Is Babbitt really this bad?

i think he should grow a huge beard and be a scrappy rebounder fan favorite and PA could sell huge fake beards to everyone at the rose garden and when he gets a rebound everyone can yell "luuuuuke" and will sound like "booooo" and it will be super cool

 

So you guys really think KP made the draft pick decision by himself? As he was walking out the door? So out of the blue after finding out he was being fired, he changes direction of who they were targeting and went with someone else. Do any of you really think that is how it went down?

 

There are some players who can dominate college but are just a step slow for the NBA. Ammo was one (good move on ditching that contract with Belgrade, eh?) and Babbitt is another. (And it's not just white boys - remember Mateen Cleaves?) Babbitt is MADE for Europe and needs to go there soon.

As for Armon: it's lack of skills with him. If he was 6'7" he could probably carve out a Matt Barnes like career.

 

Don't draft white guys from weak division colleges.

 

Truer words.........

 

Even better.

Ten years ago we had a contender that was exciting to watch. Now after a ridiculous decade-long PR stunt where they were supposedly going to patiently rebuild through the draft we have zero (O) healthy, talented NBA starter-quality players attained through the drafts.

We have a talented PF, but his heart condition should rule out counting on him long term.

We have Gerald Wallace, our best healthy player, a true NBA starter.

We have 5-6 very solid backups, but none of them can consistently dominate as a starter.

The rest of our squad are throwaways.

Paul Allen makes Donald Sterling look like a basketball mastermind.

 

Like Bill Walton and Arvydas Sabonis?

 

Bullshit. Do you even understand what the issue is with his heart? Apparently not - unless by not counting on him long term you're expecting to continue to play in the NBA past the age of 50.

BNM

 

You mean guys like Larry Bird (Indiana State), John Stockton (Gonzaga) and Steve Nash (Santa Clara)?

BNM

 

Dude................. you really went there. You picked the ONLY white guys to succeed in the history of this planet!!!!!! AAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey you forgot Bob Cousy ...

 

Nah, I just picked three first ballot Hall of Famers who went to small schools in weak conferences. There are tons of white guys who are in the Hall of Fame. And, they aren't all from the 1950s and 1960s. Of the four NBA players inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, two were black (Artis Gilmore and Dennis Rodman) and two were white (Chris Mullin and Sabonis). And there are tons more that played well enough to justify their draft position. Of course, there have also been plenty of black guys who went to major college programs that ended up being total busts in the NBA.

BNM

 

Nailed it. Babbitt is just too slow, and it's painful to watch. He constantly gets blocked, stripped, or has to rush some off balance shot just to keep from getting blocked/stripped. It's ugly. Plus he hasn't shown the ability to catch and shoot (which has kept guys like Matt Bonner in the league). His deficiencies didn't show up when he was playing Idaho, University of Portland, or San Diego State. The game just moves too fast for him. I'll admit that I thought it was a good pick at the time (go check out his college highlights on YouTube). I was wrong. He IS one of those guys who's game won't translate to NBA success. The only way this guy stays in the league is he can learn how to catch and shoot, and he just doesn't look comfortable doing that. The Fan Fest sealed it for me. He even looks terrible/slow/overmatched in a scrimmage vs. NBA Athletes.

 

I like his potential based on his college and D League stats, his summer league performance, comments made by other NBA players, and I have to admit his youtube hightlight video was pretty sweet. He's only played 137 minutes in the NBA, of which he's looked dreadful, but I don't think you can come to a conclusion on his potential based on the mostly garbage time minutes he's played so far. I think he'll be alright when he gets his feet under him.

 

I was like you, until I let go. The speed difference between the NCAA (in the WAC, no less) vs. the NBA is just too much for some guys to overcome. Luke doesn't play fast enough for the NBA. Plain and simple. If he learns how to catch and shoot, he could stick around like a Matt Bonner or Channing Frye. But we haven't seen that at all. It looks like he's rushing his shot to get it off, and he misses badly. Most of his perimeter shots aren't even close. I'm sure he could give Jimmy Chitwood a run for his money in a game of H-O-R-S-E, but he can't throw it in the ocean against NBA talent.

 

what was said on the Fanfest broadcast is simple and clear, Babbit's a "shooter" if he can't make the shot's he out of the NBA.

 

McMillan wanted shooters in the draft, and Babbitt had the reputation of best shooter, so Pritchard took him at 16, earlier than he normally would have gone. Pritchard always targeted one guy and drafted him earlier than he deserved, instead of taking the best player available at our slot.

It may take years like Outlaw, but Babbitt will find a small niche in the league by ignoring parts of the game and concentrating on selfish scoring. Or maybe he never will, like Webster and Bayless, who are worse than Outlaw because they didn't find a specialty they're any good at.

 

Also, McMillan's system destroys all great shooters. It passes up the passing game. You're on your own to create your shot. You get no help. Movement is so slow that you're a rabbit playing with tortoises.

 

You're kinda twisting things here. The Blazers have been much more sucessful than the clippers.

Remember that we used the some of the players we drafted to acquire guys we didn't (Camby, Wallace)
But you're right, the bulk of our minutes are going to players we didn't draft.

Right now, LA and Batum are the only picks that are really paying off for us. You could argue Camby and Wallace, but those deals seemed to be more cost-cutting moves on the other teams part rather than them coveting our assets (Wallace more so). Freeland may pay off next year too!

But I wouldn't argue with anyone who says the Blazers have not done a good job at drafting over the last 10 years. And Luke Babbit is just a crap player. They may as well cut him right now and free up a roster spot.

 

James Jones shot a career best 44% (3 Pt FG), & Rudy broke the Rookie Record for most 3s in a season in Nate's System. When Brandon was healthy, there were plenty of "good looks". He could break down a defense off the dribble, or defenses would be forced to double team him. When this happened, you saw some pretty good ball movement and lots of open shots It's hard to move the ball around on the perimeter when there are no playmakers to keep the defense honest.