i take one whose productivity improved every year in college (Blair), as opposed to one whose productivity declined (C Bud)
I like Budinger's shooting, fluidity, court vision, and handles for his size. But I would trade him, Taylor, Pops, and Newley for Blair. We have more need for Budinger's skill-set but man... Blair is my kind of player.
We are not contenders this year; we can't risk taking a chance on Blair. His kees will bust within his first few years in the NBA. Let me repeat, the ACL is there for a reason. Blair doesn't have ACL in either of his knees, causing an increased stress in his other ligaments and tendons.
LOL . Great quote on the "undersized PF that exceeds expectations market cornered". You couldn't have said it any better. Blair is definetly looking like a huge steal for the Spurs.
Hold on here. I disagree that guys like Chase are 'a dime a dozen'. Even in these last two games, I am now trying to think of any 'white guys' who were his size, quickness and had his hops. Dude is zeroed in on the goal every time down the floor, which is to put the ball in the basket, no fooling around. And I don't mean he is a black hole, it's not like he is a shameless gunner, he moves without the ball like an arrow straight to the hole, and has an incredibly sweet jumper. Guys like that are definitely not a dime a dozen.
... because he's white? You can't think of any white guys with his skills, but can you think of black guys? I certainly can. If the only distinguishing characteristic that makes him "not a dime a dozen" for you is that he's white...
Budinger is legit and literally perfect for the Rockets offense. I'm very surprised with how well he is defending quicker wing players. I'll stick with Chase.
I think Taylor vs Blair would be a more apt comparison. Taylor is the guy we picked when Blair was still on the board.
I guess you weren't around for the 08-09 season because we had a 'black guy' who did that. Except he's not around anymore because he had a bad attitude and he even managed to piss off Adelman.
I remember during the draft, as the late first round and early second round started to unfold, thinking to myself: "Why the [bleep] are DeJuan Blair and Chase Budinger still on the board?!?!". They were both very good, high-profile college players. Blair was as impressive as any big man in the country; and Chase was one of the nation's most highly touted prospects coming out of high school and was even considered a mid-lottery pick type talent just two years prior. When Jermaine Taylor went off the board at #32 to Washington, I had a feeling that the Rockets had bought that pick. There was so much talk prior to the draft of Morey looking to acquire picks, and I recall Taylor's name being linked to multiple Rockets workouts. It just seemed logical. Then, when Sergio Llull was taken at #34 by Denver at #34, I thought to myself, "Did Morey just buy TWO of the top four picks of the second round?" I remember that Morey made MULTIPLE trips to Europe to scout this kid and that the Rockets' international scout was in love with Llull. Again, it made sense. (By the way, to anyone who is wondering why a guy like Llull goes off the board ahead of some more well-known college players, it's for two reasons: (1) these international players are oftentimes a lot better than people realize, since most American basketball fans don't watch Euroleague hoops; and (2) NBA teams desire the FLEXIBILITY that drafting an international player gives them, since that player usually can be stashed overseas to develop FOR FREE, as opposed to having to pay a college kid a full NBA salary, tie up (a little) cap room, and have him develop in the D-League, which is an inferior level of competition to the top Euroleagues, anyways.) I was screaming bloody murder when the Spurs took Blair. How could any NBA team in need of a PF not have taken this kid after B.J. Mullens (an inferior talent at the time, but a legit center with much more potential) went off the board at #24. The only reason I wasn't pissed at the Rockets for taking Taylor and Llull over him was that, like many have said, Houston already had its share of undersized power forwards. Sure, he may have been a good "best player available" pick, but the Rockets had some needs to fill (Taylor to replace Wafer) and wanted a potential quality young player to develop and add down the road (Llull, who I think will be a very good player). As for Chase, I thought at the time he was drafted that Detroit got themselves (along with Blair to the Spurs) the steal of the draft. I was AMAZED that Budinger would drop to #45 overall. Blair had the knee issues to cause his fall. But Budinger was surely worthy of being taken in the mid- to late 20s based on his pure talent alone. Especially with how widely-publicized the coaching carousel at Arizona was over the past two seasons, how Chase fell that far still astounds me. I agree with those who say that Morey must have also been amazed and decided to "buy low". Overall, I think Morey came out smelling like a rose with this draft. Chase is a steal. The jury's still out on Taylor. And Llull is going to be an asset down the road for the Rockets.
Wafer was a player with a one-track mind, great athleticism, a decent shot, and no left hand. He didn't have the size, court awareness, ball handling, passing, or general basketball aptitude that Chase has already shown us.
true that. what is telling about Chase is that, in league (Pac 10) play, his production has gotten progressive worst. Last year, in Pac 10 play, Chase's production was pedestrian, worst than the year before. but he did have outstanding performance against non-league opponents, who didn't have a scouting report on him. like the Pac-10 teams, the NBA teams will have a book on Chase and keep pounding on his weakness. chase didn't respond well to his Pac-10 oponents who have a book on him; i believe it will be the same in the NBA, only more so.
Bima, I had Budinger and Blair in the 20 range. I actually had watched some scouts tape on lull and liked him. The guy I questioned was taylor and I still question him. I do know the pistons pick was for sale. Chase talent have never been questioned, just his toughness and desire.
Taylor to me is what it looks like, seeing that a Wafer type can play well on this team its about finding another player with similar attributes. I'd put Blair now as the better player than Budinger. Encouraging thing with Budinger is he's a more immediate need player giving more initial contributions than Blair would. And he can still develop. If both Blair and Budinger were on this team I'da still picked Chase to play more minutes, maybe Blair have a midseason impact like how Landry did his rookie year.
If we didn't take Llull at 34, he wouldn't have been around at 44. So a better question would be would we rather have Llull or Blair? We would have gotten Budinger anyway at 44.
Exactly. The OP is just trying to being controversial. Roslolian has been front-and-center for much of the talk about Blair in both the NBA Dish and college forum. His M.O. has been trying to find ways to discredit Blair -- this thread reeks of that underlying theme. Hell, he even badly exposed himself a couple of times on his knowledge about Blair with the best example being his dubious observation that Blair is best utilized as a four (when in reality that's never been the case -- not HS, not college and hasn't been the case as a pro). Look, i'm the biggest Blair fan on this board. I said we should have taken him on draft night and I still feel that way. That said, I am content with Chase and the rookie trio that we currently have. The better "What if?" scenario as durvasa corrected pointed out is: Blair vs. JT. In that case, I think you know my answer. But this type of talk gets us nowhere.
