For those of you who were salivating over Thabeet, Blake Griffin abused him last night.
Griffin had 12, 11 and 3 in the first half of the game against him. Thabeet had 4 and 1.
Thank God Danny didn't waste a starter on a draft pick for him. Thabeet is a MAJOR project.
I was one of those guys and I still stand by my premise.
First off, in this draft there was Blake Griffin, then a huge, huge talent drop off, then four guys with either step in right away type skill or huge potential(Thabeet, Rubio, Harden and Curry), another drop in talent though not anywhere near as close to the one after Griffin, and then a group of about 4-5 other okay guys and then the rest.
Second, it's Summer League. 50% of the guys that do great in SL never ever start an NBA basketball game(probably hyperbole but I think you get my meaning) and the other half do real well. And sometimes in Summer League the stats don't tell you anything.
Last night these guys didn't really match up against each other but both easily did win their match up versus second year players. Blake's overall game overwhelmed Darnell Arthur but Thabeet's defense, which everyone knew was his calling card and that he needed great work on the offensive end, stymied and completely shut down DeAndre Jordan who looked just lost out there trying to figure out how to do anything against Thabeet.
I still say Thabeet is going to be a hell of a pro and someday be a multiple time DPOY Award winner. But it will take time for him as his stone needs a lot more polishing than Griffin's does.
I didn't see the game but they didn't match up ag