Poll: Mo Pete, DerMarr, or Darius? Which one would you choose?

I am not that down on Rip, but he has been disappointing. I noticed he has been contributing more lately, it is just Marion, Maggete, Posey, Griffen & Artest have made more of an impact this year. I had just thought him and Wally were polished enough to make a major impacts right away, Wally has adjusted a little better. I do remember Ray Allen wasn't quite as effective as Kerry Kittles was their first year, but now it isn't even close the other way around, so I am still hopeful for Rip.

I was watching Mo very closely last night. I still don't think he will be a great pro. Most of his shots came of screens, not breaking his guy down 1 on 1. On the other hand he handles OK and made a nice play on the break in passing to Bell. I do want a small forward who can make those kinds of plays. My major question with him is still whether he is bigger or longer than Shandon.


[This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited April 04, 2000).]

 

sir scarv,
I see your point in that you have doubts whether Mo Pete can effectively guard the SF's in the NBA. According to various sites, he is about 6"7" and 215lbs. That may be slightly small for an NBA 3, but I don't think its anything to fret about. He does possess long arms, and that may be a bigger factor. Even if he is too small for that position, there is always room for adjustments. Did the Rockets not start Mario Ellie at the 3 occasionally during their second championship run and more often in the insueing seasons? Mario is no more than 6"5" if that, and did a great job defending against the leagues best 3s and 2s. There are many other starting SF's in the game who either as big or smaller than Peterson (ie. K.Gill, V.Carter, L.Spreewell,etc) Sure, Clyde often guarded the bigger 3s, and Robert Horry was always there, but thats what adjustments are about. We could play Carlos Rogers, Anderson, or Kenny Thomas on players giving Peterson - or any other player we choose to draft - match-up problems.

I'm not advocating Houston should with out a doubt draft Peterson. Maybe Fizer or probably Martin are better picks, but I don't think a couple inches here or pounds there should stop us from drafting a very good player with infinite potential. We should let Rudy T and co. take care of that.

Azim da Dream

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True champions do not take their failures to heart and never let success go to their heads.

 

I guess I see Mo Pete as a great (college) player who is very close to reaching his potential, rather than a good player with "infinite" potential. I did not see Mo blowing by or breaking down guys the way Carter, Finley or Ray Allen could because of blinding athleticism (note, he shoots better than all but Allen coming out of college). Though not bad in these departments, he didn't seem phenomenally quick nor a phenomenal ball handler either. I did really like the lay-up he set up Bell on the break for, this was a good skill he showed. Also, his shots were also mainly coming off picks, and I didn't see a tremendous middle range scoring instincts of say Rip Hamilton for instance. As I said he reminds me a lot of Paul Pierce or Shandon Anderson. Nice players, but nothing that really adds another dimension given the swing players we already have. While I agree the MSU web cite lists him at 6' 7", two other scouting cites list him at 6' 6"--which I trust a little more.

Not to rely so much on physique, but I will be a lot more exited about him if he really measures out to 6' 7" and has spider arms. If he is closer to Finley in physical attributes--than he is to Shandon--than I am all for him with a 5-8 pick.

As far as the small ball issue, the problem isn't with a 6'6" small forward, but it is when you are undersized at virtually all positions and don't have a 96' Hakeem cleaning up others messes. That is why I want to add a SF with significantly more size than Shandon, or a PF with more height and/or hops than KT, or a true center (then Cato moves to the 4 and we are good size again). Individually were are not too small, but collectively we are too small and we will pay for it on the glass and in terms of interior defense.

**sorry for being less than original, I re-read my previous posts and see myself really repeated myself. Other thoughts of what I may be missing would be appreciated.

[This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited April 04, 2000).]

 

I've gotta agree with sir scarvajal on Peterson. When I watch Peterson, the first person that comes to mind is Ed O'Bannon.

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D.Miles could be a great defender - he's got quickness and instinct for blocking the shot, but there's NO WAY we take him with the lottery pick.. c'mon he's the 3rd ranked high school prospect entering the draft so why on earth would we need to take him in the lottery ?? IF we were to consider taking him then it'd be with a late first round pick. Say all you want about him "not being there late first round" or whatever, fact is he won't go in the lottery. He weighs 190 lbs and has no jumper, that equals project, will he ever put on weight ? Will he ever learn to shoot ? Well I'd certainly be willing to gamble on it, as I'm sure several GM's out there will be too, but not with a lottery pick.
Darius Miles isn't going in the lottery. Don't believe me? Wait and see.

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I'm not sure on the Ed O'bannon and Morris Peterson comparison. O'bannon was a college power forward who needed to convert to a NBA small forward. Peterson is strictly a perimeter player who has shown much better perimeter skills and instincts than O'bannon. I like Peterson, but I don't think that he's the best pick under all circumstances. If the Rockets pick up a starting PF in free agency, then I think that the Rockets need to look at being good immediately. I'd take Peterson in that instance. Mo Pete is most capable of the 3 to help the team now. However, if the Rockets don't make any significant moves in free agency and only pick up marginal starters/backups, then I'd go with one of the other two. Which one of those depends on when the Rockets pick. I'd take Johnson with a mid lotto pick and Darius Miles with a late lotto pick. Miles doesn't shoot well, as evidences by the McDonald's and Nike Hoop Summit games. Johnson is more attractive to me because that would give the Rockets someone who can consistently hit the outside shot. I'm trying to imagine a lineup of Francis, Shandon, Miles in the perimeter and I don't like it. It would be exciting on the break, but in the half-court set it would be ugly.

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To back up Rocketsfan34, Elton Brand was ranked about number 15 coming out of high school. Tracy McGrady was ranked #3 too after the likes of Chris Burgess. Johnathan Bender was ranked as low as 25. The rankings coming out of high school are based on how well they might do in college. The pro prospects of a high school player differs a great deal.

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triplebogey,

I wasn't really trying to compare the games of O'Bannon and Peterson. What I was refering to is the fact that both were solid college players whose draft stock rose because of their team's run to the NCAA title.

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