from. He looked as lost as a toddler that got separated from their parents at the mall. That really changed as the year went on, though. By the end of the year he was making good decisions with the ball in a timely manner, showing a promising mid-range game, and attacking the glass. He still deferred to Hackett and Lewis a little more than I would have liked to see, but I can't knock him too much for that.

[Devilzsidewalk]

You can't extrapolate Paul Pierce type shooting. You can assume Derozan gets better from 3 point range, but not to that level. Of course, Derozan is about 2 steps up as an athlete from Pierce.

you can't extrapolate anything about Pierce as far as Derozan goes. Pierce was a better defender, penetrator and defender than Derozan from day 1 in the NBA.

My asterisk would be that I have no idea what Pierce was like as a freshman beyond stats, but I don't think its unfair to throw Pierce out of the discussion and insert names like CJ Miles, JR Smith, and Deshawn Stevenson - young, raw guys that teams draft because they have the same silhouette as an ideal shooting guard. Wouldn't any of those three guys have been capable of a 13.9/5.7 had they had a freshman year in college?

[revprodeji]

I think the issue with Derozan is how he looked in the pac-10 tourney. I still like Holiday better.

[Krapinsky]

13.9 and 5.7 is not far off from Evans offensive output. Factor in Evans ran the offense for most of the year, is known as a ball hog, and played for one of the most fast paced teams in college basketball while Derozan played for one of the slowest in a system that did not showcase his skills.

[john2jer]

I don't get why Evans has the label of "ball hog". His coach gave him the ball, gave him the green light, and Evans did an excellent job of running their offense. Kind of an unfair label when he's doing what his coach asked.

[Devilzsidewalk]

13.9 and 5.7 is not far off from Evans offensive output. Factor in Evans ran the offense for most of the year, is known as a ball hog, and played for one of the most fast paced teams in college basketball while Derozan played for one of the slowest in a system that did not showcase his skills.

nope, sorry, Evans is way better. They've done studies.

[horaceworthy]

I think the issue with Derozan is how he looked in the pac-10 tourney. I still like Holiday better.

Looking really good in the conference tourney is an issue?

[Krapinsky]

13.9 and 5.7 is not far off from Evans offensive output. Factor in Evans ran the offense for most of the year, is known as a ball hog, and played for one of the most fast paced teams in college basketball while Derozan played for one of the slowest in a system that did not showcase his skills.

nope, sorry, Evans is way better. They've done studies.

Damn't. Well you can't really argue with studies. Studies prove what they study, so I guess my hands are tied.

However, I'm not saying Derozan is necessarily better than Evans, but I do think he may have more upside. And I don't mean upside in the Gerald Green sense. But who knows if that'll ever be realized.

[deeney0]

Evans looks better with the ball in his hands, important for the Wolves.

[horaceworthy]

He also looks like he may need to dominate the ball to be effective, which is tough combo to pull off while one is turnover prone with an inconsistent jump shot.

I'm not opposed to picking him, I just have concerns (which I guess is an unfair criticism in this draft, since I have them about everyone not named Blake Griffin).

[jpatrick]

I'll be shocked if Evans is a PG in the NBA (I just don't see PG instincts...he's great with the ball in his hands because he's a great college one on one player). Ford brought up Stackhouse as a comp and I think that's fair. He's not as athletic as Stack but probably is a little longer. The thing that held Stack back from being an above average starter (fringe allstar) was a lack of range on his jumper. I think the same thing will happen to Evans. He isn't superquick and he won't be able to muscle NBA guards like he did college guards and w/o a consistent jumper I don't see him being an all-star guard. Now, he could develop that range or could stay at point but that's a risk too great for me to take him in the top 7.

Derozan, ugh. He's got great form on his jumper but never takes threes. Doesn't have a great handle. Can he develop these things and become a poor mans Kobe? Does his strength and athleticsm make him a shorter Gerald Wallace? Is he a stronger but shorter Corey Brewer (questionable handle and jumper)?

The problem with this draft is after those top two everyone has serious question marks but someones gotta go 3 through 7. I think we were all hoping that 4 or 5 other prospects would seperate themselves but instead many back slid as the year went on. The one who became more and more productive as the year went on is Evans but I just question how he translates. We'll see I guess. Hopefully Rubio comes out and we get a top two pick, then none of us will have to worry, I think.

[AQuintus]

The one who became more and more productive as the year went on is Evans but I just question how he translates.

Do you mean that Evans is the only 5-15 prospect who became more productive from the beginning of the season to the end?

Because, DeRozan went from flat out terrible at the start of the season to being the best player on USC's roster by the time the Pac-10 tournament started.

[john2jer]

Sadly there's only a handful of guys who really improved their draft stock this year...

Hill
Evans
DeRozan
Aldrich
???

Most of the rest dropped, hard, due to crappy play or increased questions...

Curry
Teague
Harden
Mullens
Holiday

[jpatrick]

Well, Evans is not the only player to improve but he was the possible first rounder who improved the most over the second half of the year. Derozan was sensational over his last 5 or 6 games (basically the Pac10 and NCAA tourney), but was simply ok before that. If Derozan can improve his ball handling and jumper he has a chance to be great, but isn't that what we're still saying about Brewer?

I like Derozan alot, I just don't know if I could take him in the top seven but maybe. His skills actually mesh well with Miller. Miller can handle, play make and shoot the three while Derozan is an athletic beast who can really defend and crash the boards. If we don't move up in the draft lottery, maybe he is the guy. That middle of the lottery is going to be crazy, I think after the top two, team's draft boards are going to be really different.

[revprodeji]

I'll be shocked if Evans is a PG in the NBA (I just don't see PG instincts...he's great with the ball in his hands because he's a great college one on one player). Ford brought up Stackhouse as a comp and I think that's fair. We'll see I guess. Hopefully Rubio comes out and we get a top two pick, then none of us will have to worry, I think.

I agree with Rubio..I still see Evans as a selfish Larry Hughes. Stackhouse could score in so many ways.

Evans looks better with the ball in his hands, important for the Wolves.

But he is fish-out-of water w/o the ball.

he is a project like many in this draft are. but his physical body, true height and ability to get into the paint are tools you can build on. That makes him a good prospect. But do not expect anything this year and we know he breaks his knee 2nd yr.

I think the issue with Derozan is how he looked in the pac-10 tourney. I still like Holiday better.

Looking really good in the conference tourney is an issue?

I did not mean issue in a bad sense, but rather the reason he is being discussed as an early lotto prospect.