Here's the whole list: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story?page=Soph20-120203&_slug_=nba-ranking-top-20-sophomores&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fstory%3fpage%3dSoph20-120203%26_slug_%3dnba-ranking-top-20-sophomores
I do wonder if Motiejunas will wind up relegating Patterson to a career backup. I like Patterson but he seems to top out as a good roleplayer, while Motiejunas has a superstar ceiling if everything goes perfect.
Because Landry Fields was a starter and 2nd rounder, I thought he would be higher than PPAT. Favors I would not put this high. Everyone else looks like they are where they should be.
I've thought about that too. But if that happens, it's a good thing. It would mean having 2 starter quality bigs at your PF spot, one just having a bigger impact on the game than the other. However, it's probably a bit too soon to consider promoting Motie to the starting 4 spot. I know he's played well abroad, but like any other player, he's going to have to prove that he can hang in the NBA before I start getting worried about him taking any playing time away from a player that has ALREADY shown that he's able to perform well in the NBA. But again, it'd be nice if he did turn Pattersosn into a career backup. We could do a lot worse.
Fields is a starter, but a bad one. Knicks fans think little of his ceiling. Plus him being a SG while PPat is a PF also means he has a huge position disadvantage. The Rockets would not even think about trading PPat for Fields. At the very least I see Patterson as a bigger Haslem type of player. At best I still see him as a star player. But he has to expand his offensive repertoire that he showed at Kentucky before Cousins showed up.
Splitter and Pekovic don’t have more talent than Patterson from what I’ve seen. They’re probably just seen as more valuable because they’re centers. And I really don’t see Pekovic ever being a good starting center. He’s just too slow and mistake prone on defense. That draft class is really going to go down as one of the sorrier ones; Griffin, Splitter, Asik, and Pekovic were all drafted in prior drafts. I think Patrick will return to form soon and Morey got great value out of that pick
I guess we really were high on this guy as well. If Patterson was No 6 on Morey's board this guy was No.3.
Nice to see P-Pat up there, but I'm having a hard time figuring out if Thorpe is ranking them on potential, or what they've actually done so far. Take Ed Davis for example, who was taken 1 spot ahead of P-Pat (remember Morey supposedly let out a giant cheer when it happened leaving P-Pat for us). Well I remember that last year in only a minute or two more p.t. Davis averaged about the same points, and twice as many rebounds (7 & 7 to 7 & 3.5 iirc). And Davis also had/has the whole rugged defender thing going for him where P-Pat hasn't impressed me greatly on defense whenever matching up against the better starting bigs in the league. So I don't know how Pat is that much higher on the list than ED, or how the guy is rating the players. But good to see PP getting some love anyway. It's funny that since all 4 are ahead of P-Pat on the list, if you set them aside then Pat goes from #10 to #6 of players taken that year, the exact number Morey had him ranked.
Thanks! I just try and bring stuff to talk about and actually learn a lot about basketball from all the smart folks here. Pekovic is a beast in the block with all that strength. My concern was with his defense, especially being paired with Love. From what I’ve seen, Pekovic is slow, fouls too much, and commits too many defensive violations. But those mistakes might have to do more with still transitioning to the NBA than IQ so maybe I’m underestimating him. He certainly does much better work in the post than Patterson. Haven’t watched the Craptors at all this year since I don’t care to watch them unless they’re playing the Rockets. But it sounds like maybe Davis looks really terrible this season? But yeah, putting him that low after a good rookie season seems a little harsh. I guess Thorpe thought he overachieved last season and his potential's not very high.
Splitter IMHO is better than PP just because he can play both positions, and he can do some solid post moves. Same thing with Pekovic. Patterson reminds me more of a smarter but less gifted Dalembert: he can defend, he can reb, he can hit mid-range jumpers, he can dunk but he can't score in the low block. One thing that really brings him down is he has the C-bud tendency to disappear at times, someone who is as versatile he is should always be aggressive instead of relying on his jumper. As for Wall vs Monroe, both still have a lot of room to grow but Monroe is already producing at his level, while Wall seems to have a really low Bball IQ and no feel for the game ala Steve Francis. If Wall can prove that he can get over his bball IQ deficiency then IMHO he'll be up there with Griffin, as is though right now he's homeless man's version of Tyreke Evans.