I'd venture to guess a consistent outside threat would account for Yao and TMac each improving their averages 3-4 ppg ontop of whatever Redick can pull down. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
THANK YOU !!!! Exactly my point. And, I think if Redick gets drafted and starts at SG for the Rockets he will be in the 13-16ppg category. DD
RD - You should quit while you are ahead, you are really distorting reality now. You can't possibly mention Redick in the same breath as Kobe, Pierce and Amare. All those guys are bigger, stronger, faster and greater players than Redick will ever be. Redick won't be a bust but he won't carry a team like those guys can. Yao had some nay sayers but it was more like 10%. And it wasn't if he could play in the NBA, the argument was could he ever be better than Smits and was he worth the #1. And your videos, like the one you cited as evidence that Redick could dunk, the one that was titled "Redicks First Career Dunk". A wide open 2 handed breakaway dunk that he barely got over the rim. Show me the one where he looks like the 6'3" Jason Terry taking Wade off the dribble and dunking it with one hand.
Barely completing a breakaway dunk one time in 4 years of starter's minutes when he's 6'4" might actually do more to prove how unathletic he is than anything. Here's a quick request for everyone that is advocating a Redick selection at #8... Name all the players in the league at 6'4" or under who are less athletic than J.J. Redick, don't have the skills to run the point, yet still get significant time on their team.
I can not think of a single more irrelevant post than this one. None of those guys could play in the NBA, or else they would be there. Redick just has to feed off of Tmac and Yao, how many Tmacs and Yaos are in that league? Team game, people, team game. DD
Coutesy of ymm.com Andy Munger, in an AllSports.com column, 5/3/02 : “I think he will make a career backup, not someone worth to be a top ten pick… “Yao Ming may not even make the CBA. He is perhaps the biggest hype the NBA has seen for a long time. He may be able to penetrate inside against Japanese or Korean players in international play, but does anyone really think Ming will move by Shack? The best thing for Yao to do would be to stay over there and get a nice job dropping his dream of playing in the NBA…” “He is soft on top and will not be able to handle the NBA defense or pressure play…” “His best hope would be to enroll in college and trying to improve his soft game before attempting to embarrass himself in the NBA.” Editor’s note: Munger wrote the following in his December 12th column: “I have to admit I thought Yao would be another Manute Bol and he has proven me wrong. Yao has quieted all his critics about his ability and potential to be an impact player in the NBA…” “The Houston Rockets knew what they were doing when they drafted Yao Ming.” Bill Simmons, ESPN.com, May 2002: “Years from now, we will remember ‘Yao Ming over Jay Williams’ the same way we remember ‘Bowie over Jordan,’ ‘Traylor for Nowitzki,’ ‘Carroll for McHale and Parish,’ ‘Aguirre over Thomas’ and every other great draft day blunder in NBA history. I’m not just predicting it, I’m guaranteeing it. “Think about it. At best, Ming develops into a bigger, more athletic Rik Smits. Fine. But then you throw in Yao’s adjustment problems (going from China to the United States — yikes), his laid-back demeanor (what happens when NBA players start pushing him around, elbowing him and intimidating him?), his inability to play in the low post, and the way he’ll struggle fitting in with his teammates, as well as lofty expectations, inevitable problems adjusting to a higher level of competition, the fact that NBA players will go out of their way to dunk on him (just like they did with Shawn Bradley — and they ruined his confidence, too), the isolation of playing here, the meddling Chinese government … I mean, did Smits have to deal with any of those things? “Can’t you picture Shaq rubbing his hands together and saying, “I’m going to dunk on that Chinese guy as much as humanly possible next season”? This is a disaster waiting to happen. Repeat: This is a disaster waiting to happen. I feel very strongly about this. Just wanted to get that heard before the jury.” Editor’s note: Simmons wrote the following retraction in his January 6th column: “I’m an idiot. Forget about Yao’s emergence as the most polished rookie big man since Brad Daugherty, or that he offers the first worthy challenge to Shaq since Hakeem was still The Dream. If you’re a basketball fan, you love Yao Ming. He’s a godsend, the best Chinese import since General Tso. And I thought he’d stink. I may as well have predicted that Vin Baker would be the missing piece of the puzzle in Boston or the Blazers would be a team you could be proud to bring home to Mom. “Like many hoops junkies, I now stalk SportsCenter every night for a Yao fix. Exceptionally well schooled and mobile, he affects the game at both ends like nobody since Bill Walton. His turnaround jumper — a borderline work of art — might be the most unblockable move since Kareem’s skyhook. And when was the last time you saw a 7-footer start fastbreaks with 50-foot jai alai passes, or find open teammates with backdoor looks? In the Me-Me-Me NBA, that stuff isn’t supposed to happen…” Dick Vitale, ESPN.com, 6/21/02: “I still feel that Yao Ming could be the second coming of LaRue Martin, the big man who was a first-round bust of the Portland Trail Blazers in 1972.” “My gut feeling tells me the Rockets are making a mistake, baby, in evaluating their overall No. 1 pick. Still, Rudy T could shock America by having NBA commissioner David Stern announce Williams’ name as the top pick. Then Houston would be moving toward the winner’s circle.” Bob Wolfley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (click for article), 6/25/02: “If you had to predict where Yao will be five years from now in the National Basketball Association, it’s easier to mount the argument he’ll be closer to being Kent Benson or Pervis Ellison or Ralph Sampson than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Hakeem Olajuwon. “If you’re 7-5 and you’re not a shot-blocker or a game-altering defender, then what are you? “A bust from a would-be Ming Dynasty is what you are.” Editor’s note: Wolfley wrote the following in his January 20th column (click here for the entire retraction — use login of ‘antfarm@bugmenot.com’): “Back in June, this corner was referencing busts from the Ming Dynasty. Now? It’s closer to Yao as in Yeoooww. Rhymes with Wow.” Ronald Tillery, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 11/10/02: “They call Yao Ming ‘The Next Big Thing,’ but he looks like the ‘Next Big Stiff’ … The Chinese government may want to go to war after Shaquille O’Neal puts a hole in Yao’s chest. He’ll have an average NBA career.” “…In the meantime, try to hold on to your cookies while watching Yao ‘Can you say Foul?’ Ming.” Editor’s note: Tillery wrote the following in his January 12th column: “I’ll eat a little crow. I’ll join Charles Barkley in saying that I was wrong about the No. 1 overall pick. Thank goodness I avoided saying that I would kiss a part of the body where the sun doesn’t shine to make my point. Looking back, my main view was that Yao would be average at best. Premature. He’s going to put up big numbers at this rate. That is, if the Rockets ever figure out how to use him. Against the Griz, Yao put up a double-double in less-than-dominating fashion. But he did alter my opinion of him because of his work down low.” New York Daily News, 11/10/02: “The Rockets gambled on Yao Ming in the draft and so far it’s looking like they crapped out.” Bob Matthews, Rochester Democrat and Herald, 11/10/02 : “The Great Wall of China is among the Seven Wonders of the World. Yao Ming becoming an All-Star caliber NBA center would merit consideration as the eighth. I’m glad I wasn’t a scout who recommended that the Houston Rockets select the 7-foot-5 Chinese center No. 1 overall in the 2002 NBA draft.” Editor’s note: Matthews wrote the following in his January 12th column: “I couldn’t have been more wrong in my premature evaluation of Houston rookie Yao Ming. He’s one of the NBA’s three or four best centers already and should be a dominant player for at least a decade. But if Shaquille O’Neal can’t be excited about playing against Yao in this game, and doesn’t dominate his much younger and inexperienced opponent, the Lakers are in worse shape than I think they are. ” Charles Barkley on TNT, 11/14/02: “Yao Ming makes Shawn Bradley look like Bill Russell.” Randy Brickley, Arizona Republic, 11/15/02: “…Inside of three or four years, (Yao will) probably be history.” “It also brings to mind an interesting question: How do you say LaRue Martin in Chinese?” “A master of almost no facet of the game, Yao makes Martin look like another historic basketball figure, Wilt Chamberlain. Manute Bol has a better chance of playing hockey than Yao does of having an All-Star career…”
Athleticism matters when you're undersized in the NBA, regardless of who you play with. If he could slide over to the PG like Kerr or Paxson were able to do for the Bulls, that increases his effectiveness. He doesn't. I watched plenty of his games in college and anytime he tried to bring the ball up against any kind of pressure at all, it was painful to watch. His lack of athleticism will kill him on defense as well. He's not tall enough to disrupt SG's and he's not quick enough to slide over to a PG, unless you're a big fan of getting Yao in foul trouble. Please, tell me how my post about athleticism was the most irrelevant you could imagine?
Because you asked about a 6'4" and under league, which does not even translate at all to the NBA. As for the rest of your post, I agree he is not the best jumper or athlete, but the NBA has plenty of gritty players who were not that great of an athlete. Larry Bird John Stockton Reggie Miller Jeff Hornacek Mike Newlin Kyle Korver Matt Bullard Redick is simply a basketball player, who is smart, a quick thinker and a great shooter, he fits. IMHO. Maybe not on your "C" league team, but on the Rockets he does. DD
I'm fine with comparing Redick to Matt Bullard. Comparing him to Larry Bird is silly. I saw Bird play a lot his last 2 years at ISU and he demonstated a LOT more game than Redick could ever dream of.
[ESPN, Chad Ford] Redick rising like a Rocket • For Chad Ford's preview of the Top 10 players to watch at the Orlando pre-draft camp, click here. From the NBA's perspective, one of the biggest questions of the college basketball season was this: Will J.J. Redick be a good pro? Can college basketball's Player of the Year become an elite NBA player? Or is he little more than a sharp-shooting role player, like Kyle Korver and Steve Kerr? Scouts have leaned toward the latter all year. Their concerns? His size for a shooting guard, his lack of athleticism, his defensive inadequacies and the one-dimensional nature of his game. But is there a point when you overthink a guy? His success at Duke was so dominant that the question must be asked, if he can do it against the best players in college basketball every night, why can't he do it in the pros? The early word back from workouts in places like Houston, Utah and Boston has been surprisingly positive. Sources with all three teams have said the same thing to me. Redick is better than they thought he would be. He's tested well in the athletic drills teams take him through. His defense has been aggressive in one-on-one sessions. He's shown the ability to create and make his own shot against some of the best college players in the draft. Even a guy who's been scouted and scouted and scouted can surprise folks. "I'm actually not a huge believer in individual workouts," one NBA executive said. "However, I think we learned a lot about that kid and it was all good. In almost every area, including shooting, he was better than we thought. You can watch him in games and see that he can really play. But it wasn't until the workouts that you could really see that he may be able to do some of those same things against NBA athletes. He's not going to be the MVP of the league or anything. But he's going to be a good player in the league." How good? Good enough that Redick appears to be in the conversation with the Celtics at No. 7 and in serious consideration by the Rockets at No. 8. In my first mock draft, I put Redick at No. 8, because he appeared to be a good fit for the Rockets. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady getting double-teamed on a nightly basis, Redick should have plenty of wide open jumpers. No one in the draft would be better at hitting them. But after Redick's workout, I think the Rockets see him as a kid who could eventually become the third best player on their team and as a gritty competitor who should be able to step right in and contribute. There's no question the Rockets want to be back in the playoff hunt next season. Besides Redick, Brandon Roy, who's unlikely to slip to No. 8, is probably the only guy in the draft who could play for the Rockets right now. If the Rockets don't take Redick at No. 8, he'll likely go to either the Magic at No. 11 or the Jazz at No. 14. But until I hear differently, I think that 8 may be Redick's magic number.
Welcome to three days ago. Though it's kind of hard to find posted articles in a huge thread like this.
I always want Redick as a Rockets ever since his frosh year at Duke. I don't give a damn about the color of his d**k as long as he keeps putting the ball in the basket. It's easy to visualize him punishing the opposing teams with open jumpers when Yao and Tracy attract 3-4 defenders. He is gonna make at least 50% of those 3s if left alone.
Besides Redick, I also want Gay from the current draft. Not sure whether Head + future 1st round pick can land us Gay.
yeah, you cant compare any of these dudes to bird. bird was way too good. he was quicker and more athletic than anyone gave him credit for.
Wow, someone has a different opinion than you and it's and irrelevent post? Give me a break. ClutchCity is actually making some good points. It's the freaking 8th pick overall, in the LOTTERY!!! If you want a guy that will only be there to feed off of open shots from double teams, you don't select him in the lottery. ClutchCity is right. Everyone here talks about our lack of size and/or quickness in the backcourt, yet are advocating drafting Redick this high to be what - our starting SG or backup PG? The Rockets drafted a 6'3 great college shooter in the mid-1st round in '98 to sit on the 3pt. line and capatalize on double teams. He couldn't defend a wet paper bag, was too small for 2-guard, and didn't have any of the skill sets to play the point either. If you remember, being a good, one-dimensional shooter didn't lead to a great, prosperous career for Mr. Drew. If you want a Price brother clone, a Bryce Drew or Stever Kerr; trade down into the late 1st. Hell, hope he is still there early in the 2nd. Not the freaking 8th pick overall. At #8, you draft the best ALL AROUND talent, a guy that will contribute in many different ways. A guy you hope will eventually fill a starter's role for years to come. Not a niche player. Yea, team game. Let's watch as the opponent's backcourt continues to crash the paint either with quickness or post up, and watch as Yao and Tmac continue to get in foul trouble trying to help. But hey, at least he'll hit a couple of 3's!!!
No he wasn't, he was just crafty. Larry Bird was not very athletic at all, but he was a smart...SMART player, who was a quick thinker and used a variety of moves to get his opponent off balance and create space. Much like Sam Cassell today, he is crafty. Not saying Sam and Bird are equals, just that they both create space and not necessarily are all that quick. DD
I don't mind a difference of opinion, that is fine, but to compare a 6'4" YMCA league to the NBA is completely irrelevant. If you want to talk about him not being able to get his shot off against taller, quicker players, fine, that is a significant point. I don't agree that it will happen, but it is a respectful opinion. I think ClutchCity makes some fantastic points, just disagree vehemetly with the comparison to the athletes in the YMCA league and the NBA...nothing more, nothing less. And the 8th Pick is not usually a player that is a franchise pick....go back earlier in this thread and see all the players picked in the last 10 years at number 8, many many insignificant picks. Players below number 6 or so, are probably more likely to be role players....and we have some roles to fill, right? DD
look people think bird was some tortose, he wasnt that slow. you want to see slow? look at that juwan guy. Dont forget Bird grab tons of boards and was an effective in the low post.
That doesn't make you quick, Bird, and McHale for that matter were not very quick or fast, but they knew how to play the game, and use positioning to their advantage. Smart players, or quick thinking players are the kind that become quality players. Speed or no speed. DD
hmmmm, I guess I missed the whole comparison and, since I guess I never saw that part, I can't really comment on it. My fault.
