Bill Walker

Al n' Perk No Layups! · Post #21 » by **Al n' Perk No Layups!** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:59 am

I've been hoping for Walker all year. If we can't get a bigman prospect like Jordan or McGee, then I'm hoping we take Walker.

hiphop1 · Post #22 » by **hiphop1** » Tue May 27, 2008 11:16 am

Walker should be DA's man. Besides a big he is exactly what we need. We might be able to get one of Seattles picks to move up to take him.

Post #23 » by **UGA Hayes** » Wed May 28, 2008 4:26 am

threrf23 wrote:I like what I hear about Walker, but as I've mentioned in other threads I'm all about Brandon Rush. I mean, if I had the #2 or #3 pick in the draft and couldn't trade it, I'd consider taking Brandon Rush there. No, I don't follow college ball all that closely and do not have nearly as much knowledge of certain prospects as others on this board....but in fairness to myself I don't claim to be confident about this stuff when I'm not, and I do tend to have decent judgement when it comes to this stuff. I haven't felt nearly as strongly about a prospective draft pick since I wanted Pitino to draft Tracy McGrady in the late 90s

If I were you I would erase this post so it can't be held against you at a later date. Just messing with you. Rush's problem is he doesn't have a very good handle.That is a major major negative . Not to pick on you but to me Rush is the kind of guy college types go crazy over but Pro guys aren't nearly impressed with.

return2glory · Post #24 » by **return2glory** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:41 pm

nbadraftnet has Walker going early in the 2nd round. But I have a feeling that Walker is going to have good workouts and move up a lot. I wouldn't be suprised if he goes anywhere between 14-22.

Dogen · Post #25 » by **Dogen** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:41 pm

return2glory wrote:nbadraftnet has Walker going early in the 2nd round. But I have a feeling that Walker is going to have good workouts and move up a lot. I wouldn't be suprised if he goes anywhere between 14-22.

He does seem to be climbing. Maybe ORL, CLE, or NJ in the mid first.

If he goes that early, I'd be interested in having a look at Giddens. Walker-lite. Could actually be a better player.

threrf23 · Post #26 » by **threrf23** » Wed May 28, 2008 9:18 pm

UGA Hayes wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

If I were you I would erase this post so it can't be held against you at a later date. Just messing with you. Rush's problem is he doesn't have a very good handle.That is a major major negative . Not to pick on you but to me Rush is the kind of guy college types go crazy over but Pro guys aren't nearly impressed with.

I'm sticking to my guns on this one. I like the argument and all, and perhaps I am missing something. But I don't know exactly how many have seen his true handle, as he has made a concerted effort to play within himself this past year of Kansas. My whole thing is - he's not your everyday college player - or "college type" persay, and in this case I think he has become so undervalued because scouts and such are evaluating him as if he were your every-year college player. In a different high school class he jumps right from high school to the NBA - some scouts had him listed above others in his high school class that made the jump successfully.

In fact, he wouldn't have been in the NCAA this season if not for an temporarily athleticism hampering injury the year before.

Go back slightly further, he's in the same camp as Monta Ellis Andray Blatche CJ Miles and em. Some scouts say he's got more potential than anyone in the class, although he seems to step his game up against other elite competition, he gets criticized for not always seeming to rise to his potential.

Rather than being a second round pick, he goes to college, spends time picking the right program, and it seems the focus was always on improving his all around skillset and fundamentals to ensure he was NBA ready as opposed to trying to fill up scoresheets (although he was perceived as having the potential to do so).

And how is he rewarded? IMO he ends up underrated in the same sense as Thaddeus Young was underrated last season - you get a player who under slightly different circumstances would have made the jump to the NBA directly from high school, and they would have done it successfully, yet they end up in college for one reason or another and scouts and such end up analyzing their game as if they were any old typical college player with borderline talent/potential...

With Brandon Rush, I honestly think it becomes a best of both worlds type of scenario, the focus on developing fundamentals in addition to having sufficient talent and potential to have made the jump from high school to the NBA. There aren't many if arguably any who have come before him in recent years. As a result scouts and such aren't used to evaluating a player like him and are unsure what to make of him just as you go back to the 90's and these said scouts were often unsure of what to make of the Kobes KGs and TMacs of the world.

It seems Brandon Rush works on his game, its clear he has coordination, I'm sure better ballhandling skills happen soon enough. And worst case it would seem to me he has more than enough potential to be a rich man's - or at least an upper middle class man's - Bruce Bowen right off the bat...