Strengths: Very smooth combo guard. Played point his first two seasons, and can legitimately play the point guard position. Excllent ball handling ability and composure. A smart player with great maturity. Passes well, and has a solid overall game. Has a quick first step and takes players to the basket well or can find an open man off the drive. Strong character guy, not arrogant. Really passes well of the drive. Weaknesses: He doesn't do anything amazingly well, very solid, but he isn't fantastic at anything, Must continue to develop his game. Needs to become a little more selfish and take over offensively. A little better in the half court set, than on the break. He can definitely improve on is finishing with authority. -nbadraft's scouting on Reece Gaines. Sounds similar to Brandon Roy, no? Their college numbers are also similar...
I don't see the reece gaines comparison. but I would be worried about him turning into a backcourt version of shane battier. both players were heavily labeled "jack of all trades - master of none" both players were considered "most ready to contribute right away" both are considered good but not great athletes (although roy is probably more athletic).
There's no way any of us knows how he's going to turn out. i wouldn't be worried or excited about any of these comparisons.
The cautionary Shane Battier comparison is understandable with him being so well rounded, but the Reece Gaines one is downright ridiculous. Where was Reece projected to go again? Definitely not top 5.
Shane Battier is a good roleplayer on a deep team. I wouldn't mind having him on the rockets. But if you're drafting with the 5th pick, I think you should expect a little more. And I definitely think you should hope for more considering the Rockets may trade a decent role player in Head, just to move up 3 slots to get him. I think a realistic expectation is for Roy to become a a contributor on the same level as someone like Tayshaun Prince, but at a different position. By this I mean someone who is a rock solid to spectacular defender and is able to give more than adequate scoring ability. He doesn't necessarily have to be a perennial all-star.
The Roy/Battier comparison isn't a good one. If you watched Battier in college, he never created off the dribble. He was brilliant at moving without the ball, brilliant at picking up garbage points, outstanding at shooting the trey off of kickoffs and outstanding at faking the trey and hitting the mid-range shot. But even in college, Battier wasn't a creator... he didn't isolate and take people off the dribble. Roy shoots and defends well, but he absolutely is a creator. He consistently takes people to the basket in isolation situations and can shoot well on the move as well as draw fouls. This distinguishes him from Gaines as well. Gaines went as high as he did (and still not close to top 5) because people envisioned him as a 6'6 point guard. While he had a good overall game, his quickness with the ball (after his first step) and his shooting off the dribble always left something to be desired. He didn't have enough attributes as a scorer to be picked that high if he were a SG. (Roy does.) But, if he would've been able to be a point, he wouldn't have had to do as much scoring and could've used his best attribute - his height - to allow him to better see the floor. Those of you who watched Roy at Washington know he is very quick and decisive with the basketball and has an outstanding ability to create off the dribble. He's also a good shooter on the move, which is something that distinguishes him from many other sound shooters. Brandon is a legit scorer in every sense of the word... the same couldn't be said for Gaines and Battier when they entered the draft. He's not a lock, but having watched him, he's as close to a lock to be a solid starter as anyone that I see in this draft.
The Cat: I admit I haven't seen a whole lot of Roy play in college. Most of the games I watched him in were during the tournament, where he was very impressive. My comparison wasn't as much about them having similar games, but the comments and cliches used to describe them are very similar.
Battie deserves a little more run than he gets. It's good to see good non raping duke alums doing good in the league.
The player that nbadraft.net compares Gaines to (Jim Jackson) is a pretty good comparison for Brandon Roy.
Lots of em do well. Grant Hill Elton Brand Correy Magette Shane Battier Mike Dunleavy Christian Lattner In fact, the old cliche about them not doing well in the NBA is just wrong...2 superstars on that list, and the rest good players. DD
I think its more so Duke guards that are prone to sucking Thats why you get the Redick - Trajan Langdon comparisons.
This is my issue with the deal. I think Roy is a very good player and would love to have him on the Rox, but not at the expense of Luther Head. If someone like Gay falls to us or we can get Brewer, then I would just as soon keep Head.
I really liked Head too, but from what i say this year he doesn't look like he is going to develop big time point guard skills, and as a 2 guard he could easily be replaced with a second round pick. Bogans could be brought back. Roy just seems to be that player that is so solid and unspectacular that he goes under the radar. He is going to be able to come in and start on a playoff caliber team with a coach notorius for not playing rookies. His ability to create, rebound, move without the ball and hit the open shots. I think the best comparisons i can think of is a more athletic jon barry without the 3pt shot. The biggest criticism of him was that he might not be a number 1 option. Well as the number 3 option he is going to be absolutely deadly.
