This is exactly what we need. This is the first off-season in a while where we don't have anyone remotely like this. We need to draft two of these folks and start the better of the two.
Just for shits and giggles: Code: Height Wingspan ppg final yr college assists/gm fg% 3pt% Stuckey: 6'3.75" 6'7.25" 24.6 (soph) 5.5 45.3 26.7 (37.2 previous year) Lillard: 6'1.75" 6'7.75" 24.5 (snr) 4.0 46.7 40.9 (34.5 prev. yr.) N. Smith: 6'1.5" 6'5.5" 20.6 (snr) 5.1 45.8 35.0 (39.2 prev. yr.) E. Williams: 6'4? ??? 17.9 (soph) 3.8 45.9 36.6 (diff team prev. yr)
Lillard's assist numbers are almost identical to Porter's. Porter didn't turn out too bad. I love Marshall's passing, but I don't even want to think about a PG who can't hit the three and who can't stay in front of Westbrook and Parker.
Porter and Billups are anomalies. Was Terry even playing PG at Steven's Point? And besides, he shared PG duties with Clyde, the same way that Parker and Ginobili do. Lillard's assist numbers are also identical with Nolan Smith's. If there is one skill that players acquire in their NBA careers, it's hitting the three. See Robert Horry, Rasheed Wallace, Channing Frye, Jason Kidd et. al. And NOBODY can stay in front of Westbrook and Parker. That's why teams have been putting longer players (Thabo Sefalosha) on them. Here's a good post about Marshall's limitations:
I love this--it shows Marshall has that "let me prove everyone wrong" attitude too, as well as a demonstrated record of making his team better. I don't care about what a certain player can do on his own, or one on one. Does he help his team win? That's why I picked Marshall.
Woo-hoo! Welcome to the cause, brother! (Well, probably you were there before me, but I started the thread...) The other slight red flag I have with Lillard is that apparently he played poorly in the games against big schools. (I'm prepared to be proved wrong on this.) Also, Ed O. should be with us because Marshall's over a year younger.
He still isn't. But Westbrook basically didn't play much. Westbrook is proof that Sam Presti really is a genius. THANK YOU! As you said later: Deron Williams it is.
I like both but... I still would opt for Kendell Marshall. One of the best passing PG's college has seen in the last decade.
I haven't seen Lillard play, so I can't really offer any sort of real opinion on his abilities. You are correct in noting that Portland needs a PG in the sense of this current Blazer lineup would benefit from having someone who can get others involved and run the offense. That said, I doubt Portland is going to win a championship next season so adding talent is paramount STOMP
Wish KP was here to make this decision. Thinking he would get it right. With that said. Webber State as a reason not to take Lilliard. Let's go back to the Western Conference Team of the early 90's. Terry Porter-Wisconsin Stevens Point Clyde Drexler-University of Houston Kevin Duckworth-Eastern Illinois Jerome Kersey-Longwood College/VA Buck Williams-Maryland The competition for four of five of those starters in college was probably less than anything Lillard faced in college. And look how they contributed. Don't look at what or who they faced collegiately. Look at the facts about the player. Speed, Quickness, Shooting, Agility, Measurements, Character, Instincts, Intangibles, Work Ethic, Ability to get better, Willingness to get better. That's all I'm saying.
No way, Buck and Clyde both faced much tougher competition in college. Buck played in the extremely competitive ACC and his career at Maryland overlapped other great ACC big men like Ralph Sampson, Sam Perkins, James Worthy, etc. Back then, Virginia, UNC, Duke, Maryland and Wake Forest were some of the top teams in the nation. Clyde's Houston teams went deep into the NCAA Tournament his last two seasons (final 4 and championship game). In the SWC, Arkansas with Joe Kleine, Scott Hastings, Alvin Robertson and Darrell Walker was one of the top teams in the country during Clyde's time at Houston. With most players staying in school all four years, or at least three years, college teams were much deeper back then and the top teams in the major conferences all had multiple future NBA players on their rosters. If you went deep in the NCAA tournament back then, you played against a lot of future NBA players and multiple future Hall of Famers. No way has Lillard at Weber State played against the same level of competition as Buck and Clyde did in college. That doesn't invalidate your point, players (the right players) from small schools playing against weak competition can have successful NBA careers (Pippen, Rodman, etc.), it's just not the norm. Given the weak competition Lillard faced in college, I'd be much more interested in how he does at the camps and in workouts than is his college stats. BNM
I'd be happy to trade up to get the better prospect -- Robinson/Beal/MKG (And I'm very high on Marshall)
[video=youtube;HBXMJ6bUnYo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBXMJ6bUnYo&feature=player_embedded[/video] I like Marshall but their "best case/worst case" comparison is totally screwy. If he really were Jose Calderon in the worst case, he would be a high lottery pick. And Calderon is a great shooter, and Miller was a great college scorer. I guess they're trying to pick active players (hence, no Mark Jackson) but even so. How about "Ricky Rubio without the defense"?
