Still here. I’ve been saying all along that Ivey had holes in his game. At different posts in this thread and also in the NBA draft forum. Nothing I saw shocked me. He isn’t great going left, his jumper is erratic, and he’s not a pure point guard. He struggles in half court, but excels in transition of which there wasn’t very much of today. Been saying that for months. If this was your first game watching him closely I understand why you think he looks like a bum, but that was his first bad game since the Big 10 tournament started. These are all things I’ve been pointing to when people say things like he’s better than Jalen Green or to trade Jalen Green for a top 4 pick and get Ivey. They aren’t at all the same kind of player outside of being fast and being highlight dunkers. He plays in an antiquated offense with zero spacing that is predicated around low post scoring that doesn’t seem to do a whole lot to put him in positions that accentuate guard play. The only thing that raised an eyebrow for me was how uninvolved he was, but it was like this last game too before he exploded late. I also wanted to see him handle against the full court pressure, but he was never in that. I would’ve liked to see if he could handle that. Completely failing at that would have in my opinion been a case where he was exposed as a weak ball handler, but he only functioned as a relief valve to the point guard all game. Kind of makes me feel like they didn’t trust him.
Fair points, he's more of a sixth man type combo guard. Hopefully we can get a true point back in H town soon. Maybe with the Brooklyn pick?
Excellent post. Having watched Ivey a number of times, it is fair to suggest that he and Banchero are the more polished offensive options in that top 5. If Ivey were the primary ball handler, all the questions over his NBA position would have been answered - and potentially he would be consensus #1 pick (Or they may have been answered another way and he sticks at pick 7 or so!!) I am Chet/Smith as 1 pick. But Ivey may well make a case in workouts
Have you read Banchero's scouting reports by now or still think every criticism about him is just imaginary?
What does upgrade mean or look like? The trade market looks bone dry to my eyes We have an MLE, and a high draft pick with no top PG prospects. I feel confident Tyus Jones has played himself into getting that MLE offer from much better teams, Grizz probably offer it themselves. Brunson will be out of the budget for sure. So what are we looking at? Torn ACL Rubio? Bringing back Schroder? I'd take Delon Wright or Satoransky for their size, passing, and D, but obviously, they bring 0 to the table when it comes to breaking down the D or scoring. I don't think we're getting a long-term solution at PG this off-season, just stop gaps that aren't much better then what we have now. Also, if you think Jalen is truly a centerpiece going forward, his defensive position will very likely be PG without a dramatic body transformation. Our PG of the future will need to be a good defender who has real size and length if the Rockets are going to be a great team. I see Green's (wildest upside) game fitting in an offense very similar to Curry/LaVine, and they need Draymond/Lonzo-type players to function as winning basketball teams.
I will easily take Rubio even off a torn ACL over KPJr running point for another year…even he would make a noticeable difference in how the offense runs Jalen Green has a similar body type to Zach Lavine, and Lavine’s defensive position has never been PG…Lavine entered the NBA weighing 180 lbs just like Green too
I agree I'd take Rubio, not sure he'd have any interest in being here though, IIRC I remember hearing he wanted to go back to Spain soon. And yeah he did, Lavine's rookie year was listed at PG, Rubio would hold the 2's whenever they shared the court during his time in Minny. LaVine is a bad defender and his defensive position is usually the smallest player or the worst offensive wing or guard. Make no mistake why the Bulls targeted Lonzo, Caruso, and Dosunmu for a reason. Bulls recognized the type of player that's needed to pair with LaVine in the backcourt. The same situation with Curry, he's always been their smallest and weakest defender, Draymond and Iggy have been the ball handlers that make that team special while Curry focuses on shooting. Jalen's 6'4 but he's tiny, he can put on 20 pounds, and develop into a much better defender than today, and I'd still bet on his best defensive position being PG. He's got the quick feet, him being explosive and slightly taller for the position is a beneficial thing. He just doesn't have the frame for big guards and wings, I can't imagine it being a good idea to bring in a long-term PG who isn't bigger than him.
One name I am not seeing a lot of buzz around is Dyson Daniels. Am I crazy to think he could become a fantastic PG in the NBA? Awesome passing instincts at 6' 6"
Complete trash and off the bandwagon. One bad game completely overshadows everything else our eyes have told us. I mean he had a bad game, how can I ever think he will be great after that.
Ricky Rubio and Zach Lavine played just 36 minutes together that entire season…if Zach Lavine was listed at PG as a rookie, it wasn’t when he was playing with Rubio…Rubio was running point and would just take whoever the better offensive player is in the backcourt Jalen Green’s defensive position will be whoever is the worst offensive player in the backcourt on that particular night Lonzo, Caruso, and Dosunmu wasn’t just because of Lavine…their starting C is Vucevic too, they needed some perimeter defense badly in general, and these low usage, defense oriented role players make sense next to Lavine, Vucecic, and later Demar Derozan who is another guy that plays no D in any case, all I was saying is that they should upgrade from KPJr at PG this offseason, and if that ends up being Rubio, I’ll be happy…he would actually run some semblance of an offense and have the team looking organized as opposed to KPJr who has no clue
I like it, Bill. What happened to Wood and what was the return? Rubio would be great as he doesn't need FGs and gets everyone to their spots. As a starter Rubes avgs 8-10 fgs. As of right now the Rox starting five gets in 60 fgs, even distribution between Wood, KP and Green at 13 fg each. Gordon and Tate at 10 each. I need Green and Sengun's shots to increase to 16 fg for Green and 13fgs for Sengun. KPs to stay the same at 13 fga, 8 for rubio. That leaves 10 efficient shots for Chet, 55%fg scoring 14 pts a night. This would be the most effective starting 5 for continued development and winning. But a back up plan is needed if Wood is back. I have a feeling he will be.
