NBA 2010-11

[Flystripper]

I have watched less NBA this season than any year of my life previous, possibly including mission years. I think I would like to cheer for the baby Bulls in the playoffs, but Korver, Brewer and Boozer? No thanks. Maybe I'll jump on the Thunder band wagon and see if we can Babs back.

Cheering for the Bulls is mostly cheering for Rose, Deng and Noah. There is some Boozer cheering here but not as much as Bulls fans were hoping for, but Korver and Brewer are peripheral role players and not recipients of many cheers or jeers for that matter.

[Jacob]

I'm watching the Lakers-Warriors game, and I don't think there's anything Curry can do that Jimmer can't do. Curry is 7 for 21, btw. Also, Jimmer might actually be a better defender than Curry, as unbelievable as that sounds. I don't remember Curry getting much negative pub for his defense when he was being drafted. Racism at its finest.

I'll be surprised if Jimmer is as tall as Curry. Curry measured 6'2" barefoot. I seem to recall seeing them next to each other during the Oly practices last year and Jimmer looked short.

As to the rest of it, I agree partly. Going into that draft, I wasn't believing the hype on Curry because I didn't think he was a PG, but when I've seen him play this year, he looks like a really good PG both drving and passing.. I think Jimmer has established himself as a PG in college much better than Curry did. People who don't think Jimmer is a PG, and that he is Eddie House are crazy, IMO.

Also, Curry in college played off the ball a lot, coming off screens, shooting off the catch. Jimmer hasn't. He'll have to, and I'm sure he can.

[Donuthole]

I'll be surprised if Jimmer is as tall as Curry. Curry measured 6'2" barefoot. I seem to recall seeing them next to each other during the Oly practices last year and Jimmer looked short.

As to the rest of it, I agree partly. Going into that draft, I wasn't believing the hype on Curry because I didn't think he was a PG, but when I've seen him play this year, he looks like a really good PG both drving and passing.. I think Jimmer has established himself as a PG in college much better than Curry did. People who don't think Jimmer is a PG, and that he is Eddie House are crazy, IMO.

Also, Curry in college played off the ball a lot, coming off screens, shooting off the catch. Jimmer hasn't. He'll have to, and I'm sure he can.

I'll go on record and predict that Jimmer measures in at 6'1" barefoot. Shorter than Curry, but not enough to really impact his draft status. For a PG, the difference between 6'1" and 6'2" is not even worth worrying about, IMO.

[Jacob]

I'll go on record and predict that Jimmer measures in at 6'1" barefoot. Shorter than Curry, but not enough to really impact his draft status. For a PG, the difference between 6'1" and 6'2" is not even worth worrying about, IMO.

That's true. I do believe that if Jimmer looked different (skin or hair) he'd be projected closer to what Curry was in the draft i.e. top 10. One of the concerns re: Curry was also his weight or slight build. Jimmer has already improved his body to have the look of an NBA player, IMO. I recently saw some guy in the LA Times analyzing the draft. He called Jimmer "chubby." That's guy is delusional.

[MarkGrace]

People who don't think Jimmer is a PG, and that he is Eddie House are crazy, IMO.

I think for every comparison that has been made to Jimmer, someone else has called it crazy. Eddie House is a PG, no? I mean when I've watched him he's checked in at the point. And I don't think the comparison is that he plays like Eddie House, but rather that he'll be an Eddie House-like player. Come in as a "point," 8-10 ppg off the bench and more when he gets hot, main function of shooting/scoring.

[MarkGrace]

That's true. I do believe that if Jimmer looked different (skin or hair) he'd be projected closer to what Curry was in the draft i.e. top 10.

I don't. I watch Jimmer -- having no attachment to him whatsoever -- and always come away with the impression that his athleticism as an NBA player is extremely questionable. He's got great skill, though, and that will make up for some it -- like it did with Horny.

Jimmer has already improved his body to have the look of an NBA player, IMO. I recently saw some guy in the LA Times analyzing the draft. He called Jimmer "chubby." That's guy is delusional.

I do wonder if he could get leaner to help his quickness. He's not fat, not by any stretch, but he's definitely bulky. I think of the transformation Deron made from college to the NBA with his body, though Deron was definitely carrying a lot more baby fat in college than Jimmer. But even Kobe, who's always been in great shape, decided to lose 20 or so pounds a handful of years back. Jimmer's in great shape as well, but I do wonder if he couldn't stand to lose a little weight as well.

[MarkGrace]

I think we really don't have much of a clue what kind of a defender Jimmer can be. He hasn't played defense the last 2+ years if for no other reason that it's been two years since he could risk picking up two fouls in the first half or his third foul in the second half. It's nearly impossible to play defense when you know you simply can't risk getting a foul.

This seems to be the going apologist line on CB these days, but I'm not sure I buy it completely. I totally get what you're saying and I see that, but at the same time he averaged 1.1 fouls per game last year, and 1.3 this year. 99% of the time he wasn't playing in anything even resembling foul trouble. I understand saving your energy throughout the course of the game for offense and trying to stay out of foul trouble and all that, but I always found it a bit troublesome when he'd be out there with just a foul or two and the end of a game and still letting his team play 4-on-5 defense. As a competitor, and we know he's that, how can you be in a close game where your team needs a stop and not sack up and go check your man? I never really understood that.

Beyond that, I really don't see the footspeed on him to play defense. Some dork on CB the other day was arguing that because he could make all these moves on offense he could clearly play defense if he wanted. lol. As if being able to make a move on offense somehow translates into the lateral footspeed needed for defense.

But when it comes to the defense thing, I'm mostly on board with the notion that 90% of the NBA doesn't play defense anyway so it's not that big deal. And hell, Hayward was the guy most scouts were saying "who's he going to guard?" last year and he's looked like a fine defensive player to me. Jimmer could be the same I suppose.

[Jacob]

I do wonder if he could get leaner to help his quickness. He's not fat, not by any stretch, but he's definitely bulky. I think of the transformation Deron made from college to the NBA with his body, though Deron was definitely carrying a lot more baby fat in college than Jimmer. But even Kobe, who's always been in great shape, decided to lose 20 or so pounds a handful of years back. Jimmer's in great shape as well, but I do wonder if he couldn't stand to lose a little weight as well.

I'll be surprised if his body fat is as high as 10%. He's leaner than Deron was in college, IMO. He looks bulky, but it's not fat. You can tell just looking at his jaw line and shoulders.

[Jacob]

I don't. I watch Jimmer -- having no attachment to him whatsoever -- and always come away with the impression that his athleticism as an NBA player is extremely questionable. He's got great skill, though, and that will make up for some it -- like it did with Horny.

I think he's ranked about where he should be...in the teens. But he's missing the hype that a lot of guys not better than him got, IMO. Maybe it's more the team he played for, or not getting that win against Florida. Adam Morrison went #2, so I'm probably off on the skin color--even though most scouts didn't have Morrison in the top 5.

[WashingtonCoug]

I do wonder if he could get leaner to help his quickness. He's not fat, not by any stretch, but he's definitely bulky. I think of the transformation Deron made from college to the NBA with his body, though Deron was definitely carrying a lot more baby fat in college than Jimmer. But even Kobe, who's always been in great shape, decided to lose 20 or so pounds a handful of years back. Jimmer's in great shape as well, but I do wonder if he couldn't stand to lose a little weight as well.

I agree, he's not fat at all. He is a little bit bulky though. I do wonder if his ability to drive to the basket would be hampered if he slimmed down.

[MarkGrace]

I think he's ranked about where he should be...in the teens. But he's missing the hype that a lot of guys not better than him got, IMO.

What do you mean? Not better than him as college players? Or not better than him as NBA prospects?

Maybe it's more the team he played for, or not getting that win against Florida.

This I don't get. I was even super annoyed reading Ford's comments about how a bunch of GM's sent him texts after that game saying "I told you so." So dumb. He played that exact same team last year and dusted them. Kid scored on all comers at the college level, no doubt. He had one bad game when he was completely out of gas and everyone was just waiting for that opportunity to say I told you so. Lame.

Adam Morrison went #2, so I'm probably off on the skin color--even though most scouts didn't have Morrison in the top 5.

There are times I think this is legitimately the case. For example, when I watched Evan Turner and Gordon Hayward in college, I saw very similar athletes. Yet for some reason athleticism seemed to be a bigger knock on Hayward than Turner. Never got that one.

But I think if a kid's white and has athleticim, most often people with give him his due. A ton of people raved about Budinger's athleticism, same with Babitt. Look at the Vesley kid in this year's draft:

Facing up to the basket, he is able to get to the rim quickly due to his quickness and good first step. Very explosive off the floor when attacking the bucket and finishes strong

He's still a work in progress as a player as his athleticism and "wow plays" exceed his effectiveness and consistency

From a physical standpoint, Vesely remains the same extremely intriguing athletic specimen. He has terrific size and length for a small forward at 6-11 and couples that with incredible explosiveness.

Even with his prodigious athleticism, Vesely still isn't much of a presence on the glass.

Vesely is a terrific athlete who has played major minutes on a Euroleague team the past two seasons

NBA scouts fell in love with the athletic Serbian last year before Vesely broke their hearts and decided to skip the draft and return to Serbia for another season.

And you could go through every draft and find black kids who also have their athleticism questioned. It's never as simple as white = unathletic, black = athletic. Like I've said, for my part, when I watch Jimmer I completely see the questions about his athleticism. If he wasn't one our our own, he'd be getting blasted by everyone on these boards as the college star turned bust. But that of course doesn't mean he won't succeed. Half the white kids everyone has ragged on in the last couple years because they didn't have ideal athleticism (Lopez -- white enough , Love, Reddick, Hansbrough -- I was always bagging on him) have turned out pretty well. Jimmer could of course do the same.

[smokymountainrain]

This seems to be the going apologist line on CB these days, but I'm not sure I buy it completely. I totally get what you're saying and I see that, but at the same time he averaged 1.1 fouls per game last year, and 1.3 this year. 99% of the time he wasn't playing in anything even resembling foul trouble. I understand saving your energy throughout the course of the game for offense and trying to stay out of foul trouble and all that, but I always found it a bit troublesome when he'd be out there with just a foul or two and the end of a game and still letting his team play 4-on-5 defense. As a competitor, and we know he's that, how can you be in a close game where your team needs a stop and not sack up and go check your man? I never really understood that.

Beyond that, I really don't see the footspeed on him to play defense. Some dork on CB the other day was arguing that because he could make all these moves on offense he could clearly play defense if he wanted. lol. As if being able to make a move on offense somehow translates into the lateral footspeed needed for defense.

But when it comes to the defense thing, I'm mostly on board with the notion that 90% of the NBA doesn't play defense anyway so it's not that big deal. And hell, Hayward was the guy most scouts were saying "who's he going to guard?" last year and he's looked like a fine defensive player to me. Jimmer could be the same I suppose.

I'm not using it as an excuse, rather I'm just saying we don't know what kind of defender he is. He might be terrible or he might be adequate. I think we can safely assume he's not elite.

[Jacob]

Steve Blake out indefinitely with chicken pox. I'd be really worried if I were a Laker fan

[Flystripper]

Steve Blake out indefinitely with chicken pox. I'd be really worried if I were a Laker fan

[Surfah]

Steve Blake out indefinitely with chicken pox. I'd be really worried if I were a Laker fan

:igiveup: