Since there has been a lot of talk about the PGs available in this draft, I thought this article might be interesting to folks. http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Just-By-the-Numbers-This-Years-Point-Guard-Crop-3262/ They rate the PGs in the draft by a wide variety of criteria, so just about anybody can find *something* good to say about their favorite!
Yup. I was really rather surprised at just how well he scored - particularly in their "Pure PG" rating.
Players from big time programs are not bad picks IMHO. Bill Simmons wrote an article a couple of years back detailing what kind of team you could build if you only drafted from the top 5 programs in the US. It was a pretty sick array of players.
I honestly would not be surprised if out of the PG crop this year that the guy who is the best is about the 4th or 5th PG picked.
Agreed. It seems like there are so many good but not great PG's with potential that at least one of them will turn out to be great and it probably wont be the the 1st or 2nd PG picked. One of them is going to shock the hell out of people and make some team look brilliant.
Of the college crop + Jennings, I agree. I definitely think Rubio is a class of talent above the rest. He may not pan out, but I think he has easily the best odds of being the best point guard out of this draft when all is said and done.
I think the thing that bothers me about Rubio the most is his lack of game balance. My guess is he will look great until a few NBA scouts get a hold of his film and point out all of his weaknesses, and exploit them. Then it will come down to if he has the work ethic to put in the time to get rid of those weakensses, or at least, make them negligible. I kind of look at it as when Tony Parker came in, but Tony was mostly unknown. He had very little range, good speed, good defense, good passing. It took 2 years of Popovich constantly on him, and him working on those problems to get where he is today. The opposite problem is true of many other PG such as Curry. He can shoot the lights out. But can he do anything else? Is he Vinnie Johnson, or is he Danah Barros? Most folks would be pissed to pick Danah Barros in the lotto.
Rondo still can't shoot worth a damn (he even struggles with free throws), but he's extremely effective. Rubio is a better shooter than Rondo. I think Rubio is being conflated with Sergio too much. He's not Sergio. He's actually considered talented on defense, has a projectible shot, isn't a turnover machine and can finish. That's all in addition to the fantastic court vision. I'm sure there will be a period of defense adapting to him and Rubio adapting in response. Rose saw that this year, both in the regular season and the playoffs. Immediate success and then more struggles as defenses game-planned for him. It won't be something unique to Rubio.
Rondo does have 3 all stars on the floor with him, two of which can spread the floor. I want to see him play without Pierce and Ray Allen before I say his shooting doesn't matter. Not saying he isn't a good player, but those guys can make a good player look fantastic.
These playoffs he played without KG - so he had only 2 all-stars on the court - and was the best player on this team for most of the playoffs. Ray Ray was about as inconsistent as they come and PP looked very tired...
Not to nit-pick, but if by "can finish" you mean get to the line, then yes. As has been pointed out, his 2 pt shooting% is actually *worse* than his 3 pt% - and the fact he can't get to the hole without getting knocked on his butt is a good part of the reason. His knack for getting to the line makes him a better finisher than Sergio - but he still needs to develop some muscle and *make* some of those shots! As for not being a turnover machine.....the stats say otherwise. Unlike Sergio, he will probably figure it out - but right now it is a problem. (he averaged 7 TOs per 40 minutes in EuroLeague, and 5.1 per 40 in ACB)
Was he the best player, or the best player they left open while dogging Ray Ray and Pierce? I am tempted to think it was the latter, but you might be right.
Maybe. At the same time, I can say Boston definitly struggled at times where Rondo tried to do too much. You could tell because of the dirty looks he got from players when he decided to be a ball hog. It was pretty easy to see.
