LA got to get rid of one scrub, Hunter, with a 2 years @ 4.5mil/year contract and got another scrub, Murray, for a smaller 1 year 4.6mil contract. It was a good trade for the Lakers, they got dump salary and got a player who was supposed to be picked 13th by the Pacers, who instead for some reason, chose Freddie Jones. In fact if Rush had come out after his sophmore year it was projected that he was sure-fire lottery pick, instead he remained one more year at Missouri and ended up getting injured. Rush has already dropped a 30 point, 0 TO game on Doug Christie this year, supposedly one of the league's best defenders. But it is hard for him to crack the guard rotation of Kobe and Payton(who slides to the 2 when Fisher and Kobe are both playing), and he's not really defensively strong enough to play the 3 and doesn't have the handles or court vision to play PG so his minutes are limited, which has slowed down his progress a lot. The Pacers should have taken Rush, he would have developed nicely there.
Wait a minute, I just realized that you guys aren't in my division anymore. Hmmmmmmmmm......... now my desire for you guys to suck is limited only to in-conference play. Thank God they didn't split up the Nugs & Jazz.
I remember Mobley once said, "Anybody in the NBA could drop 30 points in one game." Heck, even Cato did it once. The question is, how often can you do it? Rush is a one dimensional player. He's a nice shooter, and that's about it. If he doesn't improve his defense, or develop any other aspects of his game, he'll be a bench player and maybe occasional starter no matter which team he's on (much like Piatkowski).
But can anybody do it against an all-league defender? I believe his sophmore year in college he was dubbed, "hardest college player to guard" by the Sporting News because of his unconventional, southpaw, quick release shooting style. You are right, Rush is sorta one-dimensional He has made some great steals and to Laker's fans suprise, some very nice blocks. His man on man defense obviously needs much improvement though. But shooters are at a premium right now, it doesn't seem like anybody can nail down the open jumper these days. You may be dis-enchanted with "shooters" at the moment because Piatkowski has had such a tough year(I thought he'd perform a lot better with Houston too). I agree that Rush will probably be a bench player for the rest of his career if continues to play on any decent team, I am not saying the guy is going to be a star. But hey, if he continues to improve his shooting in the NBA there will be plenty of teams willing to make a spot on their roster for him and pay him nicely to boot.
Agreed. Actually, I had high expectation for Pike too. I don't know what happened to his shot. But that's the problem with a player like him. When his shots don't fall, he is pretty much useless. Rush is not a bad player. He's a end of the 1st round pick, which is about right for his worth. What I don't agree is some people think he is some kind of a gem, a high end role player, overlooked by many teams.
Why wouldn't the Raptors eat the goat? They figured they needed him for next season. How many Raptors does it take to trap a Rex? 3. And Rex Chapman laughs every time it happens.
didn't realise till now the Celts and Jazz have 3 first round picks this year, that could make it an interesting draft
This is where Ainge fans chime in about there actually having een a fan...wait, is there such a thing as an Ainge fan?
I don't know Easy, he's pretty special to the Lakers right about now. We probably would have lost w/o him tonight.
