The Warriors might be drafting Connecticut's Ben Gordon From espn: It will be a shocker if Gordon slips that far, but obviously it isn't inconceivable. Gordon could go high as number 5 to the clippers. I doubt he falls below this point. Gordon , if he's on the right team, has the ability to challenge Emeka Okafor for rookie of the year honors. Gilbert Arenas thrived in Golden State and Gordon is the closest player to him on the draft. Ben Gordon POINT GUARD | (6-3, 200) | CONNECTICUT UConn's Ben Gordon is a superior talent, but his height could hurt his draft stock. Notes: An explosive combo guard who has made a name for himself as much in international competition as a high school and college player. Got into some legal trouble during his sophomore year when he allegedly slapped a female student in the face. Upside: Gordon is a big-time scorer who knows instinctively how to put the ball in the basket. He's an excellent shooter, especially from 3-point range and is a top-tier athlete with great lift and lateral quickness. Has a 39-inch vertical. He also has good strength for his position and can bench press 300 pounds. Gordon is a good, but not great, passer with pretty good court vision. He knows how to find open teammates but dominates the ball a little more than some scouts would like. The fact he almost always plays under control also helps his cause. He's a good rebounder for his size. Downside: Is he a point guard or isn't he? That's still the big question. He seems to have the skill set, but does he have the mentality? Reminds some scouts of the Pistons' Chauncey Billups. He really had an up-and-down year, which concerns some scouts. Insider Projection: Gordon's draft stock took a small hit the past few months. It could just be the product of over-analysis or unrealistic expectations. However, his amazing play in the NCAA tournament stopped the slide and actually improved his draft stock. Gordon is now firmly in the mid to late lottery range. I would actually like this pick at 11 if the Warriors actually pick him. He could be the backup or even maybe win the starting job. :jumping:
Yeah at 6'3 that's a good size. Is he quicker than Steve Nash, Baron Davis or Steve Francis? Cuz Chauncey Billups isn't that quick.
"Combo" guard is another way of saying he's too short to be a SG. Please let's not fall into the trap of trying to make a SG in college a PG. It almost never works. See AI. All you end up doing is having someone trying to learn instincts which a pure PG has known since he started playing. Anyone notice how smooth the offense runs when Speedy is out there? He knows what his job is and he does it, without dominating the ball. See also TJ Ford. A guy like Ben Gordon will be a fish out of water, especially making the switch in the NBA.
Yeah, too bad there are no good all-around pure point guards over 6'2". Only Jkidd, Nash, and a couple others are in that arena. All those superstar point guards like Baron Davis, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Terry, Kirk Hinrich are all combo guards. I think Baron Davis is probably the most successful as a playmaking point guard even though he's a shoot first, pass second type of player and Jason Terry is slowly learning to man the point. I would take a chance on Ben Gordon based on his size for the position and his activeness on both ends of the floor. He's one of the reasons why the Huskies were so good and he plays under control. He just needs experience running a team to get his playmaking and court awareness skills up.
Actually from the reports I've read, Shaun Livingston is a pure point guard and has the rare ability to make players around him better. He's a highschool prospect, and I'm not sure if the Warriors are willing to invest the time into him, but he's going to make one of the lottery teams happy a few years down the line. Another guard I'm very high on is Sasha Vujacic. I've seen videos on him and he's very impressive. He's a solid pick and a lot of teams are going to regret sleeping on him in the draft.
