Last year, I had a feeling that Patrick Patterson was exactly the kind of guy that the Rockets front office gets excited about. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=185619&highlight=patterson This year, I am having a similar feeling about Brandon Knight: Good physical attributes, smart guy, came from the Calipari basketball factory. He's got the scent of a Rockets draft pick and is projected to go in the teens where the Rockets will likely be drafting.
The only problem with this is that we already have 2 solid point guards. We need to draft a shot blocking big man unless we think Thabeet can be that guy.
I don't think position is of any concern. The Rockets are using BPA draft strategy since we don't have a franchise player at any position. Last year, we took Patterson when we already had Scola, Hayes, Hill, and Jeffries (if you count him) at the PF spot.
I'd be all for Knight, but my gut tells me Morey's going to take one of these 3: Terrence Jones, Chris Singleton, Tyler Honeycutt.
If Knight is a clear upgrade over Dragic, then I can see us moving Dragic for a young big. Ex; Goran Dragic for Cole Aldrich You always want to go with the BPA when drafting a player, no matter what position they play.
You sure he smells like a Rocket? Rockets have done a amazing job staying away from young exciting players under 20 with massive potential. :/ I'd love to have Knight. He's a long, smooth scoring point guard with good size. Not the Drose type of athletic dunking PG. Knight is a great shooter and penatrator. Decent playmaker and defender. Lowry is nice but when it comes to potential and the direction Houston should be headed, Knight has the upper hand. I can only hope we select him.
It's more like the Calipari basketball Greyhound bus stop. Patterson played two years under Gillespie remember. It's nice for college coaches to take all the credit for their kids' talent, but no coach in the country can do that when their recruits only stay for a year. Are you going to use Durant as a sign Rick Barnes is a genius developer of talent? Now Calipari's four year players, those are some gems. Rodney Carney, Joey Dorsey, now those are some guys with polished games... Actually the more I think about it, the only thing Calipari instilled in his players was how unimportant free throws were. (Say hello 2008 Memphis Tigers!)
wow lots of hate in that post... Cal did help Patrick add to his game in the one season he played for him To Carl... I don't think Brandon will be coming out unless UK makes a deep run this season. He's a really smart kid though, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Morey likes him. He's a good shooter, most of the time a smart passer, a good ball handler, has a quick step etc We shall see... I won't be at all surprised if we take a good long look at him.
I could see DMorey doing this too. Remember when he picked Aaron Brooks when we had Rafer, Mike James, and eventually Steve Francis? I love that he's true to his BPA words. God do we need some size and length though (that's what she said).
Also, I watched Brandon Knight play a tournament at Cameron Indoor back in the spring of 2008. He was a junior in high school, Kenny Boynton of Florida was his teammate and both were highly touted recruits at the time. Knight was much better than Boynton in that game, but honestly they both were doing a lot of driving/shot-taking and not much running of any sort of offense so it was difficult to tell what their best skillsets were. Later that year Knight would take over the #1 overall spot in the Rivals rankings, and he would keep it for much of the year until Barnes, Selby, and, at the very end, Irving surpassed him. He's a pure point I think, tons of upside although it's less apparent on the court than Irving's. If we got this guy I would love him, if we didn't I would not think much of it. This is a point guard's league now; there's just so many good ones out there that it puts less of a premium on the best ones like Paul and Deron. Now centers...those are the ones you sell your soul to acquire.
Well, if he stays this year, he smells like a Rocket for a future draft. And about Coach Cal: I really don't know the "which coach is responsible for what part of which player's game" answers, but even if all that Cal is good at is spot and recruit talented guys, then at least I will take whether Cal likes a guy into account when I consider drafting him.
I don't think the Rockets can get too picky just yet with talent. Definitely go for best player available. As guys progress and earn their minutes during practice, I don't think there is a single guy on the team who won't be moved in favor of opening up playing time. Recently the Rockets traded away Battier and Brooks (key member of the rotation). Now Courtney Lee is getting consistent playing time and Budinger is getting an extra 12 to 20 minutes a game. And the Rockets are showing a great quality of basketball play - since the trade. Two years ago they traded Rafer Alston (a legit starter) and got Lowry (a backup), but the intent was to get Brooks playing time he'd earned. Surprisingly Lowry ended up beating Brooks for playing time - so now Brooks is out of town. The Rockets are proving that all playing time is earned.
Watching the WV/UK game now... I wish Rick Adelman would wear the Bog Huggins track suit during a game.
I want Kenneth Faried just for the ability to see two undersized big men dominate giants. That is like second-tier college size bigs right there and I'm sorry I just think it would be awesome.
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