http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/69361/20100930/austin_rivers_commits_to_duke/ This guy is the real deal..I feel bad for seth curry bc he wont get a shot to start at point after this since this year its kyle irvings court and next year its rivers turn,but huge pull for duke
He should of stuck with Florida and gotten his stats and become a one and done player. Duke is where Blue chip prospects become role players.
Jonathan Givony(from Draftexpress) has him listed as a SG, not a point. So if Seth Curry decides to stay another year, he could play together in the same back court as Austin Rivers. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Austin-Rivers-5743/ This was kind of unexpected, specially coming from Doc Rivers son.
He's good. But needs work on his attitude. Interesting to see if Coach K will turn him into a star or role player.
Rivers has the look of a Duke kid anyways. Despite the fact that he's #1 rated in his class, he's still not got the athleticism you usually see from a UNC or Kentucky recruit, the kind that translates well into the NBA. He does it all with his array of penetration moves and good outside shooting. People are saying he's the most skilled guard to come out of high school in a while. So basically a Dukie. If he works hard on his defense and continues to fill out he should do alright in the NBA, but his ceiling is lower than the guys who can jump out of the building like a Tyreke Evans, John Wall, or Harrison Barnes. Does that mean he won't achieve his ceiling at a higher rate than those other guys? Heck no, if anything he's got the best chance of them all to fulfill expectations because of his work ethic and high bball IQ. But just sayin, don't knock on him later on if we find out his ceiling isn't that of the NBA superstars. He is what he is, and Duke is a great fit for that.
http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&yr=2007&cfg=bb kyle singler was the #3 prospect in the HS class of 2007, above blake griffin, michael beasley, derrick rose, kevin love, patpat, johnny flynn, cole aldrich etc. and then he went to duke and look where he is now. JK he just sucks, hopefully austin rivers can overcome the duke curse and become a good pro. Ppl thought jay williams was gonna do that but the duke curse had other plans
There isn't really a Duke curse anymore ever since the 1999 era, and really you can add Grant Hill to that. Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Battier, Dunleavy, Boozer, Deng, Duhon, heck even Redick and Shelden and Shavlik Randolph and Josh McRoberts and Gerald Henderson, the latter ones being impressive simply for still being in the league. If you can say anything about a Dukie, it's that they find a way to get overpaid in the NBA! But see this isn't a case of "he doesn't perform to expectations" because what are expectations? It's so hard to figure out from college who will break out into an all-star because so many dominate yet so few get to have the chance to become an all-star. The truth is that, regardless of performance in college, all you can ask for from a top tier college player is that he sticks around in the NBA for a good number of years. If a lotto pick from 3-14 can carve out a 5-year NBA career, I call that a success, because he made it beyond his rookie contract (and that usually means he also made a lot of money). And as for Kyle Singler, he was a 6'8 white PF in high school. You tell me that if he had gone to another school, that he would have all of a sudden exploded in his freshman year and gone pro and proceeded to dominate the NBA. Pff. It is what it is. Those types of kids self-select themselves to Duke, and it's not Duke's fault that their ceilings are Mike Dunleavy and that's it. What is Duke supposed to say, "no thanks don't come here we want to maintain an image of Thug Life" to a white prospect that is clearly top 5 in high school and is gonna dominate college but probably not the pros? Kyle Singler's done just about what was expected of him since he graduated from high school, no better or worse.
Oh and one more thing about Singler. I think it's part of the NBA culture today, but players of his prototype just have a more difficult time finding a role in the NBA although they CLEARLY have the talent to stick around. Case in point? Our very own lanky white more-athletic-than-people-don't-think-he-is guy, Chase Budinger. He was just as highly ranked as Singler in HS, then got torched by scouts at Zona because he was white, and voila! Morey time baby. I think when Singler goes to the draft that's the guy he and his agent will be selling himself off as another version of.
I don't agree with linking athleticism to "ceiling" or potential. The players in the league are not necessarily the ones that jump out of the gym. You have guys like Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Tim Duncan and even Kobe Bryant at this stage of his career. They don't kill you with their athleticism, but skills and intelligence. Austin Rivers has all of those. I'm extremely high on this kid.
Kyle Singler? Are you serious? You are talking about the Most Outstanding Player for the Final Four, who could have gone pro in each of the past three years but decided to stick around to win more? He dominated Brandon Hayworth in the NCAA Final, who was a lottery pick. He also has a NCAA title, and that's more than everyone, other than Aldridge, on your list. As for the Duke curse, Greg Paulus might be a better example. In the end, it's more of a myth anyway.
I thought i was talking about hyped duke recruits coming out of high school and how their game rarely transfers well to the nba after putting in their time at cameron indoor.
Yeah you're right on that one. I think I just tend to associate athleticism in college to NBA potential. I remember Marvin Williams one-hand dunking the ball on a fast break with his other hand gripping the back of his head, and my friend and were like "stamp the NBA on the back of that man's head" lol, Roy Williams played him like 15mpg off the bench after that moment but it wasn't enough to hide him from NBA scouts. When I see a guy excel with smarts and skills, I just tend to write it off as the exception, but it's definitely making a come back I think after the dead-decade after Jordan when all basketball skills it seemed were going by the wayside in favor of hops. So Austin has a shot. We'll see how he does in college.
This article just came out. Duke #1 in producing NBA players In the end, I agree that Duke doesn't send all its hyped players to become pro stars. However, tell me one school that does.
I know we won't see this kid in the NBA for a while, I still like what I've seen and heard from this kid so far. All the great players believed they were the best mentally and made it reality on the court to back up that ego. Apparently Rivers (like the young unproven MJ, Lebron, Kobe etc.) wants to follow in those same type of footsteps: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/211755/Austin_Rivers_Wants_To_Destroy_LeBron_One_Day Here's his high school mixtape <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EfEGZ9RNTj0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Here's the other ClutchFans thread about him crossing over John Wall: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=192188
