..as far as ESPN's David Thorpe is concerned.... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=thorpe_david&page=Rookies-090408
Actually he addressed Batum in his chat. He was using a minimum 20 minutes played criteria for his awards. There's some logic in that, though when it comes to rookies so many play limited minutes that I would think you almost have to ignore that.
Man, it was a really good draft, wasn't it? Still, it's surprising that we've got 4 rookies playing minutes on a 50+ win team, and only one of them was "good enough" to get mentioned in his story. Put our 4 rookies against the best four of those guys in a pickup game, and I like our odds. Provided nobody calls any fouls.
As much as I like our guys, I thinkl they'd have a tough beating Rose, Mayo, Love and Lopez in a game of 4-on-4. BNM
Hey, I said "Provided they didn't call any fouls." Greg Oden without having to worry about fouling out is a seriously terrifying spectacle. Bayless, Fernandez and Batum would be getting wide open shots all game because there'd be two guys hanging on Oden every possession.
I will probably get killed for this, but..... I am not *that* impressed with Rudy. Given his age and international experience, he is the least likely of our 4 rooks to make huge strides over the next couple of seasons. He is better than Batum and Bayless right now - but in 2 years they may have both left him in their rear-view mirrors. If I had a gun to my head and HAD to trade either Rudy or Bayless, I would be inclined to trade Rudy and give Bayless a shot at SG. Rudy likely has more current trade value, but I honestly don't see him having the brighter future.
I will agree with you but disagree on one point, I think Batum is better than Rudy now. Sure, Rudy is a better scorer but I much prefer Batum's all-around game to Rudy's hoist-from-three game. Gramps...
No need to kill you. I disagree with the assessment though. Rudy has that IQ and the team play that every team needs, while doing pretty decent this year, while still adjusting to the speed of this game compared to Euro. Rudy watching him play always seems to make that right extra pass to the open man. I enjoy all our Rookies and what they bring. with Bayless though I dont think that they can be comparable.. Bayless wont have a certain # 7 ahead of him at his position for a LONG LONG TIME.. Rudy always will.. so with Bayless we are lookign for a Starting PG of the future.. with Rudy we are looking for Super Sub Bench Scoring, and tempo change.
