What the hell kind of camparison is that? Look at Tracy Mcgrady at age 20 (15.4ppg, 6.3rpg, 3.3 apg). Look at him now. Is Abdur Rahim better than him? I don't think so. KG averaged 17 ppg and 8 rpg at age 20 which is pretty even with SAR at the same age. KG is one of the top 5 players in the league. Abdur Rahim isn't even top 10. Different players develop at different speeds. You can't take a player in his 1st season as the full time starter coming out from high school on a 44 win team, and compare him with a player coming out with one year of college experience on a team with 14 wins. BTW, SAR averaged 18 points not 22. Shawn Marion averaged 17.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2 apg, 1.67 spg, and 1.37 bpg in his first full season as the full-time starter and his second season overall. That isn't just a fine role player. He isn't a superstar but he can develop into a nice complementary star. He can develop some off the dribble moves and work on his ballhandling and shooting. His shooting isn't horrible. It's not great by any standards but it's decent. I have watched many Suns games and he can hit the open jumper. His FG is at a 48% clip so his shot can't be the worst out of all the perimeter players in the league.
the fuss about jahidi height is unjustified to me. you dont *need* height to play someone well defensively. the case for jahidi is that he is a densely packed, *strong*, paint presence that can hold ground well. he puts up respectable numbers for a unhyped player. he's a workman. an example i can think of is the way barkley played shaq in the past. barkley is literally immovable in the paint (low center of gravity coupled w/ strength), therefore it throws off the offensive player. which is why bark was so dominant in the paint (+ his bulldog attitude). however, faced against malone, an equally immovable force in the paint, it was more than a challenge because mailman could shoot over him (6 inches diff). with jahidi, strengthwise he is in the upper echelon (NOT just east). i would like to have him on our team to battle shaq and other western conf. behemoths. i'm not discounting that having a 7 fter isnt needed w/ the possibility of getting jahidi or that having length is bad. but you have to consider strength in the picture. i mean, i'd much rather have jahidi guard shaq or other post threats than 7 fters such as...a healthy luc longley, greg foster, cant think of any right. basically, i would like to have jahidi.
Just who would you compare Lewis to if not SAR?? He doesn't have Garnett's length or athleticism, nor McGrady or Kobes supreme athleticsm. SAR, in age in entering the league, build and other factors, seemed like a nice comparison, though SAR is probably also MORE athletic than Lewis. Also, SAR averaged 22 his second year versus Lewis at what less than 15 in his third. In fact SAR's rookie year was significantly better than Lewis's 3rd, despite this comparison leaving SAR both younger in age and with 2 less years NBA experience. Both also were starters at the time (McGrady was not for much of his year), also supporting this comparison. I do agree 19-20 year olds develop differently and there isn't a 1-to-1 comparison, but again SAR seemed like the best one to compare Lewis with that I could think of. Lewis is a good young player, with potential, I sure would like him as a solid future role player with the Rockets. But I'll bet every team in the league would take SAR over him, whether they looked at his current ability or ceiling. Like many are saying, if you can't build around SAR your odds of successful building around Rashard are even weaker. Were playing sematics, I pretty much agree that Marion is a "nice complementary star" or as I put it, a "fine role player". I guess I could emphasize it more, an "outstanding role player". But he is not a superstar, and likely won't be one, because he doesn't appear to have great scoring insticts nor the court vision to be a playmaker. Again, the kind of guy great to have on your team, but not a guy to build your team around.
Had the Rockets drafted Rashard Lewis instead of Bryce Drew or Tursad, the Rockets probably wouldn't be in the lottery this year. Just think, Francis, Mobley, and Rashard at you 1,2,3. Other than the Bucks, no team would have 3 20pt per game starters. They made a mistake then and they're making a mistake now trying to resign Anderson.
Other than Moble and Francis who would have been our 3rd 20 pt scorer? Rashard only avg'd 14 pts a game last year thats only one pt more than MoT and Mo had a better f/g% than Rashard.
Keyword had. But we didn't draft Lewis. Oh well you win some you lose some. Enough of this if Rudy and CD had just drafted Lewis over Turkcan talk. That's over and done with...had the Rockets traded Sampson for Jordan they could've won 10 championships too...
Uh...one thing about White...for those of you envisioning him as a significant contributor...wasn't the silver lining re: losing Hakeem that his game/age slowed us down? Hakeem is way faster, even at his advanced age, than the plodding White...Hakeem is faster than Greg Ostertag...Greg Ostertag is faster than Bill Wennington...Bill Wennington is faster than Arvidas Sabonis....Arvidas Sabonis is faster than Mark Eaton..remember him? Mark Eaton is faster than my grandmother, who was pretty spry in her day, but doesn't get around so well any more, what with having passed away a few years ago...But she's still faster than Jahadi White... Don't get me wrong, there are things about White to like...He's incredibly strong,and despite the height difference, he's the only guy I've ever seen who has the same body type...the same natural thickness as O'Neal...but I really don't think he fits our team as anything more than a backup/banger...If Hakeem would have slowed us down, Jahadi White would downright hobble us...
My post had nothing to do with who is a good player to compare Rashard with, or whether SAR is better than Rashard or not. My post was pointing out that comparing two players coming from different situations and going into totally different situations at a certain age is a horrible comparison. Tracy Mcgrady's stats at age 20 weren't as good as SAR's, but he's much bettr than SAR now, which proves how inaccurate such a comparison is. SAR's game and Rashard's game are vastly different. SAR likes to mix it up inside, and his outside shot is so-so. Rashard prefers to roam on the outside and has a nice jumper. Everyone knows how much harder it is to adjust to the NBA from high school than from college. SAR was the go to guy on his horrible team. Gary Payton was the go to guy on Rashard's team. Rashard's team had playoff hopes, SAR's team had summer vacation on their mind. If you want to compare a player with SAR, Eddie Griffin isn't a bad comparison. I don't really think there's a player out there that you can compare with Rashard.
Remember when Wes Unseld played the pivot at 6' 7" and rebounded like a man and whipped those outlet passes to start the break. I'd love to see Wes in his prime leaning on Shaq Daddy!
LilStevie, fair enough point that players develop differently, and comparing players at 19 or 20 is limited because of this. Does it prove the comparison of SAR to Rashard doesn't have some relevance? No. I outlined why I think SAR (I would not call 1 year of college ball compensating of 3 years of NBA ball) is a better reference than McGrady or Kobe or KG for instance. Also, Seattle wasn't a playoff team last year and Payton doesn't rely solely on scoring to a control a game, if anything having him should help Rashard. Again though, I agree this comparison, any comparison of 20 year olds, should be viewed as limited. But my main point is SAR was far more of a proven NBA player at the same stage, and most GMs would take him based on skill or ceilling over Rashard because the latter is not as athletic as SAR. If it is risky to build you team around SAR, it is twice as risky to build around Rashard. Doesn't me I would want him to be on our team, but don't count on him being a dominant player to build your team around. Could be wrong, he could develop into the next Larry Bird, just very doubtful.
