Ok, I need a little of your help. To really crystallize my thoughts on Trent, I need to know why Crabbe failed. Crabbe had a prototypical NBA body, and was an excellent shooter (after being mediocre for 2 years and figuring out that he had to hit the practice gym or he'd be out of the league.) I say that Crabbe failed because of his defense never improved enough to make him even an average player. He never became a decent dribbler. Even if he had a cheap contract, he's really not more than Pat C. So, some questions are Why won't this fate await Trent? Will his work ethic and other intangibles help him enough? Is his floor Crabbe? What's his ceiling? Why did Crabbe fail (ignore the contract thing)? Trent was asked to sit in the corner in college because he was surrounded by great players. Will this happen again in the pros?
Crabbe was the #1 option and stayed in school multiple years. Gary Trent Jr. was the 4th or 5th option. Allen, Bagley, Duval, Trent, Wendell Carter. Also a rookie, more time to develop. I doubt he will be asked to not drive into the paint in the pros, because ‘Grayson, Bagley, Carter’ are clogging it up. I’ve never seen his work ethic questioned. Spacing is amplified in the pros, which should further help him, because he is better off the bounce than Crabbe. He attacks the rim quite often but doesn’t create for others. Trent Jr. biggest problem is he is Rudy Gay, Wiggins, Kobe... Dude will SHOOT it even if he is triple teamed. Crabbe seemingly is slightly more aggressive than Meyers Leonard. Trent Jr. is closer to Russ Westbrook in his aggressiveness (for better or worse). That’s my problem with trent... dude is going to jack a lot of shots leaving me facepalming imo
In a nutshell: Crabbe == passive Trent Jr. == aggressive Crabbe ALWAYS deferred to others and was afraid to take anything close to a big shot with the game on the line. Trent Jr. has the balls to shoot the big shots with the game on the line, without hesitation. BNM
Crabbe had zero confidence in his drive. His summer "working on the floater" or whatever, was all talk from him. From what I've seen from Trent at Duke, he's already far better than Crabbe at taking his defender off the dribble.
Great input, thanks guys! Maybe me and some of the other posters here should change our names to Crabbe Trent Jr. because we're passive/aggressive
If you ignore his contract, then why would you consider Crabbe a failure? A 2nd rounder being a bench player giving you 10 PPG on some of the best 3 point %s in the league is failing? Is he really that far off from what Korver was around the same time? A bench 3 point specialist who can get hot for you and have big games, and otherwise provide excellent spacing for your better players? Not everyone is a star, and the sooner guys realize their roles, the better they are for it. Maybe you mean he failed to grow into that, then I agree.
Personally, I think Korver is an exponentially better shooter. Don’t recall Crabbe coming off screens at 110 miles per hour and shooting in one motion. Korver is insane. Otherwise, I agree. Not everyone is a star and Crabbe isn’t a complete failure.
He has abilities. The kid can shoot from top of the key, Fearless Swish 3 player and he drives down the middle. I like the acquisition. He was coached by Coach K which is an added asset too. He can improve his defense as long as he doesn't pay attention to Meyers.
Yes, who are the guys you know you don't leave open? Korver, Redick, Ingles, Klay. Because you know they will take every attempt you give them. Crabbe looks to be better than he was in Portland, but I wouldn't put him in the feared elite group.
Just want to point out too that out of NCAA freshmen, Trent was 3rd in 3pt makes (97) not far behind first place Trae Young (118).
I love how someone so stat oriented forgot to look at standing reach. Thomas Standing reach is 5 inches more than Dame/CJ and 3 inches more than Trents. Simons is taller than Trents as well.
Standing reach is not the same thing as release point. You know that. Trent Jr. has a higher release point than either Simons or Thomas. Of course, on the other end of the floor, standing reach helps out defensively. Trent Jr. being "bigger" isn't just about height and reach. He's also heavier and stronger, which he uses to his advantage. At the end of the day, these guys are 19 years old. We won't know for a few years, at least, if they were the right picks. BNM
I don't think Khyri Thomas's "release point" is going to be a problem. It's likely higher that Trents. "Trends heavier and stronger" - he's not amgonna be able to bully-drive in the NBA. What's another problem with poor standing reach? An inability to contest. Trent is way too slow and poor defensively to contest shots. He'll be worse than CJ on that end. You're using flawed logic by trying to act like Trent is the biggest guard out of the 4 and that somehow, since he's 6'6, that means he's not undersized while Thomas is, and that's the end all, be-all.
Three things: 1) Photos taken from a low angle always make players look much higher off the floor than the actually are. It's an old trick. 2) That's not his form from 3. This is: 3) We'll see. Too soon to say who will end up the better pro. There are reasons they were available at 37/38. BNM
If Thomas would not have been on Blazers radar, then I might have been upset. But Blazers evaluated Thomas, Simons, Trent and more at games and in the gym with much more stryngency then we can possibly have just looking a pictures, video and measurements. They looked at all those players and chose the two they think have the brightest future. If Thomas didn't come with some question marks I think he would have been taken before Grayson Allen.
