Drummond/Marshall or Lillard/Meyers

[MickZagger]

The small conference thing has always baffled me. Do you know how many good players have come from a small school? I could make a long list of hall of famers that came from a small school.

Shit, two of the best PG's in the last 20 years came from small schools, in a small conference. Were people questioning the competition that Stockton and Nash were playing in college? If you can ball, you can ball.

As for Lillard, its funny that people are saying he didn't show up against the quality opponents. I'm sorry but, 15 and 10 against BYU is pretty damn good. A double-double out of your PG. The same naysayers omit the game against St. Mary's (the best team he played against and a 7 seed) where he dropped 36 points.

My head's spinning about that. Its just not a valid argument.

 

[BigVolcano]

I'm a Raptors fan and I'm wondering what you guys think of Jeremy Lamb. I don't watch college ball but from the highlights and videos I've seeen, I like him. Is Portland looking at any shooting guards or strictly point guards and bigs?

As an aside, I don't like Drummond as he just seems like an athlete not a ball player.

 

[STOMP]

And he's as average as average gets. One of the many SG's on the tier that Wes Matthews is on.

Rodney starts at PG not SG. He posted PERs the last two years of 18.4 and 17.6 while Wesley went 15.5 & 14.1... 15.0 is average

STOMP

 

[Draco]

Is Portland looking at any shooting guards or strictly point guards and bigs?

We need a PG, SG, C. SF too if we let Batum walk. But Batum has actually been more productive at SG, he struggles against the bigger physical SF. LaMarcus has been more productive at center at times. LA mostly needs a talented interior teammate of some sort.

So we really need a PG, SG or SF, PF or C. And some depth on the bench. And a coach.

 

[blue32]

Lillard seems like a combo guard again. Do we really need that? Don't we have enough of them already?

 

[Reep]

Shit, two of the best PG's in the last 20 years came from small schools, in a small conference. Were people questioning the competition that Stockton and Nash were playing in college? If you can ball, you can ball.

I understand some players can have elevated statistics from playing in smaller conferences. But the argument that a player can't be good unless they play at a major college doesn't come close to holding up. Of course as Zags points out Nash and Stockton are prime examples, not so mention Porter, Duckworth, etc.. And how much time did Lebron, Howard, Kobe, KG get in major conferences?

I would be interested if anyone can fine more efficient scoring in any conference by anyone. I can't remember hearing of anyone who put up >24+ pts/game on <15 shots/game. Any of you stat-mongers want to see if you can find someone?

 

[bigbailes]

I don't think he'll be a bust because he comes from a small school but keep LJB, Howard, Kobe and KG out of this argument as those were all 5 star highly recruited guys that passed up college. Lillard was a 2 star prospect that had no Big-6 offers out of high school. Not saying that is a reason to pass on him but using guys that skipped HS all together doesn't hold water either.

 

[bigbailes]

Lillard seems like a combo guard again. Do we really need that? Don't we have enough of them already?

What we need is a GOOD combo guard. Looking at the roster the only true combo guard we have is Smith, and while I'm not ready to say he's a complete loss, things didn't look good this past season for Nolan. EWill, IMO, seems more like a true SG and not a combo. More and more I'm coming around on Lillard, especially if we can trade #6 to GS or Tor getting rid of a contract or possibly picking up pick #30.

 

[Further]

Most of those labeled combo guard are listed as such because they are too short to be SG and don't have the handles to be a pg. but lillard has exceptional handles.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

The small conference thing has always baffled me. Do you know how many good players have come from a small school? I could make a long list of hall of famers that came from a small school.

Shit, two of the best PG's in the last 20 years came from small schools, in a small conference. Were people questioning the competition that Stockton and Nash were playing in college? If you can ball, you can ball.

As for Lillard, its funny that people are saying he didn't show up against the quality opponents. I'm sorry but, 15 and 10 against BYU is pretty damn good. A double-double out of your PG. The same naysayers omit the game against St. Mary's (the best team he played against and a 7 seed) where he dropped 36 points.

My head's spinning about that. Its just not a valid argument.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to MickZagger again."

Agree completely.

 

[BBert]

I understand some players can have elevated statistics from playing in smaller conferences. But the argument that a player can't be good unless they play at a major college doesn't come close to holding up. Of course as Zags points out Nash and Stockton are prime examples, not so mention Porter, Duckworth, etc.. And how much time did Lebron, Howard, Kobe, KG get in major conferences?

Bill Russell: University of San Francisco. Scottie Pippen: Central Arkansas. Those just popped into my head. I looked up Willis Reed on a whim (don't know why I thought of him): Grambling State. It might be interesting to look up all the Hall of Famers some day. Not today though.

 

[THE HCP]

Karl Malone..... George Gervin......

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Way to go back a half-century!

The way they scout today all of those guys would have played at Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc.

 

[THE HCP]

^good point

 

[THE HCP]

And Harrison Barnes at SW MidWestern Tech?

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Way to go back a half-century!

The way they scout today all of those guys would have played at Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc.

Bullshit. That's just random conjecture. People actually IMPROVE in college you know, scouts can't predict the future.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Wade is going for ring #2. Confernece USA was nothing special.

 

[BBert]

Way to go back a half-century!

The way they scout today all of those guys would have played at Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc.

Pretty much true. Russell stayed home. Pippen was a late bloomer. Wilt was such a phenom in his day, everyone wanted him and he ended up in the best program in the country.