Maybe J-Rich won't be ROY

Yeah, I think everyone is still scratching their heads about that selection...

 

I would not count him out of RoY just yet:

<i> "He's got all the athletic ability in the world, but the fundamentals aren't there," said teammate Mookie Blaylock, in his 13th NBA season. "It's the little things of the game. You can see it, things like help defense or the basics. He doesn't have that......"</i>
--You don't win RoY on these things.

<i> The Warriors were quick to post on their Web site highlights from Richardson's play in the Los Angeles Summer League, which included some spectacular dunks. And Antawn Jamison said on the day camp opened that Richardson was a player who would be seen regularly on "SportsCenter." </i>
--You DO win it on these things.

Battier might get it because he will be on such a horrible team and still has a media halo from his Duke days, but JR is as good as bet otherwise to win RoY. I wouldn't count out Kwame (extra exposure around Jordan plus he is already older than Griffin and the most developed of the HS rookies) or even EG (with Mo out his role will be larger).

 

True, but when the Warriors are out of the playoff race by the All-star break they will have to do something to generate media attention and keep their own fans interested in their future. I imagine playing JR as much as possible is a big part of those plans, just as Battier will be on his trully pathetic team.

 

Or maybe the Warriors are just now realizing that trying to put Larry Hughes at PG will <b>never</b> work, and they are trying to spin off that decision by making it look like Jason Richardson just doesn't have the ability to start at SG, so they will be "forced" to put Larry Hughes back at SG....a silly, silly draft pick that was by GS.

 

Another ignorant post about the Warriors.

Let's get this very clear.

JR was drafted at #5 because he was the Best Available Player. Nothing more, nothing less. Cowens said that it was betwen he and Griffin, and he felt that JR was the best at his position in the draft, so he went with him.

Also, Hughes is a NATURAL POINT GUARD. He converted to SG in college because they needed scoring. At Philly, all he did was bring the ball up, and give it to Allen, a waste of his talents.

He averaged 4.5 assists from the SG spot last year, and has the skills to be a stud PG.

So stop this silly BS conspiracy stuff.

Nobody in their right mind expexts ANY of the rookies drafted this year to be instant stars. JR has just as much shot at ROY as any of the others though.

 

If Larry is such a "natural" PG, why did he play SG last season, and why is his moving back to PG an "experiment"? Seems to me if the coaches shared your confidence in Hughes PG skills, they wouldn't have made it sound like they were merely hoping he would work out at PG. Also, I do recall on draft day one of the Warriors execs. saying the reason (or part of the reason) they selected Richardson was because they wanted to move Hughes to PG... I understand that Richardson was the best available (time will tell for sure), but you can't deny what the Warriors rep. said himself.

 

The reason Hughes played SG last year was partly because they were hoping that Vonteego Cummings would end up being the future PG, but it looks like that won't be the case. Also, the fact that Mills and Sura (the only other players capable of playing SG) were out a significant portion of the season, Hughes played big minutes there.

The only reason it's considered an experiment is because Hughes has not played PG in the NBA yet (unless you count passing the ball to AI at halfcourt and watching him shoot playing PG).

Part of the reason they chose JR over Griffin was because they knew Hughes could switch to PG. They also said that Griffin indicated to them in his workouts that he was more of a perimeter player, which is pretty much taken up by Jamison.

 

So Hughes is a "natural" PG who just hasn't happened to play the position much since high school? IMO he has too much of a gunner mentality to make his living setting up his teammates.

 

Well, Hughes says in this video clip that it's his natural position, so why should anyone doubt him?

 

Larry Hughes is a true PG. I saw him in college and he wasn't nearly the gunner he is now. I think Iverson rubbed off on him, in fact I know he did. Hughes was a fantastic PG at Saint Louis and when Charlie Spoonhour recruited him and put him at the point guard spot he took a bad Saint Louis team and literally led them to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament because he was a fantastic scorer and distributor. Granted he took on some of the characteristic of a 2-guard because Saint Louis didn't have any other options, but he is a PG, and he was a much better all-around player when he ran the point more. I never understood the mentality of the NBA GMs to make him into solely a 2-guard when he could be a dynamic PG. All they have to do is flush that shooter's mentality out of him and get back the Larry Hughes that played PG his freshman year and he will be a special player.

 

Why the hell didn't he play it in Philly?

Would have worked out great...6'5 Hughes could guard the off-guard, and let Iverson guard the one.

 

Well, for whatever it's worth, here's what an article from last December had to say on the subject:

(For some reason, the link above isn't working quite right ... you may have to click it, then delete a "%20" and "< br%20 >" from the resulting URL to get the article to show up.)

Despite playing just one year of college ball at St. Louis, Hughes was highly regarded in the draft in large part because of his potential, at 6-foot-5, to play point guard.

But as the 76ers were desperately looking for a backcourt mate for Iverson, Hughes admitted he didn't believe he was ready to play the point in the NBA.

"Early on, I knew I needed to learn a lot," he said. "I knew I had the quickness. It was the little things -- things that (established point guards) have been doing all their careers."

Less than a year later, Hughes, the Warriors' starting big guard, believes he's ready to tackle the point-guard position -- even if it's for Golden State, rather than the 76ers.

"I just wanted to get a little more experience," the 21-year-old said of his reluctance to run the offense in his first two-plus seasons in the league. "You have to be in control of everything.

"At (big guard), you're mainly in just a couple different spots on the floor. You're supposed to mainly just put the ball in the basket. It's a lot easier (than playing point guard)."

Hughes credits Mookie Blaylock for helping erase the doubts he had about playing the point. The Warriors veteran, according to Hughes, does all those aforementioned little things -- such as setting up the offensive, running the fastbreak and double-teaming effectively -- that help make a point guard successful.

 

I think Hughes could work as a pg.

I don't think JRich will be rookie of the year.

And I have faith that GS will find some way to make it to the cellar of the conference again.

 

I'm just glad GS picked up Richardson. If he hadn't, we wouldn't have gotten Griffin, both because either GS would've taken him instead, and NJ would've snatched Richardson and not traded their pick to us. I wonder if the Nets will feel better about their draft if Richardson doesn't have the impact this year people were expecting.

 

Shows how much this guy actually knows about basketball. As for being Bulls fan #1... is this a good thing? Please.... are there any BBS's out there for the sad people other then the Bulls BBS? Gimme a break!