Here. Snippets: * played with Yao, Brandon Jennings, Steve Nash, Baron Davis in the summer * was at Grgurich camp with people like Richard Jefferson and James Harden * has now got an apartment in Portland and is working out with Aldridge, Roy and others.
A decent interview. Great that he went to the Grg camp; guys seem to get a lot better when they do it (Dante went last summer and Armon was there this year with Luke). And maybe it's the lighting and the filter they used, but he looks a little bigger and better defined in that picture than I remember him in Summer League.
I'm really interested in seeing how he pans out. I hate to say it, but I have my doubts. That said, I hope he plays well.
Martell was barely above replacement level, and Babbitt looks to be at least replacement level ... pretty resounding endorsement eh?
Yea what is bad is that if he or Elliot Williams doesn't pan out that will be 2 years in a row without a first round pick worth a damn.
And maybe so he will. But Martel had excellent skill, an NBA body... and he ended up being marginal. Luke has played in a conference somewhere between JUCO and a major conference playing against very poor talent. Out playing that talent level is not a ringing endorsement for a jump to the NBA. I know he had a decent game or two in the NCAA, and that means something to me, but it's not his total body of work. So he clearly has a larger jump to make that a player from Duke or Oregon... That makes him a bit more of a risk. He is also playing behind Batum & Cunningham and I wonder how much game experience he will get. Now, all that to say he's a Blazer and I hope the very best for him.
Something is wrong with me..I cannot for the life of me remember who the Blazers took in the 1st round of the 2009 NBA draft
My hope for Babbitt is that he can play a few minutes at backup 4. I don't think he can guard NBA SFs, but if he can be a Ryan Anderson type (i.e., poor man's Rashard Lewis), that would be useful. At present, backup 4 is a weakness. I don't think Camby is a 4 any more (too old), Pendergraph has been a disappointment (too fouly, not a lick of offense) and Cunningham is undersized, and besides, we need him at backup 3, which we're also thin at.
Babbitt has no chance guarding 4's. Not strong enough and his standing reach is well below average for an NBA 4. Martell was bulkier coming in to the league (he's slimmed down considerably since) and had a higher standing reach and he never guarded 4's. Babbitt didn't seem to get burnt too much during summer league, you could just tell he didn't spend a lot of time guarding on the outside at Nevada.
Camby is fine against most back-up 4's and Cunningham is bigger than Babbitt. I'm really tired of the the notion that Cunningham has any sort of reliable sf abilities. He doesn't have the ball-handling or the ability to shot on the move, his 3 ball will never be great.
This first week has been kind of busy for me, getting all my utilities set up, making sure the lights are turning on, got some cable TV. That's been this first week. Still have to get my car registered in Oregon and get an Oregon license. But after that there's going to be some downtime, so I figure I'll go see Portland a bit. Maybe go downtown or whatever because mostly we're here in Tualatin. There's definitely going to be some downtime to do whatever, see Portland. This sounds like the perfect mission for that On the Go with G.O. fella.
First: I don't think we know how strong he is. Larry Bird had zero muscle definition but was well known as very strong. Kevin McHale was a stick, but Barkley listed him as the guy who he hated most having guard him. Second: with a switching defense, it's not as if it's a lot of time one-on-one. And besides, you can play zone when you have a weak defender at a particular position. And besides again, there are enough teams with non-scorers at the 4 that you could risk it for a while. Third: Babbitt's standing reach is 8' 8.5". Some comparisons: Blake Griffin: 8' 9" Sean May: 8' 9" Shelden "the Landlord" Williams: 8' 8" Carl Landry: 8' 6.5" So - it's doable.
Trout was an athletic freak though. Rather have Trout at the 4 then Babbit but I dont' mind Babbit vs a few teams playing that position. Neither one would I want at the 4 position for more then 10m a game though.