Great points. Blair is also a special nba player physically. I really think Blair can be dominate in the NBA if he doesn't get injured. He's 6'7, 265 lbs with a 7'3 wingspan, quick hands, improved offensive moves and was the best offensive rebounder in the past 8, yes 8 years. He's everything Stanley Roberts was supposed to be. Now if you remember their second game, it was completely reversed. Thabeet had 14 pts, 13 rebs, and 5 blks. Blair had 8/8/3. Thabeet's other really "bad" game came when Greg Monroe (project top 10 for next year) matched up with him. Even though it was one of his worse games ever, he still came away with 7 blocks. I guess we'll have to disagree on our assessments on Thabeet, but I do believe he'll be a force in 3-4 years in the NBA. I said in his other thread that I see 16 pts, 13 rebs, 3.5 blks in his prime, but we'll have to wait and see...
I don't know, judging from Chad Ford's article about Thabeet's workouts, it seems that there's more to this guy than we thought. Apparently, Thabeet has been working on his offense, working with the guy who worked with Dirk and Pau. And he's not completely devoid of a jumpshot and there's also more stuff about how hard he works and whatnot. I think this guy could be good.
I seem to remember him having a jumphook. A center that can grab 10 boards a game and block 3 shots is value even if he only averages 10 pts a game.
the guy has been playing unchallenged in college at over 7 feet.. even though Uconn rolled over us (aggies) easily, Thabeet had real trouble with our big men.. his only positive is INTIMIDATION, that's it.. once we broke that, we had no problem driving the lane and scoring over him.. he won't have his intimidation factor in the NBA, hence IMO he won't have that successful of a career..
Stanley Roberts was a legit center at 7'0'', maybe bigger. Blair reminds me more of a slightly wider but less athletic Elton Brand. Nothing wrong with that. All three of those figures, seem aggressive to me, especially compared to 3 of the better post Hakeem shotblocker/rebounder specialists. Points: Mutombo averaged over 15 ppg once in his career (his rookie year, ironically). Camby's never broken 15 ppg, despite averaging 20 ppg for a Final 4 team. Rebounds: Mutombo broke 13 rebounds a game 3 times in his 17 year career. Camby's done it once. Ben Wallace did manage it 3 times. Blocks: Ben Wallace did it once. Camby's done it twice. Mutombo did it 3 times. Basically, you're projecting Thabeet to be an 07-08 (DPOTY) Camby with about twice as much offense. I'd say there's an equal if not better chance that he's closer to becoming Sagana Diop.
I guess I'm one of the few that would absolutely love to have Thabeet on our team. He's a beast. Staying out of foul trouble will be his toughest challenge on the defensive side. He definitely needs to work on his offensive game, but he hustles and will get offensive rebounds and put-backs.
Well, considering the fact that we have no draft picks at our disposal are you really surprised nobody is speaking in that context? I think everybody here would love to have Thabeet on the Rockets, it's just not a realistic idea to suggest.
i think he has a chance to be a decent player in the nba if i remember right he wanted to play basketball because he was tall and basically sent out emails from africa to various schools asking them to recruit him. he only has played ball for 5 years there is still a lot of room for great the good news is that he is tall and relatively athletic and is a good shot blocker and rebounder, things that usually translate well to the NBA. ceiling he may be a future dpoy but i think he will have a good future on the thunder if they draft him. the thunder have have plenty of offensive talent and they need a stopper in the middle which hopefully thabeet can provide
He kinda reminds me of a younger Mutombo. Not saying he's the next Mutombo cause he is one of the best defensive big men of all time... but he does seems a lot like him. Similarities to Deke: . 7'3 263lbs . Solid Defender . Rebounds . Blocks shots . Has no offense . And is from Africa Personally, I think he will have a better NBA career than Griffin. We shall see!
The Rockets are the perfect fit for Thabeet. He'd help us keep Yao's minutes down, provide insurance if Yao gets hurt, or we could go twin towers at times. His offensive game is lacking but with Yao being the focal point of our offense for the foreseeable future Thabeet would have several years to develop offensive moves. In my opinion he is more athletic than a Greg Oden. He will be a defensive force and I know Morey values defense more than most gm's in the nba. It seems like these 7 footers from Africa that haven't played too many years seem to develop into pretty good players (Hakeem, Deke, Emeka Okafor). The question is how could we acquire the #2 pick form Memphis to get him?
He has come a long way,from virtually nothing. His defensive rotation is still weak which will cause him problems but is considerably better than before. He has the tools to become a good defensive center with time. He is a hard worker.
after watching this vid...i feel like he's like joey dorsey...dunks, blocks...will we give him PT (maybe b/c of his size, he will play)
I think if we were able to get him somehow, he would the the biggest contributer right away out of all everyone in the draft class. Just put him in when Yao needs rest and let him shutdown the paint and get rebounds. He would basically take Mutombo's role as Yao's back-up and he would be insurance for the team if Yao decides to go play with Lebron next year.
When talking about his offensive game, I've read that he has been developing a 10-15 foot face up jumper and his stroke is fluid and natural. If he could add that and get his FT percentage to 75 percent or higher he could atleast average double figures in scoring. He is a monster on the offensive glass and they say he runs the floor pretty well so he could get easy buckets that way. The real impact of Thabeet is on the defensive end. Any additional scoring he would bring is just icing on the cake. I like his chances of being a consistant double double guy who makes a big impact defensively if developed properly.
This is the guy that I want the Rockets to draft. There's just something that makes me happy listening to him give interviews. It brings Hakeem back to me. I'm excited about the trade and draft prospects, but in the back of my mind, I hope the point guard-class praise is a smokescreen so that we can get Thabeet. I'm not familiar with his game well enough to determine if it's the best move for the Rockets (BPA? if we trade into the top 4)...it just brings back the good-old-days for me...and I think if he or the team quickly had success, it could easily bring back Clutch City.
I think Deke is a bit of a stretch, no pun intended. Remember, Deke averaged nearly 17 points a game early in his career and scored in double figures for ten seasons. Deke also created great spacing with his elbows and his athleticism was underrated. Thabeet blocks shots simply because of his height, but he's foul-prone and somewhat of a stiff. He also doesn't have an offensive game besides dunks and putbacks. He's a project, imo, and not sure you'd want to use a lottery pick on.
He's a project, but his floor is still a 7'3 center who will grab 10 boards a game and block 2+ shots. His ceiling is a guy who can score 15+ and be an all-league defender. Seems like exactly the kind of guy you'd want to take a chance on in a mid-lottery position.
He's projected as a top-3 pick. And remember, he was playing against 6-8 and 6-9 centers in college. In the NBA, his height won't be that much of an advantage because most centers are around 7 ft anyways. I think you overrate this guy saying he'll score 15+ when many above-average centers like Chandler and Dalembert score about 10-11 per game whoch I think is his ceiling.
I think he's going to be a mess on the court. Weak feel for the game, no offensive skills, bad hands, living off his size & length. And he's not impressively quick, explosive, or driven. I don't see him getting to Dalembert's level.
